Sunday, June 18, 1989

Two Wongs Don't Make a Reitz ...

I had a very good, relaxing day following my recent marathon of activity. I woke up late in the morning, ate breakfast, and took the afternoon easy at Dr. Morrison's house.

We went for a walk down the road to Ness Gardens, which is a very nice botanical garden. Although it was very hot, I had a great time with my parents, catching up on the events of the past nine months.

Soon we walked back to Dr. Morrison's house, where after another rest, during which time I listened to a few of my records, we got ready to go out to dinner at the Jasmine Eating House - a Chinese restaurant. Before we made it to the restaurant, we stopped at Mike and Eunice Unger's house for some drinks (cool, refreshing Pimm's, a classic summer British spirit.)

We gathered at the restaurant at around 8 p.m., and around half 8, the feasting commenced... and boy, was it good! Every course was delicious, from the soup to the roast duck and to the main course - sweet and sour chicken, steak and several other delicious dishes. We all had an excellent time, eating and drinking until close to midnight.

It was great to see everyone one last time before jetting off, and what a way to celebrate! Dr. Morrison knows the owners of the restaurant, the Wongs, and I convinced Dr. Morrison to take a picture of me with them. I call it, "Two Wongs Don't Make a Reitz." (Pictured above is the classic photo, with me, Mrs. and Mr. Wong at their restaurant. Nice hair, world traveler!)

Upon returning to Dr. Morrison's house, I still had another task... to repack my gear as best I could for the next journey. I didn't get to bed until it started to get light outside, which is still pretty early in these parts.

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• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Sealed with a Kiss" - Jason Donovan
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Satisfied" - Richard Marx
  

Sunday, January 22, 1989

The Sunday After ...

I woke up (surprisingly) at 11 a.m. this morning. Felt relatively well, despite getting very little sleep. Ate a marvelous breakfast, and then read for awhile until it was about time to leave Dr. Morrison's house and head back to Hull.

Just then, Mike Unger (pictured) stopped in to see how the Burns dinner went. He normally goes to this celebration, but unfortunately he had to attend a dinner where Peter Ustinov was speaking. I do believe he made a good choice. One amusing thing he told me that was an utter surprise. Even though he attends the celebration of Scotland's most revered poet, and even though he's the editor of one of the country's largest newspapers, and even though he lives less than two hours from the Scottish border... Mike has never been to Scotland! That just seemed so impossible to comprehend. He's been to many places all around the world, but said it just never came up as a destination of choice. Wow!

Well soon after, Dr. Morrison and I left for Hull, and we only got stuck in one traffic jam along the way. Once we arrived at The Grange halls, Dr. Morrison joined me for dinner in the refectory. That was a sorry mistake, although he got a little sample of what I am forced to eat every day.

He left shortly afterward, and it was back to face the reality that I had a paper due tomorrow. So I began to work on the paper a bit later, with Viv graciously offering to help me, after watching an episode of "Cheers."

Hey, the Super Bowl was on today, and though it started a bit late here (time zone differences and all), I was still able to watch it on Viv's TV in my room, which was very convenient. We continued working on my paper during the game (and offering some explanations of the game of football to Viv.) We were actually able to get a lot of work done. The San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, but it was a very good game and won by only 4 points in the closing minutes - one of the best Super Bowls I've seen in years!

It was very, very late when the game finally ended (almost 4 a.m.), so when it was over I fell asleep.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Especially for You" - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Two Hearts" - Phil Collins

Thursday, December 15, 1988

Back to Liverpool ...

I woke up to have breakfast with Viv, and then at 9:00 a.m., I walked to the Inglemire campus to pick up my "Earnest" paper. I received a lousy 55! I think that will probably transfer to a "B" in our system, but I'm still disappointed because I thought I did a pretty good job on that paper!

Anyway, I took a shower and then finished packing, getting ready for 26 days away from Hull, traveling to various points in Britain. To start, I'm heading back to Liverpool to spend some time with my exchange family, the Morrisons. After lunch with Viv I went back to my room and by 1 p.m. I was finished packing, so we waited together for Dr. Morrison to arrive to pick me up. I will see her a few days from now when we meet up in London.

Before he arrived we had one last mail call, and I got a nice package from Grandma and Grandpa Reitz. I've received a number of cards and some cash gifts from relatives for Christmas, and that will certainly come in handy!

Dr. Morrison came a little after 2 p.m., and before we left I showed him some of my photos and a few of The Snappers before we bid farewell to The Grange Halls. We stopped at the bank so I could deposit my checks into my account, and then Dr. Morrison showed me where his son Glen's flat from last year was located. Then we took off for the "cross country trip" from Hull back to his home in Neston, south of Liverpool.

This was actually the first time I had been in a car since October (I'm pretty sure I've never gone two months without being in a car before!), so it actually felt a little bit odd (driving on the left side of the road notwithstanding.) We stopped at a Happy Eater restaurant along the motorway for coffee and sandwiches in preparation for the journey to Liverpool.

We arrived at Dr. Morrison's house at 7 o'clock, and at 7.30 we left to visit Mike Unger, a friend of Dr. Morrison's. He's a very interesting fellow, and the editor of the Manchester Evening News. Also, he knows Michael Crawford (of "Phantom of the Opera" fame), and his cousin is Jim Unger, the cartoonist who draws the comic strip "Herman." Since we talked about my interest in newspapers, he offered to take me on a tour of his newspaper, and so we scheduled to meet at his office on January 4th at 2 p.m. That should be interesting and fun! He also gave me a "Guardian" 1989 diary, which I will put to good use.

Following that visit, we went for a delicious Mexican meal at The Hacienda. Best meal I've had in awhile. Following that we stopped at the home of some other friends of Dr. Morrison's (their name escapes me, but they were a nice older couple.) We talked about a lot of things, including someone they know that could get me inside Parliament for a rare peek at the British political system. That would be awesome!

We left there and came home to greet Fiona, and later her boyfriend Dave, who stopped by a bit later. After talking for awhile, I went to my room, where I started reading this bizarre book Dr. Morrison recommended called "Ikon," by Graham Masterton. Then I went to sleep.

Pictured: Dr. Ian Morrison, his daughter Fiona, and Rick outside Dr. Morrison's home in Neston.