Tweed and Stone

Yay! I'm done with papers! I finished yesterday, so today, I reviewed them again and printed them out. They now await the turning in stage. Right now, everyone else is freaking out and trying to finish papers as most are due tomorrow or Tuesday. Anyway, I'll tell you a story ... of a boy named Mark:

Saturday
I woke up about 9 o'clock in a very weird state (North Dakota). I thought I heard the fire alarm go off, but when I awoke and could, you know ... grasp anything at all ..., the sound stopped. So there I was ... very confused. On one hand, the fire alarm may have just gone off, but on the other, it could have been a police car. On another hand (hold on I need to find an octopus), it may have been my imagination. So I'm standing in the middle of my room, confused, and I decided to go find out what happened. First, I think if it was the fire alarm I should have heard it and it should still be going. Second, it doesn't seem as though there are any noises coming from the hall, meaning no one is moving. So then I think the alarm must have been going off for awhile, and therefore, everyone had already left. Slowly, I put on some shorts and a t-shirt to walk out into the hall. I see nothing. So what do I do? I go back to sleep. It doesn't make any sense, and when I woke up, I was even more confused because I didn't even know if any of that even happened. Maybe it was a dream. Come to find out later, they had tested the fire alarm, which only needed to find out that it worked. Therefore, I did hear it, am not crazy, and made the right decision to go back to bed. Then, I had to figure out what to do, and luckily, I found Jon F. We decided to get some lunch eventually, and on the way, we found Matt to come with us. We went to Pizza Express which was okay but not the same as American pizza (even though I had the "American Pizza" -- which was just pepperoni). Matt and I then walking through High Street, where all the shopping is. Matt was looking for a tweed blazer as it is the quintessential "Oxford thing." We walked around for about four hours, went through numerous shops, and found nothing (well, nothing under ₤100 at least). Finally, we ended up at Blackwell's looking through books and getting some hot chocolate. For dinner, Matt, John J, and I didn't really know what to do. Dinner has been a little dodgy at times, but we didn't know what they were having. Once we found out, we decided the Opium Den would be a better choice. It was. Actually, it was really good (itch, scratch, need another fix) and wasn't really expensive. I had the sweet and sour chicken to compare with Chinese food in the States, and this was better. It was actually really good. We are thinking about going again (itch, scratch, need another fix). Later, we worked on some papers and hung out in Matt's room (I know we seem to do this quite a bit, but we actually have quite a bit of fun, although explaining the conversations would be incriminating). Around 11, we decided to go to Hassan's which is this street vendor-in-a-van that sells kebobs and chips. I got the chicken and cheese chips which were really good. This isn't the first trip we've made to the man at this point, and we always get the same reaction. We order our food, he cooks it, and then he attempts to give us sauce for our food (It's free. Seriously, no charge. Don't you want some garlic mayonnaise? Ketchup? Spicy tomato sauce?). You have to be stern with him. The first time, we wavered, and he won. This time, we held our ground. You would have been proud. Then, we went back up to the room, and I went to bed shortly thereafter. Because ...

Sunday
I had to get up early for Warwick. We left about 10, and there were only 20 of us. The rest I believe were writing/sleeping/both. I hung out with Jill Abney (the teacher in the ESU program with us) and Kelvin (the student assistant), who I finally understand. Warwick is really cool (pictures should be up in a minute), but there isn't much to do. We walked on the ramparts, the mound, saw some armor, some torture instruments, and a trebuchet. All of which were really neat. I was slightly disappointed with the torture instruments because there were only three, and I hoped there would be a few more (I wonder how many scientific discoveries have been made because people tried to find the most effective torture technique). There was also a ghost tour, which was only about 10 minutes long. The entire time before, I was thinking back to Disney World when I was younger. It has a haunted house attraction. At first, I was excited, but then after the first room, I went in to panic mode. I remember a train ride through some area with mirrors, and I just completely freaked. This time was much better. Except, there was a group of 13 year old Spanish girls that shrieked during the entire thing, and I have no idea what the story was. There were some really good wax sculptures throughout the castle, and so we were supposed to think the figures were wax (some were). At the opportune time, they jumped out to scare everyone. There was always one in the corner hiding. Kelvin and I always seemed to be the last ones out of the room, and they always breathed "You're next" onto Kelvin's neck. By the end, Kelvin just said, "Thanks mate" and left. After walking around for a few hours and walking up many, many steps and most of them were in a cramped, spiral staircase, we were fairly tired. The bus left at 4, and I took a nap. When we got back, I printed out my papers and went to dinner. We had a tomato soup (which tasted like Chef Boyardee sauce that is on the ravioli), roast with Yorkshire pudding and broccoli (very good), and then a terribly unappetizing-looking dessert that was pretty good (it was an apple crumble we come to find out, but it looked more like an octopus). Now, I sit here typing this, and I think we are going to possibly try going to a pub if people finish papers. Otherwise, we will probably have some tea in Matt's room. The plan for this upcoming week is to be a bit more adventurous.

Observations:
- The money (as in paper money) is not the same size through the denominations. Twenties are bigger than tens, and tens are bigger than fives. They aren't uniform like American money, and I find that strange. No one can explain that to me.
- Bus drivers really do drive like the one in Harry Potter on the Knight Bus. In and out, over and under. We almost hit a cyclist and a pole, but fortunately, the driver seemed to have everything under control.
- The porters are our friend. They will do anything for you. They have sent my mail, helped me find my keys (they were on his desk ... long story), gave me laundry tokens, and, today, let me use the stapler. They are very helpful.
- British people think we're funny, but we're not allowed to think they're funny.
- The British are not Europeans (little did I know, but they don't want to be associated with Europe).