End of the semester

Some things just never get easier. I thought after I made it through exams and took a day off, I would be eager to dive into my dissertation. Time is ticking if I want to be able to finish it by the end of June, travel and go home on July 10. Unfortunately, it's been 4 days and I still can't find the desire to get started. I have never struggled as much with school as I have this year. I don't know what the deal is.

Enough about school. I went to a rugby match last week, which was a lot of fun. I think it was more interesting than American football because it moves faster. When someone is tackled, they have to let go of the ball and someone else picks it up, so the game doesn't stop every time someone goes down. Anyways, a rugby match was one of the things I had to check off my "England" list before I leave. Now I just have to learn to play cricket and my circle of English sporting experiences will be complete.

The picture is too small, but I would say check out their shorts.

The day after finals, I took the train out to the picture perfect town of Ilkley, which is in the Yorkshire moors. I could have taken a friend with, but I decided that I wanted to do some solo hiking. I walked up into the moors, which are really craggy and rocky and high, and just sat on top of some rocks, looking down on the valley and spent some time with God. It just felt like the right way to end the semester.

Other than that, I have been going to a lot of end of the year parties and banquets put on by friends and different departments. I have earned the (affectionate) nickname of "grandma" because I'm usually one of the first to leave a party. I can't help it if I like to be in bed around 1 a.m. I can't do the party till 4 a.m. thing like most of my friends here seem to do. This is a good example of cultural differences. Any time some one has a party, I, along with the Brits, show up about 30 minutes after we are told to arrive. The Europeans come about a half an hour later. Then the Indians show up about another half hour later. And the last people to show up, probably about 2.5-3 hours after the party is supposed to start, the Greeks, Spaniards, and South Americans in our group show up. My international group of friends can never all meet and get some place on time. It just doesn't happen. We all have very different ideas of what is supposed to be proper party etiquette. My Estonian friend doesn't go to a party with out baking and bringing a cake. She usually doesn't start said cake until the party is supposed to begin. Another interesting cultural tidbit ... The English have a thing for dressing up in costumes. They call this "fancy dress" and they particularly like to dress up to go for pub crawls (in Leeds it's called the Otley Run. 18 pubs in a row, and you are supposed to have a drink at all of them. There is a lot vomit on the streets near the end of the row of pubs). Any given night of the week in Leeds, I will pass at least one slutty nurse, one pirate, one jail bird, and one super hero on the streets around the university. Apparently those are the popular themes for Otley Runs. The other night at the pub, there was a whole group of guys wearing just shorts, blue body paint, and smurf hats. At the same pub, there was also a group of monks and pregnant nuns. What's funny, is that no body blinks an eye. You just see people in fancy dress and think, oh they're out for a fun night, and go about your business. So there you go. It's your cultural information about party customs in England.