Future Plans!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long absence. For the past two weeks, I have buried my head in a pile of books and pumped out two papers, WHICH I turned in today!!! YAY! It feels amazing. Doubly so, because I have fun plans lined up! Tonight I am seeing American Pulitzer and Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison ("Beloved," "The Bluest Eye") speak at UEA's International Literary Festival. Tomorrow should be a fun Halloween since everyone here is keen to celebrate it "American-style," meaning actually celebrate at all. Apparently after the age of 8, Halloween is a thing of the past for most Europeans. A sorry fact they are ready to set aside in homage to this spectacular holiday. Many flats are even decorated with black and orange streamers and pumkins. But like everything, it is also different. For example, people actually dress up as Halloween things for Halloween. My flatmates are being: a ghost, a witch, a black cat, a pumkin... I explained that no one in America dressed as such stereotypically "Halloween" things, and they were all offended. So it looks like were going to celebrate "old school" this year!

The Saturday after I leave for five days of travel. I am so excited about this. It is the image that saw me through many a late night of paper-writing. I am certain that no one else would have fun on this personal tour because it appeals to my nerdy literature side. Thus, I have dubbed it my "literary pilgrimage." I am also excited to travel alone again, make random traveling friends, and walk all day long if I want to. Here is the game plan:

Saturday: Arrive in Bath
Sunday: Day in Bath: Roman baths, Bath at work, Costume Museum
Monday: am: Jane Austen Centre (!!!) pm: afternoon tour of Stonehenge/village of Lacock
Tuesday: Costwold Villages with Mad Max Minibus Tours (highly recommended by my guru Rick Steves) Sleep in the hostel in Stow-on-the-Wold
Wednesday: Stratford-upon-Avon and Shakespeare sights!
Thursday: Warwick Castle. Return to Norwich in time to watch the Sex and the City movie with Laura and Kelly.

I had to do some revisions: cut out Oxford since all their hostels were booked on the one night I could be there, and Jane Austen's house in Acton because of train issues. However, I will try to see these places before I go. I am ecstatic! Oh, I should probably mention that all of this is made possible by "reading week" in which we don't meet for class, but are expected to get ahead on reading...yeah...right.

And about a week after I return is the International Student Society Edinburgh Trip! A lot of my friends are going on that one so it should be fun. The weekend of Thanksgiving, Laura and Kelly and I are going to Amsterdam. But after that I think I should actually do some papers and reading... It is, after all, what I am "officially" here to do.

One more thing before I go: So Monday my friend Johnny from Germany and I decided to finally see the boys choir do Gregorian Chants at the Norwich Cathedral. We have been putting this off, and we finally made it. BUT, instead of the choir, it was a regular prayer service, and we were sitting front-and-center so we had to stay for the whole thing. At the end, Johnny was like "and vhere vas the singing?" I guess there's always next time! But dad will be happy to know that I actually went to church here, even if it was the Anglican church.

To redeem the night, we thought we'd head over to the Norwich Beer Festival, which features local brews and ales, but it was the first (freezing) night and the line went all the way around the Hall. We weren't going to wait. So instead we hit up a local pub and had some generic, not-special pints, that were still quite good. Johnny practiced his English, which got increasingly worse the more he drank! It was fun, and the Joker would have loved it since it... "didn't follow the plaaaan..." (picture Heath Ledger's voice).

I will try to update throughout the week, but I'm not sure where and when I will have internet. It is the travellers most elusive friend! Until later, dear friends!