Wednesday, June 21, 1989

Taking a Tour Inside Parliament ...

A hectic and fun day today. Dad and I awoke early this morning to walk to Victoria Station this morning, in order to buy my plane ticket. We arrived at around 7.30 a.m. and had no problems. So that detail has now been taken care of.

Dad said the family all enjoyed seeing "Starlight Express" immensely last night, which was good news. He and I had coffee and apple danish at the train station, which was empty because of a rail strike that is going to go on for one day. So as a result, we had to rely on our feet or on taxis for transportation today.

We walked back to the hotel (after buying a Daily Telegraph newspaper) and had a proper breakfast. I showered, packed, and we were out of the room at a little past 10. I dropped my bags off at Rosemary's flat, and then set off to find a room for Mom and Dad (Angela's flat did not work out for them.) In short time we found one for them, which was basic but nice, and they checked in.

Next, we took a walk to the House of Parliament, though we then decided to catch a taxi in order to save time. During the ride, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my copy of the Daily Telegraph. I was supposed to have a copy in hand and use it to flag down Sally Hallam, a friend of Dr. Morrison's who works as a secretary for the Daily Telegraph's political correspondent in the Parliament building. Fortunately, it wasn't a problem that I didn't have the newspaper and we met up with Sally without difficulty. (Picture #2 is the permit that gave us access to Parliament.)

At this point, Mom, Dad and Angela left to take a boat trip down the Thames River, and Dr. Morrison and I joined Sally to begin our exclusive tour of Parliament.

It was yet another memorable experience, as we walked around the floor of the House of Commons, which is much smaller than we expected, as well as other vital parts of the building. It was a great tour, and it was really nice of Sally to to take time out of her schedule to show us around.

Next we had an opportunity to see the House of Commons in action, which was quite remarkable. Although Mrs. Thatcher and Neil Kinnock were not there today, we still got to see some action. They were debating trade and industry, which was difficult to follow because of the style and mannerisms of their debate... frequent cat-calls and "here-heres" when one person spoke. We stayed there for 45 minutes, but left during the questions and answers. The reason? They were on question 10 after 45 minutes, with 91 to go. (Picture #3 is a magazine produced for Parliament; Picture #4 is the agenda for the business of the day for the House of Commons.)

So we then headed over to the House of Lords to see them in action, though here I am using the term "action" quite loosely. They were discussing what to do about Hong Kong, which is an interesting topic. The British are planning on turning it over to China in 1997. Unfortunately, it was presented in a far less exciting manner than the style of the House of Commons. In fact, we noticed that several of the Lords were actually asleep during the proceedings! If only we could've gotten to see this debate in the House of Commons.

Well, after only about 10 minutes of this, we left the very posh House of Lords chamber. I mailed two post cards, to Viv and to Sam, from inside Parliament to get the special cancellation from it's post office. And then we left.

Outside I took a few pictures (Pictured #1 is a compilation photo of several angles of Parliament that I shot, with Dr. Morrison standing in the foreground.), and then we walked along the Thames River until we reached the National Film Theater, where after a coffee we entered the Museum of Moving Images (MOMI). It was a fabulous place that I could've easily spent all day exploring. (Pictures #5 and #6 are brochures from the MOMI.)

It chronicled the history of film, and presented it very well... and since Dr. Morrison and I are film buffs, we had a wonderful time. The highlight of the experience was a section of the museum where we saw how a television production is done. There, they had a freeze-frame camera, a television interview area, a television news report display where you read from the cue TV and appear on camera, and something where it makes you appear like you are flying over the Thames.

They also had a Charlie Chaplin exhibit in honor of his 100th birthday, which was great, since he is one of my film heroes. I bought a badge and a book on Charlie Chaplin. (Picture #7 is the book cover.)

When we left the MOMI, it was a bit later than we had anticipated it would be, so we grabbed a taxi and dashed back to my parent's hotel, where they had been waiting for awhile. We then went to dinner at the Lime Tree Hotel, located across the street from my parent's hotel. It proved to be a very interesting meal.

First, our table was outside, and had a waitress that later told us she had a Yugoslav/Italian accent. She was very nice, but it was difficult to understand what she was saying at times. Then there was the gardener: A bizarre man who thought Angela was my daughter and that Mom was my wife. This was funny, but this guy was not playing with a full deck. (Picture #8 is Dr. Morrison, Mom and Angie at the Lime Tree Hotel.)

Well after that experience, we grabbed a taxi and went back to the Royal College building, grabbed some bags, and Mom & Dad returned to their hotel while Dr. Morrison, Angie and I took a taxi to Rosemary's flat. I think I have taken more taxi rides today than I have the entire previous nine months.

The rail strikes chaotic effect seems to have been ill judged. The traffic surprisingly ran smoother today. Great! I love seeing strikes get shattered.

At Rosemary's we all talked for a bit, but I was in bed by 12.30 - earliest in awhile!

Wednesday, March 1, 1989

'Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz He's Jolly' ...

Jodie told me that on the first day of every month, you are supposed to say "Rabbit" before noon to get good luck. Never heard that one before. It's silly, but I'll try it out anyway. Couldn't hurt.

There was a student demonstration this morning because Education Minister Kenneth Baker was in Hull today. Needless to say, I went to class and ignored the ramblings of the left, as did about a handful of other students.

After class I went to the library for awhile, returning to hang around St. Hilda's until J.P. and I went to see "Die Hard" (my fourth viewing). I still love that movie! After we caught the bus back and ate dinner, I returned to my room to write letters and wait in case Viv called. By 7.30 p.m., I decided that she wasn't going to call this evening, so I went over to J.P.'s room, where he and some others were getting ready to go to the Student Union. At first I said no, but then I decided to go, and had a pretty good time. Played some pool for awhile, even winning a game.

But it was here that I hatched my brainchild to disrupt the political scene at Humberside College of Education. Nominations and elections for next year's student government are coming up, and while I won't be around to run for office myself (and my political leanings would've made winning virtually impossibly anyway), I convinced Big Jon Whalley that he should run. It was here, over a few pints, that his campaign for Union President officially kicked off.

Being his campaign manager, my first order of business was to start spreading the word: "Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz he's jolly." Since Labour will have it's own candidate hand-picked already, and labelling someone a Conservative is a death knell here, I suggested Jon run under the ambiguous "Progressive" title. It sounds interesting and appealing, yet actually means nothing. Perfect! If he actually wins, I will have left my mark on this godforsaken Union. Heh heh!

Later I walked back to The Grange with Kenny, Corrinne (pictured, right, courtesy of J.P.), Mousey and Paul (while Andy walked a bit ahead of us), and it got a little strange. While people were lying down in the streets, I was singing proudly and loudly with Kenny.

When we got back, we hung around in the common room at St. Hilda's until I returned to my room to let Shannon run around in her hamster ball. During this time, I fell asleep, and when I awoke about a half hour later, Shannon had managed to break out of her ball and got herself stuck in a box in my closet. It was 2.30 a.m., so I put her back in her cage and went to bed.

I'm completely deaf from the Disco tonight.

Pictured at top are some protesters from a Student Loan demonstration a few months back, one that turned into a riot. If they spent half as much time actually studying as they did causing their civil disobedience to get a free ride through college, perhaps they would have earned a scholarship. Probably not, though.

Tuesday, November 22, 1988

Socialism in the Classroom

Ate breakfast, and then went to class. My first class was Literature in Context, which today had a substitute professor. His topic was "Socialist Economic Policies in Britain from the 1920's and 1930's."

Wonderful.

His lecture had absolutely nothing to do with literature. He was making broad generalizations that all students were socialists, which annoyed me to no end. Although I did enjoy knowing that my presence here ruined his theory. During his lecture I quietly put my George Bush campaign pin on my shirt. I can't say for certain if he noticed it or not... but the socialist generalizations did end.

Next I had a Geography Seminar where we talked a bit about traffic and congestion (and watched a video called "Jam Today, Jam Tomorrow.") Interesting theory that came up: Widening roads does little to curb congestion. According to this theory, it doesn't matter how many lanes you make a road, because wider roads only attracts more vehicles to use that road. I see the point, but somewhat disagree with the premise. Theoretically, at some point you would reach a size that could handle the traffic, and it would likely be pulling vehicles away from other areas affected by congestion. According to that theory, we might as well reduce the size of our roads, if it doesn't matter anyway, right?

Then it was on to Social/Political Structures with Good Ol' Roz Billington at the lecturing helm. She was talking about inequality. (God, if ever there was someone who deserved to be inequal...)

Anyway, we found out that there's going to be a student rally in London on Thursday opposing student loans (as opposed to student grants, which would not have to be paid back. Nearly every British student I know here receives a partial or full grant.) Because of the rally, classes have been canceled for that day. It seems like they demonstrate way too much here, and as a result I have taken a firm stance in support of the student loan system. It's an unpopular but much more logical approach. I've been able to defend my position quite well, and have done so on a few occasions already. Basically, it holds people accountable for their education. If you do what you should, the end result should be a job that allows you to pay back the loan. If you fail to apply yourself or just view it as an extended party until you get kicked out of college... why should others pay for that?

So many people here are so dependent on the government that when the government attempts to loosen its controls and give people more responsibility, the get scared that they might have to actually start doing things on their own. Stupid gits!

Sorry. I'm off my soap box now. But on the plus side, my classes are canceled on Thursday AND Friday. Four day weekend... awesome!

After dinner, I wrote a few letter for friends and family back home, and later on Viv and I walked to Double Happiness... forgetting that it is always closed on Tuesdays. So we walked a little bit further to Shanghai House and got some chips and gravy. Not quite as good as Double Happiness - "the best chips 'n gravy in the world" - but good enough. We ate them back in my room. Great way to end the day.

*****

Pictured: Page 1 of the 1988-89 Humberside College Student Union Handbook, which was issued to each student at the start of the term. It is on this page where the socialist propaganda very blatantly begins. My favorite line: "The Conservative government, spurred on my right-wing back-benchers is investigating the imposition of voluntary membership on Students Unions." Since when is "voluntary" an "imposition"? Click on the picture to see the full page. The book was filled with this stuff, interspersed with an occasional tip or two that actually helps a college student.

Friday, November 11, 1988

Post-Election Decor

It's the 70th anniversary of the Armistice of World War I... Veteran's Day. I woke up early for breakfast, and ate in the refectory with Viv and Kenny. Then I went to my Roz seminar of Social/Political Structures, then went to the library to get my Geography Paper Assignments down.

I came back to my room afterward, where in a little while Viv came over and we had some lunch. She they stayed for awhile in my room until she had to leave to get ready for her trip back home, where she was going to be visiting for the weekend. Good news, though... she let me borrow her TV for the duration of her visit!

After that, I spent a couple of hours re-arranging my room (post-election decor, pictured), and going through the newspapers, clipping out election articles. I think they'll be interesting to look back upon someday.

Later, after dinner, we had another water battle, which lasted from 6.30-7.00 p.m. It was quite intense and loads of fun.

(Editor's note: Up until now, the entire journal has been written in pencil.)

Doug borrowed my pencil and it ran out of lead, so now I'll have to start writing in pen. Good news on Doug... he's finally decided that this place isn't too bad! I spent the rest of the evening writing letters, watching a little telly (it's about 15 inches, ha ha!), then listening to some tunes on my stereo before finally turning in for bed.

Wednesday, November 9, 1988

Water Battle

Woke up at 8.50 a.m., just in time to get to my Geography lecture. However, I opted out, and decided to go get some breakfast instead, then get some more rest after only four hours of sleep.

Once again, I didn't receive any mail, but I was still happy most of the day because of Bush's win. I spent a good deal of the morning and afternoon catching up on my writing, with a break for lunch at the refactory. During the day, I watched two talk shows dealing with the American presidential election. One of those shows, which was filmed in Norwich, had a section of Americans, including college students, and they were discussing the election. One of the students, I swear, looked exactly like Brian Lobel, a friend of mine from grade school. He had a mustache and a deeper voice, but the tonality was the same and he looked exactly like him. I'll have to check into it to see if it was actually him (I know, probably a one in a million chance.)

Later in the day, we had our first major water battle throughout the residences. Having recently purchased my own water weapon, I was prepared for combat (me pictured ready for combat above). It took place outdoors as well as indoors, and it lasted for a good half an hour, with a significant audience watching us. It was good fun. The battle took place shortly after we watched a new episode of "Dr. Who," featuring the Candy Man.

After the water battle, I spent the rest of the evening with my girlfriend Viv. Oh, before watching Dr. Who, Viv and I went to the library so that she could get some work done. I got a newspaper and spent the time reading over election results, but the final tally hadn't come in when it went to press. Then I worked on a Scrabble puzzle in the paper, which became obsessive. That's all.

Tuesday, November 8, 1988

The Big Day

It's election day! I went to classes starting at 10.15 a.m. with Poetry and Drama. Then I went to my Geography seminar, but decided to skip my Soc./Pol. Structures lecture to go into town to return my library books (due today) and to buy a .44 caliber water pistol (only 99p), because you never know when something like that is going to come in handy. I also purchased Paul Simon's new album, "Negotiations and Love Songs (1971-86)." It's a greatest hits album. I also bought a copy of The Times and some food, then I returned to my room, went to dinner, then spent sometime with Viv, during which time we watched "The Cosby Show," "Fawlty Towers" and the news (among other activities.) Fortunately, Viv has a TV that she set up in my room so that we could watch the programs. Because of my room location, I can pick up a better reception than she can in her room.

Then at 11.30, coverage began for the election, which I watched until 4.30 a.m. As I had anticipated, Vice President George Bush (R) was victorious over Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis (D). I was hoping to catch Bush's acceptance speech, but I fell asleep beforehand (which I kicked myself for missing.)

During the festivities, Viv was with me until about 12.30 p.m., when she left to return to her room. Another visitor was Simon McMullen, or Sam, who lives down the hall from me. He's an older student and a married socialist who was completely annoyed at the whole ordeal. We had some spirited and good-natured arguments and discussions during the evening.

J.P. and Sid also stopped by the room when they returned from LA's, and Ian, who lives next door, also stopped in to check it out for a bit. Needless to say, Bush scored a decisive victory over the Duke. Four more years of prosperity awaits... yaaaay!

Tuesday, November 1, 1988

Glasnost Propaganda Day

Only 8 more shopping days until the election! It still looks like George Bush's race, but we'll wait and see. I woke up early, got some breakfast, then finished the last two chapters of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Sad ending to the book.

Went to Literature in Context class at 10:15 a.m., which turned out to be nothing more than a Marxist Propaganda Session. Then it was off to Geography, where the seminar discussion was on Communist China. Then, after a bit of time in the library, I went to Soc/Pol Structures, where we discussed POWER with Roz Billington. For awhile, it seemed like Glasnost Propaganda Day at Humberside College of Higher Education.

Came back to The Grange at about 3:15 p.m., and rested until dinner time. After dinner, Viv and I went to see "Big" starring Tom Hanks. I had already seen it back in the States, but it's such a good film that I didn't mind seeing it again. After the movie we came back to my room and had a little bit of the German wine that I had bought the other day.

(Pictured: J.P. sitting on a bench at Queen's Park in downtown Hull.)

Tuesday, October 11, 1988

'Write My Girl…'

Today is my sister Angie’s 11th birthday. It’s also a very busy day for classes. I woke up and casually got prepared for my Literature in Context class at 10:15 a.m. It was a pretty good class. Following that, J.P., Doug and I went over to the Inglemire Site Refactory for lunch. We then returned for our 1:15 p.m. class, which was Social/Political Structures.

I’ve been noticing some extreme left-wing tendencies (or at least slight) in most of my teachers. Oh well, grin and bear it, I suppose. It might be kind of fun.

After class, we returned to The Grange in preparation for, ahem, “dinner.” Following that, it was off to St. Hilda’s, where we were planning to play the board game Risk. Unfortunately, the game never occurred because the people who were going to loan us the game board weren’t in.

So we decided to play a little live action Risk, mimicking a war in the hallway, using fake guns, grenades, “petrol bombs” and dramatic death scenes. It was highlighted with lines like: “Write my girl… tell her I love her.” And my favorite, “Hey look, it’s a dud…!!BOOM!!” This game ended when we got a noise complaint.

We proceeded to break up into various rooms for chat, and Sid even bought me some chips before I retired to my room. I hope Angie had a good birthday.

Saturday, October 8, 1988

A Lovely Day in London Town

We woke up around 8 a.m. in preparation for our day in London. By 8:45 a.m. we had begun our brisk walk to the Longfield train station, which took us about 25 minutes. From there, Doug and I caught the 9:45 a.m. train to Victoria Station, where we arrived at around 10:10 a.m.

Not long after that I had a bit of a stroll down memory lane. It was a little over a year ago when my high school sponsored a student trip to England, a trip that was all too short and definitely sparked my interest in wanting to come back and spend more time here. Doug and I walked past the King’s Arms… a pub where my friend Justin Tappan and I had our first pint in England; The Reuben’s Hotel, located across from Buckingham Palace, where we all stayed while in London; and then Buckingham Palace itself.

Doug and I timed it perfectly and we were able to catch the changing of the guard ceremony. Quite a spectacle to witness… lots and lots of people gathered around the giant fence at the palace to see the changeover. When that concluded we walked back toward Victoria Station, where we stopped to have a good ol’ American meal at Burger King. Had another flashback to my high school trip in April 1987, when we walked past the Scotch Steak House, where Mike Straub, Molly Sherman, Pete Farrell, Debbie Jackson and I ate our first meal. We also saw the video arcade that lured Josh Weinberger and I, keeping us from going to Harrod’s with the class. Ah, memories!

With a slight drizzle falling from the sky, Doug and I returned to Victoria Station, and with our capital cards (pictured, right) in hand (£2.50, and you can ride on any train or bus in London all day, which has already saved us a bundle), we headed into Camden Town, where there was a market and smaller shops that we wanted to check out.

That’s where I found a cassette tape of Prince’s rare, bootlegged unreleased "Black Album", which my friend Scott Reed had asked me to try and find for him. I was hoping to find it on vinyl, but just in case I don’t see it again, I bought it. Scott is a big Prince fan and has been unable to find it in the States. He’ll have to hide it well since his Mom disapproves of Prince and will confiscate it if discovered (she already swiped his Prince tapes… but he found those and gave them to me for safe keeping… which isn’t a bad deal for me!) Scott’s at Liberty University right now; but unfortunately for him, I don’t think Jerry Falwell thinks any more highly of Prince.

I also found a rare bootleg Genesis LP called “A Trick of the Tail, Outtakes,” but it was £10 and I couldn’t afford it, so I had to pass. Hopefully I’ll see it again soon.

While walking around this area, we were continually approached by foolish socialist students peddling copies of the Socialist Worker newspaper. It wasn’t long before we’d had enough of that annoyance, and we hopped back on the Tube to head to Pimlico, where we went into the Tate Gallery. It was a fabulous art gallery, which featured so many different artistic styles. The highpoint of this venture came when I found Andy Warhol’s famous “Marilyn Monroe” painting, of which I have a copy back home. It was quite large, actually.

Well, after leaving the Tate Gallery (and witnessing Doug tell the gathering pigeons outside to “Get a job!”), we walked along the Thames River in search of a phone to tell Sid that we were coming back to her house at around 8 p.m. However, when we finally found a phone box, we ended up waiting 10 minutes before leaving because there was a knobhead suffering from malignant plumber’s butt calling car dealers galore.

So we left and continued to walk along the Thames until we came upon Parliament and Big Ben. We took a few pictures here (including the picture of Doug in front of Big Ben, top), then went into the Underground where we finally found a phone to call Sid. However, she wasn’t in, so we left a message that we would call back later, and continued our walk along the Thames to Trafalgar Square. Once we got there, we attempted to find Hamley’s, the world’s largest toy store, on Regents Street. However, we never quite made it. We stopped at Garfunkel’s restaurant in Piccidilly Circus for dinner, and afterward decided to skip Hamley’s, skip London, and head back to Hull tonight instead of tomorrow, as originally planned. The meal at Garfunkel’s was exquisite, and I had chicken kiev and Doug had a kabob. Doug also treated for the meal, which was very kind. Doug, I’m starting to notice, also has a way of confusing and disorienting waitresses.

Anyway, we left for King’s Cross Station, where we called Sid to tell her that over dinner (which we ate at 5 p.m., or noon Millersville time – I wonder what they had for lunch??), we decided to go back to Hull, so not to expect us. We then caught a 6 p.m. train to Doncaster. When we got to Doncaster, we fortunately had a few minutes to spare, because our train to Hull was 10 minutes late. Had the train been on time, we would’ve missed it. Thank heavens for late trains!

We arrived in Hull at 9 p.m., a three-hour trip again, and took a bus back to The Grange halls… tired, broke and happy. Doug was in very good spirits today… best I’ve seen him since we arrived. I guess a little journey to London was all he needed to break out of his funk.

However, the night was still young.

After checking the mail and unpacking, we went to Kenny’s room to talk for awhile. Kenny is a nice guy from St. Andrews, Scotland, who has one of the double rooms in St. Hilda's with a guy named Sean.

Then I returned to my room for a bit, because I wanted to listen to the “Black Album.” It was weird, funky, dirty, evil, and very black. Scott will get thrown out of college for sure! After that, I popped in “Sign O the Times,” then fell asleep until about 11:15 p.m. I walked over to the TV room in St. Hilda’s where theywere watching “Monty Python's The Meaning of Life” – on regular TV, unedited. That was on until 1:30 a.m.. Afterward I talked to a few people in the hall, including J.P., who had had “a few” and was very surprised to see that Doug and I were back.

Then I went back to my room, popped in an Andreas Vollenweider tape (or "Andre Volkswagen," as Greg Swartz calls him) to mellow out to some New Age music, closed my eyes and went to sleep. It had, indeed, been a very fine day.

Monday, October 3, 1988

Sack Edgar Page

I'm getting a little worried about Doug. Today we went into town where he bought himself a stereo, but that seemed to only be a temporary remedy, as he soon receded back into melancholy. He read me some of the poetry he has written while here in Hull, and it's rather depressing, and often frightening. I'm sure Doug could overcome it, but I'm not sure he wants to.

Well, anyway, this day started like any other... by waking up. Since we still didn't have any lectures to attend, we spent the day in Hull, after getting Doug squared away at Lloyd's Bank.

We then experienced a most unusual event, as we watched teachers from Hull University who were on strike, as well as other supporters, march through town, carrying signs that read, "Save Edgar Page". They were marching in protest of the recent "sacking" of a tenured philosophy professor named Edgar Page. They, of course, are worried that if this firing is allowed, then their jobs could be in jeopardy as well.

From what I was told, he is the first tenured college professor to ever be sacked in Britain. Of course, I don't know what he did to get fired, but considering he's the first ever, I figure it must be pretty bad. Personally, I think this could set a good precedent, since it would force tenured teachers with cushy jobs to make themselves an asset to the university, or risk being fired. Later, I decided to hang a "Sack Edgar Page" sign in my room.

OK, well, after the march, the three of us went into Hull to do a little shopping, and to register with the police (required of all of us questionable American students.) And that's pretty much what we did.

We found an excellent record store called Sydney Scarborough, where I bought a Genesis EP ("Throwing It All Away," "Invisible Touch (Live)" and a previously unreleased track, "I'd Rather Be You."), and a Peter Gabriel EP ("Big Time" and an unreleased track, "Curtains.") Doug broke down and went wild buying here. J.P. didn't, but only because he didn't have any money with him.

We continued to walk around (I bought batteries for my stereo to make it functional... still haven't found an adapter that will work for an American stereo) and then returned home (Home, Home on The Grange) by bus, arriving just in time for dinner. While at dinner we saw Kofe Kari Kari and another student, both of whom had studied last year at Millersville University, so we chatted with them for awhile.

When I got to my room, there was a note on my door from Karin (from Germany), which made my day, and included a phone number where I could now reach her. I tried to call the number using the community pay phone on the second floor of our residence, but I had a bit of trouble and I was never able to get through. I'll go visit her tomorrow.

At around 7 p.m. I decided to just relax and write a few letters to friends and family back home. I didn't do much else this evening other than head over to visit Doug to try and cheer him up, and then take a walk with him to the same Chinese take away restaurant I went to yesterday, Double Happiness, for some more chips and gravy. If this doesn't put a smile on Doug's face, I don't know what will. Ironically, while we were there we saw Sara and Louise stop in... guess they had the same idea!) We talked to Sara and Louise for a bit, then returned to our rooms.

I made an unsuccessful attempt to call home, but when I called, my 10-year-old sister's friend Aiden answered the phone, if you can believe it, and my sister Angie was the only member of the family that was home at the time. Since this call costs a fair bit of money, I said hello and then said that I couldn't talk now, but that I'd call back again.

I returned to the room, and with little else to do and with visions of sleep in my mind, I felt compelled to oblige.

Humorous anecdote of the day: This morning, while visiting a slightly catatonic Doug in his room, we heard what we thought was J.P. fumbling at the door. It was at that moment that Doug uttered the now immortal words, "It's open, ya boob!" A moment later we realized it was the cleaning lady. Needless to say, Doug was quite embarrassed and apologetic.

Saturday, October 1, 1988

Beverley, and "How About Some Coffee?"

It was another amazing, fun-filled day. Woke up much later in preparation for our visit to Beverley, a small town about 10 miles north of Hull. Doug and I took the bus into town, and once we arrived proceeded to walk through the shopping district. We had to wait awhile to enter Beverley Minster because a wedding was going on that the time. Actually, we soon found out it was the largest wedding ever held in Beverley Minster, as over 600 people were in attendance. (Who knows 600 people?)

We shopped until noon, when we found a pub to have some lunch. Doug and I both had chicken kiev, which was excellent. I'd never had it before, but now it's one of my favorite dishes. Afterwards we shopped a bit more, where I bought a mug (now I have two for coffee with guests in my room!), tacks for my wall, Q-tips and more candy bars. I can't get over how inexpensive candy bars are over here. I've been buying Twix bars for about 18p (roughly 25 cents each) whenever I see them.

Doug and I trekked back to Beverley Minster (pictured above, with Doug admiring the main entrance), and with the wedding now concluded, we were free to walk around for a bit. Although it wasn't quite as magnificent as Chester's Cathedral, it was still very impressive. We walked inside andh outside, snapping several pictures (naturally) of the outside of the minster. After that, we caught the bus (one way trip cost 1 pound 5 pence) back to Hull. It was about 3:30 p.m. when we left Beverley, and when we returned, I was rather tired. So after a meal at the Grange, I came back to my room (located in St. Martin's one of the three buildings that makes up the Grange) and slept for awhile.

I awoke at about 8 p.m., wrote a bit in my journal, and then went to J.P.'s room over in St. Hilda's (the building on the other side of the Grange) for a little get-together he was having. Doug was there, along with David Hart, one of the students from Juniata, and a few other folks. We sat and talked for a bit, but then decided to take the party on the road. We eventually stumbled onto a gathering in a room on the second floor of St. Martin's. There were just a few people there, but after we showed up, more people began to come in and out, including the hall resident assistant, Steve. To be drinking in a room, with the RA right there drinking with you, is unheard of at Millersville! In addition to having a conversation with Steve, I met a lot of people here, including two guys named Alex and Ian, a girl named Jane, and then Karen, who is from Bristol. She came to the party later, and I started a good conversation with her after finding out that she's a long distance runner. Having run cross country for four years at Camp Hill High School (and not at all ever since), she sparked my interest in finally getting out there to run again.

We talked there for awhile, but when several rugby players arrived, it got annoying, so I unsed my new catch-line, "How about some coffee?" And she accepted, so we headed down to my room for some coffee and continued conversation. Again, I discovered that she is also a conservative, which provided for some interesting conversation. As we were sharing our various running stories, she invited me to join her on a run tomorrow, which I gladly accepted. That should be good. If I have someone to run with, I can do it, so I'm jumping at the opportunity. I just hope I can keep up! I think it will take me about two weeks of continuous distance running to get back into shape. Anyway, I was glad to meet Karen (another attractive, intelligent, interesting and friendly girl.)

After I left and returned to my room at about 4 a.m., it took me very little time to fall asleep. Well, tomorrow's Sunday, so it should be peaceful. I just hope that Doug cheers up soon. Between J.P., Doug and myself, Doug is having the roughest time adjusting to life here. Perhaps he's just trying too hard, but I think he'll adjust in due time. "Take it as it comes," I reiterate.

Friday, September 30, 1988

Good German Girl vs. 'Bad Taste Disco'

Woke up early for breakfast to get ready for a little time in Hull. After a shower and some toast, Doug, J.P. and I hopped a bus to center city Hull, which we found to be a pretty nice section of town. When we arrived, we went through the various shops and took in the scenery. Through the course of the trip, I bought a much-needed towel and washcloth, as well as a cassette tape at the HMV music store: Elvis Costello's "Out of Our Idiot." That's a hard one to find in the U.S. - a collection of mostly previously unreleased songs.

We ate lunch at Wimpy's, a fast food restaurant named after the famed Popeye character (and referenced in the Genesis song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" - "...chewing through your Wimpy dreams.") After that it was a leisurely walk through town. The last shop we went to was a fabulous Army-Navy store. Doug bought a flag and a pin, and J.P. bought a hat and a Soviet-type pin. I didn't buy anything on this trip, but I'm sure I will be back.

We caught a bus back to to the halls, where we then went out to open up our bank accounts. The school brought in representatives from various banks who were clamoring for the students to open their accounts with them. They offered various incentives, from 10 and 20 pounds, to a fancy filofax to organize your life (they are all the rage here.) I went with Lloyd's Bank, as did Doug. They just gave us the filofax, but I quite like it.

I then went to the International Students meeting, where we learned all about how to be normal. We then ate dinner, came back for the rest of the meeting, and then went to a reception. The reception was very nice. I got to meet a lot of people from abroad, but the highlight came when I met two girls from Germany and one from Holland. I sat and talked to them for awhile, their names being Karin, Suzanne, and Liesel-something (it became "Lisa"), along with Doug and J.P.

Doug and J.P. then left for the "Bad Taste Disco" event, of which I also had a ticket for, but chose instead to stay behind and talk some more, promising to catch up with them later. However, that was not to be the case. The four of us went in Karin's car (with the steering wheel on the normal side!) to get some pizza. Then we took it to Sue and Lisa's flat and ate it with some wine. One thing I've learned is that over here they eat pizza differently. Instead of slicing it, they cut it into bites and eat it. Odd.

On Monday when we ate pizza during our pub crawl in Chester, I sliced it and ate it like a normal pizza, and they found that to be odd. But they ate it the same way I did as well. (Oh, another humorous memory from the pub crawl that I forgot to mention before: Dave offered me a bite of his pizza, which I appeared to fulfill, but then at the last second took a monster bite, leaving him almost no pizza. I wasn't even hungry at that point, but hey, anything for a laugh. Anyway...)

I sat and talked with Karin, Suzanne and Liesel-something about anything and everything, but mostly on cultural differences, the Olympics and horrible landlords. After a couple of hours there, Karin and I left the flat and I was faced with the choice of going to the Bad Taste Disco, or just going home. After a frustrating decision-making process (and noticing that Karin's car arial has been bent up), I decided to return home. When we arrived at the Grange, I invited Karin in for some coffee and she accepted. It was only when we got to the room that I realized that I only had one mug (The Beatles "Blue Meanies" mug that I bought in Liverpool), and no spoon. Fortunately, she drinks her coffee black, because I didn't have any cream and sugar, either. So, being forced to improvise, I made coffee, gave her the mug to use, and stirred the coffee with the opposite side of my toothbrush. In the end it worked out fine and served as a humorous memory of this evening.

We continued to talk for about an hour more, during which time I learned that she was also a conservative (they're everywhere!) We talked a bit of politics, travelling, and whatever else we could think of until she had to leave. Since neither she nor I has a telephone, we could only exchange addresses. Turned out to be a great evening... looks like I made the right choice in taking a pass on the Bad Taste Disco. I wonder how that went?

(Photo taken by J.P.: Doug and Rick take a moment to rest near a fountain in downtown Hull. The backstory on this picture: Back at Millersville, Doug saw a photo in the exchange student brochure of two travelers in this pose, it was his goal to recreate that moment for himself.)

Sunday, September 25, 1988

American Movies Served British-style

I took Sunday at a leisurely pace. It was more or less a day of traditional British teenage life. I enjoyed a traditional English Sunday meal of beef, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings (kind of like a flaky biscuit), vegetables and mineral water. Quite good – I still can’t complain about the food here. Spent much of the afternoon watching the Olympics, which is quite interesting seeing it from the British perspective rather than the American focus I was used to watching.

Later, I joined Fiona, Zoe and some of their other friends to go to the movie theater to see “The Running Man” starring Arnold Schwartzenegger… a full 10 months after it was released in America! Fortunately, I had not seen it when it was released in the U.S. so it was new to me, and rather entertaining.

The theater itself was rather different that what I was used to in the U.S. First of all, it was huge. Also, the seats started a lot farther away from the screen than usual and were raised high above the floor, creating an open pit between the front seats and the screen. The set-up actually makes a lot of sense… no worries about a sore neck from sitting in the front row!

Afterwards we came home, had coffee and chatted about various things with Fiona and Dr. Morrison until the headed off to bed and I was alone. At 12:50 a.m., I began to watch the Presidential Debate. It was interesting to me but irrelevant, since I’ve long since known that George Bush was the best man for the job. I even got to shake his hand at a rally that my friend Greg Swartz and I attended in York back in August. But I watched the debate anyway to see how they fielded their questions and to make sure that George didn’t make any major gaffes. No major ones, but a few minor things that I thought he covered quite well. Michael Dukakis may have had the edge, but he didn’t win by as much as was projected or needed, which I think gives Bush the advantage. I’m sure the American people will make the right choice.

I’ve had the opportunity to observe British politics as well the past few days, most notably the emergence of a third political party. The Social Liberal Democrats, as they are known, combined people from the weak Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party, along with various socialists and others not wanting to join the two major parties. So far, all I’ve seen from them is constant bickering. They are pulling some support from the mismanaged and Neil Kinnock-led Labour Party, which as the #2 party appears absolutely pathetic. There is no serious contender to have a remote chance of dethroning Margaret Thatcher and the powerful Conservative Party, The Tories, anytime soon. Of course, I think this is a good thing. Good night!

(Photo: View of the backyard of the Morrison's home in Neston. Their home offered a fantastic view of the River Dee. On the other side of the river is Wales.)

****

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - The Hollies
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin

Thursday, September 22, 1988

Meeting My New British Family

Our flight landed at Manchester Airport with no problems at about 6:00 a.m., and we slipped through customs with no problems at all. We then proceeded to search for, and eventually find, all of our luggage. (Stroke of Luck #2: Baggage carts help us transport the baggage to our ride.)

We wheeled our luggage out into the lobby, looking for Mrs. Richmond (although we didn’t know what she looked like.) Fortunately, it only took a few minutes before we located her and her daughter Piper (a most fascinating name!) in the terminal. Then, with the help of Piper showing me how to operate these newfangled British phones, I called Dr. Ian Morrison, my "exchange dad," to let him know that I was now in the country.

Being quite early in the day, I wasn’t sure how he’d respond, but he was quite pleasant for someone receiving an early phone call from a strange American. However, he wasn’t going to be able to pick me up in Manchester until later that evening. (Stroke of Luck #3: The Richmond’s Give Me Temporary Shelter). Mrs. Richmond and Piper offered to keep me at their house until I could be picked up that evening.

We left the airport in Piper’s Volkswagen Polo (Polo?), steering wheel firmly placed on the right side of the car, and headed to their hometown of Disley, which is outside of Stockport, a town southeast of Manchester.) Piper then headed to the school where she is a teacher, and Doug, Mrs. Richmond and I stayed at the house, pretty much chatting about things a British person might ask an American houseguest when they had the chance.

We learned that she was a Tory (a conservative), which for me was quite a pleasant revalation, and provided for some interesting conversation. I gave her a Bush/Quayle campaign pin and bumper strip as a show of my appreciation for letting me stay at her home until Dr. Morrison’s arrival.

After a pleasant walk we ate lunch at a restaurant called Little Chef (sort of a Bob’s Big Boy-Denny’s type establishment), then returned for a short nap. After all, not sleeping at all the previous night was starting to catch up to us.

After our nap we watched a bit of the Seoul Olympic Games on the telly (wow, they only have four television channels to choose from. She couldn’t believe that we could choose from almost 50 cable channels in America!)

We then ate dinner, and I must say that all of the horror stories I had heard about English cuisine have been untrue. I’ve actually eaten quite well.

It wasn’t long after dinner that Dr. Morrison arrived at the house and we had some coffee (about my eighth cup today!) He drove me back on the motorway to Neston, a little town on The Wirral, or the little peninsula south of Liverpool. I received a warm reception upon my arrival, and after settling in, I experienced my fourth and greatest Stroke of Luck… Dr. Morrison offered to drive me “coast-to-coast” to Hull. (See, “take it as it comes” sometimes works out well!)

Once I unloaded my gear, we headed out to the Old Quay, a pub/restaurant where Dr. Morrison’s daughter and Glen’s younger sister, Fiona, (Photo: Dr. Morrison & Fiona) works as a waitress. We enjoyed a “pint” together, along with a bit of food (despite having recently eaten dinner), then returned to the Morrison’s very nice home, where Fiona and I sat in their television room and chatted until about 1 a.m.

At 12:30 p.m. (7:30 EST), I called my parents for the first time to let them know that we arrived safely and that everything was alright. Then, finally, I got my first night’s rest in a foreign country.