Nott What You'd Expected...

D2, London, and the Raleigh Homeless Gang

Be in England to Be In England.

Fair enough.

Friday provided the catalyst, the momentum, the get goin' that this weekend (and upcoming week) needed.... With a huge day of work on Sunday, a friendly trip to Oceana with new friends and class on Monday, and Eda/Katie's arrival on Tuesday, the week was looking zapped for energy and time.

Friday night was well spent. Mary and I met up with a sociable Brandon after choir, who introduced us to his Scottish, Welsh, halfWelsh, and otherwise intoxicated and enjoyable choir friends at The King's Head, the go-to pub after choir rehersal for most of the choiratti.

Despite being confused and lost amidst competitions and coversations comparing Scotland and Wales (intellectual to say the least- is this a show-off move to get us Americans to side with one UK country over another? I love the banter, it's classic- a must for any non-English native living in England trying to converse with an American .....Must...Assert....Non-Englishness.....)

After much proding and convincing by our newfound friends (and possible attendants at the Flat Party we have yet to throw), we decided to rock out at Nottingham's friendly Gay Bar D2, not to be confused with the Gay Club, NG1- named after a postal code for the area...

The bar was neither campy nor overwhelmingly flaming, but the waif-like bartenders in black cutoff tshirts and manicured fingernails were enough to bring any straight-leaning pub-goer back to reality. The scene was a bit old- creepers abound- but we had a good time.... we left early to catch a tram before Scotland and Wales could convince us to go to NG1, but we've got 4 months left, and it may be the bargaining chip in getting them to come to the Party. So we'll see....

After a day of whoring my CV all over Nottingham on Saturday, I met up with Ems and Mary at Starbucks (go figure) for some causal convo before going to The Fountain with Brandon. I like trippy movies- I loved Requium, I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine, I am an avid member of the D0nnie Darko fanclub, but The Fountain didn't do it for me. Hugh Jackman deserves any accolades he recieves for his performance, but otherwise the flick was, as one critic accurately described- a bit full of itself. I won't go into too much detail for fear of Brandon's retribution, so i'll lean towards the ever popular "eh, it was ok- see it for yourself" review.
*sidenote, the wife in the movie, Rachel Wiesz looks, at many times in the film, just like my brother Brian. No joke- something about her eyes, eyebrows, and nose.... i'm not making this up. It creeped me out - Wolverine and my brother? Sick. See for yourself....
An early morning on Sunday continued what looks to be an incredible 5 day span.... despite the wind in my hair ruining a perfectly formed coif (new haircut, thanks mary, tons of gel, thanks former flatmates who desrted it), the trip was flawless. ish.

There are some points in life where absolute crap and travesty can become a good thing- enter my trip to London. Eddie (cool HK-Brit studying Business, in the AmEx Kate Winslet Ad), and Julie (Canadian blonde double-passport holder) along with Int'l Student coordinator Rachel Jessup talked for most of the 3 hr ride down to London to pick up new students, and weathered a bit of a scare when the bus driver admitted to brake faulting that might delay the trip....
We arrived, stood at the Heathrow arrival gate (see also, Love Actually), and met the 40 new Int'l Students who would be riding back and be dropped off at their collective dorms a few hours later. At this point, despite a shortage of seats, terrible overcrowding of bags, and a knocked-over tea that required a hazmat team to clean, all was well.

The busride back to Notts was full of convo- I met Amahad from Lehigh (A Tanzanian-American studying in the US), and some American English majors from Charleston, SC and Virginia. We listened to the Forest game, cringed at the own-goal and penalty kick, and otherwise enjoyed ourselves.
Then things got interesting. I was left off at Raleigh Park, an apt complex near Jubilee Campus, where I was in charge of contacting the off-duty secruity officer to bring my 12 new counterparts their keys to the rooms before I was allowed to depart....

Things apparently don't always go according to plan, especially in England on a Sunday. There's football to watch, pints to drink, crisps to devour. Why work?

The bus, filled with all 40 students, waited as we contemplated how long it could possibly take for a security guy to come back with keys, and after a half hour, we sent the bus on its way....

The scene: 12 angry, freezing, jetlagged newly arrived Intl students, huddled in piles of luggage - ipods, cell phones, double-layered socks, and frowns in tow.... several trips to and from the common room (which reeked of unshowered foreigners) and an unsuccessful trip to the local pub later- along with roughly 20 minutes of wasted cell phone calls- We remained shut out and freezing. Greg told me to call Tom, who said that they didn't cover Nottingham, and told me to call the Birgmingham office, which was empty, and upon calls and recalls it was determined that no one knew what the hell was going on.
After about 2 hours of frozen babbling and intense bonding, the christening of a Facebook Group to-be-named-later, and the re-entry into the less-smelly common room, Rachel arrived to tell us a new shift at the Security office started at 6 (3 plus hours after our first arrival to the 'hell corner' as it was dubbed), and she rushed off to find us food to keep us happy. In the meantime, a few of us ran to the nearest grocery store for a few drinks to keep us even happier.
Long story slightly less long, the gang is planning on a ceremonial First Trip to Oceana- assuming the 3 pound tix are bought tomorrow morning before they all register for classes, I still get paid, and a new Facebook Group was formed out of our horrible ordeal. Can't beat that WELCOME TO ENGLAND story........ Best of luck to them-

It's crazy to feel so in control, so 'expert'- just being asked questions, giving advice, explaining the ins and outs of Notts- be it directions, local pubs, class registration, cultural idioisyncracies or the like- It hit me how much i (and we as a group really) have learned in the last 4 months.

Today reall emphasized how much I'm looking forward to a new semester of classes, new friendship opportunities, and a possible job. Things they are a-changin, and it's looking good. Not to mention how much I can't wait for old friends to get here......

Awesome week ahead.

posted by Kevin @ 12:47 AM