You can take our lives, but you can never take (dramatic pause) OUR FREEDOM

As the title would suggest, I am in Scotland, home of Scotch whiskey, William Wallace, confusing accents, and bagpiped Amazing Grace. More specifically, I'm in Edinburgh, the capital. This will be very brief. I successfully met my mom in London, and after 5 hours of aimlessly wandering the airport, made it to Edinburgh. The Holiday Inn Express is amazing here. Today, we hit up the castle, and I am currently in a raging debate between spending a ton of money on a real kilt or a ton of money on a tweed coat. I think the tweed coat will win out though. A little more real life usage, I think. So yeah, that's that. I had haggis at a terrible pub, but recovered. I need to go find mom somewhere in Marks & Spencer now. Later.

Remedy

Last night's post was so bad, I decided I had to remedy it. I was sick from McDonald's, and just sort of barfed up a lame regurgitation of events. If you're ever in Switzerland, do not ever get the Ciabatta Grande with fromage. It reaches new levels of disust. So, here's something a little better, I hope. I'm still in Geneva, though this morning, I took a train a half hour up the lakeshore to Lausanne, home of the Olympic Museum. Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee. I was very impressed with the museum, as it was very nicely laid out, very modern, and very informative. Maybe it's the inherent cowboy mentality in all of us Yanks, but I had some sort of weird expectation of a museum dedicated to American Olympic ass kicking. Surprisingly though, the museum instead focused on the larger goals and ideals of the Olympic movement, which was really fascinating. A lot of time describing why the Olympics were refounded, stuff like that. They had a video library, and I did get my fix, as I watched a 9 minute clip of the 1992 dream team win the gold medal. That was the one with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc. I tried to watch the 1980 hockey team, but the computer thing didn't work. Whatever, it was a very good way to spend the morning. They have this park with a lot of really sweet statues, made even sweeter by listening to the Olympic fanfare on your iPod. Plus, no one ever checked my Eurail pass, so I got free passage to Lausanne and back to Geneva.

Back in Geneva, I met up with Kevin, Hilary, Mary, and Anna at Starbucks, my home away from home in Europe. I'm actually in an internet cafe in the train station, having just came from said location. Although Geneva is painfully overpriced, we had a great time, enjoying some coffee, taking artsy photographs, and talking. One of the more interesting conversations related to our perceptions of ourselves throughout the years. Like, everyone thinks they had everything figured out in high school. Then you get to college, and you're like, "wait a second, I didn't know jack." So, we were just talking about that progression. Like, are we adults now, or do we just think we are? Who knows. What I do know, is that for about 10 days now, I have been travelling Europe, with no guidelines, no tour coordinator, no nothing. The only thing I've been able to rely on to get myelf around in one piece and figure out what's going on has been myself and those who have been with me. I think the fact that right now, I am sitting in Geneva after successfully navigating through London, Chamonix, Reutte, Prague, and Munich is a good indication of the intense growth that one is necessarily brought through during such an adventure. I guess the purpose of this is to say, I feel good about myself right now, being able to handle all of this. It's certainly been intense. I still have Edinburgh, Dublin, more London, and Vienna to go. The strange thing is, after this break is over, there's only a few months until the longer spring break is upon us. Wow.

Like I said, I'm in Geneva for Christmas. It's certainly not been a very Christmas Eve-y Christmas Eve. It's really hard to get Christmasy when you're constantly on the road. It's a trade off, I suppose. I have an opportunity this year, and the traditional Christmas is being sacrificed for that opportunity. But it's very nice to be able to spend Christmas with some of the Luther crew, as they are my family for the year. There definitely is that feeling, at least among the core group of people I've been travelling with. And it's always nice to be with family at Christmas. Even if we are going to spend it at Starbucks (open on Christmas!) and seeing Casino Royale. It's been nice to get to know some different Luther people better over the past few days, which is always nice. It will be bittersweet to leave them, but I'm looking forward to spending time with my mom and after that, my friend Scott. And after that, seeing Benjamin and Kate in Vienna. Familiarity is always good. Since there is nothing to do in Geneva (honestly, don't come here, it's not as cool as it sounds), I'll probably post a Christmas message tomorrow. But if I don't, everyone have a very merry Christmas. And to those of you from WAG, sorry I missed the Christmas party. It would have been nice to see Shane drink too much and make fun of the fork he constantly has in his pocket, among so many other things, but such is life. No Leeann Chin yet, but I'm constantly on the lookout (for those of you not in the know, Leeann Chin is the preferred Chinese fast food establishment of Walgreens Pharmacy #5634). As they say in Geneva, Joyeux Nöel!

Prague, Munich, Geneva.....

I'm in Geneva right now, after a whirlwind 16 hours spent in Munich. Prague went well. If you're ever in Central Europe, I would recommend it pretty strongly. I don't know, it's just a very pretty city, and it's a good place to walk around. I spent most of the day with Hilary, which was fun. Much of yesterday was spent getting from Prague to Munich, which means a 6 hour train ride. Upon arrival at our hostel, we headed out to check out the city. Being Christmas, there was a big Christmas market going on, which meant that I purchased a bratwurst in Germany. After that, we headed over the Hofbrauhaus, which is a big beer hall. Details aren't really that important, but it involved a bunch of Germans at the table next to us, one of whom didn't even speak German, but Bavarian, a fair quantity of Munich's famous beer, pretzels, a bunch of men in lederhosen playing brass instruments, and an ill feeling in the morning. I guess if you want the non G-rated version, e-mail or something. Anyways, I'm in Geneva now. I have to be frank, Geneva is not impressing me whatsoever. It just feels very blah, and does not have the atmosphere or charm of Prague or Munich, much less Chamonix. You think Switzerland, and images are conjured up of grand moutains and quaint towns. Geneva just has not met these criteria yet. I'm sure I'll survive though. If it's open tomorrow, I may head out to the International Olympic Museum in nearby Lausanne, which would be really cool. It's good to have someplace to settle down for Christmas though. Tonight, we ate at McDonald's, pretty much out of laziness. I had something called a Ciabatta Grande avec fromage, and I wouldn't recommend it. I feel sort of ill because of it, I'm fairly certain. I really don't have much else to say right now. So, everyone have a very merry Christmas!

Behind the Iron Curtain

This will be short, as I feel as if I'm blogging way too much for vacation. Needless to say, I'm in Prague right now, the capital of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic, hmm, land of a thousand lame jokes. I forgot my czechbook, let's czech that out, I need to czech out with my groceries, etc, etc, etc. After a long train journey from Reutte, I met up with the gang in the very Soviet Union-esque train station. If one thing sticks out from these first 5 or so hours in Prague, it's that it is dirt cheap. It seems as if this country is a huge dollar store. Seriously, everything seems to come out to one US dollar. And it's not like you're getting bad stuff either. Tonight, I had a steak, a plate of fried potato things, and two beers, all for under US 14 dollars. We ate dinner in a very smoky restaurant, but it was good. We all experienced a bit of culture shock, as the waitress was wearing a black skirt, a black sweater jacket, and that's it. In polite terms, she was utterly and fully exposed. Not what you'd typically see in the US. Tomorrow sees an early morning to czech out Prague to the fullest it can be in 24 hours. Tomorrow also rings in Emily's 21st birthday. So, joyeux anniversaire for that. Prague, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, dirt cheap, full of amazing beer, and ripe for the picking. Bring it.

Sprechen sie Englisch?

It is the most uncomfortable feeling in the world, not being able to freelz communicate (taking a cue from Kevin, I'm giving up on trzing to spel correctlz on the German kezboard. The z's and y's are switched around. Deal with it). I know I mentioned that before. But it's the truth. Anzwazs, todaz, I got up plentz earlz, ate breakfast at mz guesthouse, and then the kindlz Austrian woman who co-owns the place drove me to the bus station in Reutte to catch mz bus to Fussen. Well anzwazs, like an idiot, I picked out the wrong time, so I ended up waiting around for 40 minutes before catching the bus for the half hour ride to Fussen. Fussen is a fairlz touristz town in Bavaria, famouslz known for the Konigschlossen, or King's Castles. There are two of them, both of which I toured. The more normal Hohenschwagou (or something) and the quite more impressive Neuschwanstein. The king in question is Ludwig II of Bavaria, who ruled in the late 19th centurz. This dude was wild. He was mildlz insane, his best friend was Richard Wagner (zeah, that one), and he basicallz decided to build a fantaszland castle for himself, that of Neuschwanstein. It was ridiculous. I wish I could post photos, but it looks like something out of a Disnez movie, no joke. He dedicated the castle to Wagner, so all the paintings are of Wagnerian operas, which I found cool. I had the Die Meistersinger Prelude going in mz head the whole time. The interior was almost offensivelz overlz decorated. Being unable to speak English, I had to take the English tour, which was most decidedlz the AMERICAN TOUR. On a coincidence, I ran into a group of elderlz folk from Waverlz, IA on a bus tour. Upon hearing I was a Luther boz, thez immediatelz gave me the required crap. There was also a verz curious guz, who looked about 34, on a trip with his parents and same age brother. He had on this Columbia jacket with all these patches rather tackilz sewn on, and he had the hair and air of a used car salesman. I discreetlz took a photo of him, because his mannerisms were so funnz (not to mention the ridiculous coat). Although, it was nice to be among some of mz people, even with the lame complaints, fake superioritz delusions, and offhand threats to sue. Upon taking a verz crappz guided tour with said crapload of Americans (including mzself), I rushed back down to the central area hoping to catch a bus which would take me to mz bus back to Reutte. Thanks to the inefficiencz of Fussen public transport, I missed it, and was stuck for an additional 2.5 hours in Fussen, with nothing to do. I had planned to go back to Reutte and check out a series of castle ruins on top of some hills. But no, instead I wandered around Fussen. I did stumble across Fussen's own castle, which was mildlz entertaining. Anzwazs, I finallz got back to Reutte, and after making the 2 mile walk to mz hotel, collapsed in tiredness. I had walked a lot, since after I missed the bus back to Fussen from the castles, I walked back 3.3 KM back. To round out the evening, I walked back into town for some food. Austria is the land of Mozart, yodeling, enthusiastic European integration, and HUGE ASS PIZZAS. For real, I ordered a pizza for around 5 Euros, and ended up with a monstrositz with the circumference of a small planet. Anzwazs, dulz sated, I returned to the Pension Hohenrainer with a bottle of Stiegl and watched some incrediblz lame Euro-CNN. It just doesn't hold zour interest when the same 3 stories are repeated all daz. This is long. Tomorrow, off to Prague and a reunion with Luther folk. Although I like the freedom of solo travel, it's so nice to have people to share experiences with. So anzwazs, staring down the barrel of 9 hours, 4 train changes (if I'm luckz), and a trip behind the former Iron Curtain. Bring it on.

SOLO

So, I'm now writing from the relatively remote confines of Ehenbichl, following an intense 11 hour/7 transfer train journey from Chamonix to Reutte. We all left Chamonix at 7:40 AM, and traveled more or less together until Zurich. At Zurich, I split off, and through a couple of very local trains, found myself in Reutte, Austria right around 7:00. I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere. On each train, a Deutsch Bahn employee felt the need to clarify where I was going, as it must have seemed preposterous that a lone American was traveling so far into the middle of nowhere. Not really the middle of nowhere, but not the big cities. Anyways, after getting lost in Reutte, I managed to walk to Ehenbichl, a tiny village about a mile down the road. The atmosphere is amazing though. My hotel is right underneath the Ehrenburg castle ruins, which are perched high above on a hill, and lit up at night. There is a light snow falling, complementing the snow already on the ground. And there are Christmas lights everywhere. Good stuff. Reutte/Ehenbichl is in Tirol, which is the Austrian equivalent of Bavaria. It's only a half hour bus ride from Fussen, where I'm headed tomorrow to check out Neuschwanstein Castle, the fairly tale-esque home of Mad King Ludwig. Then I hope to bus back to Reutte and check out the hilltop castle ruins. All in all, I'm looking to relax a bit before catching up with everyone in Prague on Wednesday. Let me tell you, one of the most nervewracking things is not being able to communicate freely, like me not knowing a bit of German. It's very unnerving. But it's going to be good, I can tell. I have a single room in a family run guesthouse. They're going to drive me to the bus station after breakfast in the morning, just a glimpse of how folksy this is. As much as the hostel lifestyle is glorified, there is nothing like having a private room, complete with TV and bathroom. So tonight, I think I'll just chill out and watch some English CNN, which I seem to get. For those who wondered, the rest of the time in Chamonix was great. We went up the Aiguille du Midi cable car some 12,000 feet up. Damn, it was unbelievable. I think everyone in the group agreed. I have some photos that will blow the mind. Kudos to Mary for overcoming her fear of heights, because we were definitely very high. Anyways, I just got back from a splurged 11 Euro meal of wiener schnitzel, a ton of French fries, salad, and Kaiser beer in the only restaurant in this tiny village, served by a man who spoke no English. This is the sort of experience I hope to find in abundance in the coming weeks.

Bonjour from Chamonix

Bonne soir les americains! I'm in Chamonix, France, right at the foot of Mont Blanc. It has been amazing, the best way possible to start the break. Our room is amazing, it's basically an apartment, complete with kitchen and dishwasher. And it is so nice to have more than a couple days in one place. You don't even know, man it's relaxing. Of course, we've been enjoying some French wine and cheese, as well as bread. You'll never eat better anywhere else, that's for sure. The scenery is something that really can't be described here. I went skiing today at les Grands Montets, which was unbelievable. I paid less than I would to ski at Welch Village to ski in the Alps. It was opening day of the Chamonix ski areas, so the whole place wasn't open, but that was okay. I conquered that which was open. I even (avert your eyes mom) went on an "off piste" black run, meaning the run was closed, and it was ungroomed. Black here is like the equivalent of a double black back home. The first run down was most successful. I was the only one in this huge bowl, with probably 2 feet of powder, and the most epic mountainscapes you can imagine. It's so mountain-y here, it's almost unreal. You feel as if you are in a postcard, or a landscape painting. Later, I decided to go off piste again, but this time I guess I wanted to prove that I was a badass to whoever was watching. So I decided to go down the not touched area dotted with large rocks and other obstacles. Let's just say I fell down a couple times, but they were very light falls, and I emerged unscathed. But I made it down. Skiing in the Alps is a lot more difficult I feel, because you really have to be in control. It's like driving in the city, instead of on the freeway. Small runs, varying snow conditions, you have to know your stuff to get it done. Just from this one day out, I feel a lot better in my ability to ski in powder though. I don't know if I'll get out again, but man, if the opportunity arises, I'll go. One other great thing about France is the Euro. I mean, I'm still losing money, but not nearly as much as I would in England. It's a good feeling. I've been able to use my French, which has been good. I'm the interpreter for the group. I'm making every possible effort to speak in French rather than English, with varying degrees of success. Tonight will probably be another chill night in the room. We just ate at our first Euro McDonald's, which puts American ones to shame. Pictures eventually. So yeah, Chamonix is a smashing success. Anyone who's considering it, come here. Now. C'est la vie.

Off

In roughly 2 hours, I'm catching a train to London, and setting off on my Euro-Christmasy trek across the Alps (if anyone is curious, I'm in Geneva for Christmas and London for New Year's). After an extremely late night attempting to pack, rushing together final travel plans, consulting train schedules, and trying to remember how to speak French, I think I can say that I am about as planned as I'm ever going to be. All that's left to do is walk out the door. I'm armed with a Eurail pass, approximately 2.5 GB of camera memory, and quite a few New England-ish articles of clothing from Eddie Bauer. But I'm definitely quite nervous. As I've stated earlier, I have quite a few visions of myself sleeping in some random train station in the middle of Austria, or not being able to escape the Czech Republic or something. But I think the excitement now outweighs the nervousness. I'm just ready to go now. I think the highlights of the trip are going to be skiing or whatever alpine activity in Chamonix, my solo trip to Austria, Prague, seeing family and friends, and the London Symphony concert I'm going to at the very end. It will be interesting as well to see how I manage literally living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks. I'm pretty proud of my packing job, I went really light. I definitely won't be very stylish, but at least I'll be functional. So, right. I just wanted to share the above pictures. First is my Eurail pass, which is basically the most valuable thing I own for the next month or so. You'd think $400 would look a little more impressive... Second is British Pizza Hut delivery, which I must say, takes American Pizza Hut to school. It was amazing. So anyways, t-minus one hour till I ship out for the station. As you may suspect, blog posts will become less frequent for the next 3 weeks. I will try to provide quick updates via the use of internet cafes and such. Although I'll miss playing in the Christmas band back home at church, along with all the other Christmasy traditions, this will be a good thing for me to do. Every once in a while, we must do things that are uncomfortable or difficult, in order to grow as people. I would characterize this journey as one of those things. Everyone stay well, wish me luck, and have a very merry Christmas!

P.S.- If anyone is interested in calling me while on break, I actually have my correct cell phone number here for an international caller. Keep in mind that when in Europe, I am 7 hours ahead instead of the 6 on the British Isles. On my phone at least, the "+" is formed by holding down the zero. Or double tapping it.

+44 79 6003 9380

The Final Countdown

T minus 3 days until I put England in the rearview mirror, and head out to the French Alps for the first leg of an epic journey across Alpine Europe, Edinburgh, Dublin, and London. For the public's interest, here is my itinerary

Dec 13th- depart for London

Dec 14th-18- Chamonix, France

Dec 18-20- Reutty, Austria/Fussen, Germany

Dec 20-22- Prague, Czech Republic

Dec 22-24- Munich, Germany

Dec 24-26- Geneva, Switzerland

Dec 26- Fly to London, meet mom, go to Edinburgh

Dec 26-29- Edinburgh, Scotland

Dec 29-30- Nottingham, England (meet Scott)

Dec 30-Jan 2- London (mom leaves on 31, Scott and I stay until the 2nd)

Dec 2-4- Dublin, Ireland

Dec 4-7- London

Dec 7- Return to Nottingham

And for good measure, I'll throw this in

Dec 10-14- Vienna, Austria

Looking at it on paper, it's a pretty intense 3 weeks. As we speak, I'm surrounded by a seemingly insurmountable pile of travel books, train schedules, hotel reservations, and maps. In my hurried rush to get all my trains, planes, and hostels booked, I haven't had much time to actually figure out what I want to do in each place yet. I mean, some ideas, but other than that, Rick Steves, you're my man. This whole planning thing has been one of the most intimidating things I've ever done. I'm armed with my Eurail pass, a timetable book, a sheaf of set rail journeys to and from my various destinations, but I still have the sneaking suspicion I'm going to end up stranded in some tiny village in Germany. Everything is planned out well, but navigating stations, finding seats on trains, etc, is a frightening prospect. As Kevin said, you just have to sort of get on and pray to God you end up where you want to go. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Anyways, it was a typically rainy, depressing, and freakishly cold English Sunday, complete with 20 MPH wind gusts. Sounds like a great day for a baseball game. Yes, today saw my re-entry to the world of competitive amateur baseball, as we defeated the university softball team in 3 innings on a windswept plain outside of town. I started in left field. I only touched the ball once in the field, and although I fielded it successfully, I made an idiot play throwing it back in, and sort of threw it somewhere between second base and the center fielder. Whatever. The real stupidity came when I batted. I ended up walking, and made it to second as a result of another walk. Anyways, the guy on first like, forgot I was on second, and decided to steal. So he starts running, I figure out what's going on, and I try to steal third. I get called out, he makes it. It was one of the lamest things I've ever had happen to me.

Saturday night, a large group of us decided to go see this year's formulaic Christmas film, aptly named "The Holiday." I must be honest, it is making a very strong case for the worst movie I've ever seen in a theatre. I found out that Cameron Diaz is not only the worst actress I've ever seen, but also a genuinely irritating human being. She ruined the movie. In any case, the film was terrible, and I would discourage anyone from seeing it, unless you want to subject yourself to way too much crappy acting, predictable plot, and horrifyingly bad dialogue.

Jumping back to today, it was a relatively quiet day, save for the baseball game. I've spent most of today trying to get my affairs in order for the break. Some of us (Kevin, Ryan, Hilary, Emily, myself) decided to go eat at Wagamama, which is quickly becoming my favorite British culinary invention. It's a Japanese style noodle bar, and it is amazing. Brings me right back to Concert Band Tour 2005, complete with Kirin. Tomorrow features yet more planning, some sort of presentation to Mark and Carol for the Paideia final, a shopping trip downtown for travel essentials, baseball practice, and some sort of celebration for Mary's birthday. I don't know, it should be good. Hopefully I'll get more stuff solidified for break, and not have as much a potential for a meltdown. In any case, it's sure to be intense.

Razzle Dazzle

It's December. To me, that means one thing. ELVIS' CHRISTMAS ALBUM.

I went and saw Chicago with Mary last night. I must say, my near-encyclopedic knowledge of the movie version did me in. Everything I compared to the movie, and typically found less than up to the task. Granted, it's the touring show. I mean, there's a preordained stigma anyways. The point in which the show excelled was the choreography, which was very very good. You could tell they spent a lot of time on it. The singing, eh. I would characterize it as generally good, but not what I would expect from a touring musical. Billy Flynn was not very good. He definitely could have used a good critical watching of the movie and taken some notes from Richard Gere. Richard Gere's presence in general would have greatly lifted the quality of the production. It was quite odd, it seemed as if the entire theater was comprised of high school age girls. At least the cheap section that we were in was. The theater was entirely too big for the show. I feel as if Chicago is a show that would greatly benefit from a more intimate performance venue, to get that cabaret feel. I make it sound as if the show sucked. It didn't. I was entertained. But I prefer the movie to the UK touring version. So sue me.

This week has been perhaps the worst week of the semester, in terms of workload. Being gone over the weekend, I had Monday and Tuesday to write a 1,500 word history essay on the motivations for European expansion and colonialism in the early modern period. I also had to deal with Mark and Carol's Paideia Final of Doom on Tuesday night, which featured 2 hours of straight essay-ing. Honestly, I didn't find it as difficult as I feared it may have been, but it was definitely intense. But with the relative laxidasical quality of stuff at the university, a little Luther-esque kick in the face was probably good. Anyways, I got the essay turned in, my journals for the weekend at Stratford complete. All that now stands between me and (hopefully) skiing in the Alps is a seminar presentation on Friday and a wack oral presentation of some sort of Paideia final to the directors on Monday. Plus some studious practicing of the trombone. Given my academic demands as of late, I have not been able to practice for a week, which really irritates me. It always happens this time of year, but it doesn't ever get less annoying. In good news, I got my first essay back, this one from American History. I scored a 70, which converts into an "A" in the American system. Considering it was worth 50% of my grade, I was okay with that.

Another momentous hurdle was lept yesterday in my struggle to become BRITISH. I purchased and subsequently ate a pre-packaged sandwich, similar to the one pictured. Rather, mine was chicken and bacon, and I got it at Boots, the Walgreens wannabe chain pharmacy. Britain is the land of the pre-packaged sandwich, and I am continually mystified by their enduring popularity among the masses here. One will not believe just how many people walk around with these things on a regular basis. I'm sure there are more than a few students at the university who are completely sustained by them. You would not have caught me dead with such a sandwich in the States. But, I concluded that a certain level of sacrifice was necessary for greater cultural understanding. I'm somewhat horrified to admit that it wasn't all that bad.

Travel plans are irritating me, but I found something to do in the 3 days between Chamonix and Prague. I'm going to Fussen, Germany. It's in Bavaria, 10 minutes or so across the border from Austria. It features the castle pictured above. I don't really know where I'm going to stay yet, but I'm hoping to figure that out by the weekend. I'm learning the advantages of early booking, especially when it comes to hostels. So either I'm going to get lucky with some hotels, or I'm going to be staying in some random person's guesthouse in a backwater Austrian town. No, really, I might. In any event, it will be a good test case for future travels.

Why am I still on this thing? I need to figure out this lame seminar crap. More European colonization. I keep feeling I should be some sort of celebrity, because I'm from the place colonized by Europeans. That makes no sense, I'm not Native American. Out.

Stratford Upon Avon (aka hangin' with Shakespeare)

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So right, I was in Stratford upon Avon this weekend, to be henceforth referred to simply as "Stratford" for efficiency's sake. As you may or may not know, Stratford was the boyhood home of William Shakespeare, as well as where he lived in later life. It's also the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which performs his plays. Being a non-Englishy sort of person, I was a little apprehensive about this particular trip, simply because I thought it would be lame. I've read some Shakespeare, but typically found it so tasking to interpret and figure out, that I just couldn't handle it. I was incorrect.

We left early Friday morning, and made our way to Stratford via car. What was nice about this weekend is that most of our time was unstructured, in that we were given the opportunity to explore Stratford on our own. We got this ticket that gave us access to 5 Shakespeare houses for 12 pounds. These involved Shakespeare's birthplace, his wife's cottage, his daughter's/wealthy doctor son in law's house, his mom's house, and the ruins of the house Will lived in himself before some pretentious idiot knocked it down so he wouldn't have to pay taxes. I mean, it was cool to see Shakespeare's birthplace, but it wasn't like, a life changing experience, like going on a pilgrammage or anything. Some people might characterize Stratford as such. The town was very nice, and it was decorated brilliantly for Christmas, with lights everywhere. I enjoyed it. Once again, I found myself in Starbucks. But thankfully, thanks to the recently received Starbucks card from my mom, it didn't really cost me $6. It cost my small plastic card $6. But not me.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the plays. On Friday we saw "Pericles" and on Saturday we saw "The Winter's Tale." Both plays were put on by the same cast, of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Pericles was given this African theme, complete with fancy robes, dictators, and guerillas. A Winter's Tale was set up in this 1940's theme, then switched to a 1960's hippie love fest sort of thing. I don't know, I figured out I liked watching live theatre. It's an expensive hobby to have though, so who knows if it will ever pan out. It did make me want to visit the new Guthrie in Minneapolis. Shakespeare though, man his plays make so much more sense when you actually see them performed, instead of just reading. What a good idea.

In other things, the beard journey is over, after a rather humiliating 24 hours sporting a Shakespeare-esque mustache/soul patch thing. Not a good idea. The 4 guys stayed in a penthouse room in a pretty sweet B&B, which was good. We had probably the lamest conversation ever on Friday night. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were on TV, and we were all trying to impress each other, trying to explain why they remain popular. Problem is, none of us knew what the hell we were talking about, so we were making the lamest, most vague statements you can think of. Whatever I said made no sense whatsoever. I stopped in an Oxfam (the British equivalent of Goodwill) and picked up a Penguin guide to Jazz on record for 4 pounds. Like, a 500 page book that has a review and discology of practically every jazz album by anyone of significance from the first recordings to 1995. I was pleased. And how can I forget Sunday's church service at Holy Trinity. Besides being the home of Shakespeare's grave, it also features a man with perhaps the most stereotypical English accent ever. I honestly could not stop laughing during the prayers and hymns. This guy was right behind me, bellowing in the most outrageous, John Cleese-ish, just plain crazy voice I've ever come across in this country. I wish I could have recorded it, or at least recorded an impression of it. Holy crap, it was so funny. Like I said, I couldn't stop laughing, and kept trying to find ways to try and hide by intensely reading the bulletin, or pretending to cough.

Two weeks from right now, I'm going to be in Chamonix, enjoying the aprés ski after a day on the slopes. Holy crap. I'll be leaving a week from this Thursday. It freaks me out, but I am ready for adventure. The great act of going out by oneself, or in my case, in a group of 4. Unfettered adventure. Thank you Eurail. Anyways, I had my band concert tonight. It went well, fairly well. I screwed up some counting, but I'm not as irritated as I could be, because it's not like I wasn't prepared. I played my solo well. The main wind orchestra, they had their moments, but they played Russian Christmas Music, and I wasn't too impressed. In blogging news, I'm including links to a couple other Luther folks' websites. I would encourage people to check a couple of them out every once in a while. Get a different perspective, you know? Anyways, I have a rough two days coming up, with a big history paper, a history seminar, and a Paideia final. But on Wednesday, I'm going to see Chicago. Good times. Congratulations to Scott and his new 50 inch plasma flatscreen TV. I'm impressed, no joke.

Thanksgiving Weekend (among other things)

Yes, it was Thanksgiving weekend. The last post was lame, sorry, hopefully this will make up for it. Quick recap, Thanksgiving dinner was quite good, though obviously nothing like being home. But I had a good symphonic wind rehearsal as well, which was very nice. Man this is a cool piece we're playing. Crazy stuff, but cool. Friday night we hit up Pitcher & Piano, which is like this really classy bar housed in a decommissioned church. It was a good time. We were going to walk back, but it started to downpour, so we ended up taking taxis back. Anyways, on Saturday we hit up the Forest game. As usual, we had problems getting to the game on time. Being one that likes to get to events quite early, I was having some problems with that. Theoretically, had we gone directly to the game, we would have been on time. But we decided to stop in to the traditional Forest pregame hangout: Hooters. Yeah I know, weird. It was my first trip to said restaurant, and I sort of found it disappointing that it wasn't as risque and dangerous as popular belief makes it out to be. Basic premise, attractive, large breasted women bring out beer and chicken wings. Once you accept that, the novelty sort of wears off. Anyways, after getting to the game 15 minutes late, we saw a great match. Unfortunately we missed the first goal, but since the opposing team scored it, who cares. Forest played really crappily the first half, but then scored three times in probably 10 minutes in the second half to win. Pretty intense. Millwall, the opposing team has quite the reputation for hooliganism. Unfortunately, there were no riots this time, but there was a pretty intense police escort to the train station. No joke, probably around 200 policemen escorted the Millwall fans to the station, blocking traffic, cutting off roads, pretty much surrounding the pack. It was ridiculous. Anyways, that night, we all went out to The Lion (the local pub) to catch an Irish folk group play, as well as chill out. I don't have a picture of the pub, but it has a great atmosphere. Think pub meets indie coffee shop, and you sort of get the idea. Plus, they have this rotating schedule of different cask ales, so there's always something new. It's like those places in the States that have different microbrews. Anyways, we had fun. I finally confronted Brandon about the infamous cheese incident from the caf last year.

Sunday, I went to baseball practice on the turf for the first time all year. I would characterize it as a good practice, but I clearly have no strength to either throw the ball far, or very accurately. Most of the day was spent writing a paper for Paideia about the arts in Britain. I wrote some crap about the tension between the visual arts and music. At night, I went to an Evensong service downtown. Evensong is a traditional afternoon service of the Church of England, really heavily reliant on the choir. It was a good time, just to get out on my own and do something quiet. Came back, woodshedded the Larsson concertino 3rd movement for about an hour, then watched Rent with the group. If no one's seen either the play or movie, or heard the music, I'd highly recommend it. It's making me a better person, no doubt. On a sidenote, I find myself using that phrase a lot lately, "making me a better person." I found the story to be quite moving, and I like the idea of a Bohemian lifestyle, completely dependent on the arts and just sort of doing whatever. I don't think I'll ever have the balls to do it, but I think it'd really be fun to live in New York for a year or so, trying to get a gig on trombone or whatever, living "la vie boheme." I suppose Minneapolis would work too. But don't worry parentals, I'm sure I'll do something more responsible.

Monday, I bought a coat. Well, technically, my mom bought it, as it's a Christmas present. It's a black wool double breasted waist length coat from the Gap. I don't know, it's a Euro thing. I like it. It's going with me on Christmas break. Baseball practice that night went really well. I felt like I was on my game. Lynn, our resident Chicagoan/hard-ass coach said I looked really good (in terms of fielding), so I took that as a compliment. Although, I'm left with a sore right arm, and a sore right lower middle finger. I played catch with this guy who threw ridiculously hard. Anyways, right now, I'm consumed with a paper for my history class about the Age of Discovery. And eagerly awaiting arrival of my package from home, which most importantly contains my razor. It's been over 3 weeks for the beard, and I'm ready for it to be gone. It's not that it really looks bad or anything, but it's time for it to go. Anyways, that's it for now.

BLACK FRIDAY

I find myself using capitals a lot more lately, it makes everything seem so much more exciting than it typically is. Anyways, Friday (the so called "Black Friday"), I got up, and went to an extremely lame American History lecture. The lecturer was filling in, so he really didn't have the stuff down. It was sort of lame. I went downtown afterwards and met Emily for some coffee. They're doing this big German Christmas celebration thing downtown. It's sort of like the state fair, with stalls and stuff, except it's German Christmas stuff, complete with pretzels, bratwurst, and beer. The powers that be in Nottingham have decorated pretty intensely for Christmas, with a lot of lights. It's pretty cool at night. Anyways, a guy from Luther is here for the weekend, as well as Thanksgiving. He had originally been picked to go to Nottingham, but he dropped out in order to do a semester long program in Switzerland. Anyways, he's friends with a couple people here, so he flew over for Thanksgiving. And since he had to be shown a good time, we went downtown at night. The details are pretty boring, but we went to a sweet bar called Pitcher and Piano, that is actually housed within a deconsecrated church. It's pretty impressive. So I don't know, we went here, we went there, it started to rain, we took a taxi back here. Fairly successful. Today I'm going to the Forest game. They're playing the most notorious team in England for football violence, so it could be pretty intense.

Sliding

It was another rainy, cloudy, altogether depressing British day today. Which typically means only one thing: we'll practice sliding in baseball. Lo and behold, we did in fact. I ended up soaked to the bone and covered from head to toe in mud. My socks actually turned brown. Once again, it was established that I am in no way a threat to steal. I think all 5 or so people who braved the rain to show up had a good laugh at my lame attempts to slide, which typically include some weird hesitance, followed immediately by a sprawling, out of control, glorified fall. I laughed myself, it must be a ridiculous sight. It's been good though, as the last few days we've had some coaches come in to help. One guy, who was there Monday and today is a local guy who coaches Little League. I smugly looked down upon his Braves jacket in my Twins hat. He had tried to show me some hitting tips on Monday, but I seem stuck in a slump of swinging half assedly and 2 seconds too late. I'm sure I'll break out. Monday, the British national team coach was there too. He was an American, natch. Surprisingly enough, he actually lived in St. Paul for 3 years, and coached in Apple Valley. It's a small world. I was instantly recognizable thanks to the ever present Twins hat and in this case, "Twins Territory" t-shirt courtesty of Chase credit cards. But baseball's going good overall. I had a very good (trombone) practice session tonight. I don't know if I'd say productive necessarily, but definitely enjoyable. I spent quite a bit of time listening to "Cry Me a River" performed by J.J. Johnson, then trying to play the same stuff back by ear. Being an ear training idiot, it took me a long time. But after about 20 minutes, I could play the first couple lines of the song, and I was quite pleased with myself. I'm also working on the 3rd movement of the Larsson concertino, which is full of ridiculous double tonguing, and have been trying to work out the first page. I made improvement, I think, which is always good. I didn't go to brass ensemble tonight because I have a fairly large essay due tomorrow for Islam (50% of the grade). So, I wanted to finish that up, and I did get in around an hour and a half of practice, which was good. The paper is currently finished, but it needs a good reading through and tinkering with. It's really hard to consciously perform to your best when you feel like so little is expected of you. Academically, I feel as if this year is a cakewalk compared to Luther, but I'll probably get a bit of a wake up call after this semester is over. Hopefully not. It's not as if my essay is bad or anything. Anyways, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. And as one of my fellow Luther people put it, it's a challenge celebrating Thanksgiving in the land of historical American oppression, where no one cares about the holiday, there are no parades, work and school goes on, and there is no football. I'll probably go to my history lecture, but in order to more fully celebrate, I did cancel my trombone lesson. Quite a different experience, to be sure. We of course are holding a big dinner/American party in the flat. Unfortunately, I will probably have to cut out early to go to band, but such is life I guess. Immediately upon arrival back at the flat tomorrow night, I'm watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. But make no mistake, Thanksgiving is better at home by far. Can't even compare. It's an item I should put on my list of "American stuff I should appreciate more," which also includes Taco Bell, stores open later than 6, Rainbow Six 3 with Corey, that one huge practice room near Dr. Smith's office, and a host of other things. I think (well, I know) pretty much everyone in the flat is going through some homesickness, especially with the holiday, and I'm no exception. It'll be nice to have the break coming up, where we can get out and I can see my mom as well as one of my best friends. Following is the trip to Vienna to catch a couple Luther folk, which is going to be great. So anyways, wish me luck with the Islam paper, and hope everyone else has a great Thanksgiving. Wait, hold on, I forgot something. This should be common knowledge by now, but every reader should be aware that the Minnesota Twins are currently in possession of the AL Cy Young, the AL batting champ, and the AL MVP. Although my joy is ecstatic, how did we get swept in 3 games? I know, I'll be in the country next year. All will be set right again. Quick shout out to the Luther Trombone Choir, who I'm sure played exquisitely at the IMEA conference in Ames last weekend. Good job those of you who are competent, you know who you are. Later folks.

LONDON

NOTICE- NEW PHOTOS FROM LONDON ARE UP ON THE SITE. CLICK TO THE LINK TO THE RIGHT, THEN HIT "LONDON 1"


So, I went to London this weekend. It was pretty intense. I think the best thing to say about London is that it is really really big. I mean big. Think New York big, but take away any semblance of city planning or skyscrapers. London seems to me to have been just sort of barfed into existence. Like, there is a difference between Greater London, Central London, and the City of London. The whole thing is a vast urban jungle of comglomerated villages and patched together areas. Because of this, the grid system that we as Americans consider so normal is completely nonexistant. A map is an absolutely essential tool. I feel it would be just a regurgitation if I just went over what I did, so I think I'll just name a couple highlights with comments, and then you can check out some of the photos for other stuff.

Of course, I hit up a couple musicals. Friday night, after a delayed coach arrival (thanks to our driver running over the end of car 50 yards outside the Nottingham station), we quite literally sprinted to the theater, and arrived about 2 minutes into Monty Python's Spamalot. I would characterize the play as good. Just like that, good. My friend was considerably more enthralled than I. It follows the movie (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so you always know what's coming, and I felt the music left something to be desired. But, a good experience overall. On Saturday however, we had the opportunity to go see a matinee performance of Wicked, which is currently on its first run on the West End. And fortunately for us, Idina Menzel, who won the Tony for best actress for her role in Wicked, is in the London production until December. For those of you who don't know of the musical (you are probably over the age of 35), it's based off a "prequel" to the Wizard of Oz about the two witches. Wicked was absolutely amazing, and the singing was unbelievable. If any of you are in fact familiar with the music, especially the song "Defying Gravity," it was a near religious experience, hearing her unleash on that song. I completely enjoyed it, and felt the quality of the singing made me leave the theatre as a fundamentally better person. I was inspired enough to return after the evening performance, and attempt to get autographs. I did succeed, and got both witches' signatures. Myra, eat your heart out. Plus, I must say, the dude playing bass trombone was absolutely destroying pedal notes. I mean that in a good way.

Another highlight was the British Museum. It's a huge history museum, which basically contains one of the most amazing collections ever. They definitely benefitted from the glory days of the British Empire, as there is incredible stuff from all over the world. I spent 2 hours in the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek and Roman galleries, only the first level, and still felt as if I barely scratched the surface of those exhibits, not to mention the 2 other floors of stuff from all over the globe. It was overwhelming, yet awe inspiring. They had a whole gallery full of ancient Egyptian sculpture, every single piece over 4,000 years old. I can't even comprehend it. A whole gallery. They have the Rosetta Stone there, the real Rosetta Stone that unlocked the translation of hieroglyphics. Yikes. Another amazing highlight of what I saw was a whole room of friezes taken from the Parthenon. Yeah, that one. The real friezes. I mean, granted, they were sort of, I wouldn't call it stolen, but taken from Athens by the British ambassador to Constantinople. But no one can deny that they at least now are displayed in a way that both inspires and helps people to appreciate it. Needless to say, as a history major, the next trip I take to London, I am planning a whole day in the British Museum.

On a general sense, I really enjoyed the urban feel. I like big cities, I must say. I love New York, and even though it can't compare, it's always fun to be in downtown Minneapolis. I became quite the savvy Underground traveler I feel, and really liked using it to get around. Besides, it's freakishly efficient. We were blessed with beautiful weather both Saturday and Sunday, and I spent a lot of time walking as well. On Saturday morning, I took the underground down to the Houses of Parliament. So, I got some good photos of Parliament, Big Ben, as well as the London Eye. I then walked down Whitehall Avenue, which is best described as a sort of British equivalent of the National Mall in D.C., except it's a road. I saw Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives, but it's pretty heavily gated off and guarded by cops. Anyways, I walked down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, aptly named for the Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Lord Nelson defeated a numerically superior French fleet in around 1803. The Napoleonic Wars, whatever. Anyways, there's this huge column, and Admiral Nelson is at the top, forever gazing towards Trafalgar. The National Gallery is also here. I then walked up past Leicester Square (center of the West End theatre district) and on to the British Museum. At the end of the year, everyone can look forward to a slideshow I'm in the midst of putting together featuring all the fried chicken shops I can document. That apparently is our contribution to world cuisine. Fried chicken, be it Kentucky fried, Southern fried, American fried, etc, etc, etc. I also had some other good walks along the Thames, including a couple of trips across the Millennium Bridge made famous by "Love Actually." I walked around the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, a whole bunch of stuff. I had the chance this morning to dash in and out of the Tate Modern, which is the British national museum of modern art. I really enjoyed the half hour I had, and resolved to make a more substantial visit later on this year. I like modern art, I must admit it.

Quick other notes. I had some amazing coffee at a small Italian coffe bar Saturday morning called Caffé Vergnano. They had one of those huge silver expresso machine things. I was impressed, as it may have been the best coffee beverage of my life, even taking into effect my predisposition towards Starbucks' peppermint mocha. I had a Krispy Kreme doughnut in Victoria Station. Lunch on Saturday was had at Wagamama, a popular Japanese noodle bar chain. It made me reminisce about the time a friend and I stumbled into a Chinese restaurant with no English speakers our first night on the Japanese tour, and ordered ramen. I had ramen here, and it looked almost exactly the same. Good memories. The hostel was a little out of the way, but good. They had a weird breakfast rule though. You were allowed only one small glass of juice, but unlimited toast. I was tempted to walk out with as much toast as I could carry. Like, maybe a whole loaf. I'm undertaking the annual journey of growing a beard. Although I don't think it looks that bad, I still don't know how I feel about hair upon my face, and will be eliminating it upon receiving my Gillette Fusion razor from my mom. By the time it gets here, it will probably have been around 3 weeks, a week longer than last year. Next year, maybe I'll go a full month. Whatever. Quick sidenote, I saw Casino Royale, the new Bond flick upon arriving back in Nottingham. It's phenomenal, perhaps the best Bond film ever. I highly recommend it. This is getting long, and it's late. Photos should be up soon.

Iminent Departure

Well, maybe not so iminent. But less than 24 hours. I'm going to London in approximately 15 hours or so. I guess I haven't really gotten excited about it until tonight. Researching stuff to do, places to eat, how to navigate the Underground has gotten me psyched. It's overwhelming though, as it is a huge city, and I have only a weekend to explore it. Obviously this won't be the only trip, but it's the first experience, so you want to have a good one. The only for certains are as follows.

1- Monty Python's Spamalot at the Palace Theatre- Friday at 8
2- Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre- Saturday at 2:30
3- Eat at Yo! Sushi

Other than those three events, anything goes. I'm excited for the sushi place. I heard about it thanks to Rick Steves, lord of European travel, and I haven't had real sushi since Japan. Apparently this place is awesome. The sushi travels around the restaurant on a conveyer belt, and the price is color coordinated to the plate it's on. And it's supposed to be really good sushi, not the crap you usually find. And I have a voucher for half off, since I'm a student. Plus, they have Kirin Ichiban beer, which is quite amazing. I'm ready. There's another Asian/Japanese style place I sort of want to go as well. It's a noodle bar, which is a chain, but it has really good food. Might try to hit that up. Anyways, I'm a little nervous, as we are traveling via bus. Traveling by bus always comes with certain connotations. Like for instance, if you travel Greyhound in the States, that is a statement of some sort. I don't know whether the National Express has that reputation, but I'm going to find out. Just have to make it through a typically boring Rise of the West seminar and an American History lecture and I'm home free. Well, free to get out of this city I guess. Whatever. Anyways, many of the Luther folk here are very much TV fans, and have been pining over certain shows that cannot be seen as easily here, such as Lost and Grey's Anatomy. Although not a huge TV fan myself, I do have a vice known by the name of 24. All this talk of TV this and TV that has made me realize that I will not be able to watch the upcoming Season 6, without either spending $1.99 an episode on iTunes or illegally downloading, which I'm not very prone to do. Needless to say, that is depressing, as the trailer looks awesome. I have taken flak from the flatmates about my insistence that 24 is the greatest show on TV, and was eager to prove them all wrong. Might have to wait on that though. In other news, congratulations to Minnesota Twins lefthanded pitcher Johan Santana for winning his 2nd AL Cy Young Award today. Johan was unanimously chosen as the best starter in the league. Being a Twins fan, that made my day better. My blue alternate Twins jersey is going to be sent to me soon, and I'm looking forward to wearing it around and attracting all the strange looks. Anyways, I need to pack my bags and figure out what I'm doing. Watch for photos and an entry sometime on Sunday upon my return. Later folks.

The Southwest

NOTICE- NEW PHOTOS POSTED. CLICK ON THE LINK TO THE RIGHT, THEN HIT "THE SOUTHWEST"


Just returned tonight from a 3 day trip to Southwest England. A majority (two days) of it was spent in Bath. We left Bath this morning, and went to Wells, then to Stonehenge, then to Avebury, then back. Here's what happened. Anyways, like I said, we got to Bath on Saturday morning. Bath is (obviously) in the Southwest, and is aptly known for its baths and natural hot springs. It's sort of a big deal, as back in the 18th century, it was like, Hollywood in Britain. Important people hung out there, mainly just to see and be seen, as well as use the baths. The thing about the baths, is that they were originally constructed by the Romans like 1200 years ago. In the 1800's, they actually discovered the orignal Roman bath buried under a bunch of crap, and excavated it. So, people sort of added on to it, and all this stuff. Whatever. We got there Saturday morning, and after dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we walked around the city for a bit. The whole city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because the whole city was pretty much built in the 18th century. There's a very famous building called the Royal Crescent, which is a huge crescent shaped group of townhomes. There is also a building called the Circus, which is 3 townhouse complexes that form a 3 part circle around a central courtyard. It's sort of hard to explain, but it forms a perfect circle from the air.

One of the things about this trip that set it apart from the others is the level of individual/small group bonding that was had, at least by me. Saturday, we had some free time after our morning/early afternoon tours, so Brandon, Emily, and I decided to go to Starbucks for some amazing peppermint mocha. If I had a top 10 list of the general best things about life, Starbucks' holiday peppermint mocha might very well be on it. What I at least imagined would be a quick stop evolved into a 2 hour long conversation over coffee in the upstairs seating area. I won't bore anyone with the details, but we talked about a ton of stuff, and gained a little more understanding about each other, I think. It was extremely enjoyable. Anyways, after that, we all ate dinner at an Alsatian restaurant (think France) called La Flamma. The Bath Mozart Fest is going on, so we were able to procure tickets to go see the London Philharmonic, which was playing in town. Although the lack of trombones severely disappointed me, it was a very good concert. They are much better than the Nottingham Philharmonia. They played a symphony by Haydn, then a Mozart concertino for violin and viola which some amazing soloists. Finished it all off with Symphony No. 41. Pretty intense. After the concert, we all just sort of walked around, ending up in a playground, which featured some very dangerous (by American standards) play equipment. But also very fun. We had a good time.

On Sunday, after way too many cups of machine prepared café au lait, and a very psychologically, emotionally, and mentally damaging defeat at foosball (it wasn't a regulation table, so I blame my loss on that. Plus, we didn't play until 10), a bunch of us went to church at the abbey in town. It was basically the British equivalent of Veteran's Day, so everyone is wearing this red paper poppies on their lapels. It's a big deal over here. So, church was nice, especially when the choir sang. The sermon was terrible. Anyways, after that, I just sort of walked around the city for a while. At 1:30, we had a tour of the Roman Baths. It was probably the most interesting "historic thing" I've done thus far in England. The audio tour was very well laid out, and it was just presented well in general I felt. Plus it was very interesting. The actual bath is original Roman, and used to be the center of a huge temple complex. The building that houses it now is either 18th or 19th century, but it's pretty intense that the actual baths and stuff are 2,000 years old. After that whole deal, we had afternoon tea in the Pump Room, which was where all the rich people hung out in the 1700's. It was exceedingly elegant, and quite good, but very expensive. I didn't pay for it though, Luther did, so I didn't think too much of it. Anyways, we had the opportunity to go to a not-so-fully-staged opera that night, for the Mozart Fest once again. I really was not feeling it, and neither was Mary, so we elected not to go. I mentioned earlier that this trip was notable for the amount of individual/group bonding, and this was the other big event in that. The two of us spent the next 3.5 hours or so just wandering the city, talking about a whole bunch of stuff. After a while we got hungry, so we found possibly the only eating establishment in town that wasn't a pub, and had some bruschetta at an Italian restaurant. Once again, I really enjoyed the whole evening. It was really nice to get to know someone I felt until now I did not know a whole lot. So, good.

Monday, we got up and went to Wells. A former Luther grad is head of the woodwind department at the Cathedral School, which is one of only 4 in the country to specialize in music. It's sort of like Interlochen, or maybe Juilliard high school style. But it's a normal school as well, it just has this intensely specialized music school within it. Anyways, I sat in on a theory class for a while, and these kids were tearing this Cage sonata apart at the seams. I was impressed with it, as they (as high school juniors) were throwing around stuff I learned in theory II at Luther. We then toured the actual cathedral and ate lunch. We then headed for Stonehenge. All I could think about at the actual site was the scene from "Spinal Tap" where they lower the tiny triptych and the dwarfs knock it over. If you haven't seen, I'd recommend it. Anyways, we took the poor mans tour of Stonehenge, in that we didn't actually pay the admission fee. We just looked at it from outside a fence on the road. Sort of like watching a baseball game from the roof of a building opposite the field. But it was pretty cool to see. I guess it's such an iconic thing, you're bound to be a little let down, but I thought it was pretty intense nonetheless. Just the fact they dragged these huge stones like, 200 miles or whatever. Yikes. Anyways, then we went to Avebury, which is a town in the middle of another prehistoric monument. It's like this huge circle created by a dug ditch, with huge rocks placed around, stone circles and such. It was cool, but it was night, so it was difficult to see. Anyways, then we drove back.

Needless to say, it was a good trip. Partially because I didn't have anything hanging over me, like a baseball tournament or whatever. But I really enjoyed Bath. If any readers are considering coming to England anytime soon, I'd recommend it. And I hear going to the actual Bath (they still have a communal bath/spa) is well worth the money. But most of all, I really enjoyed talking with the various Luther folk, especially our time in Starbucks and the wandering Sunday night Mary and I had. It's just nice to start to get a sense of who people are here. Good times. Later folks.

Christmas Break- Finally

The past few days I finally made a few concrete steps into solidifying just what I am doing over Christmas break.

1- I found a group of 4 people to travel with, for a least a week
2- We (using my Twins credit card) booked a hotel for 4 nights in Chamonix, France
3- We also mapped out just how we are going to get to Chamonix
4- Scott booked a hotel in London for New Year's Eve and New Year's
5- I have a general timeline of where I'll be

Needless to say, I'm pleased. I did have a potentially near death experience with the use of my credit card though. I've had a real credit card for about, say 2 months now, and I'm sort of an idiot about how to use it. So when they say I have a credit limit of $500, I didn't know that $500 didn't regenerate every time I paid it off. And I do pay it off completely every month (don't worry parents, I'm not in debt). Needless to say, after dropping $300 or whatever on this hotel, I checked my accounts, and had a quick panic attack when I saw I had only $83 left on credit. So, a quick toll free call later with a barely understandable Indian woman, and I got my credit line extended to $1,000. Situation defused. Booyah.

Anyways, so I am going to fulfill a lifelong dream and ski in Chamonix. The hotel we got comes down to about $20 a night for the four of us, and it's 20 meters away from the cable car up Mont Blanc (the highest peak in Europe). Ridiculous. Needless to say, I'm pumped. We're going to ship out on Thursday, Dec. 14, take a plane from East Midlands to Geneva, than take a train from Geneva to Chamonix. I can't wait. I've wanted to ski in the Alps for so long, and especially Chamonix. I used to get Ski magazine, and they once had this article about skiing in Chamonix, and ever since I read it, I've wanted to go there. It'll be lame to have to rent skis and stuff, but I'll swallow my pride. Man it's going to be intense. It looks like I'm going to be with Mary, Emily, and Kevin, which will be cool. I'm looking forward to it, if I haven't mentioned that yet. Looking forward in earnest. I am going to ski the highest mountain in Europe. Deal with it. Anyways, after the 4 days in Chamonix, we're going to possibly meet up with other Luther folks in Prague for a couple days (rumor has it it's the place to go in Europe now). I'll be returning to London with Emily probably on the 22nd, and will most likely spend Christmas with her and one of her friends before catching my mom in London on the 26th. Check out this sweet and ridiculously low priced hotel.


After my mom and I run around Edinburgh for a couple days, we're going to swing by Nottingham, where we will perhaps take in a Nottingham Forest match with Scott. Scott and I are spending New Year's Eve in London, and will probably jet over to Dublin after a couple days to achieve the long sought after goal of reaching the Guinness Brewery. You have no idea how good it feels to have an idea of how that huge 3 week chunk of time is going to go. I hate just having nothing planned. I have a pretty intense 2 months of traveling coming up, starting with our weekend trip to Bath in the morning. The next weekend of course is our privately funded guys trip to London, featuring Wicked, Monty Python's Spamalot, and our own holy quest for the lone Taco Bell in England. And of course, who can forget the upcoming journey to reunite with my Luther brethren in what promises to be a very intense few days in Vienna? I certainly can't.

In Nottingham news, I turned in my first major assignment/essay today for American History. It was good to get rid of it. On to the next, most likely an invigorating exploration of either the rise of radical Islam or Sufism. Followed by something about Europe. Whatever. On the baseball front, next Monday, the coach of the British national team is going to come to practice and give us some tips. This really impresses me, as this is the man who would theoretically be leading Britain into the Olympics and international competitions and the like. It'll be cool. I went to this band rehearsal the other night, and it actually was very satisfying. The wind orchestra director here knows what he's doing, and we're playing this really crazy 20th century piece for 17 wind instruments. It was a pretty lazy day today overall. I'm trying to learn "Alice in Wonderland" on piano (jazz style), so after a big misunderstanding, I ended up playing that in a practice room this morning instead of my trombone. Turned in the paper, went to class, came back. I expanded my horizons by baking peanut butter cookies from scratch for dinner. Some of them were slightly burnt, but I deemed it a fairly successful first try. I also helped cook dinner. After clean up and all that jazz, a group of us went down to what has been established as "our pub" for a pint and some good conversation. It was good. When in Rome, do as the Romans. When in England, go to the pub. I need to pack. Look for photos from the weekend either Monday or Tuesday. Later.

Last Few Days..

The last few days have been seemingly uneventful. Monday night I had baseball practice, which resulted in me getting hit in the face by this wannabe Gold Glove catcher guy. We were warming up, and his throw went off my glove, and into my face. So, I guess it's more my fault for not catching it. But the wannabe Gold Glove part comes in when we were throwing each other ground balls and such. This guy kept trying to do these stylistic sweeps to catch the ball, instead of getting in front of it. Needless to say, he missed a lot of them. I spent a good amount of time on Tuesday finishing up my American History essay on Indian policy in the 1830's. I feel like it's a fairly competent essay, that possibly has a point. But then again, I could probably turn in something I did the night before and get a good grade. I find that academics here are by now means as rigorous as Luther. I think practically anyone from Luther would agree with me on that. That isn't to say that it doesn't get stressful. I still have to write 2 more major essays by the first week or so in December. But overall, and gleaning what I can from the various syllabi, first year courses at university are nothing like you would get in the States. There actually was an article in a prominent British paper a month or so ago, discussing why European universities in general have been falling so far behind American ones. Anyways, after all that, I ran downtown and got two tickets for Chicago when it comes to Nottingham in early December. Mary and I are going to hit it up. Speaking of America, the election was watched with great interest over here. People are quite pleased (myself included) that the election went the way it did. There is a sense that "America finally figured out that George W. Bush is an idiot" over here in Europe. In fact, The Independent, a respectable British newspaper, published a huge picture of Bush looking very irritated on its front cover today, with the caption "It's the war, stupid." Last night I went to brass ensemble, and finally realized what God awful tone a large majority of the trombone players were using. Dr. Smith (Luther trombone professor) would be absolutely horrified. We are playing some cool pieces though. Anyways, I actually have finagled my way into a wind ensemble besides the brass thing. The conductor of the top wind ensembles here, knowing I can't do Tuesday nights this semester, asked me to play in a smaller wind ensemble. We're only playing one piece for a concert in December, but since orchestra is over, it's good to have another ensemble. It's also good to play in a band. Once again, the messed up British rehearsal schedule means there are only 2 rehearsals before the concert, but whatever. Another house trip this weekend, this time to Southwest England. Think Bath, Stonehenge, etc, etc, etc. Have I mentioned how glad I'll be when these trips chill out in the spring? Next weekend features an independently funded trip to London. All 4 guys are going to be there, but we're sort of traveling in groups of two, with occasional meetings. I think that's how it's going. Ryan and I have tickets to Monty Python's Spamalot on Friday night (don't ask, it wasn't my pick), whereas all 4 of us are going to see Wicked on Saturday, featuring Idina Menzel, who won a Tony on Broadway for her part in the play. Excitement abounds. There might also be a pilgrammige to Elstree Street Studios to see where Star Wars was filmed. That's what's up.

Lady-less Weekend and Orchestra Concert

NOTICE- NEW PHOTOS OF NOTTINGHAM POSTED ON PHOTO SITE. CLICK ON LINK TO RIGHT, THEN HIT "NOTTINGHAM."


It's Sunday right now. The ladies spent the weekend in London starting from Thursday, doing whatever you do when you're young and free in a major European city. Which left the guys: Ryan, Kevin, Brandon, and myself home alone for the weekend. Ryan left on a caving expedition on Friday, which left only three of us to run the flat. It was a really good weekend. It was very relaxing to have so few around the flat, and everyone just got to chill out a bit. Those of us left behind had some good times. On Thursday night, the four of us watched an entire disc of Arrested Development season 2. For those of you not familiar with Arrested Development, it was a Fox sitcom that won a ton of Emmys, but since no one watched it, it got cancelled after 3 seasons. Ridiculous, because it is so funny. I'd recommend it. Anyways, Friday brought class, and another strangely beautiful day. It's weird, because you're always expecting it to rain, so you never trust anything, even when it looks perfect out. So even as the sky is filled with blue, I'm always convinced that a downpout is imminent. Anyways, I was able to go downtown and take some photos of the city, so everyone can maybe get a better sense of what downtown Nottingham is like. Check it at the photo site. I had orchestra rehearsal at night, and made it back to the flat around 10:00. Brandon and I were craving cheese Doritos, so we thought we'd take a little walk across the bridge and go to a 24 hour convenience store. Thing is, "across the bridge" means the shady part of town. That didn't really bother us, so we went to this convenience store probably around 11:30. I was wearing a very un-ghetto black sweater, gloves, a hat, hiking boots, and carrying a most unfashionable travel mug of coffee. Needless to say, the convenience store (Spar) closed down into a full service place after 10 or so, so you have to line up and tell the clerk what you want, and he'll go and get it, whereafter you pay him through a little window. We got some good natured ribbing about our style of dress from some of the locals, who curiously enough, were all buying cheap beer. One girl wondered why we thought we were in Iceland (given our hats and gloves, along with my coffee), while another really liked my sweet hiking boots. Not really. It was a cultural experience. We then came back alive, ate Doritos, and watched A Fish Called Wanda with Kevin.

Saturday brought more orchestra rehearsal in the morning. I'm not really in the mood to write about how frustrating it is to play in a group that doesn't have the same standards of excellence as Luther. But you get the idea. Anyways, after orchestra got done early, I came back to the flat. We have this assignment to write a paper about the arts in Britain, which requires you to go to an artistic performance. So I went and saw a play called "The Caretaker" with Brandon at the Nottingham Playhouse. It was about an eccentric guy who invites a homeless guy to stay with him, who is consistently berated by the guy's younger brother. It was one of those really artsy plays that you really can't explain all that well. To be fair, I didn't really like the play all that much, but I appreciated the experience. We got back, and I decided to indulge in that most English culinary delights: fish and chips. So I walked down to the local fish and chips shot, paid 3 pound, and got what seemed to me to be a whole freaking fish, along with about 5 pounds of chips. A ton of greasy, completely unhealthy food. I couldn't finish it. The guy packed it up in this cardboard box, I thought it was funny. Next time, I think I'll get the "mini fish and chips." Anyways, after much confusion at the transportation system, Brandon, Kevin, and I headed out to the Savoy cinema to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

The movie was extremely offensive, incredibly ballsy, and mind numbingly funny. It really is a very clever satire of the intolerance and stupidity of many many Americans. I thought it was great. You'd think the theater full of English college students would find it funnier than the 3 random Americans, who the movie spent the whole time laughing at. But we were almost always the first to laugh stupidly at all the outrageous situations. If you see the movie, can you believe that they actually did that hotel wrestling scene? I can't either.

After the movie, we had nothing better to do, so Kevin was like, "Let's climb out onto the roof of the flat and smoke cigars." Being in college, in a foreign country, up late, and out of female supervision, we thought, why not? Outside the kitchen, there is a landing which is the roof of the entry area. Needless to say, the only way out to the landing is a small window maybe 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet. It took some finagaling, but all three of us managed to squeeze out the window, along with a stool and a blanket, where we enjoyed a victory cigar, and also discussed the place of music in society. Meanwhile, we're all wearing these hats that make us look like three 1920's Chicago gangsters. Some intense photos were taken. It was a really good time. I apparently almost died coming back in. Upon re-entry into the kitchen, I inadvertantly knocked a bunch of knives off a magnetic strip on the wall, sending knives everywhere. Meanwhile, I am half sprawling half falling out of this tiny window, contorted in a most uncomfortable position, with my ankle caught in the hinge. Kevin told me that I was near death. I believe him. It was intense.

Today was my debut as principal trombone in a real orchestra. Let me tell you, playing lead in an orchestra is a lot different than playing bass trombone in an opera pit. Yikes. Especially when you're playing an alto part, like the Schumann. I felt like I was having heart palpitations the entire time. Thankfully, I survived, and although I did have my fair share of fracks and botched high notes, I'd say the first concert was a success. The two other trombones still sucked, but I can say that I am happy with my performance, given the situation. I feel that I will continue to improve in this capacity, and am sure to have my part solidly down for our next concert sometime in the winter. It's not like I couldn't play my part today, but it was a challenge, especially being so high. A lot of notes, it was just sort of hope for the best and smash the mouthpiece to your face. Sorry Dr. Smith, I know, it was bad. Really bad. I'll work on that. But Kevin, Emily, Mary, Anna, and Hilary came to hear me play, so that was really cool. It's always so much more satisfying to play for people you know. You actually have a visible reason to do your best. So, thanks for coming folks. I really appreciated it. This has gotten way too long. I'm out.

Atypical Wednesday

I got up early, because I had to go get a replacement bus pass for the one I lost last week. Lame, but whatever. The weather in Nottingham was beautiful today. A little cold, but nothing that a good Minnesotan can't easily handle. But compared to the general crappiness of wind, rain, and overcastness, it was great. So, I was downtown by 9:30, and after getting the aforementioned bus pass, I went to Sports World, and picked up a cheap Umbro sweatshirt thing for baseball and a duffel bag to carry all my baseball crap in. I also noticed that the holiday drinks were available at Starbucks, so I felt compelled to purchase a peppermint mocha, which is my favorite coffee drink ever. First trip to Starbucks in England, quite momentous. I really should have brought my camera with to take the photos I keep promising, as it was such a perfect day. But, I forgot. Anyways, I got back, packed up the trombone and baseball gear, and headed to the university. An invigorating (not really) hour of Islamic Tradition later, I chatted with Hilary and Mary for a while before promptly exploding an apple flavored Lucozade all over my jeans. Lucozade is basically British carbonated Gatorade. And I did in the library, which made it even more fun. For once it wasn't rainy and dreary for baseball. I learned a couple things at practice. First of all, I am not fast. Second of all, relating to fact one, I am not a threat to steal. My sliding abilities are about as ungraceful as they can get. I always seem to end up falling over myself in some manner or another. Basically, never actually sliding in like you're supposed to, more like falling with style. Who am I kidding, I just pretty much fall, no style. Needless to say, I pretty much sucked at practice today. I'm excited with the prospect of actually being able to go to the scrimmage on Sunday though. A couple bruised thighs and outfield collisions later, I went to brass ensemble. Only 4 trombones showed up, so I volunteered to play the bass part. Man, it felt great. I miss bass trombone. I really miss the satisfaction of landing hard on a low F or E flat, and just making that thing roar. Obviously, my bass playing was not as pronounced on the old Bach 42, but it was great to play nonetheless. It sort of makes me not look forward to going back to the B flat treble clefness of 1st part. Who am I kidding again, I like the bass part. Brass ensemble was fun tonight though, mostly because I did get to play the bass part. Hopefully my good friend the Getzen Eterna bass trombone with the yellow brass bell is still waiting for me in seat 5 of the LCCB when I get back. Either that or I'm taking your spot Benjamin. I'm getting excited for my orchestra concert this Sunday. I think a few people from the flat are coming, which is really nice. It's always better to play for friends, than just a bunch of random people. And the Schumann has this super intense trombone part, where we like, signify the voice of God bursting out through the clouds. The night was good. We had our own flat version of California Burger Night (a legendary Luther caf meal), and I had a good conversation with Scott. Somehow, I don't think we're going to pay $600 for two Manchester United tickets. We also watched some Ali G. Anyways, the gals are heading off to London on a privately funded and planned trip this weekend, leaving the flat to us men, plus possibly Kate. They'll have a great time in Europe's largest city, and we'll have fun here. A weekend full of orchestra rehearsal, baseball practice, going to see the Borat movie, and whatever else. I have to go to bed, I have a practice room reserved for 9 in the morning tomorrow. Which means I have to leave at 8:25. Later.

Lake District

NOTICE- MORE PHOTOS ARE AVALIABLE UNDER THE LINK TO THE RIGHT. CLICK ON "AARON'S PHOTOS," THEN "LAKE DISTRICT." THERE SHOULD BE SOME VIDEOS UP ON YOUTUBE UNDER THE LINK "AARON'S VIDEOS" TO THE RIGHT AS WELL.

As the title indicated, this weekend (Saturday-Monday) was spent up in the Lake District, which is sort of in the northwest corner of England, up near the Scottish border. If you are familiar with the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, it's where he was born and spent most of his life. Basically, a series of lakes, seperated by really big hills/mountains. Pretty impressive scenery overall.

I'll just quick recap Friday. I went to orchestra, which actually is starting to sound alright. The 2nd trombone doesn't know what the hell he's doing, but the faux-bass trombonist actually is okay. It was a beautiful night, so I ended up making the 45 minute walk back from campus with my trombone. I spent the night watching part of the World Series, talking to my mom and Benjamin (seperately) on Skype, and hanging out. The rest of the group however, went out to celebrate Brandon's 21st birthday. Needless to say, everyone was pretty gone.

Anyways, everyone got up early, and we shipped off for the lake district. It's about 2.5 hours away by bus, and we arrived in Grasmere around noon. That's where Wordsworth lived during his most brilliant poetic years. So we checked out the cottage he lived in with his wife and sister, as well as the attached museum. I'm not really a literary person, and certainly not a poetry person, but it was cool. He seems like a poet I could get into. It's all this Romantic stuff about man and nature, and finding the sublime essence of humanity in wildness. So, if you're in to that, check it out. We also saw his grave, and had real gingerbread. Not gingerbread cookies, but real gingerbread. Anyways, we ate at a pub for dinner, then went back to our hotel in Ambleside, a few miles away. We wanted to go see a movie, but we missed them. Brandon and I stumbled into a jazz club, so we sat for about an hour and listened to a singer backed by a piano and bass. The bassist was not very good, the pianist mediocre, but the singer had some talent. In any case, it was good to hear some live jazz, especially in such a random small town.

Sunday, we got up again and had breakfast in the hotel (it was a B&B). I had the "American Style" pancakes, which in reality were more like pancake flavored crepes. Really thin. American breakfasts are like, legendary in England for their amazingness. That seems to be our one great culinary triumph. Amazing breakfasts. We then went on a hike that pretty much consumed the whole day. Not a whole lot to say. The scenery was amazing, we hiked up a mountain. Then we went around it, and came back to town. On the top we had lunch, and then we stopped in a small town to get a drink at a pub. I had a Coke, and the combination of correct carbonated water/syrup ratio and my own exhaustedness made it one of the greatest Coca Cola experiences I've ever had. I documented it on my camera. We finally got back, and Ryan, Anna, and I ate dinner at an Indian restaurant. Had some pretty good chicken curry. Afterwards, a bunch of us went and saw "The Departed" at the theater in town. The one with Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon. It was bloody, violent, and full of foul language. If you are offended by any of these, don't go see it. If not, it's a great movie. I liked it, but it's not really a feel good film, if you get the idea.

Anyways, Monday I opted for the continental breakfast plus toast. I should mention, that when you order coffee at this B&B, you get your own small coffee press. I was impressed. We walked around and checked out all the highly priced hiking stores. There was this wack exhibit about football photography, and they had a foosball table. Church readers may now that I was at one time the undisputed Christus Victor foosball champion, and was pretty well accomplished at the game. Needless to say, Brandon accepted an invitation to play, and he was promptly crushed 10-0. We played again and I was once again victorious, 8-2. It was satisfying, after a rather dismal winter season. I lost on a couple of occasions to Scott (on a Tornado table too). Lame. Anyways, we went to Hawkshead by bus, which is another somewhat lame touristy town filled with hiking shops. The Lake District is like, England's hiking mecca, partly because of Wordsworth. So yeah, we hung out there. Border collies are big here, and as is probably known, Buddy is half border collie. So I was extremely tempted to buy a ceremic figurine of a border collie lying on the floor, which looked exactly like the border collie half of Buddy. Anyways, we did all that, then got on the bus and came back to Nottingham. It was intense.

In slightly more humorous Luther news, I heard that a good friend of mine proclaimed today "Dress Like Aaron Nyquist Day" in order to justify his obnoxiously colored shirt. When you're so typically seen in a mock turtleneck, I guess you do need some outside justification. Needless to say, I'm marking my calender, and next Oct. 30, I'm going to get as many people as I can to dress like me, whatever that means. I'm still trying to find the best way to get to Vienna in January. These lame cheap budget airlines do not exactly give you the most options for travel, so I'm exploring some other, larger airlines. I'll have a better appreciation for travel agents after all of this.

World Series

The Cardinals won the World Series. Really didn't see that one coming. Whatever, the Twins will win in 4 next year. Update and photos coming either Monday or Tuesday from the Lake District.

Music

Many people may have been confused at the fact that I hadn't mentioned a lot of music stuff in the past few bloggings, aside from the orchestra announcement. So here it goes. I am in fact, principal of the school's top orchestra, but unfortunately, I really don't consider it much of an accomplishment. Meaning, however happy I am with my role as leader, the other trombones in the group are rather subpar. They would not survive at Luther. In general, I don't like how musical ensembles are run here. You basically only meet once a week for groups, for a 2 hour rehearsal. No daily meetings like at Luther. And in the case of the orchestra I am playing in, we rehearse on the weekends until our first concert, which is next Sunday. And then, we won't meet again until early February, to prepare for the next concert. Once again, I am not a fan. Here are the reasons why this system is stupid.

1- Plainly put, it just isn't enough time to play music to an appropriate standard
2- It doesn't allow for the ensembles to "gel" as a group
2A- There isn't sufficient time for relationships to form among people
2B- Without the connection that usually is intrinsic among tight knit ensembles, a lot of the joy and emotion of making music is lost

So that's what's up. I'm a little bitter right now, partially because of this weird system, but mostly because I was sort of let down by the other players. The "bass trombonist" of the top orchestra is playing his part on a straight Yamaha. At Luther, you don't even get close to 3rd part in Concert Band without a real bass trombone, to say nothing of any of the orchestras. And overall, if put in a musical battle, Luther orchestras would absoloutely demolish Nottingham's. I won't say anything of the concert band, since I haven't heard them yet. I really am irritated that I can't do concert band, and I really miss playing band music. Hopefully I'll be able to join next semester. But they're playing some sweet pieces this semester in honor of Shostakovich, like a jazz suite and Festive Overture. Subliminally though, my desire to play wind music stems from an intense missing of the World Famous Luther College Concert Band. A lot of photos from fall tour have been posted on Facebook, so it's good to see what's been going on, but it's also difficult for someone who feels a great tie to the LCCB. I think mainly though, I just miss my friends. It's hard, when you're so used to hanging out with people who share your same passions, and then be thrown into a group of people who are so different. I very much enjoy the people here, but we have to be honest, most people don't understand why you kiss your hand before buzzing on the mouthpiece. Just so I can still feel somewhat a part of it, like a member on sabbatical, I'm posting a few randomly selected Luther band/trombone photos.



Anyways, it's Brandon's 21st birthday today, so happy birthday. This weekend we are going to the Lake District, made famous by William Wordsworth and the Romantics. I guess it'll be fun, but I'm angry about missing both the first baseball tournament and an orchestra rehearsal. It's fair to say that I am chafing under the two directors here, Mark and Carol. Being so used to being independent, it's hard. Also, being a history/music person, their blatant bias towards art and literature annoys me. There was more to the Romantic period than Wordsworth, surprisingly enough. Maybe Edward Elgar? He's on the frekking 20 pound note. I've mentioned this before, but it's so hard with all this crap we have to do to really get involved in the university. I can't do concert band, can't do Sunday baseball practice, can't do a lot of the games, etc, etc, etc. For a college (Luther) that is so keen on students getting involved, it seems like a very ironic twist. I wish these trips were optional. As educational and enlightening as they are, I think I'd rather be able to fully experience foreign university life. Plus, it would be an escape from the pseudo-pretentiousness of Mark and Carol, who may or may not be reliving raising their children with us. It's lame, the director last year was a music professor, and the one next year is an intense philosophy guy. But despite the relative grumblings of this post, things really are going well. I'm looking forward to playing in alto clef on my tenor trombone in orchestra, and am being challenged by my teacher. I really suck at playing musically, but my pedal notes are improving exponentially. I have to pack up my instrument. Later.

Garish Shoes

I was talking to some friends from home when I was ridiculed for playing baseball in hiking boots. I believe the words of Shane Colin were "Way to represent, Aaron," given in a sarcastic tone. When discussing this comment, I mentioned my somewhat flamboyant 13 pound football boots (British slang for you) turned baseball cleats and was obliged by my readers to post a photo. So, here they are. If my amateur baseball career continues back in the States, I just might have to invest in a real pair of shoes. Needless to say, the combination of garish soccer cleats, cheap Umbro windpants, free from getting a credit card Twins shirt and/or random soccer jersey, and cheapest you can buy baseball glove is pretty inspiring. Anyways, Shane, if you come across this, I'm not taking no crap from you. If I recall, you have a certain predispostion towards eating the garnish lettuce that comes with steak. Way to represent, way to represent. People may have noticed the new photo element on the right hand side of this page. I'm going to post an intense photo for an unspecified amount of time, when I will then switch photos. I didn't want the pressures of "photo of the week" or "pic of the day" hanging over me. I actually have a somewhat substantial assignment for my university classes. I began work today on my American History essay. I'm going to explore the factors that led Andrew Jackson to the widespread expulsion of American Indians west of the Mississippi in the 1830's. So I checked out some books, took some notes, etc, etc, etc. It's sort of strange to actually have to do something for class. Crap, I almost forgot. Happy National CPhT Day for everyone back in the USA! It's a day where all of us should appreciate the hard work that CPhT's like myself put in every day. Or in my case, in the summer and on occasional weekends. I need to go do some stuff. Later.