Wednesday, December 7, 1988

Halloween in December? ...

Pearl Harbor Day... although for George Bush it was three months ago (ha ha!).

I was planning on spending the day working on my Geography report, which is on the subject of the Central Business District. So I went to the library and got some books out and did some writing, but not too much. Hardly any, actually. I'm not really worried, though.

I got the package from my Grandma Reitz that I was expecting (finally!) It was postmarked Oct. 13. Good old quick service, huh? Her package had a Halloween card in it, as well as a lot of food (hooray!) (Pictured is the letter I received from Grandma, after I told her the package had not yet arrived.) I also got a letter from Shannon (my friend from Millersville, not my hamster.)

I ate a bit for dinner, then I hung out with Viv for the evening. Shannon is doing great (my hamster.) So is Shannon the person (from Millersville.) Maybe I should pick less confusing names for my pets.

Watched "Dr. Who." It was the third and final installment of "The Silver Nemesis."

Tuesday, December 6, 1988

The Importance of Finishing 'Earnest' ...

Missed most of my classes, except for Soc/Pol Structures, in order to work on my report... and to be honest, I shouldn't have even bothered with that worthless class.

I finally finished my report on "The Importance of Being Earnest," so that was an accomplishment!

Hung out with Viv later in the day. Really, that's about it.

Photo: J.P. and Malcolm, or "Mousey," check out something interesting on the floor.

Monday, December 5, 1988

Well, I Bought a Newspaper ...

Woke up for breakfast, then finished reading "The Importance of Being Earnest." (Fourth time I've read it... great story!)

After my shower I went to my rescheduled Geography lecture at 11.15 a.m. Following that, I took out £10 from the bank, send my friend Scott his package (featuring the bootleg of Prince's notorious "Black Album") as well as a couple other letters. I bought some lunch and a copy of "The Daily Telegraph."

I came back to my room and decided not to go to class. J.P. also made the same decision, so he and I sat around and talked about various things until dinner.

After dinner I came back and went to work on my "Earnest" report again. Did that for awhile, and then I hung out with Viv for the rest of the evening.

Not a very exciting day, I'm afraid.

Pictured: My police registration card, required of all us foreigners. Man, that £25 could've been put to much better use!

Sunday, December 4, 1988

To Quote the Immortal ALF ...

I did it! I got through the weekend on only 1 pence! And I have 1 pence to spare!

I was going to work on my research paper today, but, well, you know how that goes sometime. I only got a little bit of the work done. I spent the day quite lazily. Eating a typical lunch. That wasn't a complete sentence. But on a lazy day, you just can't expect every sentence to be complete.

Anyway, I spent most of the day hanging out with Viv (and Liz as well), writing some more letters back home, watching ALF at 2.30 p.m. Man, it was great to see an episode of ALF again. Liz said she thought it was crap, but she was laughing the whole way through. She won't admit it, but she's hooked.) I watched the episode after that one with Viv.

The second episode was a particularly good one, with ALF running for president against Kate. I had seen it twice before, but the first time I saw it here in England. The episode has two great ALF quotes:

• "If I may quote Joe Biden, 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
• "To balance the budget is simple. You just spend less than you make."

I did just that this weekend. I only had 1p, and I spent less!

Boredom and a lack of cash resources can sometimes lead to interesting endeavors. While Kurt was taking an afternoon nap in his room, J.P. decided it would be fun to "bog roll" Kurt's door while he was snoozing. So he took a roll from the loo, tore off strips, stretched them across the door and taped them until Kurt's door was completely covered. He included a "Police Line: Do Not Cross" sign at the top of the door.

It looked great and I got a few photos of J.P.'s handiwork (OK, a few of us helped, but he was the mastermind.) Then we waited in anticipation for Kurt to awake. It wasn't long before he opened his door, then ripped through the bog roll barrier. He was actually none-too-pleased by the prank (a most unusual reaction), but most likely due to his lingering grogginess. We cleaned up the mess, and in a short time, all was right again. (Pictured: The Artist and His Masterpiece)

I started to read "Earnest" again, but no more progress on the paper. At midnight I called home to say hello and see how things were going. I told my parents about Shannon the Hamster. They were obviously surprised, but they seemed to like it.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "The First Time" - Robin Beck
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Look Away" - Chicago
  

Saturday, December 3, 1988

Hull, England on Less Than 1p a Day ...

With exactly 1 pence coin in my pocket, I made the wise decision to stay inside. I actually got a good bit accomplished as a result, although one of those accomplishments was NOT my "Importance of Being Earnest" report.

I did manage to get seven letters written today, to my parents, my Uncle Greg and Aunt Sue, Uncle Mike and Aunt Mimi, Uncle Bill and Aunt Jani, Uncle Larry and Aunt Joanne, Gil Spatz (my former boss when I worked at the Artworks framing gallery), and a letter to the Conservative College Forum here in England. That's a record for the number of letters I wrote in one day!

I also got a letter from my former girlfriend Debbie, who's at Ursinus College, which was great (Of course, it's always great to receive mail from home!)

Excerpts from Deb's letter:

"I'm very glad to know you are so happy in England. Hull sounds like fun, though it's a shame about the food. I bet you reveled in seeing Liverpool. Did you OD on The Beatles? I hope you got to see 'Chess - the Musical.' You've been talking about it for as long as I've known you. You have to go so you can tell me all about it."

I haven't seen it yet. Hope to see it in London soon, though!

"Congratulations to you and your candidate! You would've been pleased with the ballot I cast, but don't tell any of my flaming liberal friends here. I may be liberal compared to you, but around here I'm the ultimate conservative! Pretty funny, huh?"

"Your course load sounds like fun (except for Geography) ... I can't remember if I told you, but I've been introduced to an interesting performer - Robyn Hitchcock - he's great! I think you'd like him, if you get the chance to hear him, take it! ... Yesterday was Thanksgiving & I'm stuffed! My grandmother and mother went overboard on the food. It was great!

"Do you remember the Grow-a-Frogs sold in Impulse? I bought one - it's great! The first tadpole, Ulmo (named from The Silmarillion") died after he finished becoming a frog. Boo hoo. He's buried in Musser's front lawn & all of my friends paid their respects. So now I have a new one, Osse, and he is bigger & healthier than Ulmo was. I expect he'll still be with me when you come home."

I then went over to visit Doug. He had spent the day in Manchester with his exchange family, and I also showed him my latest photos. I spent much of the day practicing my guitar, then spent the rest of the evening (as I so often do) hanging out with Viv.

Played with Shannon the Hamster for awhile too, which was cute. I was wearing my Camp Hill High School Cross Country sweatshirt, and she enjoyed crawling around the handwarmer area of the sweatshirt. She stayed in there for quite awhile.

Friday, December 2, 1988

Winning Over Roz Billington? ...

Went to my Social/Political Structures Seminar and discovered that there was only one other member of my group at the class. So I pretty much went on my own to discuss the American Class System with good ol' Roz Billington. I thought it went quite well, with Roz (naturally) pointing out two flaws in my presentation.

On one point, she was correct (I actually realized it after I read it), but on the other point, she misunderstood what I was saying. Once I explained what I meant, she agreed and everything was alright. A success! I left that class rather happy. Anyway, I still haven't been able to get a hold of the previous essay I wrote for that class. I'm curious to see her reaction.

After class I went home, took a shower, and after lunch J.P. and I went to town. I took £10 out of the bank and did my rounds. I got my photos back (very nice), bought a new photo album, a hamster playball, a dish, some reprint photos, and a root beer and french fries at McDonald's.

While at Mickey D's, I saw Viv and Liz out, so I stopped and talked to them a bit, until they went their own shopping way. At the end of our excursion, when I stepped off the bus in front of The Grange Halls, I had exactly 1p on me. I made a vow that I would get through the weekend with it. It'll be tough, but I need to save money now.

After dinner, I arranged my photos in my photo book, then showed them to some people. Viv and I then got out the hamster ball and let Shannon take it out for a test drive. Boy that was fun to watch! She was going all around the room knocking into things (Shannon, not Viv.) It reminded me of the good old days when I was 6 and I had my hamster, Ernie.

Anyway, the day continued with little action. I stayed with Viv and visited others for the duration of the evening.

Thursday, December 1, 1988

OK, So I Own a Hamster. Now What? ...

I was going to go into town today, but decided not to. Shannon, my new hamster roommate, was rather active last night (as hamsters tend to be nocturnal), but she was relatively quiet and I had no problem sleeping. I didn't do much today other than play with Shannon and write a letter to my friend Dave Wagoner back home (started writing the letter at home, finished it up in class.)

Actually, Prose Fiction class today wasn't too bad (probably because, as J.P. put it, we didn't have to read anything for it.) After class I went to the library and did research on the American Class System for a presentation I'm doing for Social/Political Structures class. Hopefully I can win Roz over with my essay, but it'll be tough. So I did about three hours of research for my 10 minute presentation.

I came back to my room and continued working on the presentation, during which time Viv stopped by and did some work as well. Later that evening I did something very typical and very beautiful... I slept.

(Pictured is J.P. These were his rejected photos for various school IDs, which I acquired from him. Then I gave him a nice hat. This was pre-Photoshop, folks!)