I'm here! And only slightly the worse for wear--my hands are sore from rolling my suitcases, and one of them fell and scraped the back of my ankle. And my jet lag is manifesting itself more as nausea than anything else. But I'm here. :)
I'll get the negatives out of the way first:
- HORRIBLE turbulence on the flight. Definitely needed a second dose of Dramamine. It wasn't constant, but it sure got rough.
- The kids in front of me were watching things like Constantine and Hostage, and they had their seats leaned back, so it was easier to see their screens than it was to see mine (which I kept on the flight info channel). Even without sound, it was not the most edifying experience.
- Not only was the bus late, but I wound up sitting behind some ugly Russians who smelled like bad Mexican food. Was wishing I'd taken a third dose of Dramamine.
- One person with three suitcases doesn't work too well, especially when that one person is sleep-deprived.
- Brits apparently don't believe in air conditioning.
- The computers in this lab are ancient, and the symbols on the keyboard are in very different places. Takes some getting used to.
- It's grey and rainy and chilly--but not as miserable as walking to class in the freezing rain only to find out that class is cancelled and you've walked across campus for nothing.
I couldn't see much of the countryside on the bus ride up here because there were either tall fences (some of which remind me of snow fences) or taller trees right next to the highway. (Had to laugh at myself when I first started watching the scenery; there was a hedge of some tree I didn't recognize, and my first thought was, "Boy, have they got kudzu! ... Wait...") But what I have seen of it is very pretty. Some spots remind me of East Texas, only with more topography. Other spots remind me of home in a sad way--the grass by the highway is very dry, and in one place there had clearly been a grass fire. But I saw lots of yarrow and Queen Anne's lace, and there were other purple wildflowers that I didn't recognize. There were a couple of fields FULL of some kind of lavender flower; it wasn't bluebonnets, but it was comparable.
And horses!
And sheep!
And cows! (But no longhorns. I guess I'm too used to the variety of breeds we have in Texas; these cows, which were mostly tan or white, looked really bland against the grey sky.)
And ARCHITECTURE! It's so neat to see all these old buildings! I think that's my favorite part so far, apart from the conference. If the weather's nice enough on Wednesday and/or Friday afternoon, I might take my video camera and do a video tour rather than trying to take pictures of everything.
There's even a half-timbered McDonald's. :D
I got to St. Cat's nearly an hour after the Volunteer Orientation was supposed to start. So after I got my room, I just jumped right into the registration orientation. I was assigned as a floater, standing around and directing people where to leave their luggage and where to go to register. Which was fine for a while, but after an hour or so it became readily apparent that I was in desperate need of food and that there was none to be had beyond snack food. So I ate as many peanut butter crackers as I could stand (thanks, Mama, for sending those!) and some Chex Mix and thought I'd be okay. But since registration wasn't too busy, one of the coordinators told me to go on and take a nap. So I did. But I guess I slept through my alarm, because I woke up ten minutes after dinner was scheduled to start. And it's a sit-down dinner, so I had to hurry and get to the dining hall before it got any later!
Dinner was great--tomato and basil soup, wonderful rolls, roast duck (which I'd never had before, but it's good... somewhere between chicken and turkey in taste), and summer pudding, which is an upside-down pastry shell filled with mixed berries and smothered in berry juice. I couldn't eat it all, but it was good--just what I needed. Afterward, we all trekked down to St. Mary's for the opening service of evening worship. (I probably should have changed into a skirt, but there wasn't time.) It's a beautiful church, although it made me sort of sad to imagine what it must have looked like before the Reformation, and it has great acoustics and a wonderful pipe organ. We had a great service, and the sermon was very encouraging (I can share my notes if anyone's interested, or if RL friends want to pitch in to order videos from the conference, that'd be fine... haven't looked at the prices yet, but I bet it's more than I can afford myself).
So now I'm finally getting a chance to update. :)
Not crazy about my room; it's pretty spartan, and there isn't a phone (would cost me £20 to have one!). The bed's almost too firm for me--and that's saying something--and the pillows are pretty flat. But I do have a private bath, and there's a closet and a mini-fridge, so it'll serve my needs; it's not like I'll be spending as much time there as I did my dorm room at school.
So I'm here, and I'm fine, and I think it'll be great. :)
On a completely different topic: RL friends, did any of you happen to tape Friday's Stargate? If so, could I borrow it (and the next ep, too, if Friday's ep wasn't the end of the storyline)?
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