The Globe, The Tron, and Snake Bites

I have not written in a while because I have not had exciting happenings to recall; however, for the sake of updating my blog, I will write.

I am still at SCVO. I have been asked to stay until 14 November. I greatly appreciate the familiar faces and steady income!

I have sent in my deposit to Union- PSCE. I am going to grad school when I get back to the states!

I have met my soul mate. Her name is Erin. I typically do not believe in “soul mates” (certainly not in the romantic sense), but I’m pretty sure Erin and I have one soul that was divided: she was an English major and she appreciates the brilliance that is Sex and the City (the show, not the movie). We met Erin at a BUNAC pub meet last Wednesday. It was her second night in town, and we need friends, so we were a perfect match. We started off at Jekyll and Hyde’s, a pub on Hanover Street, and eventually moved to the Globe so that we could introduce Erin and Keith (another BUNAC-er) to Snake Bites. (A “Snake Bite” is our favorite drink; it’s ½ beer ½ hard cider, and black currant syrup. Yummo.) Over our hot pink beverages, Erin and I discussed my senior seminar thesis: Jean Rhy’s Wide Sargasso Sea as fictional criticism of English culture as found in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. She understood my angle and appreciated my findings. It was brilliant. While at the Tron this past Saturday night, we had a conversation about Wuthering Heights over pints of “exotic cider.” I felt like a giddy under-grad English student once again. I am also able to make SATC references around without being stared at with blank, un-understanding eyes… or having these same eyes rolled at me. She chips in with my SATC allusions and laughs as enthusiastically as me. (Gretchen, Beth, Bay-Bay, and Shelbs-meister: it is these SATC moments when I realize how much I miss you.)

Halloween was Friday. We were warned that people over primary school age traditionally do not dress up here. Without the ability or the desire to go completely blah, Anna bought us fairy wings and wands. We were precious. (Totes presh, that is.) Angela dressed as a ninja fighter meets geisha character, and Erin was an American college student. Halloween marks the end of the Celtic summer and the beginning of the Celtic new year and is celebrated with the Samhain festival held outside of St. Gile’s Cathedral. The elaborately dressed participants act out something about the winter king driving out all the light, but we were in the very back of the crowd and it was drizzling rain, so we left. We made our way to Frankenstein’s, but it was packed beyond belief (and not out scene), so we eventually wound up at the Globe for Snake Bites. (Trend: we always end up either at the Globe or the Tron.)

The election was Tuesday. I am incredibly glad it’s over with for the simple fact that people will no longer ask which candidate I support--hoping I will say Obama)--even before asking my name; now I will likely be asked about my reaction to the outcome. The US election is a bigger than big deal here. I was one of the few people in my office who did not stay up all night or set an alarm for 4am to check the final results. People were wearing Obama buttons left and right all day yesterday, celebrating the election of our new president. The purpose of this blog is not political, so I will leave this topic at that.

Remember, remember the 5th of November! No one tried to blow up Parliament this year, and the cold rain stopped us from watching the fireworks. But we did enjoy the Celtic vs. Manchester football game--at the Tron, of course.

That is all. Bye just now.