FINLAND!! erg... ENGLAND!

A much-delayed update... So after much deliberating I decided to quit a lucrative but boring job and move to Leeds, England to return to my musical roots and attend a Postgraduate Diploma programme at the University of Leeds. I’ve now been in Jolly Ol’ England since September 8. Really I should’ve been updating this blog more often, but true-to-form I’ve been too busy embarking on various adventures and misadventures, as well as practising (yay British spelling!) marimba, timpani, and snare for 2-4 hours a day. To avoid further blog delay, below is a brief photo journal of my British escapades to date: Scarborough: A northeastern seaside resort town, originally renowned for its healing waters. It reminded me a little of Ocean City, with its tacky boardwalk. The differences: Vikings, Romans, Normans, all underneath the ruins of a castle destroyed during the English Civil War. Add to that Anne Brönte’s grave (she came for the waters. They didn’t help.) and an ancient church (St. Mary’s) and you get the OC on steroids.

York: A medieval walled city, just 30 minutes from Leeds by train (the trains are AWESOME!!) York is absolutely breathtaking. As you walk through the wall from the train station you are confronted with the tower bridge (Barker Tower) with a spectacular view of York Minster in the distance. York Minster is a massive, grandiose, cathedral that is truly amazing, both outside and inside. I spent a good 3 hours wandering around the interior and then climbed the 500 million stairs on the spiral stair case (not for those of weak constitutions or afflicted by claustrophobia) to one of the towers. WOW what a view!) York Minster has a solid 1500 years of history, beginning with a small Roman church. After the Minster, I wandered through the walking streets of York over to Clifford’s Tower. Originally a wooden tower and part of the castle, in 1190 Jews of York sought refuge there from an anti-Semitic uprising and ended up taking their own lives. York also was once a Viking settlement and has numerous archaeological digs and exhibits that I would like to go back and visit. Haworth: A small village about 20 minutes by train from Leeds on the edge of the Yorkshire moors. Very quaint and built on a VERY steep hill, the town of Haworth is home of the Brönte Parsonage, where the three Brönte sisters lived and wrote (until Anne went to Scarborough to die). The moors featured in Wurthering Heights were, for all practical purposes, behind the house and VERY cold and windy.

Edinburgh: Capital of Scotland and one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited. It is home of, among other things, Holyroodhouse (the Queen’s Scottish Residence), Edinburgh Castle (one of the most famous castles in the world), the Scottish Parliament (an odd post-modern building that doesn’t fit in with the surrounding architecture on the Royal Mile), Calton Hill (home of various monuments, most notably “Edinburgh’s Disgrace”), The Sir Walter Scott Monument, the Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat (located ostentatiously at the end of the Royal Mile), the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (the literary pilgrimage continues!), and, most importantly, The Scotch Whisky Experience. I met my friend Jackie, from the States, and her friend Carole in Edinburgh and spent a lovely day wandering around the city and tasting as many different Scotches as possible (total of 8 for the day!) My trip culminated on Sunday with a hike up Arthur's Seat.

Life in Leeds:

Beyond the obvious awesomeness of my travels, I am quite enjoying life in Leeds. Its a lovely city with decent weather and FANTASTIC people. I LOVE being back at school again and spend 3-4 hours a day practising various instruments. The school has a beautiful 5-octave marimba that is my new best friend. I've also joined a Gamelan Ensemble. To keep me sane, I have my UK Life Guru- the incomparably awesome Dellsie :-), who forces me to do things like drink beer and eat pizza when I start practising and studying TOO much. Dellsie also introduced me to Helen Bell- an eventer and horse consigner from Thirsk. As a result, I have now been on my first British Foxhunt! Fabulous! I sense an update to the senior thesis (ethnography of foxhunting in Southern Maryland) sometime soon!! More to come soon on my adventures in the Lake District!!!

BEST Show, MORE Tri training, and a intense week of Orchestra Rehearsals

Last weekend was comparably tame to my usual activities. Rode Max on Friday then headed down to the county to Diane's house to study for the GREs while she had dinner with her Mom and Stepdad. Saturday morning I did some more GRE studying. This may seem excessive but I haven't taken a math class since Calc 1 sophomore year at SMCM and, believe me, Ivan's 8AM Calc class was NOT one the more informative uses of my time!! Saturday afternoon I attempted to go to the pool at SMCM which, according to the website, was SUPPOSED to be open until Monday June 1. Not so much. It was, in fact, drained. EPIC FAIL on the part of the Athletic Center! Instead, I biked 18 miles (42 minutes, avg speed 22.5 mph) then immediately ran 3.2 (23:30 minutes, 7:40 mph)- 10 minutes off my time from last week!! If I manage to pull my swim together, I should be GOLDEN for the IronGirl Tri in August!! Saturday night Diane and I made fajitas and chilled. Sunday we headed to Brandywine to grab Max and head to PG Equestrian Center- armed and prepared with mimosas :-) What a LONG day! We didn't finish up at the show until about 6:30- Max was forward but seems to have developed something with not wanting to take big spots to the jumps. And he now hates his bit. Hmmm... back to the drawing board. Unfortunately my cell phone ended up in Diane's purse instead of my camera bag, so I had to drive to the county to get it after dropping off Max.

This week has been NUTS so far. I have Londontowne Symphony Orchestra rehearsals on Mon, Wed, and Fri. Plus McLean Symphony Orchestra rehearsal last night (Tuesday). Tomorrow morning I am going to look at an apartment, tomorrow afternoon I take the GREs (DAGGER!!!). Tomorrow night I'm going with Sam to sit in her boss' season seats for D.C. United W00T!! I managed to swim Monday and ride on Tuesday. I was asked after LSO rehearsal on Monday if I wanted to be the principle percussionist. Of course, I accepted, while explaining that I MAY be headed to England in September. Speaking of that, I have to pick my classes for next year by tomorrow (even though I haven't decided if I'm going for sure)... EEP!!!!!

Nostalgico per Alba

The SMCM Music Tour left for Alba, Italia. Its hard to believe that its already been a year since I was there with them. In fact I'm really quite bummed that I'm not there now. That was, without a doubt, one of the best trips I've ever taken. Italia is truly one of the best places on earth.

What trumps a culture centered on aestheticism, good food/wine, mid-afternoon naptimes, and living pleasurably? I can still remember waking up every morning to the smell of baking foccacia, roasting coffee beans, and chocolate from the shops below the flat.

And Barolo Chinato.

And the beautiful historic buildings flanked by cobblestone streets.

Performing in ancient chiesas.

The freedom of discovering I can bumble my way through Italian-speaking train and bus stations to successfully tour other cities.

And best of all, new friends.

I'm reasonably certain my ideal career path is that of a Northern Italian. Now to learn how to speak Italiano :-) Surely that region is in need of more multi-faceted jacks-of-all-trades! My two life mottos evolved from that trip:

Per Che Posso (Because I can)

Piacere a Piacere (living pleasure to pleasure)

Bachelorette Shenanigans part deux

Well last weekend wasn't AS eventful as my weekends are generally inclined. Friday Diane and I rode Max then went for a run. I met my parents at Vincenzo's (YUMMY!!!) for dinner then had martinis with Diane and Josh at Chef's. Saturday I took Max to a jumper show, but he was SUPER slow so we had to scratch our last class.

Saturday night was Sara's Bachelorette Party, which was ABSOLUTELY nuts. First we headed to dinner at Oyamel (AWESOME restaurant) then out to Lucky Bar in DuPont Circle. We were going to bar hop around, but the crowd at Lucky Bar was rather amenable to our Bachelorette shenanigans. Essentially we had a deck of Bachelorette dare cards- you know, the kind that say things like "Kiss a bald man's head", "take a body shot", "find someone with a condom", etc. Made for a very entertaining time.

I think the most bizarre moment of the evening was when Sara went off looking for someone to give up their boxers. I turned around from my conversation to see Sara standing next to a gentleman who had dropped trow in the middle of the bar and proceeding with the hasty removal of his boxer shorts. Thankfully his shirttails covered most of the nakedness (see photo).

As if that wasn't surreal enough for one evening, no less than 5 minutes later, I beheld a SECOND guy doing the exact same thing!! Only THIS time, there were no shirttails. SERIOUSLY??? I have withheld this picture in an effort to keep adult photographic content out of my blog.

<-- Sara requesting more drinks

Sunday was really low key. I met Joan for lunch in Silver Spring then home. I made a really great garbonzo bean and onion curry with cous cous for dinner.