The Life Of Brian

Hey Everyone,

 

Well what a while since I last posted something on here! too much has gone on for me to even try and update you so i'll give you the gist!

 

I am now a graduate, having got a 2:1 BA (hons) Language and Human Communication qualification. My three years in york were some of the best times of my life, travelling around the world, learning more about linguistics, working with so many different people, experiences that are invaluable. I left york, amid emotional scenes, last monday, to my new place of residence in a small town near leeds, called Menston. I don't know how permanent this is, but for now it works. They say that you often don't appreciate where you are or what you have until you've moved on, well that is certainly true of York and the University life. There were times when I wished that it was all over... and now that it is, i miss is all, i miss everyone. However, nothing lasts forever and it is time to move on with my life.

 

I have just secured a temporary job at the university of leeds, so lets see how that one goes. I am looking forward to the new challenge and developing myself within this role. I can't help thinking though that I should do something completely drastic, like move abroad again or move to london... something daunting and exciting... lets see what happens ey!

 

As the summer draws to a close, i'm in a very reflective mood about my university experience and how it all has changed me as a person and what it all means for the future... i'm beginning to think about serious things like planning for a house, wanting to meet a partner and all of that! whats happening!! At the same time, i want to wish my wonderful friends the best of luck in the future, wherever they are around the world..

 

keep you all updated soon :) x

A song that I really like

 

The things we want and the things we need

Can be two different things, instead of the same

When we hold to what is dear to us

When it don't belong to us, who is to blame?

And when we think we get a litle closer

We'll just be pushing away

And when we force it, it's when it ends up breaking

You know things just work that way

 

Sometimes things just wont change

Until we can learn to give it away

Just Ket it go

Sometimes things wont move

Until we can prove

That we can leave it alone

Just let it go

 

If we comprimise who we are

What makes you think we will get that far

Rolling that way

Then finally we'll wake up and realise

Everyone that we despise

We used to embrace

Just when we think we get a little stronger

Thats when we are weakest of all

We think we are holding onto something special

That very thing makes us fall

 

Sometimes things just wont change

Until we can learn to give it away

Just let it go

Sometimes things just wont move

Till we can prove

That we can leave it alone

Just let it go

 

Just let it go

Hey Everyone..... well its been so long since I wrote on here.... too long infact..

 

various things that have gone on since the last posting, I finished off by telling you about the physiotherapy treatment I am recieving for my leg. The problem being that my calf muscle regularly feels tingly and my hip aches. I also find it very difficult if i have to use that leg for balance as it has reduced strength/feeling. the issue for me is that it doesn't really affect me that much, it just feels uncomfortable a lot of the time, hense the physiotherapy treatment. Anyway, after going for 4 weeks, it was no better. The physiotherapist, or gavin as i call him, told me to concentrate on doing the exercises and then go back and see him in 3 weeks. That is next week and although the tingling isn't as often, the aching is, so we will have to see what he says next week. I also have an Asthma test on thursday as the doctor thinks that my chest has been damaged a little from the pneumonia. Dropping to bits!

 

I have been working almost full time as Student Ambassador for Admissions, Marketing and the Installation of the Chancellor of York St John Universtiy. The installation was an event to mark the appointment of John Sentamu, Archbishop of York as the chancellor of our university. He is responsible for upholding the university's values, fighting for its rights and raising its recognistion. I find this very hipocritical. During the service there was a speach talking about how the university embraces difference and cherishes diversity. John Sentamu has openly expressed homophobic opinions around child adoption and gay marriage. This isn't the kind of 'embracing' and 'cherishing' i had in mind. One of the openly gay lecturers is considering resigning from the university in protest. To me it just appears to be a big publicity stunt to raise awareness of the york st john brand, through a very outspoken and powerful clergyman, and not too bothered about it's students or ethics.

 

The Vagina Monologues is currently playing at the Theatre Royal in the city centre. As part of my current module "Language & Gender" we went to see it. I must admit, before going I had visions of 3 militant lesbians preaching about feminism and I was a little scared. However, I was in for an evening of witty commentary, funny stories and hilarious improvisations. I have not laughed so much in such a long time. Something I would recommend everyone going to see, especially for the part entitled 'my angry vagina' and the various different orgasms a women can have.... hilarious.

 

Uni work has been at an incredibly high level this past couple of weeks. I have had Assignments, journal reviews and presentations to do and all for the same deadline it seems. After much stress and histerical laughter I have managed to write a 2500 word essay on Bilingualism in Canada, review 3 journals and help write a 20 minuite presentation on language and gender. That is only half of the work that is left for this semester too... oh well... atleast there are no midterms or finals!

 

until next time xx

(218)

hey guys, time for another quick update.... nothing really new to add

 

my friend stephen came down last weekend to see me. He is from Yarm... which is no where near newcaslte.... he always gets annoyed when I say he is from newcastle. Anyway, we had a nice weekend, Although I worked through the day, we watched a film on satuday night and then graced toffs with our presence on sunday night. The girls, or house 3 babes as i affectionately call them, took him to the designer outlet on sunday. Unfortunately I locked my doror by mistake whilst at work so he ended up locked out of my room for most of the day until I returned from work. Such a great host! He seemed to get on quite well witha  number of people in the group of friends I go out to toffs with every week. Toffs is the local night club that has a gay friendly night on sundays. We had so much fun, dancing to classics such as b*witched's c'est la vie, justin's sexyback and mariah's fantasy. I saw quite a few other friends out and ended up dancing with them too... good times.

 

Wednesday was valentines day.... the day when cupid is supposed to fire the arrow of love into your life. Unfortunately cupid was a little too busy for me this year as I recieved a grand total of 0 cards, not a thing. Oh well... being single is great... i guees. Cat recieved a card from her 'friend' rich, but that was the only bit of excitement that stired in house 3 this year. Makes you feel a bit rubbish though doesn't it. Everywhere around you, couples. My excuse for this year is that no one knows im back in york properly.... so those thousands of potential romeo's are desperate to send me something.... just dont have an address that is up to date.

 

I have had to see a physiotherapist about my leg, today was the second session. I have irritated the siatic nerve in my leg.... dont ask me how because I have no clue. It basically means that my leg feels uncomfortable most of the time. Its not agony or restricted so I can carry on as normal... i just feel like I have cramp all the time. So, Gavin, the physiotherapist has been pushing, pulling, yanking and stretching my legs in the hope that they will become less irritated. The treatment has tended to be quite a bit more painful than the problem... I have to go again next week and do some regular exercises, so we shall see how all that goes....

 

until next time x

Hey everyone.... big update due I think.... so here we go.

I dont want to go into the usual detail, because I would be here all night and so would you reading it... so here is the edited, simple version of events that have gone on since I departed Vancouver airport.

Los Angeles was a welcomed injection of heat, something I had been looking forward to since the temperature hit -38C in Regina. Walking around the streets you get the impression that Los Angeles is about the glitz, the glamour and the image. Everyone had a tan, fake or real, everyone had perfect hair, perfect nails, the biggest designer sunglasses (and that was just the men). My first taste of america and I was overwhelmed by the desire to flash the cash, this is what I have, whether it's classy or not, here it is. Then there was the other side, almost every bench or corner had a homeless person, struggling and begging as the rich, popular people waltzed on by, starbucks in hand.

Anyway, apart from that one bizzare observation, LA was just like any other major city, bustling with tourists and locals trying to go about daily lives. You didn't get the feeling of being immersed in a legendary film mecca nor did you expect to turn around and be faced with Renee Zellweger or A desperate housewife (well, not the famous kind anyway). I did enjoy walking around the place though, pointing at the famous names in the stars on the floor, seeing the hand prints, the home of the oscars, santa monica beach and Rodeo Drive. We traced the footsteps of Julia Roberts right into the pretty woman hotel and down the row of shops. We also spent a day at the place where dreams come true (apparently), Disneyland Resort LA. I had an amazingly childish day, walking around meeting all the characters, going on the fast rides, soaked on the log flume and a lovely old time in Mickey Mouse's House.

I left in the cover of darkness on the morning of new year's eve, leaving bette in the company of two norwegian girls who we met through the week. I jumped on an Early flight to Minneapolis, first class none the less. Changed flights in Minneapolis and went to Washington DC. Seated next to a lady from washinton, who was one of the nicest people i've met on the whole trip. We must have talked about everything and anything. Arriving in Washington, i was greeted by Suzanne who had been sat for half the day waiting... bless her :-).

Walking around washington you can certainly tell this is the city of the government. If monuments, memorials and museums (the three ms) are your thing, then Washington is perfect for you. Every street corner or park had some sort of memorial or museum in it. There are loads of monuments littered everywhere. The most impressive being the Washington monument. A large needle like structure pointing high into the sky. We boarded the elevator and walked around the observatory level at the top, providing panoramic views of the whole city. We also went to see the US capitol - the US president ford was being buried that day, so it was obviously a lot busier than normal - saw the white house, although george wasn't home, walked around Arlington Cemetary (the nations most sacred shrine). Arlington was very sombre with the tomb of the unknown soilder, changing of the guard and JFK's grave and eternal flame.

This time we left in bright sunshine and arrived, slightly later than scheduled, in New York where Rhiannon and Neil had sat for 7 hours waiting for us. Staying on the westside (how much of a rapper do I sound) we saw absolutely everything there is to see in New York. The Empire State building, where the night lights are one of the greatest things I have ever seen, Walked across brooklyn Bridge - and imaged I was staring in a film - saw ground zero - quite a moving experience especially with the flute being played. We went around all the shops, Macy's, Bloomingdales and Tiffanys. We ate out at some nice restaurants and walked around Central Park. One night we went to a bar called therapy where the local 'act' asked me to go on stage. After speaking for a couple of minutes about a song I have never heard off, she asked me to take my top off to show her my body. Unfortunately, as I am not a performing monkey, I declined - much to the dissapointment of the crowd. If they want me.... they have to pay ;-). It was a good night and after being on the stage, rhiannon graced the stage to sing a song with some other people. Quite an enjoyable experience. Although New York was the place I was most looking forward to, I couldn't help feeling a little dissapointed. I was expecting Sex and The City, I was expecting glamour and sophistication. It was just like any other city really apart from it had tall buildings and famous places. There was no real romance or glamour about it, just an industrial feel. maybe it was the time of year or maybe it was where we stayed. who knows. Overall though, I would definately recomend going, it has to be done.

So, after a turbulent flight back to dublin, sat next to a rather odd man that gave me cologne, I have been back in the UK for almost a week. I have proceeded to sort my life out with my car, university and a job. Its all over, my travelling days are paused, I can live out of a wardrobe rather than a suitcase. I can't help feeling a little deflated though... no more surprises instore or adventure. I'm going back to normal life again... and the people I left in canada? "As I leave it all behind, Your still emblazoned in my mind, And if we never meet again, Think of me every now and then". I have had the most amazing time travelling and getting know other people and myself, i've come back more sure of myself and more confident. Let the new year begin!

until next time :-) x

 

 

Hey Everyone....

 

.... my fears of spending christmas alone were banished when I got a text from Bette telling me her flight to Amsterdam was due to leave on time. Happy with this knowledge, I went to bed, slept and wandered around downtown vancouver again waiting for the time to go and collect her from the airport. I arrived at the airport at around 4pm and waited for a full hour whilst her flight arrived at the gate, passport control and baggage collection was completed. There was a panic moment when I had a text telling me that the bags hadn't arrived from amsterdam.... when in fact bette was looking at the wrong carrosel. At precisely 5.10pm..... Bette came walking through the arrivals doors and what followed was a scene reminiscant of Love Actually. There was running, tears, laughter and cheers, in plain view of all to see! It was so good to see bette again and after the whole drama of fog in Norwich, i never thought it would happen.

So, after getting change for the bus and going to the bus stop, we made the 40 minute journey downtown, changing busses at the airport station. By the time the bus got to where we needed it was dark, so we got a bit stressed trying to see the street names from the bus, but we managed it. We got to the hostel, checked bette in and then headed out for a legendry reunion starbucks.

The next morning, after a 'bloody good sleep' we headed out for a look about. There is a very high observation deck in the centre of downtown, so we decided to go and have a look. The circular walk around the deck gave you a panoramic view of the highrise, the mountains and the distance. It was really good. We could see the sights, handily pointed out by little plaques on the wall, we had a hot chocolate and a picture before checking out the revolving restaurant. After deciding it was a little out of our price range, we went in search for north america's only steam clock. This was placed in the historic gastown area of the city. A short walk from the observation deck and it was on the corner of the street. Many toursits mistake it for an antique when it was actually built in 1977. The clock emits a small amount of steam and 'erupts' with steam and horns at 15 minute intervals. Once we saw this we meandered down the street taking in the few shops and another, well deserved starbucks. That evening after stopping briefly at the christmas lights at st pauls hospital, we stopped into a christmas eve church and carol service. We were invited to sing, light candles and reflect the meaning of christmas in this calming and relaxed environment. A short walk back, in the pouring rain, and we were reading magazines on our bed and getting ready for another night's sleep.

Monday morning, Christmas Day, saw us up at the crack of dawn and on the city's seabus across the harbour. This was to catch a connecting bus to take us to lynn valley. The first thing we noticed when we got there was a big plaque dedicated to 'jacquie' who was accidently killed in the park in 1982. We havent been able to find out how or what happened. We enjoyed a short stroll down some steps to the main attraction, a steel suspension bridge across the canyon. An absolutely amazing view, unforgettable experience and more than a little vertigo... but it was worth it. We walked through the woodland, chatting, taking pictures and pointing out nice sights before heading back over the bridge and the bus across the water. We had originally planned to go to stanley park and the capilano suspension bridge. However, mother nature had other ideas as a wind storm, reaching 100km/h, battered both parks and caused months worth of damage resulting in the parks closure.

After missioning it back over the water we walked around, slightly lost, looking for the #19 bus to take us to the aquarium. Hint from me, dont ask for directions to anywhere in downtown vancouver on christmas day, no one has a clue. Anyway, we eventually found it and got to the aquarium just in time to catch the last dolphin show and walk around the various exhibitions. Most noticable are the jellyfish tanks, almost like works of art, and the bright coral reefs they have. Back on the bus, we made it back to the hostel in time to catch a lovely candle lit christmas dinner. We sat and ate our christmas dinner, drank our 7up and chatted with the other guests for a while. We did have plans to get 'pissed' but unfortunately everywhere was closed. Apart from the dingiest, darkest, grimiest place that bette found rather appealing... 'come on, we'll go in there'..... 'no, it looks bad bette'..... 'i want a drink, we are going in'.... we lasted one drink and was at home in bed for 12. game on.

Today has been a nice relaxing day, taking in the boxing day crowds, buying a pair of 'must have' trainers for bette and getting the latest cheap CD for me. We mooched around the likes of louis vittion and gucci, however, their 'sale' prices didn't really match our definition of sale, so we left empty handed. We walked around Canada Place, an exhibiton centre that resembles a cruise ship and felt a bit like jack and rose as we neared the end for photographs. The walk back to the hostel saw us stop and ANOTHER starbucks before chilling out in our room, sorting our lives out.

The day after was a long trip to the airport to catch our two seperate flights to Los Angeles. Travelling to the US was a rather formal affair which made me feel a bit like a criminal really. I had my fingers and eyes scanned as well as detailed questions about why I wanted to go to the US all before being searched by the metal detector guys. The flight was on time and lasted for around about two hours. Due to strong winds around LA, the landed was very rough, but we made it. I then waited around in LAX waiting for bette to arrive.

I have 3 minutes left here, so more to come :)
until next time x

 

 

hey Everyone.... just thought I would write an update....

current location - Internet cafe, Davies street, Downtown Vancouver, Canada

Wednesday saw my last full day in Regina. I finished packing my things, cleaned my room, said my goodbyes and then spent the night at chelsea's house. We had a really nice lunch at moxies, a trendy cocktail bar/restaurant. After that I had to say the last goodbye to Brittany, my japanese tourist partner. Tears were shed. I had my last ever supper at luther college, and in true luther fashion, it wasn't that great. Perogies with mushroom sauce - yuk. After that I headed out to the Free House, a small bar in the city centre. There I met up with some friends for a goodbye drink. It was a good night, having a couple of shots, taking silly pictures.... good times :)

The morning saw an early rise and one final trip to starbucks before heading out to the airport. There, we reminisced about my time in Regina and the small leaving crew, chelsea, chelsea's mum, jordann and john all gave me a hug before I went into the departure lounge. I'm going to miss Regina so much. I arrived in Vancouver early morning, 9.40am to the news that bette's flight was cancelled because of thick fog in the UK. Thefog has an effect on flying times and delays happen. However, as it is seriously bad fog, most of the flights leaving the UK have been cancelled. Bette also tried today but again, her flight was cancelled. She is going to try tomorrow to see if anything is going to happen before giving up and spending christmas at home. I really hope she can get out here otherwise i'll be in LA and Vancouver by myself. So I got over to the youth hostel and there were complications with the booking, they need a voucher, even though the booking is in the system and is paid for. STA travel havent sent me a voucher so they refused to let me stay. I had to pay again to stay in the same hostel. I called STA travel at 3am my time and they immediately faxed the voucher to the hostel. I also recieved a refund for the extra charge i incurred. Last night i just went walking around vancouver, its such a nice, high rised city. Reminds me a lot of hong kong, but maybe thats because its slightly on a hill and its next to the sea. The weather is very british, rain and thunderstorms but its warmer than -17C that I left in Regina. Today I am going to walk along the sea front, visit granville island and then see the science world centre. I may venture out tonight, my youth hostel, by pure chance, is in the heart of the gay area of town. Walking down the street, with lots of rainbow flags, flamboyant men and being checked out.... i was thinking..... i wonder if im in the gay bit of town.  My guide book tells me that the local bars are very recommended... so we shall see for tonight.

A British Airways flight trying to take off in the heavy fog & A BA jet sits in the fog at heathrow airport.

until next time guys x

Hey Everyone.... Well.... I had such a fun weekend... Its the start of goodbye's all around....

On thursday Jon and I went for a bit to eat and a drive around the city to look at the festive lights. I took lots of pictures of the Legislator building all lit up in red and green. There were a number of christmas trees around it too. I must say, all of this snow and red and green lights, gets you in the christmas mood. As we were getting into the car to leave the legislator, we noticed there was a swaith of colour in the sky... to my amazement, it was the northern lights! A bright green ribbon of light dancing across the sky. It was amazing. One of my life ambitions is to see the northern lights and right here, central Regina, there they were, silently weaving across the sky above us. Magical.

Apparently they are the sign of blessing, according to Native American culture, so consider myself blessed!

 

On friday night there was a get together here at luther for everyone. Lots of the international students are leaving this weekend, Matt on sunday, Ru on Saturday, so we wanted to have something whilst we are all still here. After a slow start, it went well, brittany chelsea and I all ended up at the Owl for a bit of boogying too. Brittany being under age, we had to do a bit of stealthing to get her in, but we managed it.

On saturday night I went to a party held by a friend in the City. There I met quite a few people that I didn't know, but it was cool, i introduced them to the wonder of English music, mostly Girls Aloud.... oh they are so good. We had drinks and conversation there before heading out to the gay bar, where I met Jon and Lisa. There I danced on the dance floor, the stage and at the bar.... a lot of dancing went on :-). The DJ even played English music in honour of me going away. The Sugababes and Misteeq... good times. Jon and I did the usual making out on the dance floor, but I suppose that was expected

 

Brittany and I went on a Japanese tourist date to take pictures of the University and various things in the snow. It was good, although the wind was blowing at a strong 30 km/h and it was -20C..... so quite blustery and cold, but we got some good pics to show you all, all in the name of art! We ran through the snow banks and took pictures of the lake (that is frozen over), the trees in the snow and various things that we saw. We didn't last long though because it was too darn cold!

This is my last couple of days in Regina now and they are going to be quite busy, I have exams on monday and tuesday, i then have to pack everything up and clean my room out on wednesday. I meet bette in Vancouver airport at around 4pm.... oh i can't wait... the big reunion.... B &B  back together . I still havent decided whether to stand at the arrivals hall with a big sign saying 'Bette Middler' on it... i think it would be fun.

I hope your all ok, If i dont get to say this before I go, Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hey all, how are you doing?.....

not much to report on here, I went to a goodbye party on saturday night, although I shouldn't have done - still recovering from the bronchitus. It was a really fun night, had a bit of wine to drink. I am now entering the final week of being in Canada. Bette is coming to see me soon and I am packing my things. My time as a canadian vagabond is almost up!

Something funny to say, some medical expert that writes a round up of 'medical blogs' in the UK somehow found my piece about going into hospital last week. They featured 'the life of brian' and put a link on their website.... so if you have come from clicking on there, you need to go down an entry ... i think the official introduction was something like 'Meanwhile in the colonies a brit checks in for some american health care, see how he got on' and gave the link.... made me laugh quite a bit.... im famous!

I have had an exam this morning on Historical Linguistics.... im clinging to the fact that miracles do indeed happen, so i may have passed. I have one tomorrow (Language Awareness), one friday (Semantics) and one on tuesday (french)... so its a bit of Final hell at the moment. I think there are some final farewell parties going on this weekend.... a lot of people are going home this weekend for christmas so friday is the last time i will see some people here for a very long time.

Its strange, you'd think 'oh you must be so excited about going home and being with everyone again'... and to a certain extent I am... but i could just as easily stay here. Maybe the cold would finally kill me off thought :P I'm looking forward to the travelling though!

below is an article I saw on the guardian online..... i couldn't agree more really :P
WHAT'S WITH ALL THE MARIAH CAREY HATERS?

She attracts almost universal hatred and yet sells millions of records. Can I be the only one out there who thinks Mimi's music is really rather good? There are certain stars in pop the public loves to hate - almost murderously, it sometimes seems. At the moment, for some people it's Pete Doherty. Others still wish to burn Phil Collins alive. Personally, I want to give Chris Martin a really thorough slapping whenever I see him doing his "look at me, I'm a hugely sensitive showman" routine on telly.
 
One star who attracts almost universal contempt these days seems to be Mariah Carey. Her very name is almost a cuss word, in middle-class circles at any rate. (At our office party this year, guests have been invited to run up CDs of a couple of tunes to rock the room, with just one proviso: no Mariah Carey. All I Want for Christmas is You was also named the worst Christmas song ever in yesterday's Observer Music Monthly.)
 
And this hate will almost certainly find further fuel from the weekend's news that Mimi is to sue porn star Mary Carey (to stop her trademarking the very similar-sounding name on the grounds that customers might confuse the two, thereby defaming her own "brand"). As a legal action it does sound like a fairly classic "only in America" legal case, particularly if you look - as in the interest of research, you understand, I did - at how very unlike the two Careys look. No link there, you might have noticed - you'll just have to google for Mary yourself. This is a family blog.
 
But back to the better known Carey. While I do find the tales of her prima-donnish behaviour, her ridiculous demands for grand luxuries in hotels, etc amusing - I can't share the hatred so many people seem to have for her music. (And, since she's obviously emotionally vulnerable, I get a bit irritated at the public venom directed at a fragile nature.) People have actually said to me, in conversations about music when I've enthused about my taste for R'n'B, "I don't believe it, next thing you'll be telling me you like Mariah Carey!"
 
The thing is, actually, I really do. I'm not a fan of her work while she was the property of Tommy Mottola, the Columbia records executive who star-spotted her, then became her husband while still managing her career. It's aimed at the mass market in a shameless way that deploys Carey's astonishing singing range to fake up strong emotion, and it's often nauseating.
 
However, since she and Mottola separated in 1996 and Carey was able to incorporate her love for hip-hop into the songs, she has just got better and better. The single We Belong Together is plainly one of the very best pop songs recorded in the last 20 years. Yet I can remember a lot of people, after Live 8, saying it was the most appalling thing they saw all day. I saw the performance too, and I thought it was great.
 
Tell me: am I entirely alone in recognising how good she is? Millions and millions of people buy her records - so why does my love for these songs feel like such a lonely passion?

Hey guys.... Just wanted to update everyone on the situation and just to let you all know that I am ok. At the beginning of the week I went to the doctors with a bad, chesty cough. This cough had been going on for a couple of weeks and Victor, mike's doctor friend, suggested that I see a doctor before I leave Saskachewan. So The doctor told me it was pneumonia and prescribed me some antibiotics. Unfortunatly these antibiotics are very bad for causing lots of adverse effects. Sickness, Diorrea and bloatedness. Well they did just that.

 

Unfortunately on Thursday night I became quite ill, sweating and unable to sleep or breathe, I spoke to chelsea and her mum the next morning who decided maybe I should visit the hospital. So off to the hospital I have been today. I sent a quick txt message to Rhiannon to let my mum know im going into hospital. You'll be happy to know that somethings are the same on both sides of the Atlantic so I waited around quite a bit. The main difference was them talking about payment before I had seen a doctor. Obviously at home with the NHS you just go straight into the hospital, but here it is $500 to see the doctor in hospital. I handed over all of my insurance stuff and was put into a waiting room. They came to do some initial tests, temperature and blood pressure etc. The student nurse and triarge nurse both doing them... imagine the scene, somone taking blood pressure, a thing cliped to my hand and something else stuck in my mouth.... i felt a little invaded. Apprently it was all fine, i was just a bit on the hot side. I also had to wear a gown, another first. After a while they decided that they needed the room so I was wheeled out into the corridor to sit on my bed with an oxygen mask. I looked like a real patient. The oxygen mask had some other drug being blown at me too to open out my lungs. Debra took some pictures with my phone as I looked very patient-like... eat your heart out casualty (an english medical drama). I was given a blood test - in the corridor and then taken for a chest x-ray. Top off being pushed against a big machine and then they walk out and press a button... it always un nerves me... if its so safe why walk behind a screen? Anyway, my chest isn't too bad, I have severe bronchitis and I need an inhaler to open it out and take down the swelling.

I have no idea what happens about the payment, I called the insurance company and they hadn't been contacted so after being there for 5 hours and no one mentioning anything, we left. I'm sure they will come after me if they want some money. The inhaler cost $65. Health care is pricey!

Anyway, the main thing is, im going to be better by the time I leave for Vancouver - touch wood *knocks head*. So thanks rhiannon for relaying the messages of get well and concern, I'm alright and I'll be better soon :-) im just gonna take it easy over the next few days... asign myself to solitary confinment. The cold air, ill people and dust etc all being irritants to my condition.

Well speak to you all soon! take care x

Hey everyone, well what a weekend I just had...

 

On thursday I went to the international Office's arranged supper. It was quite a short event, a couple of speaches, good luck's and advice for outgoing students. There was also a buffet style supper for us all to eat, lasagne and a selection of cakes. I was introduced to Krystal, a girl who is going to luton on exchange. We got on quite well, chatted about what to expect in England - i told her about the green monsters and orange drinking water, we also exchanged email addresses so maybe meet up when she gets there.

Later that night, I cought the bus to Winnipeg, my very own Canadian winter adventure. Amongst the swirling snow and howling wind I left Regina behind and headed to what is quite possibly the coldest place on earth. After trying to sleep for a little while, 3 stops at remote canadian towns, I finally arrived at downtown Winnipeg at 9.30am. Mike (aka balcony boy if you have read my previous blogs) was waiting for me at the bus depot. It was really good to see him again, however, I was absolutely shattered. So first thing was a nap. I slept for a couple of hours and then we went out to a brunch cafe and had some brunch (shockingly). The afternoon was taken up with walking around the mint. The Royal Canadian Mint is the place where all of Canada's money is made, as well as coins for other countries. So we wandered around reading the various signs, including one which just said 'rimming' - the mind boggles. After the tour we went for a quick walk around the mall and then on to the christmas lights show. Now, I admit that when Mike said 'christmas lights show' I first imagined blackpool illuminations... but the Winnipeg light show was really good. We drove around a path with large lit sculptures on either side. The guide told us what each one was, which included the more traditional scenes such as the nativity play and raindeer stables to the less so traditional dragons and dancing candy cains. Mike then took me to a realy nice little restaurant which was something to do with stars... it had pictures of constellations on the walls and each meal was branded with a star shaped carrot. The meal was finished off with a fortune cookie... aparently my moment of glory is approaching. We then went out to club in the evening, which was good... had a bit of a boogey on the dance floor.

Saturday started by getting up late and heading into downtown winnipeg for brunch with two of Mike's friends at a place called 'The Forks'. It resembles a cultural market. A small but varied little place with some interesting things. After having a really nice lunch we all walked around and looked at the fancy shmancy things in the shops. We had a short drive around Winnipeg, I saw the cathedral and some of the different districts of town. We stopped by for some grocery shopping and then began to cook dinner for two more of Mike's friends. Mike made me laugh in the kitchen. This eternally calm guy turned quite nervous and on edge when trying to cook. Although I must say,  i tried to help but probably just added to the stress, so i went and laid the table instead. When his friends arrived, one being from Edinburgh, we served dinner and chatted about lots of different things. Later on in the evening the party got started when a bunch of friends arrived. The wine started pouring, music playing and conversation flowing so when it came to midnight, everyone was appropriately tipsy. We then went out to another bar in town for another night of dancing away.

 

Sunday was yet another late rise, we went to meet everyone from the party for brunch. Victor joined Mike and I at the Museum of Manitoba. There we walked around looking at the various stages of development and interest. We also caught a show in the planitarium, looking at the night sky. Very relaxing, almost fell asleep in there. Back at Mike's for a quick nap and then a bit to eat at a small restaurant close to his house. The weekend was finished off by going to play Mah-jong at one of his friends house. I havent played it before and it took me a couple of rounds to get the jist, but i enjoyed it. Mike and Victor got really into it... making sure they had their strategies in place. I was blissfully unaware of how to make strategies and kept getting confused... which provided everyone with entertainment. I then caught the bus back to Regina. Again leaving under the cover of darkness in the falling snow. 8 hours later I was getting off the bus in Regina reminiscing about an amazing weekend with some fantastic people. Isn't it funny how sometimes you feel like you wish you were another nationality! life can be cruel at times *sigh*

On monday, my cough wasnt much better, even after the magic tablets and cought syrup. Victor had mentioned that I should see a doctor before I leave Saskachewan so after resting all day monday I went on tuesday. The prognosis? I have pneumonia. I have very strong antibiotics to take and I should be fine. They are making me feel sick and bloated though, which the doctor said they would. Why does this have to come up in final exams?!

Tuesday evening I went to a christmas drinks and sampling session at starbucks where I sat with chelsea's mum and chatted about everything from being in the military to my brother going to New Zealand for christmas. It was good, i enjoyed it. It also highlighted how little time I have left here and the fact that all of the wonderful people I have met will be thousands of miles away. I did get quite upset because I feel really settled into my Canadian life and I kind of like it. It seems that just as I have got used to it and i've met people I have to leave it all behind. It will be good to be home on British soil though.

Well, I suppose I should get back to studying for my exams that are coming up. I hope everyone is well...

 

until next time x

(199)

hey all

Well, I've had quite an interesting old time of late... I can't believe it's only 3 weeks until I leave Regina. I've become settled and I actually really like it here, it may be small, it may be quiet... but these past four months, i've been able to call this place home. I have met some really amazing people that I will be friends with for a long time to come.

Last weekend was quite busy, on Friday night I went to an LGBT film festival event held in the city centre of Regina. billed as Queer City Cinema 6, i thought it would be a series of films about modern day LGBT life in Canada. For the first showing, I was impressed. The film 'Fat Girls' about a young gay guy who falls for the 'hot english exchange student' (how appropriate) and ends up taking him to the high school prom. Very funny, although the english accent needed work.. i think he went to sydney to learn it. The second showing, at 11pm, was a bit much for me. It gave a bit of a stereotypical view of gay men, if your not high on drugs, your drunk or having casual/anonymous sex. They were all very well put together though. A summary of all the films can be seen here

Saturday chelsea called me, frightfully early, and told me that her mum had invited us both to go to Estevan. Their house there has been sold and she wanted to go and clear some stuff out. So we had a drive down to see their house and a tour of estevan. I saw chelsea's old school, the god squad headquarters and all the other happenin' places in downtown Estevan. It looked like a small version of Regina, houses and business on gridlike streets, nothing too special. We then went to see Chelsea's dad. He is a consultant on the oil fields. We drove out to where his rig was and chatted for a bit. Chelsea and I went outside and kicked the snow at each other, as well as taking photographs. We drove the two hours back to Regina and had a slap up meal in a nice little restaurant in the posh area of town. Was a really nice meal, some vegetable and pastry thing, but it tasted wonderful. The snow started to come down quite thick as we ate, we came out to quite a covering - chelsea making a snow angel in the middle of the street.

Since then, i've been revising and studying. I had an exam on Monday, which I think I have failed, a term paper due tuesday, which is a pile of rubbish and an assignment due wednesday, which is now late... oops! The snow came steadily down from saturday night until tuesday morning. So there is quite a lot of it about. The temperature has also plumeted to -30C today..... bloody cold im telling you! Try walking to your class in knee deep snow and blustering wind, in -30C..... although, in my 100 layers of t-shirts, jumpers, jackets, coats, thermal underwear, scarves, gloves, hat, trousers, its not too bad... i just resemble the michelin man.

I spoke to Mike, my friend from Winnipeg, on the phone today and this weekend looks like it's gonna be fun. Although the highest temperature its forcast to be all weekend is -28C. Lovely. He says we will have plenty to do in doors though! We have made it our mission to have interesting stories to tell and find an item of clothing that will fit me properly (as most stores here start at medium - american medium). I will be leaving for Winnipeg at 1.35am on friday morning and arrive 8 hours later. I plan on just sleeping... although i would like to see the canadian countryside, especially in the snow, so may stay awake for some of it. We'll see!

Friday is world aids day, hopefully you will all buy and wear the red ribbon. There are now 40 million people living with Aids worldwide and still no cure. Whilst there is increased awareness of the disease, there are still rising infection rates. The US and parts of Africa are have seen the biggest rise in infection rates. Friday is about remembering those who have lost their battle against the disease, caring for those who are living with it, and keeping hope alive for a cure one day. Since the first case was diagnosed in the 1981 the virus has killed 25 million people, making it one of the worlds most destructive illnesses in history.  

Hey everyone

Nothing really to report on this week, I went to Saskatoon at the weekend went out partying on friday and saturday night, did a bit of shopping on the saturday day... Not a lot to see there, remarkably like Regina really. Glad I went to see though, another place to add to the list. I am going to a couple of things this weekend and hopefully will have lots to write about next week. Next week also sees me travel to the city of Winnipeg, so looking forward to that.

Thought I would comment on some things that have caused me a lot of thought this week.

 

The first thing is GEORGE MICHAEL. His latest greatest hits album, 25 years (to celebrate 25 years in the music business) is currently sitting atop of the UK album charts. George was photographed leaving a bush in one of London's parks after having an annonymous sexual encounter with another man. His reply to this photograph, "I'm a gay man, this is my culture". Smooth. This comes after he told UK chat show hosts, Richard and Judie, that his current long term partner shouldn't have a problem with the fact he has casual encouters as George had given him 1 million pounds for his birthday. I think the exact line was "well I gave him a million quid for his birthday so he doesn't mind me having casual sex, i have no idea who it was in the bush in london, but thanks." Again, Smooth. It annoys me because here is someone in the public eye who could promote gay and lesbian rights and instead decides to make us all look stupid by declaring public sex is our culture (and we wonder why people are homophobic). This all comes after being found unconcious in his car, hitting a number of cars on his street and falling asleep at traffic lights after taking cocaine on a number of occasions. Is this man a role model for modern culture and does he deserve to have a 6th #1 album?

The second thing is a film called KILLING US SOFTLY. A film about advertising and the subtle undertones that are displayed in the promotional images we see all around us. Statitics show that on average, the westerner will sit through 3 years of advertisements in their lifetime and most, if not all, will argue that they are not influenced by media and advertising. The film shows how women are portrayed in advertisements, showing some very shocking results. The most shocking, i found, was an add for the perfume 'fetish', sold in the US and appeared in  teenage magazines, the add had the tag line of 'apply generously on your neck so he can smell it as you shake your head 'no'' - implying that when girls say no, they dont mean it. There was also desturbing evidence that pornography, especially bondage, has now become acceptable in modern day advertising by being used to sell ties, watches and cars. It could be argued that many of the images were taken out of context and the author possibly over reacted, but think about the adverts you see. How many of them portray women in the submissive, object role and men of aggressive, perfection role? It was quite an interesting and hard hitting film to see. To watch the whole film, click here - altough its 35 minutes long, its well worth it.

 

RELIGION IN AMERICA is another thing that I'm struggling to understand. One would think that christianity is there to promote the good will to others, to live in peace and harmoniously. So whilst the Ice Caps are melting, Nuclear tensions in Malaysia are brewing and The war against terror still rages on, A large group of Christian protestors staged a massive protest outside stores of Wallmart. The crime that was commited? Promoting LGBT rights for their workers and the community. The group, which is very influencial across the USA, told Wallmart that until they withdraw all support for LGBT rights, their members would boycott the store. Understandably being a business, Wallmart changed its stance on how they support LGBT beneficiaries. Who said that the church was the safe place to go?

George Micheal under the influence and the contraversial ad that suggests that girls dont really mean 'no'

 

Hey Everyone... Haven't blogged for a while, so here goes. Thanks for yet more comments, nice to hear from you all. Remember, if you have a read, leave a note!

Didn't really do much during in the week, apart from lessons and homework etc. We mainly spent the time planning our road trip to banff in Alberta. So most of the week involved phone calls, meetings and various discussions. The line up changed several times and swelled from 7 to 10. Thursday became quite a stressful day as Josie's car (the other vehicle) broke down... possibly meaning 5 people couldn't go. So after alot of head scratching and thinking, we decided to hire another car. So on thursday I went off to pick up my hire car. I was expecting a Ford Focus as that is what I had been advised. However, when I arrived they had written down 'large car' on the sheet. The Enterprise woman said to me 'Now, this is the flashiest, biggest car we have on the forecourt' as we were walking out the door. I didnt know what to expect.

This is the car they gave me. A Nissan Maxima, the biggest car I have ever had to drive. It had more buttons inside than my computer keyboard, heated stearing wheel, heated seats, 6 CD changer, double sunrooves the list goes on. A very nice car and surprisingly nice to drive.

So we arrived Banff late on friday night after setting off at 2pm from Regina. We travelled across two provinces, through the cities of Regina, Medicine Hat and Calgary until we finally arrived in the rocky mountains. The hostel was easy enough to find, the Banff Alpine Lodge. That evening we went to the bar in the hostel and joined in with the kareoke and pool playing. This was a good night, had quite a bit of fun, drank a bit too much, but hey! you only live once.

The next morning i woke up, a bit like an excited child, eager to see the mountains. They were beautiful. The hostel was situated in the middle of several mountains that stretched for miles. The weather wasn't too cold but there was snow everywhere. Like a scene from a christmas card. After showering and what not, we ventured into central banff to eat breakfast. As we sat down to eat a snow storm decended on the town, making it seem almost film like. Sitting there eating french toast in a lodge like cafe as a snow storm swirls around us.

 

In the afternoon we made our way north to a place called Lake Louise. This is a lake in between two mountains with a hotel situated on the edge. I must say it is one of the most amazing places i have ever been to in my life. Check out the pictures. The snow slowly falling down, the serene calmness of the water and the eerie silence from the trees all added to the magical feel the place had. You could just imagine slow piano music playing as you walked around and took in the beauty of the place. A place I will definately return to in my life. After snowball fighting and a little walking we made our way back to the hostel. That night we hit the night club in banff, quite a small, but posh place that was quite busy when we arrived. The only thing i didn't like it was the music, one minute 80s, the next techno then it would be chart music. No consistency and style to it really. We left there around 2am and went back to the hostel.

Sunday saw us have a last look around banff, do some last minute shopping and then head off to calgary in the afternoon. When we arrived in Calgary we visited the Market Mall, a very big mall which housed hundreds of shops. There were quite a lot of different shops including a 'best of british' store. A shop that imported a lot of english products. Oh how it made me happy! Chelsea insisted on trying the turkish delight bar, even after me telling her it is the most disgusting thing in the world. She had one bite and had to agree. I bought a boost bar and some cherry 7 Up. I would like to know where abouts in england they got the Cherry 7-Up from because I have never seen it. We spent an hour or so looking at all the wondeful fancy shmancy things in the shops and then headed off for supper. We met up with a friend of Karen (one of the other girls on the trip) and saw her university accomodation. The accomodation at The University of Calgary is a lot nicer than here. I kept thinking.... This was never on the list of places to come! We then drove through the night to medicine hat, arriving at 1.30am. We booked into a room meant for four people but crammed ten of us into it. Arekand I shred the sofa, resting our legs on a table, 4 people in each bed and then two on the floor. An interesting way to sleep, but it worked.

Back on the road on monday morning bound for Regina. It took us a couple of hours to get to Moose Jaw where we stopped off at Chelsea's friend house to pick some stuff up. Then another half an hour to Regina. The whole weekend was so much fun. Two cars driving down the highway side by side, both tuned into the Ipod transmitter, all occupants dancing to the music, Snow ball fighting on the side of the lake, everyone eating together and then sleeping in the same room on the way home. Some great memories! Although some people started to irritate me, and others, the whole weekend was a lot of fun. I'm now looking forward to Saskatoon this weekend and Winnipeg in december.

Hope you all had a good rememberance weekend. I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to all those who died in the two world wars for giving up your life in the name of your countries, whichever that maybe. Lest We Forget.

(190)                                                                 

Hey Everyone.... I've been a bit prolific recently, adding 2 entries in one week.... and its free! - who would have thought!

Well quite a stressful week this week at uni, I have been tangled up in midterm hell. The Education system here is very much exam exam exam. You learn something, we'll test you on it. So they have a series of Midterms, can be two or three per subject, around the middle of your semester (hence the name) and then there are finals at the end. Oh Joy... So I had a Historical Linguistics and French Midterm this week as well as 2 assignments for Language Awareness. A killer, im telling you. But I did it, with a little help from Eddie - see my last blog.

Last night (friday) I went out to a friend's apartment for a couple of 'pre owl' drinks. The Owl is the student union bar here. Well after playing a drinking game i know from way back (neil and I played it in Manchester - I have never been able to look at baileys again), we decided to head on out to the owl. I was a bit worse for wear, as in almost sick, but everything was fine. We got to the owl and after sitting and wait for it to get busy, we had a good old dance on the dance floor for a while. On the way back to Luther, chelsea, carissa, cassie and I dropped in on Kim at a party they were having at New Res... I ended up sitting on a life guard style chair (climb up steps to sit on it) in their living room.... kind of fun.

Today was the usual recovery, vow never to drink alcohol again, eat fatty junk food, feel better.... we all know the general routine of my saturday mornings now. In the evening I went to see a show about the short life of Matthew Shepard. Mathew was a young gay man living in the small town of Laramie in Wyoming, USA. The show follows the events that happened in October 1998. Mathew was approached by two heterosexual men, posing as a couple. They had the intent of robing him as he was well known to be from a wealthy family. However, the two men state that, in his drunkenness, Matthew made a pass at one of them. He believed that both men were gay. They both started to beat Matthew, take him to a remote part of town where they tied him to a fence post and left him. 18 hours later, a local teenager was riding his bike. He hit something in the field and fell off. As he was getting back up, he noticed what he thought was a scarecrow slumped on the fence. He had a further look and realised in fact it was a human slumped on the fence. Whilst Matthew was in hospital, cities around the wolrd held candle light vigils in the hope he would pull through. Matthew died a couple of days later in hospital. He never regained contiousness. At the funeral, religious extremists from the southern USA came brandishing signs such as 'a fag dies, god laughs' 'fags go to hell'. On hearing that they planned to protest outside the courthouse at the trial of the purpetrators, Matthews good friend designed large angel like costumes for her and others. They then stood in front of the protesters and shielded their signs and pushed them backwards. They were known as the Angels of Peace. The play was very moving, although could have been shorter than what it was. The actors conveyed the sadness, loss and regret that the town of laramie felt after the tragedy. The final scene ended with candles pointing to a solemn looking fence, similar to the one where Matthew died. It reminded me that even though the world has changed so much over the last couple of years, homophobia still exists... it doesn't need to. There is a very good campaign out here called Outlive. If homophobia is challenged more often, people like Matthew may be able to outlive it.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Laramie Project - The production based on Matthews attack and death.

 

I just wanted to write a special blog to highlight the comic genious of Eddie Izzard. This week I have been feeling a bit down, sick of exams and studying, the cold weather and general homesickness.

Eddie has provided the best tonic for that.... so I thought I would share. Some people say they dont 'get' Eddie Izzard, but if you just pay attention and listen to what he says, belive me, you will be almost crying with laughter.

Eddie Izzard on (click on each topic to view video clip)

Speaking French

 

Watch one or all and write a comment letting me know what you think.... tell me which clip you watched and what you thought.

Have fun x

Hey Everyone...

thanks for all the comments on the last blog... i know it gets read, i just like to know what you think.... im not there when you talk between yourselves, so it is interesting to see what you think... so keep commenting! (it makes me happy )

Something to let everyone know, Our house is now on the market, mum is looking at moving to a new property soon. The plan of Trevor living in spain and Mum living in England looks to be going ahead. The current house is valued at 365 000 pounds, <look here>. The new property is in Carleton <look here>

 

I have been up to a number of things this week... the main thing has been the onset of hallowe'en! It is a very big occasion here, the only chance in the year to get really dressed up in stupid costumes (they are so deprived!). So this week has been a one long manic stress trying to sort out everyone's costumes, arrange plans for going out and what is happening where! 

Niki and I tried to go to a shop called 'Value Village' on the bus. Imagine Primark, but with some second hand stuff thrown in for good measure and your about half way there. The only thing was we got lost on the bus system... so an hour and a half later, we ended up at completely the wrong side of town, in a completely different shop... so we just went to see chelsea at starbucks. She gave niki a perfect idea for her costume. So a trip to Value Village was then deemed not necessary. So we went back to luther, where the Medieval Evening was in full swing.. We had completely forgotten about it. We had to wash our hands and then sit at a table in the dinning room. The room was decorated with many medieval style touches, shields, leaves and plain table cloths - you get the picture. There air filled with the smell of chicken and the sound of medieval music. Once seated, we were brought a tray which included some roasted vegetables in a bowl, one cooked chicken, a large bread roll and a hand flannel. No cuttlery. As it was, afterall, a medieval evening, we had to eat with our hands. There was also no salt, as salt was classed as precious, you had to ask 'The Salt King' for your ration. It didn't bother me, i dont add salt to food. So another interesting experience to add to the list...

The next night, friday, was the night of the Luther Cabaret! One of the biggest events in luther's social calendar, this event promised fun, frolics and a night of extremely good music. It almost delivered, but was let down by a reliance on country music (but it was a barn dance i suppose) and over strict bouncers... they asked me several times if i was 'sure' my drink was water. As i had forgotten my ID, i couldn't drink anything. Which was fine, but they would not believe I had water, until i told them to taste it. The girls all got rather drunk, which was funny... try getting a bunch of canadian girls, all wearing hallowe'en costumes, onto a waiting bus without making them mad for 'pushing them about'. It was a fun night, i partook in many canadian dances and even sang along when the band did their rendition of 'Summer of '69'. I was in home and asleep by 1am though.

Saturday night was better. I met up with a friend from the city and he took me to his friends house in the east. There we drank punch and donned our hallowe'en outfits once more and after a short wait for the taxi, hit the town for a night on the tiles. The only thing being, I had had quite alot of the punch, which consisted mostly of Vodka, so was quite tipsy when I arrived at the club in town. There i saw a lot of familiar faces and danced most of the night having fun! I didn't make out with anyone, i didn't get myself into any awkward situations... which considering i was very drunk, is an achievement! I got back to Luther at around 4am... Sitting on my bed thinking, oh im so drunk, i noticed someone walked into my room... thinking it was john, who had dropped me off, i sat up... and got quite a shock when I realised it was Kristen (a girl from the 4th floor). Not the person I was expecting to be in my room at 4am! She had lost her keys and needed to sleep somewhere, so I let her sleep in my bed with me. Today I have noticed that my ghost costume has some red and bright green hand prints on it.... it must have been from when I was dancing with the incredible hulk and devil wears prada... i told them not to get their paint on me!

I woke up this morning and as i went down for breakfast i noticed there was a dusting of white all around and snowflakes falling down... its snowing!! apparently it starts around hallowe'en... the only problem it isn't settling! i want it to settle!

I'm about ready to come home... if i could, even if it was just for a week. Im beginning to miss everything that is english, the accent, the humour, my friends, the short distances, the food... all the things we take for granted whilst we are at home. I was thinking today that even though being here is such an amazing experience, something i'll always remember, it has made me realise how great living in england really is. I will always class england as home.... im looking forward to being able to go 'home'.

 

I saw the picture below today, as it is breast cancer awareness month (globally). It is survivers of breast cancer in the city of Newcastle, UK. The women all wore pink and stood around the city's Millennium Bridge. Quite a good picture!

Hey everyone.... another blog, another update....sometimes I wonder if the people that end up reading this, are actually entertained or interested in what I have written.... (thats where the comments come in :P)

This week has been really quick actually, after saturday night i vowed not to drink another drop of alcohol again. To say i felt rather fragile on sunday morning is a very large understatement. The week itself has been uneventful, just the usual routine of going to classes and eating with people. I played spoons, the strange but adictive canadian card game with spoons, on tuesday evening, although i wasn't very good at it, out in the third round.

Friday came by and alot of people in dorms headed home for the weekend. As people are from far away places (although i think i win the contest there) they usually hitch a ride if they know someone else from the same place is going home.. so it ends up being quite a lot of the residence that go home. I had a quick coffee with a friend who was prepping herself up for a double date thing on friday night, but apart from that, i just did some homework... boring night.

Saturday came around and Chelsea and I, forgetting last weekend, got out the alcohol again. We wanted to go out in town. So whilst chelsea took a long time (3 hours) to get ready, i sat and helped myself to the acohol, ending up being quite tipsy by the time she was ready. We went out to a bar called O'hanlans, quite a nice little bar in the centre of the city, where we met up with various people and had a bit of a laugh dancing on the dance floor. At around the midnight hour, we moved on to the Rainbow bar (i say that coz it has a rainbow sign outside it, but no actual name) other wise known as the gay bar,  for a while. It wasn't that busy but chelsea and I had fun just dancing on the, almost empty, dance floor. The music was better in there though. We met a few nice people and numbers were exchanged.... so lets see if anything develops there. 

I went out to the cinema yesterday evening, to see possibly the strangest film I have ever seen in my life. Although the plot line wasn't that spectacular, and left me wondering 'is this movie ever going to end?'... it was so tense that I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Based on a true story, the film sees the investigation of Los Angeles' most nutorious unsolved murder. Whilst there are many suspects and the story unfolds quite slowly, the complexity of how the characters are involved is the films strong point. Mix in some very grusome deaths and you have quite a good film that is worth seeing. 4/5  The Black Dahlia Trailer

Another film I would like to see The Messengers  <trailer>  The Last Kiss <Trailer>

After coming back from the cinema I was on msn and someone I thought was a friend started to talk to me. After turning down his forward suggestions and explaining that I would rather be friends, an argument ensued. He explained that as I could be a mass murderer, friends was a bit of a stretch. My response? well, it was nice to know that he would rather sleep with me knowing i could be a mass murderer than actually be friends. After calling me childish and over dramatic,  i told him that i wasn't interested in sleeping with him so lets just leave it. He then wished me well drifting from continent to continent looking for something, I thanked him for the advise... we havent spoken since. The thing that angered me was the fact that because I wouldn't sleep with him, that was it, totally not interested. What ever happened to getting to know someone? why are gay men so obsessed with just sex and no friendships? its just the whole thing of using people for your own gain and then dropping them when it seems fit. Is this what the world has come to? or am I just unlucky in the people I have met?

 

Well anyways, thanks for reading.... let me know what you think :-P

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(174)

Hey Everyone.... i hope you are all well... It has come to my attention that my UK readership are not happy about the Canadianisms that are creeping into the weekly updates. Managment of 'The Life Of Brian' would like to apologise for this and inconvenience this has caused. Every effort has been made to make this, and furture editions, as free of Canadianisms as humanly possible... thankyou for your understanding

What have I been up to this week... well after writing last weeks installment, I went out with the crew from Winnipeg. Mike (balcony boy) came to pick me up and we headed into town to meet the others. The bar they were all at was kareoke.... fun fun fun.... it was a good night... everyone, apart from me, had a go at singing... some were really good, some not so good... but i ultimately felt that no one needed to hear my voice.  I even won a prize (at last) from the raffle.... a bag containing one glass, one mask and one condom.... the Canadians must have strange habits... i ended up leaving the bag in the bar (darn!).

The Winnipeg crew then left the next day, bound for home... which was a little sad as they were actually a lot of fun to be around. Mike and I have been exchanging emails though and a trip to see them is planned for early December. Only 8 hours on the bus.... it'll be fine! The Cold weather has started to move in though.... I have a feeling that I'll never complain about being cold again after being here  for a couple of months. Its even snowed a couple of times this week.... its OCTOBER! mad...

 

I went out to the cinema on friday night, to see The Grudge 2.... quite scary to watch. The film pics up where the last one left off really... The sister of karen is sent to see how she is and meets a reporter who entered the house to help karen out. He is now looking at a way to stop the grudge from getting him. there is also a trio of school girls who enter the house as part of a dare. In the back ground there is another story going on that you only find out how it is related at the end. It can be quite confusing and the scare fest comes at the expense of a weak plot and crummy acting. If you want to jump then its good... just make sure your not in a cinema filled with 12 year old canadians and you should be fine (they scream very loud, and often). 2/5

Saturday night was the night to party. We started early on the fourth floor, mainly talking about boys and homework... but then moved down to the second floor where everyone was around. The whole floor ended up becoming the party, the rule about no alcohol in public kinda went out the window. After drinking a huge amount of Sambuca I ended up sitting in the hallway, giggling about nothing with some friends.... check out the pictures....

Have fun everyone..... i miss you all ..... x

Hey Guys, thanks for all the comments, keep them coming... i like reading your thoughts.

Well this weekend is Thanks Giving..... so everyone has gone back to their home town. I was going to be going to Saskatoon but my plans fell through and so ended up staying here. Friday saw my first major mid term. i tried to revise for it on thursday night but there was a party on the first floor, and one by one my room started to fill with people... i think i had about 12 people in my room at one point.... tight squeeze!

So as friday went on, people started to leave.... packing their bags and heading home for their turkey meals with the family. I stayed here and went to the gym with chelsea. We went to the mall and bought a DVD - prime. Now, this was a good film, made me laugh, good performances from Uma Therman and Meryl Streep, good plot line... until the ending, completely confused me. It ruined the whole film and I still dont get it. So another one to rent rather than buy guys. Chelsea went to Calgary for the weekend to attend a wedding.

Saturday came and Luther was deserted.... I woke up lonely, this air of silence in the bedroom and all around.... no one here... it was strange... so I did absolutely nothing for most of the day. ate at subway, took a quick trip into town... then I was invited to a party in town by a volleyball team from winnipeg. Why not, i thought, could be fun... so i chose a suitable ensamble and made my way downtown. When I arrived, the team were playing bingo... so i sat and helped them check their cards as the drag queen slowly shouted out the numbers... Once the bingo was up we went to a posh downtown apartment building for drinks and banter whilst listening to suitably gay music (madonna.... yuk). At 11.30 we went back to a club where i was bought drinks from several of the team members. Baring in mind i drank quite a large amount of wine at the apartment, i soon started to feel quite tipsy.. the music was great and I was having such a good night, bopping away to current hits as Maneater and Sexyback, when i found myself dancing quite closely with this guy.... on of the volleyball team players. We ended up making out on the dance floor... lol... i became on of those people I always end up shouting 'get a room' too.... maybe i'll stick off the wine next time.. After going outside on the balcony for a while, we ended up leaving the club.. and lets leave the story there.

Today, i have never had a hangover like it..... oh.my.god. mental note NEVER EVER drink wine and spirits together EVER again. It has taken me most of the day to get over it. I also do not have any tylenol or food in my uni room so I had no means of getting rid of the headache or stomach ache. Anyway, after visiting chelsea at work in Starbucks where she gave me a white chocolate and blueberry scone (divine), I am now back in my uni room waiting to be picked up to go for ANOTHER night out with the volleyball players. Im not drinking ANY alcohol or making out with ANYONE..... i'll let you know if thats acctually what happens tomorrow. They are a bunch of really nice guys, they keep mentioning me getting the bus to Winnipeg to see them for a weekend...... so watch this space.

Anyway guys..... my ride is almost here.. so will update you all on the whirlwind that is my life sometime soon..... have fun, until next time x

(169)

Hey Everyone...

 

Hope your all doing well.... if your reading this, and havent left a comment..... why? click at the bottom of this blog and leave a comment, let me know what you think and what your doing.... its interested to read the comments.... plus i know you have read it then.

What has happened to me in the wonderful country that is Canada? Since my last blog which ended on the depressing note of the Canadian shootings, i should start off on something positive...

Well after going to the party in new res on friday night, saturday was a gentle relaxing day. Didn't really do much, Chelsea stayed over here in my room so she spent most of saturday, all of saturday if im being honest, here. There was 'Rave' in the celler of luther, pictures are coming soon guys. Now imagine a celler that is made up of 4 biggish rooms, being turned into a night club situation. As we entered the flashing lights and disco ball boldly lighting up the dark room with a wash of red orange and green. Early on it wasn't that great, so chelsea and I escaped with a friend to prepare his bike for racing on sunday.

After about an hour of preparing, we drove the short distance back to luther and attended the rave, now in ful swing. We danced to a mixture of hip hop and dance, it was good... lots of drunk people, but happy drunk. Nikky, a friend here, was barely capable of standing. We mainly stayed in the dancing bit until it finished at 12.30am. I had then decided to go to the races with Philip the next day, so I was going to have to be ready to be picked up at 6am. Which would have been fine, 5 hours sleep, i can cope with that..... Someone had other ideas though. At approximately 2.30am, two non luther residents decided to pull the fire alarm levers.

I was in bed and awoke to a strange noise coming from the hallway, confused, i got up and awoke chelsea. I told her I thought the fire alarm was going off, bare in mind the lights are on emergency lighting i.e nothing. Still quite confused I openned the door to pitch black and a very high pitch squealing noise. There was a blue flashing light at the end of the hall, intermitently lighting up the hall way. A voice suddenly shouted 'COME ON BRIAN, GET OUT NOW'... so i got chelsea out of bed, and we ran from the building.... expecting to see flames, or even smoke.... i was stood in the car park, in my pyjamas in freezing temperatures whilst we waiting the arrival of the fire engines. We were stood outside for about 30 minutes. 3am, i finally get into bed..... and then 2 hours later, i have to get up.... great night sleep!

Sunday, Philip came and took us to Moose Jaw, driving along the incredibly straight roads, seeing for miles infront of us, and to the sides. It was so strange being able to see such a phenominal distance. As the car made its way down the road, the sun rose behind us and i slowly became awake. We arrived in moose jaw at around 7.45am. We stopped for a good cup of English Breakfast tea and a Croissant. It was so cold when we arrived, I had to put on a two jumpers and a coat. The wind was blowing and the sun hadn't had chance to warm the air so it was chilly against your skin. The bikers were all preparing their bikes, like they were delicate instruments. Each biker prouldy wearing a suit that matched the colour of his or her bike. The practice laps started at around 9 am. We stood on the side of the track and watched the bikers make their way around the twists and turns, over the bumps and down the straights of the track. In his first race philip crashed on the course, and ended up trapped underneath his bike. This resulted in a few tense seconds for us on the other side of the track as we couldn't see him getting up.... 'he's not getting up chelsea....!!'... but he was fine, got back on his bike and away he went... coming last, but atleast he finished. The second race, after lunch and the arrival of his parents from estavan, wasn't as succesful. Getting off the starting blocks was fine, as he hit the first bend another biker hit him from behind and he fell off, again underneath the bike, but this time a bike ran over them, badly twisting his ankle. He hopped about and jumped back on his bike, but was unable to complete one lap before leaving the race. He was in a lot of pain... but refused to see a paramedic. He took his boots off and we put ice into his ankle and he rested for a while. There was another accident, one of philip's friends crashed on a bump and ended up with major facial injuries, so he was taken off to hospital, just as philip decided he would see a paramedic.... Only thing was, they were busy with the other guy. In the end, off philip went to hospital too. Chelsea and I were then left at the races with philips dad. We spoke about life in canada, driving and his visits to england. I also caught some sleep in philip's truck. After spending an hour away at the hospital, philip returned, but was unable to drive. So chelsea drove us all home back to Regina.

This week has been back in the routine of lessons and eating and things of that nature. I played spoons on tuesday evening. This is a strange canadian card game where the aim is to end up with four cards of the same number. Once you have four cards of the same kind, you have to grab a spoon from the middle of the group. Only thing is, there is one less spoon than there are players, so the fight for a spoon can get nasty. If you are left without a spoon your out...... they obviously have too much time to kill in Canada..... it was fun though... I never thought I would be that desperate over a spoon...

Today has been exciting..... in our desperate bid to escape Regina (we love it here really) we called plane companies, we looked at bus companies..... all to no avail. It would either cost us the earth or take 30 hours to get anywhere... Until, that is, Matt mentioned hiring a car..... hiring a car! why hadn't we thought of it before?! so we rushed back to the nearest computer, and phone, and got in touch with a car rental company. Within 10 minutes we had a car hired for a week in november, at a very reasonable price. Exstatic at that news, we rushed off to get recruits for our road trip.... only thing is, we now may have more people than seats, but that doesn't matter, it will all work out. I have a seat... thats all that matters.... right? Banff here we come!

Until  next time x
(167)

Hey everyone, time for another update..

 

A number of things to tell you all about..... first of all, the snow didnt come, gutted, Calgary got snow, that is 6 hours away and somewhere up north got snow...but all we got was rain. rain. rain, and thunder and lightening. Almost blinded by the lightening... puts UK storms to shame.

 

Imagine the scene, 25 hopefuls all sat in a line, becoming more and more relaxed as the hypnotists soothing voice tells them about floating deeper and deeper into a relaxed sleep. I was skeptical at first, watching them all gently sway as they, did indeed, become more and more sleepy. A couple of people i knew where amongst the contestants so I was intrigued as to how they would act. As the music became more soothing and Wes Lee spoke of floating on clouds, people just dropped to sleep. Very freaky to watch, they were just laid on each other, using each other as pillows. The hypnotist explained that they were completely aware of what they were doing, just their inability to say no was gone. He had removed the fear, with hilarious results.

 

At first they all thought they were butterflies, with wings, and big smiling faces, they changed into being on a beach, the hottest beach they had ever been on. Immediately changing to the coldest they have ever been, using each other to cuddle up for body heat. They imagined the person next to them hadn't washed in 16 years and smelt like it too. They also imagined that they were in love (as slushy love music played) and they hugged each other and carressed each other. 5 of the guys were picked out and told that when they awoke, they were the backstreet boys at an interview, with all of their adoring fans in the audience. One of the women was also told that she was the biggest backstreet boys fan there ever was. When they all awoke, the backstreet boys music was played, and the guys were strutting around the stage as the woman almost cried at meeting her 'idols'. During the break, the contestants were told to think of a celebrity that they admired, they loved.... and then when they awoke, they WERE that celebrity, and we mingled throughout the break. Oprah herself invited me to be part of her show - i've made it guys - I teased Nick Lachey about Jessica (it didn't go down to well), Ellen degeneres declared me a 'beautiful person', also present was Brad Pitt, Billy Connolly, Steve Irwin (yes indeed), Justin Timberlake and his girlfriend.

The show ended by the 'stars' coming out of the hypnotised state, they were told to imagine a feeling of wellbeing and achievement. This was then associated to their favourite colour, so now everytime they see or think of that colour, they have a feeling of joy and happiness. They also had, for 10 minutes, if anyone said 'Wes Lee' they stood up and shouted 'I feel good'. As people left, all you could hear down the hall way was 'I feel good' as the stars of the show went home.

 

Went to a party last night, was a lot of fun. It was in North Res, one of the new residents buildings. We arrived early so at the start nothing much happened. We played a few drinking games, huge amount of sambuca and beer and orange rum later.... i was 'happy'. I ended up sitting with a couple of friends in one of their boyfriend's bedroom. I left for a while as one of them got quite upset over a guy so we all decided to leave and watch a movie. The movie wasn't a great choice - she's the man - so when chelsea arrived later on, we decided to go back to the party. Another round of smirnoff ices and we were teetering on the edge of very drunk. After about half an hour of being back, security arrived to close the party down. As we were back in the bedroom, chelsea, kim, Ru and some canadian people (i have never met them before in my life) we all decided it was a good idea to shut the bedroom door, lock it and hide. So I ended up hiding from security in a closet with 3 canadian girls I have never met before. We were hiding for a bout 20 minutes as security went to each room to check for more people and then fine the residents. After that we just decided that as it was almost 1 am, we should leave and get some sleep.

 

As you may of all heard, a gunman opened fire on a group of university students in Montreal. One girl was killed and several others badly injured. The gunman, the author of an online blog ampirefreaks.com, called himself the angel of death. Clad only in black clothes and trench coat, he entered Dawson college on wednesday afternoon and opened fire on the students. 19 people were shot ranging from 17 years old to 48. One woman, Anastacia DeSousa (19) was shot dead inside the college building. Paramedics were unable to revive her on the scene. The gunman was then shot dead at the college. The shooting lasted atleast 20 minutes at a packed lunchtime. The college was sent into a state of frenzied confusion and shock. Students piled out of the college, some with blood stains, some shouting into mobile phones. Many people in Canada were very shocked by the incident. The feeling was similar to how Britain felt in July 2005 when the bombs went off in London. Although the Canadian authorities are saying this is not a terrorist attack. Many canadians cannot believe that something like this has happened in Canada.

 

 

Hey Everyone...

 

How are y'all? Well I have been quite busy over these past few days, here, there everywhere, you know how it is. I last left a blog, 10 days ago, 10 whole days... and you've asked, you've begged, and I have promised.... and here it is, my next blog. The only thing is, I have no earth shattering news to tell you about my Canadian adventure this last couple of days.... well.... there are stories to tell.... but not huge gossip.

 

First things first.... I promised my now ex house mate a special mention, Sarah.... missing you loads.... house 3 forever!

 

Chelsea and I didn't end up hanging out with her friend Trevor, as he was ill. So we had a walk around Wascana Lake. After seeing how beautiful it all looked in the dark, we decided to have another walk, this time with my camera. We arrived at sunset and lesuirely walked around the lake. I think you would agree (by looking at the pictures) that it was a gorgeous evening. As the sun slowly set, we walked along the road and ate out at subway. Really nice relaxing evening. check out the pictures of the waterfall in the sunset.

 

Lessons started on the 5th, everyday I have atleast two classes, which is ok because they only last around 50 minutes to an hour each. The classes I am taking are; Historical Linguistics (How to study the history of languages and determining how languages are related around the world), Semantics (the scientific meaning of words and how we use that meaning), French (Beginners) and Language Awareness (How to use language to aid learning). On the wednesday my Historical Linguistics teacher set us an assignment.... and my god, was it an assignement. It involved comparing various languages to each other to establish differences and whether they were related. The first batch was a set of Native Indian languages, compare them and decide which were related. Then we had to reconstruct the original words in the language they originated from. Bare in mind, i have NEVER seen native indian languages. Then it was English and Dutch, then decide which third language they are related to and possibly originated from. Needless to say, it took me all weekend to do that one.

 

Thursday, chelsea and I went out with loads of other people for one of chelsea's friend's birthday. We went to this club called JD's where it was ladies night.... was an ok night.... lets just say they were fans of my accent.... free booze which wasn't bad... although they got a bit obsessional after a while. I was like... ' ok you've heard my voice!'. Chelsea had to play the angry girlfriend part after a while to calm things down. An interesting experience anyway!

 

Saturday was a night of two halves. I met up with Chelsea and her mum to go to a chocolate convention in town. it said on the invite 'semi formal'.. so a smart black ensamble seemed appropriate. We got there, a very grand affair, grandly dressed tables with various food platters scattered around the room. Waitresses wandered around the room offering samples of wine (served in chocolate cups) and various types of chocolate. Around the edges of the room were people giving out samples of drinks, also served in chocolate cups, a bar and a silent auction. The evening was a charity event with celebrity chefs (Canadian celebrities obviously) cooking a 3 course meal ready steady cook style. They had 1 hour to do this and every course had to include chocolate. There were also some Canadian soap actors in the audience and joining the chefs to help them out. Whilst they busied themselves with cooking, the host wandered around the room, updating us all on their progress. We chatted, drank vodka cocktails, placed bids on the silent auction... and of course, ate chocolate. I think i ate enough chocolate that evening to keep switzerland going.

 

Thats where the glitz and glamour end... after being at the convention till around 10pm, we went to meet up with Trevor, the guy who didn't hang out with us earlier in the week. He wanted to take us to a Toga party at the gay bar in Regina. After insisting that I dont wear a Toga, and settling with glitter on my cheeks and arms, we arrived at the bar at around 11pm. As far as bars go, it was alright. Nice and airy, not too conjested and nicely air conditioned. So why did I find it so awful? The Music. After an hour of listening to constant thumping dance beats, that didn't particularly change from song to song, I'd had enough. So I mentioned to Chelsea that maybe it was time to leave. The monotonous beats were giving me a headache! So off we went, which was good as scandals erupted between the guys that took us, to cut a long story short, the couple that trevor introduced us to split up as one of them was kissing someone else. (who said eastenders wasn't real.)

 

So the rest of the weekend and this week was taken up with writing my assignment. I handed it in on wednesday, quite confident its the biggest load of rubbish I have ever written in my life. Last night, my first night of freedom from the assignment, was spent watching a movie in the celler of our halls and then we all had a group trip to McDonalds (when in Rome) and sitting on the grass, at midnight I might add, chatting about quite a lot of random things. After the coldness of the night got too much, we retired back inside and went to bed. Apparently the cold weather is on it's way. Monday saw us with temperatures of 28C and this friday it will plumet to 5C... going colder next week, even that fateful word, snow, has been mentioned. Is it wrong to be excited about the snow?

 

Well guys, hope everything is going alright, wish i wasn't missing freshers week! There are 5 girls on their way to England as I speak to join you all.... they seem nice, met some of them.

 

Until next time x

 

Hey again everyone,

 

I thought I would update you all once again as I settle into Canadian life. This week has been quite busy, doing many things. Air Canada delivered my bags, to the kitchens, on Monday so it wasn't too long to go without them. On that day, Mike - a Canadian student - came and took Matt and I into the city of Regina and we had a look around. It seems so nice, very pleasant, lots of green areas, big lake, fountains and the like. That evening we also went to a bar called O'hanlans. It was a small irish bar in the centre of Regina. Mike's favourite place, we just sat outside and had a couple of drinks and chatted to Mike and his friends.

 

I went shopping for a mobile phone sim card... an easy enough task one would think... oh no, we are in Canada. Their mobile phones don't have sim cards, the network is programmed into the phone it's self. Sim cards do exist, but are very rare, one shop sold them here and the one that I looked at cost $100, or 50 pounds (there is no pound sign on these keyboards). The top up would also expire every month so I would have to buy a new one every month.. so I dont have a mobile phone here at the moment. My room has a phone which is free to call local and mobile phones, so thats fine for now.

 

On thursday there was the University of Regina student orientation day. It started at 12 noon, cost $30 ($30!) and was an all day event. I got there and sat with my faculty, got talking to this girl called chelsea. She is a laugh, really like her. We spent most of the day together. We had to do this activity where you were given a card and you had to fill in the answer by either talking to a lecturer or another student. The prize was a free text book of your choice, I put about 20 cards in the french text book bucket, but won nothing. Chelsea also came away empty handed. The text books are so expensive here, the average price being about $100. I only have one book to buy so far, so im doing alright. After the text book game, and an introduction from the Faculty of Arts staff, we went onto a campus tour and welcome fair. The welcome fair was a large hall with lots of stalls, each stall either had information or a game. The games gave out raffle tickets that you had to collect up, the better you did in the game, the more tickets you were awarded. So, not to be beaten, Chelsea and I tried our hardest to get as many tickets as we could. We bashed, threw, balanced and hooked various things to another, played golf, hoopla and moving target. Once again, this was all in vain, as one by one, the prizes were handed out to other people. People walked away with televisions, DVD players, free tuition, Ipods, everything. Never mind hey, its not the winning, its the taking part.

 

Later that evening, I met up with Chelsea to have a walk around Wascana Lake, a big lake in the middle of Regina, near the legislator building. It was really nice to walk around at night and see it all lit up. There is a waterfall that you walk behind and all of the water is lit up as it flows over the edge, there is also a fountain that is lit up. I forgot my camera that night so I dont have any pictures to show you, i will take it another night though... so you'll all have to wait.

 

Friday was our international orientation day. Not as action packed as the U of R one, with more speaches and more sitting down than anything else. We had lunch and then a tour of the library, Matt and I ended up sitting with and a guy and a girl from Australia for lunch. The evening was the first time the 'Lazy Owl' was open on campus. The Lazy Owl is the student union bar, nothing at all like york St John. It can hold up to 500 people, on two levels, with a large dance floor, pool tables and a table football machine. It was very quiet when we first arrived, so Matt and I ended up playing pool with some guys from Mexico and Columbia. As things got livlier and more alcohol consumed, the night got funnier and funnier. Matt, Myself and the Australian guy were on the dance floor quite a bit. The Canadian girls were dancing around us.... jesus they dance... if you have watched the film Save The Last Dance with Julia Styles, then you will have some idea as to the scene that I found myself in. Very serious dancing. I only had 3 Smirnoff Ices, they must be stronger here because I have never been THAT drunk off three bottles, but don't worry everyone, I didn't do anything too embarrasing so havent let the side down.

 

Saturday was the day of the dragon boat races, we arrived at 10 am in the morning to Wascana Park, didn't leave until 5pm. The dragon boat races happen every year here. They race across the lake in teams of about 20 in the traditional chinese dragon boats. There is someone sat at the front banging on a drum, to keep them all rowing in time, and also at the back to stear the boat. Luther college had a team, The Luther Lashes, so we were all out in support for them. I was there so late because they got into the final. We went to the legislator building again, where the reception staff asked me to 'just talk' so they could listen to my accent. I'm getting that quite a lot. People just stop to listen to me when im talking... they love it... and then they try to talk like me... but it doesn't work. I fell asleep in the sunshine as well yesterday.. not a good thing as the temperature was about 27C and the sun was scorching me.... needless to say, im slightly (very) pink right now. Burned to a crisp is probably the appropriate phrase. So lets hope that I turn brown...

 

Also last night, I went up to Regina Beach for a beach party. Was a bit concerned in the car as I didn't really know the guy who was taking me, and the girl who was driving was pulled over for speeding. I was like, if i end up being deported, I will kill you all. It all worked out good in the end, the police were called away to a burglary so they didn't give her a ticket in the end. The beach party was fun though, sat on the beach around a camp fire with people playing guitar, all drinking merrily away. They were fascinated by my accent though... again trying to copy it, and sounding strangely Australian. They kept taking the mick, but as i kept reminding them, atleast im not the one that sounds like the Americans. That seemed to shut them up a bit.... oh im mean!

 

Well today im due to go 'hang out' with chelsea and her friend trevor later on. We aint sure whats going to happen, maybe go for a walk, have a couple of drinks.. who knows....

 

oh some funny things for you guys to watch.... Funny Commercials and Funny Commercials II

 

Until Next Time x