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
  

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.)

Thursday, September 29, 1988

Coffee with One Cool Cat

Six a.m. this morning marked the one week anniversary of Doug's and my arrival in England. I woke up around 8 a.m. to wash up for breakfast. Hey, having a sink right here in my room is quite handy! After breakfast we met up with Dr. David Foster, along with the other American students at Humberside College of Higher Education, to prepare us for life at the college. We met a few nice folk from Juniata College (located about 2 1/2 hours from Millersville)... one in particular, Katherine (Kat), whom I talked to for most of the walk on our way to see Dr. Foster.

After a briefing on life in Hull (pictured is the park at Queens Dock Avenue in downtown Hull), we were assigned to teachers who were to prepare us in our course load for the year. After a few discussions and some confusion on what we should be doing, I was able to come up with what I thought was a pretty decent academic schedule... three literature courses, a Social/Political Course, and an Introduction to Geography Course. Doug took on the same schedule, since we determined that it was perfect for us.

Once that was finished, we walked around the campus and surrounding area, eating lunch at a pub (since the college does not provide lunch for us, like Millersville does... they give us a cash equivalent so that we can buy lunch, though it's barely enough to buy an insufficient lunch here.) We then bought coffee and newspapers, and just basically mulled around Hull.

Together with Doug and fellow Millersville student John-Paul Cardoso (a.k.a J.P.), who lives in Conshohocken, near Philly. I had briefly met one night last spring by chance at a Millersville University in an apartment just off campus, but hadn't seen since him again until our arrival here in Hull. We headed to a store and bought some posters and putty to decorate our rooms. So they are now a little more decorated. Now I need to find an AC adapter to that I can plug my stereo into a British outlet and not use so many batteries.

After dinner, we gathered a group of Americans (and one Spanish-Englishman) and trekked off to a pub. I started with a lemonade (it's fizzy here), and Doug, J.P. and the Spanish-Englishman (whose name escapes me) disappeared. So suddenly I was the lone Millersville student left with the Juniata students. No problem, though, and soon after, Kat, Buffy and I left the pub to return to the Grange halls. Buffy went back to her room, while Cat came back to my room for some tea. I got to use the coffee maker they provided for us in our room for the first time, though just to make hot water.

Kat and I sat and talked for about two hours, covering just about anything and everything we could think of. I found her to be pretty cool, quite charming and easy to talk to (not to mention, she's quite attractive.) She left my room a little after 10 p.m., and then I did a little writing to catch up my journal.

I still have no idea where Doug and J.P. got to that night. Oh well, I got along just fine without them. I'd say things are looking pretty good so far here in England.

Wednesday, September 28, 1988

'Coast-to-Coast': The Journey to Kingston-Upon-Hull

Woke up this morning ready for the big coast-to-coast journey (which is not quite as daunting as it would be in the U.S.!) Ate some breakfast, brought my bags downstairs, took some final photos of the Morrisons, bid farewell to Dave and Fiona (who turned 18 today), and Dr. Morrison and I were off!

Our first stop was in the town of Disley, near Manchester, where we picked up Doug Schoener at his exchange parent's home. After loading his gear in the car, we had a tedious trek from Disley back to the motorway, which was plagued with construction. However, once we opened up on the motorway, it was non-stop at 90 mph... well, that is, until we stopped for food.

The scenery along the drive was marvelous, and quite different from what I am used to seeing along American highways. We passed by old farm houses, picturesque moors, and even a rainbow at one point added some vibrant color to the scenery. It took us about two hours to get from Disley to Kingston-Upon-Hull ("Hull" for short), and eventually came upon the largest single span suspension bridge in the world, the Humber Bridge (a toll bridge that I was told loses about 1,000,000 pounds a month in interest fees. Nice investment!) It was not long after that we approached our living quarters, The Grange... the residence where Doug and I will be living during the next year. I am living in the building called St. Martin's, and Doug is in St. Michael's. As soon as we got unpacked, Dr. Morrison bid farewell, I thanked him for his hospitality and generosity, and he drove back to Neston for Fiona's birthday party.

The excitement I'd been feeling up until this point gave way to a sudden feeling of unsureness. Not so much with me as it was with Doug. This was not what he was expecting at all. Check-in was fine, but he (and to a lesser degree, I) were not quite sure what was in store for us. The Grange Hall of Residences, where we were appointed to live, was not quite as nice as what we were used to at Millersville. The size of the room was OK, and it was interesting that there was a sink in each of our rooms, but it was an old, converted convent building with very outdated fixtures. There were actually three separate buildings, and right in the middle is an active church.

Well we decided to give it a chance and went for a meal at the dining hall (edible, but just barely), and then prepared to head to the College's Disco. From there, things started looking up again. Although it was very crowded, we were able to meet a few people and get a taste of the student night life in England... quite a change from a dry campus like Millersville, where open, school-sponsored alcohol consumption was not a part of the experience.

We met this bloke from Suffolk, John Heather, and after awhile decided to take off and head to a quieter pub, where we had a nice chat. Things continued to look up at this point. "Take it as it comes," I reiterated to Doug. "Then you can never go wrong."

Tuesday, September 27, 1988

Last Night in Neston

Took the day at quite a leisurely pace. Woke up late in the morning in preparation to enjoy my last full day in Neston before heading east to Hull and start my sophomore year in college. I ate breakfast, read the paper, and then I rested. I introduced Dave to a tape of my band, Yokel, a sort of jokey heavy metal power trio featuring me on bass and lead vocals, along with my friends Greg Swartz on lead guitar and Steve Benner on drums. We aren't very good, but we had a lot of fun recording "Shut Up and Listen to Our Lousy Album" in one day. Both Dave and Sean thought it was "brilliant" -- something I would have never thought to call it.

When Fiona arrived home from school, we all went out for Chinese food and ate it at home. Afterwards, Fiona went back to school and Dave went home, during which time I listened to the Beatles and did a little writing.

That evening Dave came back, and we trekked down the road a piece to the Wheatsheaf for a little socializing. There we met up with Albert, an old school mate of Dave's. We chatted for a bit about various topics, then successfully played some of the "fruit machines," where I ended up 2 pounds. When Fiona and Dr. Morrison arrived we continued to chat and I snapped a few photographs. When Zoe arrived a short time later, we started to play some games. We started with "Buzz," which is a numbers game, and then we played a word game that Dr. Morrison (pictured above at the Wheatsheaf that night) suggested.

Afterwards, the lot of us went back to the house, where we watched a few of Glen's home movies until Dr. Morrison went up to bed. Then Zoe and I challenged Albert, Dave and Fiona to a rousing game of Pictionary. We lost, but it was a darn close game (I blame the darn British rules...) We followed that up by having a chat, and then 2 a.m. rolled around, so I thought it was time to call home to say hello to Mom and my sister Angie (since it was only 9 p.m. their time). Last chance on the Morrison's dime! Dad was on a business trip to Ohio, so I'll have to catch up with him another time.

Still not tired enough to go to bed, we watched Dr. Morrison's video of Billy Connolly, titled "Billy & Albert." He is apparently a popular and quite hilarious Scottish comedian. I may have to pick some of his stuff up. Well after that I was finally ready for bed and headed up, leaving Dave and Albert in the television room. Another good night's sleep awaits...

(Pictured left: At the Wheatsheaf are Rick, Zoe, Albert, Dr. Morrison and Fiona.)

Monday, September 26, 2008

The Fantastic Chester Pub Crawl Birthday Extravaganza

Woke up at half-eight when the phone rang. It was Glen's friend Sean (pictured), curious about what plans we had for our day in the picturesque City of Chester. I was still suffering from "just woke up" and was relatively incoherent.

After that I fell back to sleep until about 10 a.m. when Fiona's boyfriend, Dave, called. Shortly after 11 a.m., Sean, Stewart, Dave and I were on our way to Chester.

I was there last night to see "The Running Man," but I didn't get to see all that much of Chester at the time. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so I was unable to get photos of town... although in light of how this day went, it was probably best I didn't have it with me. Overall, it was a fabulous day. We shopped in the morning, where I bought the new Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight (88 Remix)" maxi- single. We then at lunch at McDonald's (a little taste of America... except the ketchup is a little sweeter, and they charge you extra for each packet. Weird.)

Over the course of the day I bought a Union Jack flag and a map of Britain (both to hang in my dorm room when I get there), a cassette of the "Buster" soundtrack (excellent!), and a blank tape. We walked and shopped for about 8 hours, including a walk along the top of the wall that surround Chester. The wall was built buy the Romans long ago... and after we pointed out that fact, our running joke became that everything in town was originally built by the Romans. ("Oh look, W.H. Smith... did you know that store was built by the Romans?")

We also visited Chester Cathedral, which was fabulous. I wished I could've stayed there all day with a skeleton key to get into all the crypts, crannies and what-have-yous that are in that place. We then left to search for some museum Dave wanted to take me to in Chester. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure exactly where it was and we failed in our mission to find it.

Dave (pictured, right) and I finally took a break in the center of town, near the keymark clock that was covered up for repairs, and then entered the pub behind us. While we waited for Fiona and Zoe to arrive we chatted a bit, largely about political and social culture (he's also conservative like me), over a pint. Fiona and Zoe were supposed to arrive at about half six, but they missed their bus and didn't get in until half seven.

We the set off on a traditional British "pub crawl," in celebration of Fiona's 18th birthday (in two days actually... so she's technically two days away from being legal age to drink, although no one here seems to mind much.) During the course of this most festive evening, I was introduced to several British beverages, as we managed to hit, I believe, about six pubs (some of them are a bit fuzzy recollections).

There were several memorable moments during this excursion:

• I sang the sad and depressing "Happy Birthday" song to Fiona, as taught to me by my high school World Cultures teacher, Pete Sanden, who sang it to kids in class on their birthdays. It goes:

“Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday.
People dying in the streets.
Children with no food to eat. But...
Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday."

• Fiona spilled two drinks, one of which resulted in a broken glass, and the other resulting in Dave licking the spilt beverage off of the table.
  
• I accidentally knocked Zoe off of her chair... well, actually, I barely touched her and she fell back off of the "slippy" chair.
  
• Air guitaring "Hotel California" in a pub.
  
• Singing a rousing version of "Bohemian Rhapsody," and later marvelling that a Queen song was played at each of the last three pubs we were at. One more and my theory would’ve kicked in, that this is no longer a coincidence, but rather a tribute to one of the band members having died. (Fortunately, that was not the case, and Queen will continue to “rock you.”)
  
• An Englishman who was convinced that I was English, and merely impersonating an American accent.
  

Some other hazy recollections include Dave blowing up a balloon (I hope it was a balloon) while walking down the street, running through the streets of Chester to get to the next pub, something called "Thumper," and then hitting a pizza place to get some food at five after 11, since the pubs closed at 11 p.m. Although the place was ready to close in 10 minutes, we were undaunted, ordered our pizza, and forced them to stay open until 11:45, when this loud group finally left the empty restaurant and returned to the streets, no doubt causing much celebration among the staff forced to endure our lack of courtesy.

Afterward Fiona and Dave briefly disappeared, and we had no idea where they went. But as quickly as they vanished, they suddenly re-emerged and we could catch a taxi back home. When we returned, Dr. Morrison was quite amused by my current state caused by excessive alcohol consumption, especially when I then took it upon myself to pay him back the five pounds that I owed him. I walked Zoe back to her house, then returned home, where Fiona went to bed and Dave and I sat in the television room, continuing to chat until about 4 a.m. He told me stories about some kid named Philip Ingram at his school, who reminded me of someone I went to school with named Mike Sim. I told him about some kid I went to school with named Mike Sim, who reminded him of this kid he knows named Philip Ingram.

The evening ended with me acquiring from him my new "pseudonym in favor" -- Thermos Fortitude. I don't know what that meanns.

What could have been finer?