Wednesday, May 31, 1989

Horseback Riding in Beverley ...

Woke up, ate breakfast, and received a great letter from home that had £60 in it! So I took that along with a check from Dr. Morrison for £16.50 (he gave it to me for train fare) and deposited it all in the bank. Then, after withdrawing £10, I still had £30 left in my account. I also have a £65 Access bill coming, so I'm still actually in debt... but I fortunately have my overdraft to lean back on.

Hard times these are, financially, for a poor college student abroad.

Anyway, I bought myself a bacon sandwich at the Colberg Deli for lunch, and then read the newspaper at the library.

At 2 p.m., Jenny, Simon, Karen and I caught the bus to Beverley, and at 3 p.m., we were riding horses through town. (Pictured is Beverley Minster.) This was actually the first time since my trip to Mount Rushmore in 1982 that I rode on a horse, so it was difficult for me at the start to get accustomed to it, but it was good fun besides.

The four of us rode on our horses along the roads through town, which was very nice. Beverley is a pretty little town. This was certainly an unusual way to view it. It did make my bum sore when all was said and done, but I managed. Definitely a good experience.

When we were done, I had a quick snack while we waited for the bus, and when we finally returned to the halls, Simon and I went straight to dinner.

Following that, I went back to my room and began recopying the first part of my epic short story, "The Thirty-Seventh Heir." That is, until Sam stopped by and convinced me that we should go to the movie theatre and see the remake of the horror flick "The Blob." Good schlock-horror-comedy, it was. I quite enjoyed the film, as did Sam.

When we returned to The Grange, we had coffee in my room, listening to Steve Miller Band and talking our usual conversations, while Shannon roamed the room all the while.

Tuesday, May 30, 1989

The Return Trip to Hull ...

Today was "Return to Hull" day, so I packed my bags, bid my farewells, and Fiona drove me to Liverpool Lime Street station to catch the 10.52 a.m. train.

No problems on the journey, as I just read pretty much the whole way, changing trains at Leeds. I arrived in Hull at about half two, and then caught the bus back to The Grange halls.

Checked my post (no letters arrived while I was out), then I relaxed in my room. A bit later on, Kofe stopped by and we talked for awhile about Millersville (he was an exchange student there last year), music, America and various other topics.

A bit later on, and after cleaning up my room, I went over to St. Hilda's to visit J.P. We talked about the weekend past, baseball, and our usual fare. He said his last performance of The Mikado went really well.

Dinner in the refectory was poor. But later that evening, there was some good TV. Both an episode of "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series and "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" were on at the same time. "Hitchhiker" won, and it was fun to watch. It's a shame that I'll miss the last 2-3 episodes, as they won't be shown before I head back to America.

Following that we watched "Moonlighting," then "Thirtysomething" was on, but I left the common room to visit Sam, and we ended up talking for the rest of the evening.

Jenny Rourke stopped by and asked me if I'd be interested in going horseback riding with her and some friends tomorrow, and I said I would. That could be fun (I hope)!

Went up to pick up Shannon the Hamster from Cat, and she said that all went well with her over the weekend. Good to hear!

(Pictured is a photo of the Coca-Cola cans that I collected and displayed on a ledge over the one window in my room. Pretty cool, huh?)

Friday, May 26, 1989

Leaving for Liverpool ...

I spent the morning re-taping Liz's Beatles' tapes for her, while I still had Jane's recorder in my possession, and before leaving on my trip to Liverpool. Once I was finished, I gave the recorder back to Jane, dropped off Shannon the Hamster to Cat (it's not often that a hamster is in good hands when you give it to a Cat!), then caught the bus into town to catch the 4.42 train.

And what do you know? Jenny Rourke was on the train! She was heading home for the weekend. So Jenny and I rode together and chatted as far as Leeds, which is where I had to get off the train and reconnect to the Liverpool train. She reminds me so much of Stephanie LaBella from high school (whom I've only seen once since graduation).

Anyway, I waited a half an hour before catching the train, and during the ride I worked some more on my short story, "The Thirty-Seventh Heir." I finally arrived in Liverpool at a little past eight, and shortly afterward, Dr. Morrison arrived and we rode back to Ness, stopping at the Old Quay for dinner.

We didn't do much more than talk this evening, but it was still relaxing good fun. Fiona was at a friend's house that evening and didn't return until late. I finally got to bed at a little past one.

Pictured: For the past several weeks J.P. had been busy rehearsing for his performance in "The Mikado," which was presented this weekend. For some reason, I didn't get a chance to go. I was at the Elvis Costello concert on Wednesday, and in Liverpool on Friday and Saturday... but I don't know why I didn't go to see it on Thursday. J.P. will have to fill in any details about the show itself. Even though I didn't see it, I did manage to swipe one of the posters for my own personal collection.