Wednesday, June 14, 1989

Should It Be This Hard to Buy a Plane Ticket? ...

Today was spent anticipating the pending arrival of my parents in England, although I won't actually see them until Friday. They will be visiting with Dr. Morrison first.

I also got Viv's airline ticket squared away today, although it was a very close call. First, the Student Travel Agency wouldn't accept a check from me (probably not a bad precaution to be taking), so after confirming her flight (leaving July 14, returning August 14, from Manchester), I walked to the bank to cash Viv's check.

However, after finally getting my cashpoint card back from Lloyd's Bank, the nice lady there told me that it would take until Monday before Viv's check cleared. That sent me into a bit of a panic... I'm not going to be in Hull on Monday. Fortunately, she made a few phone calls on my behalf and we worked it out, so that I was now able to pay for the plane ticket upon returning to the STA.

Now that that was over and done with, I took a little walk into town, along the traditional route through Newland Avenue and Spring Bank Road (both to and from downtown Hull), buying up a few more of those things that you just can't find in the States... including two more old Elvis Costello singles. I also bought a Batman: Death in the Family comic book for face value (50p). Its current value in the States is $10 - good deal!

Upon my return I checked out a few books from the library to prepare for my Social/Political Structures essay on The Media this Friday. I did some preparation, but not a lot, tonight.

My parents called me after dinner... for the first time in a long while from the same time zone! They had arrived safely and were now at Dr. Morrison's house in Neston. Everything went smoothly on their journey, which is definitely good news.

And what day would be complete without coffee and sharing bad jokes with Sam?

I continued to take down some of the decorations in my room today. It looks so barren now.

Wow. My time in Hull is nearly over.

Friday, April 28, 1989

Worst Day Yet ...

This won't go down as one of my better days in Hull. I had no classes today because Roz Billington felt it pointless to have a seminar in Social/Political Structures today.

I did a bit more reading, and checked some books out of the library for both of my essays... no big deal. Then I just loafed the afternoon away, playing for J.P. the "album" of joke songs that my friend Scott and I recorded (met with lukewarm reviews), as well as some Cosby. Then we played a game of Risk, where J.P. and I finished in a standoff (which I think I would've won).

That evening, I debated, but eventually decided to join everyone and head over to the Student Union. It was alright... nothing spectacular. I spent £1.25 to get in, and that was it... I didn't have any money to buy drinks. I mingled with a few of the Spanish students there, and actually did a fair amount of dancing.

After walking back to the Grange afterward, the lot of us (Kenny, Andy, Big Jon, Turlough, Kenny's brother Andy, two Spanish girls and myself) went to Kenny's room to chat and have coffee.

It was here that I got annoyed.

Kenny and Big Jon decided to make it a "Trash Doug" evening, and ragged on him about being a homosexual, making fun of his poetry. I got very annoyed at them and stuck up for Doug quite vehemently. I didn't appreciate it one bit... the guy hasn't even been around here in over four months. Why suddenly pick on him now?

I left and returned to my room, where I wrote a letter to Viv. I think I'll be writing one to Doug as well.

Now more than ever I want to leave this place.

Friday, April 21, 1989

It's Official: I'm Going to See Elvis Costello! ...

Arose bright and early today and following breakfast, I went to my Social/Political Structures seminar, after which I stopped at the library to check out some books on the Spanish Civil War. After a failed attempt to round up someone to go into town, I caught the bus and ran my errands on my own, picking up the photos I had dropped off.

Unfortunately, as I feared, one of my film rolls did not develop... of course, it was a roll of photos from Spain, so that was disappointing. Fortunately, in her letter from yesterday, Viv said she could get me copies of some of the photos she took if my photos didn't take.

I went into the Central Library and checked out a few books, bought another book at Brown's Book Shop, and then I bought a ticket for the bus trip offered at Gough and Davy to see Elvis Costello at Newcastle on May 24. Lorna said she may go to the concert, but if she doesn't, and if I can't find anyone else interested in going, then I'll go alone. But that doesn't bother me. At least I know now that I'm going to get to see him. I'm definitely looking forward to that show!

I returned to a relatively uninteresting evening of watching television, and then I spent a good bit of time talking to Sam. Watched an episode of Sgt. Bilko, a special on Hillsborough, Cheers, a documentary on Adolf Hitler, and a movie called "Downhill Skiier" with Gene Hackman and Robert Redford.

Most everyone else went out tonight - there was a benefit event at the Student Union for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster last weekend (see the poster that I nicked above). But with me now short on cash, I decided it best to stay in, so when the movie was done, I went to bed.

Wednesday, April 12, 1989

How to Drink and Be Merry at the Student Union, and Not Pay a Single Pence ...

Following breakfast, I was treated to receiving two more issues of The Snapper in the mail, as well as a few photos of my friends back home - mostly of Michele (who now has long hair!)

I went to an exceptionally dull Geography lecture, then found out part of my final exam schedule (last exam is scheduled for June 13), then returned to waste the rest of the morning.

Later that day, after reading for a bit, writing some more and dinner, I gave Jane some letters that I was requested to give to her from Spain. After that I went to J.P.'s room, where we hung out a bit before heading over to the Student Union to celebrate Big Jon Whalley's birthday.

J.P. and I came up with a way to spend absolutely no money this evening and still have a great time... and it worked!

Step One: We drank a few rum and cokes in J.P.'s room before we left.

Step Two: We made sure to arrive early, before they start collecting admission at the door, so we didn't have to pay to get into the Uni.

Step Three: We loaded up J.P.'s backpack with bottles of the home brew that he made in his room, and snuck that into the Uni. And that's all we drank all evening. It was actually a pretty good batch he made, and after a few rum and cokes, it really didn't taste all that different from the beer we would've purchased.

We had a good time celebrating Jon (and Sharon's) birthday. I took my camera, but it was too dark to get any pictures in here.

The only thing about home brew is that you need to stop drinking before you get to the bottom of the bottle, because there's usually a collection of heavy sediment laying there that will gag you if you drink it. But this provided us with a unique opportunity for laughs and hijinks.

As we neared the end of each bottle, we would pour the undrinkable sediment into an empty pint glass at our table. Eventually, the glass was reasonably full... enough that it looked like a barely touched glass of bitter.

Now the trap was set to teach a lesson to a pint-nicker. We got up, went over to the dance floor, leaving the enticing, unattended brew sitting there, all alone. Sure enough, we returned to the table a short time later, and the glass had vanished. We didn't see who ended up taking it, but whoever it is might not be feeling so well in a little while if they polish the whole thing off!

When we got back to the halls, we caught an episode of the new Twilight Zone on TV, about "The Shadowman," and then I went back to my room and slept very soundly.

Thursday, March 2, 1989

The Campaign Continues ...

I'm temporarily using a red pen right now in my journal, just to mix things up a bit and make things a little more interesting. I decided to bag class today in order to assume my duties as Big Jon's campaign manager. I walked down to the Student Union and picked up an application for the election. The guy who gave it to me was a bit surprised to have an American request the form. He has no idea...

Afterward, I headed over to the University union, where I purchased my airline ticket to Spain (student rate). I had to take a flight on the 13th of March, so it looks like I'll be there for a total of four weeks (and I'll miss one week of classes before our three-week spring break.)

I returned to my room after mailing various letters home and purchasing a birthday card for my Dad, as well as a Mother's Day card for Mom (never too early...) I also bought a copy of "Time," with John Tower on the cover, Bush's unsuccessful nominee for Secretary of Defense.

After dinner I wrote letters to Greg, my parents, and Viv, then spent the rest of the evening fooling around in St. Hilda's. Oh, and this evening a few of us headed up to the cinema to see "Return of the Living Dead, Part 2." Funny!

Pictured is, sadly, the only photo I took of Big Jon. To see the full context of this picture, you'll have to check back here on March 1o. I'm thinking this photo might not be the best representation of a Student Union Presidential Candidate. Then again, you just never know... (Hey J.P., you wouldn't happen to have a better photo of Jon in your archives that I could borrow?)

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.

Friday, February 24, 1989

Talent? ...

I had a pretty good day today. First, I went to my early Social/Political Structures class, which was rather dry (about multi-national corporations), then relaxed around the halls. Early in the evening I called Viv at home, and she said she was feeling much better, so we were able to talk for awhile.

Afterward, and following further dilly-dallying around St. Hilda's, the lot of us went to the Student Union. It was the first time in a few months that I had actually been there. We were originally going to head to the Architecture Union, but a last minute change of heart convinced us to do otherwise (we didn't think we'd be able to swing cheap drinks.) Had a really good time at the Union. I had a bit to drink (went for the cheaper Newcastle Brown Ale - Newkie Brown - to save some money. Darn good for so-called "cheap beer"!), talked to some of my friends and to some people that I didn't know.

They were hosting a Talent Show at the Student Union that evening (though from what I saw, I don't think they found any), and I watched in amazement as the girls were blithely going into the guys bathroom all evening (due to overcrowding in the ladies' loo, naturally). I wasn't really in the mood to care.

I worked with J.P. to try to slap together an act for the Talent Show, and take the stage to perform Yokel's "I Don't Like Ugly People." Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Perhaps if we would've had a bit more time to prepare...

After awhile I lost J.P., but rediscovered some people I hadn't seen in a long while. I walked back to the Student Union with Cat (from Juniata, see September 29, 1988) and Helen (see October 4, 1988; also pictured above, right, with her friend Vicki), two people I hadn't really associated with in a few months. It made me start to wonder about some of those people I met and hung around with, and then disappeared, back in October. (German Karin?)

Anyway, I came back to my room well past midnight, let Shannon the Hamster run around before crashing shortly thereafter in bed.

Thursday, February 16, 1989

Spanish Trip Remains Up in the Air ...

Viv and I made our way up to the Cottingham Road site to see her final results and whether or not she passed, which would determine whether or not she was going to continue her studies in Spain. When we got there, the results weren't posted yet. So we ran a few odd errands and then returned home.

Classes today were canceled due to the Stupid Union's (excuse me, the Student Union's) decision that all students should boycott classes in support of their opposition of the government's Student Loan plan. Since I support the loan plan, I was furious that classes were just canceled outright and that I did not have an opportunity to show my lack of support for the boycott. But alas, I was helpless.

Later, I joined Liz and Viv en route once again to check on their grades for the Spanish Business program. Viv found out that she had failed two of the tests and was awaiting a third result. If she failed this test, then she wouldn't be going to Spain (and neither would I).

While awaiting that third result, we checked out information on traveling to Spain. It would cost me £104 to fly, £100 to travel by train. I still don't know, though it seems worth it to pay the extra 4 quid to fly and bypass France.

That night Viv and I went to see "Arthur 2: On the Rocks," which to my surprise was a pretty funny movie. A short while after we returned from the theatre, my friend Greg called me at the halls, so I talked to him for awhile on a range of a whole bunch of topics. Some of the topics appeared to have annoyed Viv, because she left the phone room before the end of my conversation.

After I returned to my room, she expressed her displeasure with my characterization of the British by using the popularity of the band Bros. as an example. She was quite mad at me. I guess I went a bit too far. We eventually made up, though.

Thursday, November 24, 1988

Thanksgiving ...

Doug, J.P. and I went into town today to make some purchases. I finally got a hold of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's new album, "American Dream." It's not too bad. I'd give it 3 stars out of 5.

Doug and I, after giving up on finding a Hull Cheese shirt, walked back to the halls, stopping at a comic book store, where I bought Batman issue #427, the third in a four-part series called "A Death in the Family," where Robin is blown up by the Joker. Readers got to vote for whether or not Robin lived or died in the series. He got the thumbs down. Also stopped in a record store, where I bought Phil Collins' "Sussudio" (extended, £1.50), some flowers (pink carnations) and a bottle of Blue Nun for Viv, in celebration of our one month anniversary.

Came back to the room and paid a visit to Viv. But then it was off with the other American students for our special Thanksgiving dinner at the Cottingham Road site. It was quite nice (easily the best meal I've had on campus), and it gave the Americans a chance to get together and enjoy this important holiday. Unfortunately, J.P. didn't go (I heard later he was spotted running down the halls singing "I hate turkey! I hate turkey!") But it was still a good time.

Afterwards us Americans headed over to the Student Union nearby, where Buffy and I got to talking. During the conversation I learned that she is good friends at Juniata with someone I knew from middle school, Bill Samuels. Bill was part of a Boy Scouting expedition I took in 1984 up to the Maine High Adventure camp, where we canoed and camped in the wilderness for a grueling, rain-soaked week. Wow, small world.

A little while later, Doug, Buffy and I walked back from the Union, and I stopped in to have a little chat with Sam in his room, down the hall from mine. Next I went up to Viv's room to give her the flowers and wine. She, of course, loved them.

Later on I returned to St. Hilda's and went to use the phone. The family was gathered at my Uncle Larry's house in Delaware, and I wanted to offer my Thanksgiving greetings. I got to talk to Mom and Dad (and I told him about meeting someone who knew Bill - Dad went on that Maine trip with us), my Grandpa Reitz (who during World War II was stationed in Grimsby, which isn't too far away from Hull, just across the river), Grandma Reitz, Grandma Lentz, my sister Angie, Uncle Mike (who also went on that Maine trip and knew Bill), Aunt Mimi, Uncle Larry and Aunt JoAnne... although not necessarily in that order. It was good talking to them. (Pictured is the photo my family sent to me from Thanksgiving Day: Mom, Dad, Grandma Lentz, sister Angela and sitting on Dad's lap is my cousin Taylor Anne.)

Although that would've been enough to make a person homesick, it was actually Viv who was feeling that way when when I returned to her room after the phone call. I did my best to cheer her up and it worked. I also gave her a special mix tape that I made for her for our anniversary, titled "For Viv," which she loved. It was a very good, albeit expensive, day.

Wednesday, October 19, 1988

Toga! Toga! Toga!

Woke up at 9 a.m. and decided not to go to class this morning. I got myself awake, and after a little chat with the maid, I took a shower (conveniently located across from my room) and then went to meet J.P. and Doug to go to the Finance Department at the Cottingham Avenue site to pick up our food money. We had £50 waiting for us, which certainly helps.

Then Kenny, J.P. and I went into town to buy some odds and ends. I got my pictures back (some look pretty good), a flash for my camera, two photo books to hold my photos, a cassette of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” another cassette of classical music, and some hangars for my clothes.

We returned for some leisure “hanging about” until 7:30 p.m., when we watched our weekly “Doctor Who.”

Then we got ready for the Toga Disco, being held at the Student Union, located at the Cottingham Avenue Site. With the exception of Kurt, we all took our sheets off of our beds, wrapped them around ourselves, and began the long cold walk to the Union, where along the way we encountered a high locked fence to the entrance we usually use, so we were forced to climb over it to get to the disco. During our walk, Big Jon suggested that Kurt (who is of Spanish heritage), should’ve come to the dance dressed up as an Inca.

When we got to the Student Union, there were a good number of people already there dressed in their Greek/Roman garb. We all had some Foster’s Lager, bitter or cider, then went dancing on the dance floor for awhile. Later we got a little more bold and went up on the raised stage that they have there, usually reserved for better dancers than us. That was good fun.

The DJs started playing some unusual selections, including “YMCA” by the Village People, and music by Abba and from the Grease soundtrack, but it was all great. All-in-all, I though this dance was much better musically than what they played at LA’s last night. The DJ also played three songs by The Beatles, two by Prince, and a number of older tracks.

At about 11:30 p.m. we left the Student Union to begin the chilly 20-minute walk back to The Grange. It wasn’t long before we encountered the same locked fence that slowed our progress when we walked to the Union. I grabbed the iron bars and pulled myself over the sharp edges at the top, and I thought I cleared it with no problem. However, I later discovered that my sheet caught the bar and ripped, and must’ve cut my heel in the process, because there were blood stains on the sheet as well.

If that wasn’t challenging enough, it started to downpour. With the rain drenching us, Kurt, J.P. and I broke into a sprint for a good bit of the way… which was quite humorous, now that I think about it. When we returned we ran right into St. Michael’s, with our sheets and clothes muddied and soaking wet (and mine ripped and blood-stained). As we approached the St. Hilda’s TV room, Viv “kidnapped” me and took me back to her room, where Liz, Viv and I sat, talked, and watched the movie “The Thing” on Viv’s TV.

I was a bit worried about what would happen with the sheet when housekeeping came to take it for the wash, but I just couldn’t get myself too concerned about the muddy thing at this time. I stayed in their room until after 4 a.m., when I made the decision to return to my room for some sleep.

Fortunately, my first class isn’t until 2:15 p.m. tomorrow. Needless to say, I slept without a sheet tonight.

Monday, October 10, 1988

Bonk

Well, it was another slow, lazy day here in Hull. Since I didn’t have a class until 3:15 p.m. (that’s a nice set-up to start the week!), there was nothing to worry about. Around 10 a.m., Doug, J.P., Sean Furness (or “Bonk,” as Kurt has started calling him, which is “Knob” backwards, short for knobhead) headed over to Cottingham Road. Doug and Bonk are switching rooms, so we were heading over to make it official. Bonk will take over Doug’s single room, and Doug will now reside in the double room with Kenny.

It’s actually a pretty cool double. There are two separate small rooms for Doug and Kenny, and then one large living area that they both share. It’s a pretty cool place to hang out. Hopefully the move will boost Doug’s spirits.

After the change was made, we dropped Bonk off at the Student Union, and the three of us Americans went to register with a doctor for the national health service. (My NHS card is pictured, right) Doug, who has a bad sore throat that has chewed up his voice good, made an appointment for Wednesday.

Next, it was back to my room for some more sleep… until 2:45 p.m., when I rejoined Doug and J.P. and we headed to our Modern Poetry and Drama Class. It was an interesting lecture, with an interesting tutor, Don Ward.

After that, it was back to The Grange Refactory for another revolting and unsatisfactory meal. Following our meal we sat around, talking with Sid, Kurt and others in St. Hildas before J.P. and I took a much-needed chips and gravy run up to Double Happiness. However, when we returned, we realized we had forgotten to get Doug some as we had promised. As my punishment, Doug shook up my can of Coke, then rolled it down the hall.

This alone was funny enough, except it got better. It stopped rolling right in front of where a shoeless Bonk was coming out into the hall, and thinking that this was an empty Coke can on the ground, decided it would be funny to kick it back. Oh, the pain he felt when he discovered it was a full can.

Well, the evening continued, with people poking fun at Bonk (as per usual), and sitting around talking in Kurt’s room, even though Kurt wasn’t there. When I left to go to bed, I was to encounter Jo, whom I now simply refer to as “The World,” and her friend, and they decided to come into my room for a bit to chat. It wasn’t long before they left for bed, which I think is a good idea.

Wednesday, October 5, 1988

"The Girl in the Red Dress"

Woke up much too early, as my Geography lecture was at the ungodly hour of 9:15 a.m. I took a lot of notes during the class, and afterwards just took it easy. I was originally planning on going out this evening with Karin to celebrate her birthday, but when I returned to my room there was a note on my door telling me that she was busy today, but that she was going to go out with a bunch of her friends tomorrow and that I could join them.

Oh, and she also said in the note that she's "seeing a guy named Steve."

So, with my plans totally rearranged for the evening, we started by watching the new season of "Doctor Who" in the common room in St. Hilda's, the residence hall where J.P. and Doug reside. After that we decided to go to "The Oasis," the Inglemire Site Night Club and Disco. It was slow at first, but soon it picked up (for J.P. and I, at least), as we had quite a lot of fun drinking and dancing. We left the club at about 11:30 p.m., when it closed, and we returned as a group to some girl's room, where we sat around drinking coffee for awhile, and talking.

I then left to return to my room for some sleep, but it was not to be. I ran into Kofe, who convinced me to come with him to visit some people. I certainly didn't want to be impolite, so I joined him. When we got to the room at the top of St. Michaels (the other residence in The Grange, located between St. Martins and St. Hildas... you need to walk through St. Martins to get to St. Hildas, actually), sure enough, four girls and one guy were there just hanging out. We all chatted for awhile, and as we lost people to sleep, only two of us remained, "The Girl in the Red Dress," and me. I just can't remember her name now, but we talked until well after 4 a.m. She was nice but was way into astrology (I mean, big time!), which I found to be a bit weird.

Well, eventually I was able to trek back to my room, and this time uninterrupted, so I finally opted for some sleep.

(Pictured is my Student Union identification card from Humberside College. You needed this to get into any number of college functions.)

Sunday, October 2, 1988

Discovering Double Happiness

The day began for me around 10:30 a.m., with Doug coming to my room to see how I was doing. Apart from my sore throat, I was fine. Doug (pictured in his room) also mentioned to me how depressing his room is. I am trying to cheer him up, but it’s difficult when the person doesn’t seem to want to be cheered up. But then again, I still think this phase will pass him in a week or two.

Around noon Doug and I went to lunch (which they actually do serve here on Saturdays and Sundays), and it actually wasn’t too bad today. The biggest problem I have is the fact that we are limited in our portions. I was used to Millersville, where you go in and eat until you are full. Here you are given a budget, and if you go over, you have to pay the difference. As a result, I couldn’t even afford the bread and butter to go with the meal, which was quite frustrating.

We were originally planning to make a trip up to the City of York, but we decided to take it easy instead and just hung around the residence. One thing I did was fulfill my promise to start running, and so I joined Karen on a four-mile run, which is quite a distance to start running the first day back. Needless to say, she is in much better shape than I am, so I was completely unable to keep up with her. Oh well, the important thing is that I keep up with it. I also did something that I was never able to really do before… run a well-paced final mile after slowing down to a walk. I guess that’s something.

I came back, took a shower, ate dinner, and then fell asleep for awhile. I was awaken some time later by three girls (named Jo, Jane and “?”), who came into my room and started talking to me. It was quite odd, but after awhile I was finally coherent enough to figure out what was actually going on. So we all sat and talked for awhile, during which time two other girls, Sara and Louise, came in to talk as well.
A little later on we all went over to see Doug and J.P. to see if they were interested in heading over to the Welcome Back Disco being held at the Student Union (about a 10-15 minute walk from the Grange). When it became apparent that Doug and J.P. were planning on staying at The Grange, the group of us (minus “?”) headed over to the Disco. That turned out to be good fun, and I saw several people that I now knew, as well as some that I met for the first time that evening.

Aftter dancing and chatting a bit at this dance, we decided to leave and walk over to the nearby Hull University Union. It was much bigger, but also much more crowded. In fact, it was annoyingly overpacked, so we didn’t stay very long. It was a nice complex, however.

Anyway, I left with Louise and Sara, and we headed back to The Grange. Sara was wearing her Bros. jacket – “rubbish music” as she calls it. I have to agree with her on that one). But before returning, we stopped at Double Happiness, a Chinese take away restaurant located a few blocks from our residence... and at that moment defined my new staple in the food department… chips ‘n gravy. Chips ‘n gravy from a chinese restaurant are outstanding! We finished the walk around the corner and back down to The Grange, where we each returned to our respective rooms for some sleep.


****

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" - The Hollies
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Love Bites" - Def Leppard
  

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.)