Easter in England

It's been a while so, as you can imagine, this post is likely to be a bit of a mixed bundle. In short, I've been super busy with deadlines and, therefore, have been avoiding anything unrelated. I've actually been in England for the last week too so every moment that isn't university related has been spent with family or friends. Or sleeping. Or in the bath. I really hate showers. Anyway, that aside!

The other day I managed to go to another gig. I'd wanted to catch Tracer when they played in the Netherlands but, sadly, the venue was really tricky to get back from (and Thijs was boring and wouldn't go with me!) so I figured I'd have to give them a miss. Then I saw they were playing Exeter - the area I grew up in - on Good Friday when I would just so happen to be in the country. I somehow bullied my best friend into coming with me despite not knowing them.

I had planned on meeting up with Aimee a fair bit before hand and we had both planned individually (although we never discussed it!) to get cocktails before the show. Annoyingly, I spent the entire day stuck in traffic and was super, super late. Seriously, you fly over from Amsterdam and it's the journey through Bristol that causes issues! That aside, I think we had an awesome evening!

So, my usual ramblings about the music...

The first warm up was actually a band that I'd stumbled across a couple of weeks ago (max) and been pretty much chain listening to since, Everyday Circus. They're quite a new band from Germany and their music has a really beautiful rock sound. It's got that edge that makes it stand out. I found out that they were supporting Tracer early on Thursday morning - coincidences do happen! They didn't let down with their live performance either and I will certainly be keeping an eye on further concerts. I will talk more about them in a moment.

#Exeter! You guys were awesome ❤️now #offto #aufnach #southampton #talkingheads #wftdtour it's gonna be the last show of...
Posted by Everyday Circus on Saturday, 26 March 2016

The second warm up - the band that I thought was the only warm up until a couple of days before - was Federal Charm. I'd had a quick listen to their music before seeing them, as I always try to, and I'd liked it well enough but I was generally underwhelmed. There was nothing that really caught my attention. However, live... oh my goodness what a show! There was a great energy, the music was great the musicians super talented and it was generally good fun... I've yet to try re-listening to the CDs - maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset when I tried before. Either way, I loved their set and would see them again without a moment's doubt.

Exeter thanks for making our 3rd visit to your kind city amazing. You were unbelievable tonight. We hope to see all you...
Posted by Federal Charm on Friday, 25 March 2016

And then on to Tracer - the reason I went to the show. Unsurprisingly, they were quite wonderful. You know a band is high energy when the front row moves several feet back from the front of the stage during the first song in order to ensure they don't get hit over the head with a bass guitar neck! I'm pretty sure I've already commented on the fact that Tracer is made up of very talented musicians who also happen to be lovely people, from the little I've spoken to them, so I won't go into that here. It was, as I've mentioned, Aimee's first time seeing the band and she was singing along by the end so I think that went pretty well. 

http://www.bjwok.com

Posted by Tracer on Saturday, 26 March 2016

As you can probably tell from the above, I didn't take photos myself but if you go onto the band facebooks (links below) there are photos... I look bored in most of them which I assure you was not the case!!

Meeting Tracer after the Show

After the show I went to get my scrapbook paintings signed. To start with, as usual, I only did one for the band I had booked to see (i.e. Tracer) but, after finding out that they were doing warm up, I had stayed up late to do one for Everyday Circus. Lucky I realised they were playing before turning up really! Anyway, it was so worth it because they were so sweet about the painting and, aside from that, they were lovely to talk with, polite as well as great musicians. It was a bit overwhelming for me though because, as I seem to say quite a lot nowadays, my scrapbook paintings are just little things I do for myself and when they get attention it's bizarre (in a lovely way).

Meeting Everyday Circus after the show

Yesterday, I was supposed to be at the Glastonbury Medieval Fayre but, with the weather being blooming miserable, I gave it a miss. It's a shame because I go each year but oh well. Instead I went out for a super meal. If you happen to be in the Exeter area then try The Blue Ball Inn - their food is so good, locally sourced and fresh. It's also a very reasonably priced for the quality.

After that it was the long drive back to Birmingham (where my parents live). We decided to do a bit of a scenic route through Cheddar Gorge. Seriously, that place amazes me no matter how often I see it. It's a shame how commercial it is around there though. Burrington Combe is just a bit further along and seems a little less touristy, although it is still popular.

And today I'm at my parent's house in Birmingham. I've booked flights for my next trip - this time to Venice - and I've drunk a fair amount of mead. The latter will account for any strangeness in this post! I'm now waiting for what promises to be a glorious meal to cook! Sadly, tomorrow it's back to The Netherlands and back to work.... that is, if Storm Katie doesn't cause my flight to be canceled!

And before someone comments on the above: I do really like The Netherlands, I just like my family, friends, not having to work/cook etc too ;-)


Oh and, before I forget, Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! And to those who don't, happy Sunday anyway <3



Information on the bands:
Everyday Circus: Website, Facebook, YouTube
Federal Charm: Website, Facebook, YouTube
Tracer: Website, Facebook, YouTube

I'm too young to be 21!

Credit where credit is due, the title is courtesy of something The Best Friend said a little while back but with which I can connect on a deep level!

Liquid lunch in Hooray's 

I've actually always hated my birthdays. I mean that pretty literally too, even as a child I dreaded them. I don't like the fact that they mark the passage of time in such a final way. The day before is the last day of a whole year while the day itself is just a continuation of time, in my mind. Weirdly, I don't have this problem with new year...

However, no matter how much I dislike the idea of birthdays in their own right, I do rather like the fact that I get to do special things.. This year was extra special for me because my birthday feel on the Saturday, thus ensuring that I could indeed go home for the first time this semester. My parents met me with a banner as I came through arrivals which was sweet but also my personal idea of hell. I just don't know how to respond in those situations but I'm pleased that they did it nevertheless and my room is looking rather festive with the banner strung between the book cases.

At The Fish, and yes, that is a
'Foxy Lady' to the right of the image!

As for the day of my birthday itself, I chose to go into Stratford-upon-avon because, to put it frankly, it's a lovely town and quite easy to kill time in, and in the most pleasant of ways. I also wanted to get a few books from the Royal Shakespeare Company shop. The latter idea didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped because they hadn't got what I was looking for in stock but still got some fascinating looking reads so there's no real complaints there.

I also have to admit that I have found what may well be one of the best ice-cream shops ever, Hooray's on the High Street. Seriously, Dania would have been thoroughly in her element. Also worth checking out their cocktail menu... lunch time drinking is perfectly acceptable on such occasions!

Naturally, I also went out for dinner with my parents. We went to a place called The Fish which is quite seriously one of the nicest places I know. The decoration is super quirky, or just plain odd, and the food is simply divine. Not to mention the staff who are lovely.

And then it was home for cake!

Not for facebook

Lack of routine leads to boring blog posts but to happy Havanahs

Ah, the freedom of the last weeks has allowed me to reacquaint myself with so many old friends... sleep... art... music... Aimee...

I also seem to have made some new friends as my shower gel (or that's what we think it must be) seems to attract moths. Seriously, I spend most evenings covered in moths and my mother has to get them off of me before I sleep so I don't squash them. I don't mind... it's quite flattering really!

You may call me the Moth Queen ;-)

All that aside, I think I've been quite noticeably absent from my normal channels of communication. I've been avoiding facebook (not actively but it's happened), I've not been logging onto Skype because even when I have the computer on the keyboard is generally too far away for me to type, I've let my phone run out of charge rendering that pretty useless. Okay, I've now recharged my phone as I've decided to end my self imposed, and oh so blissful, retreat.

It has been lovely to be free to dictate my own schedule and not to feel the overbearing press of deadlines and "I must get this A grade". In the first few days at home I probably painted etc for all the hours that weren't spent sleeping or eating. It was as though there was a real backlog! 

Sitting under a parasol in the middle of nowhere.
It's a hard old life.

I have also, quite naturally, been spending a fair bit of time with my parents which has been... interesting. I'm really close to my family but, as anyone who has met my father will confirm, he is quite excitable... to say the very least. Well, he's been excited to have me home - which is lovely - but that also means he's extra bouncy. It's like having a human shaped puppy bouncing around most of the time!

Catching up with people has also meant bugging the best friend in Cardiff where she is now working seven days a week. The insane girl. We only got to have one day together - her one day off of the summer - but she's going to come and see me in Amsterdam in September so we'll be together for a week or so then. Read that Aimee? It's in black and white now so there's no backing out now!

More recently, I've been translating again and I have cleared a great deal in that regard. I have to say that, with those couple of weeks of German lessons, I have found my speed of translation much improved. It's not that I couldn't do it before but now, knowing some of the basic grammatical rules, which I may have either fumbled through or completely missed previously, I know what to look for and it is so much easier. 

I'm thinking about focusing on language learning over the next few weeks as I still have a few languages on my 'to learn' list. Also need to get round to seriously brushing up on French, having not spoken it in coming up to three years - oh my!

End of the semester and home!

Well, this post is the first of what will undoubtedly become a fair few to be written in England. That's right, I'm home and it is lovely to be back.

But, since my last incredibly rambling post a little bit has happened so lets attempt to do this in some logical order! As I mentioned, I went to pick my mother up from the airport on Saturday evening. The plan was to explore the Netherlands a bit before I returned home but, suffice to say, that didn't work out as I managed to get (if that's the right word) tendonitis in my foot again. So yep, I spent the last half a week sitting with my foot in the air doing basically nothing... actually quite nice if a little frustrating.

Anyway, it also meant that my picking up my mother from the airport was pretty tricky and I was quite lucky in the fact that Leonoor went with me to assist. Weirdly, my mother's flight got in half an hour ahead of schedule... which is really strange when you realise the flight is usually only 50 minutes or so.

Mother also brought over a suitcase full of stuff from back home, bit of non-perishable food for next year and some of the stuff that I've ordered to the UK to save on shipping costs. Can you blame me? Anyway, one of those things is a print of a drawing that I've wanted for a long while by The Picsees, called Sleepy Time. The idea just really fit with my own outlook on life and I knew I had to buy it. It had, sadly, sold out at the time I was able to buy it but, with some lovely conversations via facebook, I was able to get my print. Really rather happy about that!

Even the packaging of the print was lovely. An all round wonderful service.

The week itself, other than a brief foray to the cafe down the road with the lovely Maria, was spent in my flat with my mother. We watched a lot of films (The East was one that we both really enjoyed and would recommend) and lurked a bit. It was relaxing and enjoyable even if I felt so guilty not to be able to show her around as planned. Nothing I could do but all the same!

No prizes for guessing how we made
up for our inability to go out!

And then today it was time to fly back home. We had a right old time getting to the airport as, even in the early morning the heat and humidity made for an intense experience. Not to mention the fact that I was bringing a lot of breakable heavy hand luggage home for the summer... well, we made it but I'm not sure either of us knew quite how we did!

The airport was chaotic, as normal, it seems. However, everyone seemed to be in a really good mood. Even the security people were chatty. Mind you, I have never been so happy for a broken violin string as I was when going through security because I was seriously pressurised to play. So lucky I had an excuse... and didn't mention the whistles ;-)

Proud that we got this the airport without resorting to a taxi.
We regretted not resorting to a taxi!

I also had some glorious news at the airport in terms of my German grade. I was waiting on my portfolio grade - so basically a varying load of written coursework - and I was, shall we say pleasantly surprised. When you bear in mind how awful I felt it was all going at points... well, I'm over the moon. Pretty sure that all my grades are in for that subject now so I'm pretty sure I've got my A grade overall. The A grade is significant as I need a 4 GPA, including all years of the degree, in order to apply for the course I want to go onto. It basically means I need an A, minimum, in every subject which is a hellish pressure but 100% worth the work if it gets me where I want. I seem to have managed it last year... I can say that now it's the summer!

But back to today:
The flight itself wasn't overly pleasant. The flight was over booked and staff were overly stressed and it was a bit of a mess. There was a large group of unaccompanied children on the flight too which I think was putting some pressure on the cabin crew. Mind you, as I tried to leave the plane I got really seriously told off by the one woman who'd been so rudest for whole flight. She was telling me off for moving from my seat because someone was "coming to collect me"... took me a moment to realise she somehow thought I was part of the under-14 group (how!?) but her embarrassment when I said that I was an adult was kinda worth it! We both ended up having a bit of a laugh about it in the end and hopefully she will think twice about being rude even when under pressure because she seemed quite nice when, well, embarrassed!

Anyway, I got home, ate a beautiful dinner out in the garden with my parents and then sat down and painted. I've started preparing my Castlefest scrapbook because I know that takes me some time. I'm also expecting my Budapest photos to be coming any day now so that's another full scrapbook to be made and assembled. Holidays and festivals take so much time but I never regret the scrapbooking habit!

Anywho, this got a fair bit longer than I had planned! Off to bed with me! It's midnight back home and I've had a long old day ;-)

Eep!

I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!

Oh my! What is this strange feeling of euphoria?

Eating ice-cream and pretending we're back on holiday holiday.

Yesterday, despite having a lovely raging temperature the day before, I sat my final exam of German and walked out into the world of (temporary) liberty. Due to the lucky fact that most of 'my' German group finished the exam at the same time we decided to have a celebratory drink (of iced tea... pushing the boat out!). I've been incredibly lucky with my German class and with my teacher as both have been so supportive and lovely. While I may not like the intensive period very much, I can safely say that this has been one of my favourite classes in a lot of ways.

Of course, I've also finished my first year at university which is weird as anything. In some ways I'm glad it's summer... in others it's strange. My friends are going to be jetting all over the place, or they're staying here but I'm not.

Dania steals Leonoor's phone to take a photo of me cleaning dirt off
Leonoor. Mothering the world as always ;-)

Dania, Leonoor and I, as the only ones who are here right now, managed to get into town for the day which was nice although, to be quite honest, I'm still fighting off illness and have managed to injure my foot so I'm both in pain and out of it. In fact, I think I'm going to say that this post is not for facebook and saved just for my 'loyal fans' because heaven only knows it's rambling!

Oh, and even better - I'm going to pick the mother up from the airport in a few. So excited!

Last bit of UK time for a wee while!

My week back home is drawing to a close as I sit here typing this, waiting for the time to come where I have to go to the airport and get on that plane to go back to university. These last hours before leaving are always the most strange as the inevitable slowly draws closer... Part of me can't believe I'm wasting this morning sat in front of Jeremy Kyle (*) but hey, I can't find the television controller and I'm too comfy to go look ;-)

Police horse display at the
North Somerset show.

Anyway, the last week has been generally quite slow and nice. I've had a lot of essays to write (not so pleasant) and have actually been highly productive. Really rather impressed with myself considering all the distractions of staying with the parents with all the food and bath opportunities that brings! I must admit, I've done a fair amount of spending... I know my way round shops in the UK which is more than a little dangerous!

Yesterday was the only full day out we managed to slot in, as a family, and my own schedule was mainly to blame for that. We drove back down to Somerset and spent the day at the North Somerset Show which is an agricultural show which is actually held on the land my father used to manage many, many years ago. While this kind of thing isn't exactly my idea of a perfect day out, any excuse to sit out in the sun a little bit is worthwhile! 

Actually, looking out of the window and watching the perfect gale that I'm going to be flying in (touch wood), I'd like to see a bit more sun now, if you don't mind!

My case constitution for the flight back home...
can you tell what I prioritise taking back?

(*) For the lucky people who read this and haven't been exposed to Jeremy Kyle: it's a show where people with dysfunctional relationships of some form come and parade themselves on the television while Jeremy kinda attempts to organise the screaming matches. And no, I didn't put it on the telly!

Glastonbury Medieval Fayre 2015

Held in the Abbey grounds over Easter weekend, Glastonbury Medieval Fayre makes for an enjoyable way to spend a day and this is exactly what we did yesterday.

There's a very good reason I don't get many photos of the locations of events.
That reason is my dad.

We decided to go on Saturday for various reasons, not least to ensure that I could get a proper night's sleep tonight as I'm flying home tomorrow. We probably didn't pick the best day for weather as the sun only made an appearance as the day was winding up but oh well, it's England!

All in all, it was a thoroughly delightful day. In fact, it seemed a lot stronger than last year's event. Perhaps this was because my remembering to pack a telephoto lens meant that we had some targeted things to focus on but I do genuinely think it was because the event was stronger this year.

Perhaps the highlight for spectators was the show performed by the Knights of the Damned Stunt team. They reenact a jousting tournament with great skill and a fair amount of theatrics. I've actually seen them a few times now, at various events, and have not grown tired of their performances. Indeed, we watched both shows on the Saturday to enable me to get some decent photos (a success) and both were different, high energy, and thoroughly entertaining!

The main battle is probably the focus of the day as various reenactment groups gather together to reenact a rather anachronistic battle - both Vikings and Napoleonic (I think) gunners were present, to give you some idea. It’s rather entertaining to watch the combination of people who don’t seem like they’re really into it and those who are about ready to tear each other’s arms off beating each other up in the name of history. That said, and for all the comedy included in the commentary and performance aspects, it’s really easy to see how chaotic a battle really would be. This was a (kinda) choreographed reenactment… imagine the reality whereby people were fighting for their lives amidst the crowd and noise. It’s something that’s hard to picture when our ideas of historic warfare come from a mixture of dusty history books and overly polished Hollywood films.

And that, of course, is the beauty, and the importance, of reenactment and of events like this one. It’s easy to teach people the information given in historical tomes. It’s hard to bring that history to life and to re-imbue it with life. Reenactment does just that. It takes the scholarship and makes it into something real, tangible, understandable, human.

Bonus photo of the most stunning sunset-ish moment.
Couldn't resist popping to the sea on the way home!

Taking The Mother to see Rapalje "Met de billen bloot"

It's Mother's Day on Sunday the 14th and I decided to use it as a complete and utter excuse to take my mother to various things etc etc. I know that using such (now) commercialised days may not be the best way to show genuine appreciation for someone but if you're trying to find an excuse to 'force' them to come to a foreign country when you want to do things then such days are pretty darn useful!

Anyway, our week of adventures (*) started yesterday with a Rapalje concert in Rotterdam. I had planned to book this one anyway due its date, and to book a hotel, but I realised, relatively late, that it was a lunchtime concert meaning the hotel wasn't needed. Saved a bit  of time and money! One of the many joys of the Netherlands is that, as long as timings are okayish you can get from one side of the country and back with relative ease, at least if one's comparing to back home.

It was actually my first time visiting Rotterdam although I can't really say I saw much of it. We were highly conscious of my need to study for exams and therefore only really went to the show and back. First impressions seem to say that the city is a fair bit more modern than Amsterdam but that's based solely on the area around the station. I'll just have to go back to judge it properly ;-)

I'm not sure if the venue is also a theatre or solely a concert hall (although the layout suggests the latter to me). I'm too lazy to google it. Either way, it was a very easy to access place with a rather good hall layout which meant you could have a pretty good view from anyway, I'd wager. Can you tell I keep lists of decent places to sit in each place I visit? 

The show opened with a performance based person by person introduction to the band which was something I'd not seen before, and I assume it's new to this show although I cannot be sure on that front. Either way it was a lovely added touch. Maceal came on as a one man band and played a rather speedy piece that did get us clapping although there were multiple rhythms going on throughout the audience; William sung a song with guitar and harmonica... well, almost without the harmonica as it got left offstage until the last minute; Dieb and Maceal played "Into Folk" while wearing some stunning embroidered jackets (yep, no kilts!); David played a short bagpipe medley which was really cool for want of a better way of describing it! We were reminded, once again, of how (multi) talented the members of this band are. 

After that followed a more 'normal' set during which the band played songs off of their albums as well as some new songs (I forget how many so if there was just one please adjust grammar to match). It was a good fun show that saw the usual mix of fast tunes and slower pieces. I think this may have been the first time my mother's seen Rapalje play with dancers too so that was a nice bonus for her. Meanwhile, David playing bagpipes and leading the three dancers (and Maceal playing a drum) around the hall certainly impressed the audience. The final number was the "Wild Rover" which clearly lives up to the show's name. And all that, as my mother said, before lunchtime!

Of course, after that we did get lunch and then made our way home for me to fight with multiple assignments and a tonne of revision. Yuck. Just to clarify that the 'yuck' refers to work... the food was good ;-)

So yes, all in all, I think that the first day of the Mother's Day Week went rather well. I just have to survive a physics exam, for which I am poorly prepared, before the next treat in the form of seeing the musical Elisabeth in Essen. I've even managed to start a painting for that one... gone are the days when I used to paint something before every and any event!

Right, less blogging, more studying, right?

(*) I know, I know, I have the cheese factor turned right up again!

Also, apologies for the crappy post title. I've been up since forever and studying has stolen the little imagination I had... may also explain the repetitive nature of description throughout the post!!

Space, pancakes, and murder

Having had various people complaining about lack of recent blog post I felt that I simply had no choice but to write one. The silence has not been because of lack of inspiration or lack of stuff going on, quite to the contrary.  There have been posts half finished, or totally finished but for pictures, sat and waiting to be published but I've not published them because of worries about flooding the inboxes of those people who email subscribe... and because I have a bit of an obsession with uploading things in the right order... This post is the only one that is going to be cross posted onto facebook and there'll be a list of 'other posts' at the bottom, complete with links. For now, however, lets have a little overview of the past week, with subheadings because of the sheer length ;-)

Visiting the zoo... and deep space

The only bright side about my science course, so far, seems to be the fact that it includes various trips. I may struggle to understand how one goes about calculating the mass of a black hole but I am quite happy to visit a planetarium and take a trip through space. This was how I spent my Tuesday morning, at Artis Zoo's planetarium. It's not the best planetarium ever, and I believe that it only holds show in Dutch, but there's still something magical about being able to 'see' the universe, even just the night sky, in such clarity.

Serious university students, don't you know?!

To get into the planetarium one has to have a zoo ticket and, as the university had paid for the planetarium trip we found ourselves, at 10am, with a 'free' zoo ticket and no further classes. It seemed only natural to explore a little. Now, I'm a little conflicted about zoos at the best of times... I think that anything that works towards the preservation of species and conservation of our wildlife is a wonderful thing. But all the same, I struggle a little with the sight of animals in such small areas and, if I'm honest, compared to the other zoos I've been to recently, mainly with schools and colleges, the areas did seem a lot smaller. I'd be interested to know if it's a difference in my perception or a difference between countries.

I'd never been to a zoo with dinosaurs before!!!

That said, there were a lot of baby animals which was simply lovely - it shows that the conservation aspect is going well I suppose. Yes, there was a baby zebra. You can see why I was happy! Also, the aquarium was quite impressive and the butterfly house was absolutely fantastic... genuinely glorious. I plan to return simply to take photos in the butterfly house which is a huge expanse of botanical wonders, a little stream with some frogs, and a load of butterflies of all kinds of species flying in groups, alone, eating... it felt like walking through a fairytale. In that regard, I think we were lucky that it was such a gloomy cold morning - we were pretty much alone most of the time.

Pancakes!

Of course, Tuesday was something else special and that is pancake day. Okay, technically it's Shrove

Tuesday but in my family we've observed the eating of pancakes as a tradition rather than a religious thing therefore the day has a rather secular significance but a significance nevertheless. The idea behind the eating of pancakes was to use up all the luxury items before the start of Lent but, as I said, it's become a more secular day although always, for me at least, a family affair.

Every year my parents and I, and my grandparents when they were still around, would celebrate together. We even managed to celebrate the day when we were homeless after the flooding... didn't have a kitchen but still had pancakes!! Each year we'd make pancakes and the batter would always be lumpy (because my dad would get impatient) and the first ones wouldn't be properly cooked through (because my dad would get impatient) and more pancake would end up on the floor than on the plate (because it's not  pancake day unless someone's managed to flip one and get it stuck to the ceiling). My grandma would always tell the story of how everyone got out of school early and how she went to fetch oranges for on the pancakes one day when she was a child. Coming home she saw the school on fire and it was the happiest pancake day. In short, it's a day with a lot of family-time significance and I was kinda dreading it.

My plans were to make and eat alone because I just didn't feel like spending it with my friends. I love them all dearly but it's hard to truly communicate the above when explaining the day. However, having spoken to Leonoor and Laura at the zoo earlier that day I ended up inviting Leonoor round to cook with me... she didn't feel like cooking for herself and I think I knew deep down that the company would be a good thing.

And, we had a really, really good evening!

Only half a pancake got dropped on the floor. I managed to flip successfully four times... and got a carpet burn in the process. Hey, it's a serious sport this thing! I told the story about my grandmother's school which, as the thing my grandmother feared most when she was close to dying was that she'd be forgotten... well, I think it's pretty clear she'll never be forgotten.

We spent the evening, Leonoor and I that is, eating, drinking tea, watching inane but amusing television shows and just chilling. It was a relief from the stress of university and it was a really lovely evening that could so easily have just been me moping.

And a little bit or murder

And then Thursday night saw the rearranged murder mystery party with a rather large group (I think there were eleven of us) set at a film awards party. Considering I'm not the best at circulating at parties at the best of times, I'm more the wallflower type unless I'm firmly part of a group, I don't think I made the best sleuth ever. That said, no-one guessed that Ryan was the one who murdered the poor victim. He had us all trusting him and now we know how good a liar he is... well, I doubt we'll forget that in a hurry ;-)

That, ladies and gents, is the smile of betrayal!

All joking aside, it was a really good fun night which got a mixed group together and, again, it was a welcome distraction from the sheer amount of work I have on at the moment.

On that note, I probably should get back to studying. Yuck!!

Previous posts

These are the posts that I would have intended to post to facebook but that have been sitting in my drafts folder for too long. Other posts may exist but they're more likely to be in rant form.

Midwinter Fair

Christmas tree decorating

The start of semester

Castlefest Winter Party

Starting the semester

The faster life goes the more I have to write about and the less time to do it.

I'm really not complaining. I like busy!

Mother managed to fit the bronze owl I got given for
Christmas in her case weight allowance. Magic woman!

Today I said goodbye to my mother who was out for a few days visiting... she needed my help with her computer stuff for work and I needed English food. It was a win win situation. Anyway, we had a really lovely time doing random rubbish (like buying DVDs of Shakespeare shows) and some more interesting things too, of course. The main development was our booking to go and see the (wonderful) musical Elisabeth when it tours through Essen. I don't think I need to explain to you why this makes me so happy and the fact that I'm taking my mother to see it for mother's day makes it extra special. Before you ask, she  is a fan of the show too ;-)

Before her visit it was the Castlefest Winter Party which I attended with the lovely Thijs and before that was the start of my second semester at university and I will bore you all with a basic overview of which courses I am taking because they, no doubt, will feature highly in the next 14 weeks!

This semester I am taking Big Questions in Science, Logic, Periods and Genres Modern, and Text and Genre.

The first course of the semester was the one I was most afraid of: Logic. It's a mixture between maths, philosophy and common sense with an infamous fail rate. I was dreading doing it. Now I've started, I'm surprised to say, I actually quite like it! I mean, it is going to be a real challenge for me to remember all the things I have to remember for the exams and it's probably going to get harder but I am enjoying it so far. I go into the classes and struggle a little bit with the concepts at the very start and then, after a few minutes I get the hang of it. It's enough of a challenge to be interesting but taught well enough that it's not overly daunting... yet ;-)

I'll talk about the other not so fun course, namely Big Questions in Science. I'm doing it because I need to take a science course and this sounded like the most accessible for a humanities major such as myself. Indeed, it was what it was designed for. I've not studied any sciences since I was 15. We're studying physics at the moment and, quite simply, I do not get it. The teacher is a lovely person and clearly quite intelligent but, sadly, I'm not quite so well versed in the physics world as he is and therefore things he takes for granted confuse me massively. This course and I may have some issues. On the bright side, next lesson's at the planetarium!

Periods and Genres is a continuation from last semester's course, focusing on a latter period, and is art history by any other name. There were some little hiccoughs with the teacher not providing the (very small) things I need to get by with my vision problem but, hopefully, this is getting sorted now. I kinda know I'll like this course because I'm aware of the kind of things included and, as a bonus, there are additional creative elements that mean that I'm going to have to find time to paint and draw. Since starting at university I've hardly touched a pencil and it's not a good thing at all!

And the final course, Text and Genre is shaping up to by my favourite. It's a literature foundation theory course thing and I expected it to be rather dry but, in fact, it's so much fun. We're looking at literature itself (at last!) and working in a really interactive environment chaired by two teachers who are so energetic and obviously have such passion for the subject. I don't think you could ask for more!

So, that's how life is shaping up at the moment. Next week looks to be super busy. Who am I kidding? The next few months look to be super busy! But anyway, exciting times!


This is not for facebook because I've written another post since and don't want to flood out my feed.

Christmas Time!

As I type this my father is upstairs watching The Great Escape, which seems to be on every single year at around this time,  and my mother is in bed as she's feeling ill again this year, bless her. She was ill last year which meant that we ended up having a second Christmas day on the 26th and I keep telling her that I really don't mind doing that again this year but she feels really guilty all the same. So, tomorrow, not only do I get to see the wonderful Kim but I also get Christmas dinner with the family. Really not complaining on that account!

Other than the little blip with regard to my poor mother, I've been having a wonderful time back in England. The flight on Sunday was really easy and turbulence free, I got the really friendly gentleman at UK border control, my case arrived pretty early on the conveyor... I came out of the airport grinning like a manic ready to be met by my parents. 

In fact, on impulse, we went straight to an Indian restaurant we've been going to since I was about five years old and it really did feel like a home coming! 

No, this is not a representative British Christmas tree but it will do nicely!

On Monday, we came down to Somerset where we're staying in a little rented cottage for the Christmas period as the house up in Birmingham is still nowhere near finished. We're actually staying about four miles out of Glastonbury and, as you can imagine, I'm quite happy about that. The cottage itself is on a cider farm and we were given some bottles of their cider as part of a welcome package... as you can imagine, my dad's quite happy about that.

On Christmas Eve we always set out a load of food (that, quite frankly lasts us through most of January), and have a buffet dinner. This year was no exception so we all snuggled upstairs in a little sofa/TV nook with really nice food and Rapalje's DVD on as that kind of music is something my whole family really enjoys, albeit in different ways. It was lovely to be able to chill together, that being the best bit about Christmas.

There is no risk of us running out of cheese for a long, long while.
Some of it's even Dutch ;-)

This morning was obviously not so great because Mum wasn't feeling great but we attempted to start the day as we normally do with everyone getting dressed up and then gathering upstairs to open gifts and so on. We'd normally have a breakfast first and also take the opening of presents really slowly with mince pies on tap but that wasn't really the case this year which is a bit of a shame but more than understandable. I don't mind as long as we get to have a nice 'Christmas' dinner together at some point which everyone is well enough to enjoy.

Talking about presents, I now appear to be the proud owner of a violin. There's a jokey thing in my family, started when I got my 'cello, that I get a new musical instrument every year for Christmas or my birthday - usually something considerably less pricey, mind you. Can't say I was expecting a violin but guessing it came from a combination of my moaning about not being able to transport the 'cello and my mother's love for fiddle music. And before you ask, nope, I can't play. I do apologise to my neighbours back in Amsterdam... they're going to love me ;-)

Apparently I am learning to play whether I want to or not!
(Incidentally, I do!)

Also got given a bike puncture repair kit... I think my dad was trying to make a point there! So yeah, if you're one of my Dutch friends reading this and I get a puncture... you'll have to make good use of this kit as heaven only knows I wouldn't have an idea as to what to do!!

So that's my England-time so far. Feels so good to be back in the land of hills and with people I've known for years even if I am missing everyone else like mad. So, until my next post, whether you are celebrating, have celebrated, or are soon to celebrate any festival I wish you a wonderful time, surrounded by those you love.

I'm free! I'm free! (etc. etc.)

My final essay has just been submitted and I'm sat here surrounded by the chaos that comes from panic studying without having spent time tidying up that Christmas party of a few days ago. The empty mince pie box is totally my doing though... eating six in one day when stress-writing is perfectly socially acceptable, right?

It's really strange to think that I've been living here for close to half a year now, my first semester (sans weird intensive period) is finished. Thank goodness. Now that I'm free my brain is trying to work out what I should do first... paint or translate or tidy or scrapbook or edit photos or or or... yeah, who am I kidding? I'm going into hibernation ;-)

Lets be honest, I've been essay writing from a sleeping bag.
We've been at hibernation point for some time now!

All joking aside, the last couple of days have been really strange, saying goodbye to the people I have essentially been living with. These people have seen me on my squint days, in my pajamas, been in my flat at its messiest (not all at the same time). They've come to see more of me than most people I've known for years and, in that regard, some of the most intense bonds have been formed. It's strange but quite brilliant. What's even stranger is the fact that we're all suddenly being flung around the globe once again. Okay, it's only for two weeks but it's still rather bizarre. That is something that will never fail to amaze me, the way people here are just so wonderful and the way we've gelled. Better start saving up for a miracle waterproof mascara for graduation!

That said, I simply cannot wait to go home. I've been getting emails from my technically inept father with a count down for some days now. Actually, just realised he's a day out and someone should probably tell him I'm flying on Sunday, not tomorrow... oops.

The fact that it's Christmas just makes it all even better. Just being around family and old friends with glittery things and lights and warmth and good food sounds like heaven right now. Okay, it sounds like heaven every year but especially after being away from home for so long. Annoyingly, I have no idea where my Christmas elf outfit is so I'll have to dig that out so I can dress up to give presents to my little nephews again this year!!

Yes, in case you have got this far and haven't guessed, I'm both excited and exhausted. This has been your complete stream of consciousness blog for tonight. Now I'm going to go and see about this hibernation idea!!

"Happy Amazing Birthday"

It's Monday and the weekend is drawing to a close. My parents have left, class has just finished, there are assignments staring at me with eyes full of judgement. I feel sad to see the end of this time but generally happy that it has been so beautiful.

My parents arrived on Thursday which, quite frankly, was the best birthday gift anyone could have given me. Thursday evening was spent unpacking goodies (clean clothes and cheddar cheese, thank you very much!), eating dinner and generally messing around. It was a normal evening. You cannot guess how good it felt to have a 'normal evening' once again.

Did I ever tell you that my mother hates loud noises?

Friday was my birthday and, after finishing a few essays for a rather tight deadline (I'm sure I fluffed them in my hurry but oh well!), it was time for my parents to return and to celebrate properly. Leonoor and Dania also turned up, bearing pie and candles, bless them! To have the pair of them turn up with edible stuff and twenty candles - they wouldn't settle for any less - was just really special. It's those thoughtful moments that mean the world.

Lighting twenty candles is quite some feat!

Over the afternoon/early evening we were joined by Robbert, who sang a birthday song which was a really special moment, and Thijs, who made me some really sweet 'vouchers' which are going straight into my scrapbook. It was just such a beautiful evening of memories. 

Somehow, all my friends appeared to manage to cope with my dad which is quite impressive considering he tends to terrify people I know... he was on his best behaviour though, I guess! 

Woollen gifts, instantly enjoyed.

Most of the weekend was spent lurking with my parents and, while it was so special for me it's not the most interesting reading for you lot (we went to the supermarket twice - it was really fun and that's not even sarcasm). However, there's one other moment that has to be mentioned and that's when Sonja, who had been ill between her own birthday earlier in the week and mine, bless her, came round. She wanted to come round to bring me a poster, which is up already, but the fact she didn't want to wait until class, wrote such a nice message on the poster, and came bearing hugs was just so lovely. Every day at AUC I am reminded how lucky I am that I have such wonderful people around me.

This is without mentioning the messages people sent. Hopefully I've replied to everyone individually now but as I only had mobile internet I may have missed you... if so sorry. Every single message was special to me from the simple "Happy Birthday" to videos of orchestras playing Happy Birthday in different styles to messages in multiple languages. Thank you every one of you. Thank you for making this weekend so awesome.

There's always one candle...

(P.S. Just for University-Aleksandra  who just gave me a card: Yes, I will continue to write and you are more than welcome to stalk me. Also, drawings of me on flying carpets made of books = awesome. Thank you!)

Visits from home

It's nine fifty-two in the evening and I know that I have an all nighter ahead of me. Why? Well, because my mother, who's been visiting for the week has a deadline tomorrow and is sat in my room attempting to piece together what remains of her brain. Naturally, I can't sleep with her working and nor can I work due to mother and I both being unstoppable mutterers when we're thinking. We'd drive each other mad!

I wonder why she's struggling to meet this deadline?

So, here we get another installment of Havanah's blog ;-)

As you'll have deduced, no doubt, from the above, my mother's been staying with me this week. I can't really say how great it's been to see her and to chat and watch films and do general stuff that you take for granted when you're geographically close to someone. It has meant that I've neglected my friends a little (sorry guys!) and my work (oops!) but oh well. It's been worth it!

So, this week has mainly been focused around socialising with my mother and her buying me food. I'm not complaining about either aspect and, while it's not at all interesting for you to read about, it has been a really good time for me!

Finding cheddar cheese, sausages, back bacon, and crumpets
at Marks and Spencers was the highlight of my week ;-)

Sadly, she's going home tomorrow and, although it'll be nice to have some of my own space for a while, I'm dreading the 'goodbye' again. Reserving all rights to be a quivering wreck if anyone tries to contact me at any point during the day and apologies to Thijs who's got to put up with me as I'm going to his for dinner... oops!

___________

While I'm writing, I'll just mention that I'm changing the way I'm doing the blog a bit:

• I'm attempting to review a CD/film with more regularity than before so hope to schedule things so one posts each Wednesday but these will not be cross posting to facebook. 
• Book reviews will post from goodreads to facebook and will be here too, as always... when I have time to read! 
• Some of my personal posts may not go onto facebook, depending on the topic (some of you may have noticed this happening already).
• I'm probably going to cut back on 'weekly' posts as these have only been happening as there have been major life changes. Now things are settling down I'll probably go back to event based postings which can be more or less frequent. I write when I feel like it basically ;-)

If you're interested in any of the things that aren't going to cross post anymore then you can subscribe to the blog in various ways over on the right hand side of the page (I know there are some regular readers, strange as it seems!) or just check back manually, every now and again, on the general www.oiahavanah.blogspot.com link. 

A rant on the situation with Scotland

I will start this blog post by saying that you can guess the topic from the title. I am not entering into a political debate, nor do I intend to, and have stopped this post from going onto facebook to make it less visible. This is a personal post about my feelings about situations surrounding a political situation and not a political post... if you can't cope with that then please don't read any further.

As I'm aware that enough of the people who read my blog are friends from outside of the UK I will briefly explain. Today is the day of a referendum that is taking place in Scotland to determine if Scotland will leave the UK.

I had decided to keep silent on the whole subject because it's something that's close to a lot of people's hearts and, while I may have an opinion, it isn't really my issue to fight over.

However, today I discovered something that really did make me unhappy. One of my relatives, who is Scottish, has had their house graffitied by some idiot who feels that is the correct way to treat a human being who has a different opinion/connections to England. 

From what I have heard, this isn't a one off, and most likely is going both ways. I've not done my research and press is always biased anyway. However, having something like this happen to someone who you have a connection to is really infuriating.

Now I will admit something that I haven't told many people:

On the day I received my acceptance at AUC I was up in Scotland, in the area I love and I had visited every summer as a child, near to where my family live. The day after, I went to Glasgow for an open day, still undecided about where I would ultimately chose and already holding a place at Glasgow. During the course of that day, I was shouted at by two groups of people at the university for being English. I decided at this point that Amsterdam was the better choice for me.

Are these people the majority? No. They just shout the loudest. Most of Scotland, no matter what they will vote today, if they vote today, will be civil about matters. However, it's got to the point where I am so annoyed that I can't pretend the loud people who turn a political matter into a personal one don't exist. 

Come tomorrow we will have a result of this vote. Whatever that result may be we all, Englishmen and Scotsmen, remain individuals and remain humans. People need to remember to treat those around them as individuals and humans. 

Fight to change a system, fight to change something you disagree with, but attacking and intimidating another living soul being different, having different opinions, or for any reason really, is just below the belt. This goes for any situation as far as I’m concerned.

Now go out and hug people.

In which technology gets the better of the Chadburn family (etc)

It's six P.M. on a Thursday and I've just settled down to dinner after a long day of arguing with the housing association and electrician visits. Naturally, my dad chooses this moment to phone me. He's decided, despite the fact that this is the man who managed to break two computers in the space of  a year that, in my absence, he will assemble the desktop at home.

Luckily, the answer to his question is quite simple. The mouse and keyboard won't plug in because they are the wrong mouse and keyboard. He has to go and buy a new one to fit that computer. Peace again.

I'm going to be honest and say, that after he got back I did spend the entire night on the phone to him. That man has a complete inability to read what is on a computer screen and to take the logical choice and also fails to follow instructions. That said, after about three hours on the phone he finally got the thing set up and I left him with the instruction to let it update. I waited for the inevitable call for help.

Surprisingly, it didn't come and the next I hear on the subject is:

I'm actually amazed he managed to get into his email account... especially since I'm pretty sure I changed the password on it a couple of months back...

Of course, that's not all that's been going on with a continuation of classes and a heck of a lot of work to be done outside of class. That is what I expected though, if a little heavier than I expected, and so I'm not complaining. It's nice to be stretched again. 

Admittedly, the highlight of my weekend was this evening with an impromptu invitation from Wendy to join her for dinner. It was great to get out and socialise after all the strain of the past week! Having eaten and conversed for some time we were eventually drawn into working on a large puzzle that Wendy had started. You can see why I get on with her so well ;-)

She was waaay better at this than me, I hasten to add!

Anyway, having just got in from her flat, the long walk of about 30 paces from my own... I am ready to drink tea and sleep, looking forward to the week ahead!

Entering the second week!

It's really funny the things that you miss when you're away from home. I quite expected to find myself a quivering wreck frequently through not being around my family (and friends). However, while I miss people, and I'm finding life a lot easier than I expected, I've found that it's the practical little things that make me miss home.

I miss the food that I know. I miss cooking for people. I miss getting the train to college as the walk here doesn't give you the same social experience. I miss having a bath because I only have a (painfully hot) shower. I miss saving bits of carrot for my canary, when cooking. Perhaps these things are the things that really have impact because the lack of people you love is just too big a concept for the brain to hack. Either way, homesickness is certainly present but in a different form to how I expected it!

To that ends, things like cooking a Sunday Roast with Maria the other day really matter. I mean, it was probably one of the worst roast dinners I've ever made but it was just wonderful because it was a moment of 'home'. There's an amazing comfort derived from those kind of things.

Attempts to combine study and relaxation ;-)

Something that has really stuck me about this course is the sheer workload and pace at which the 

classes are moving. Last week, on Thursday, I completed my first piece of work that contributes to the final grade, a group presentation which ended up with a significantly smaller group than planned. This happened in the second class and class number one had been an introduction. It really does feel like I'm preparing for class or doing assignments in every waking moment although I know that's not true. All the same, you know you're procrastinating when you update your 'about' page on the blog. Pleased I got round to it, even if I should have been doing something else, as the other page was annoying me no end!

Overall, there have been some huge lifestyle changes over the last couple of weeks and it's really rather strange. I'm enjoying the challenges but they are challenges for sure! I'm really happy that I'm starting to get to know some lovely people, and meeting new people almost every day, and that is a really good sign!

Oh, and those of you who've known me and my bad immune system for years, and have been wondering how I've managed to not catch 'Freshers Flu' will be pleased to know that I haven't been replaced by some alien... I'm coming down with a cold >.<

Two days down!

So, I have now experienced my first few classes... hurrah. Some look interesting (like the one that focuses on the history of early art and is so exciting), some look less appealing (I have to watch horror films for one and I'm a complete coward!). All in all, however, it's been a good start to the week, and, indeed, to university.

I must admit that I'm being hyper organised at the moment with doing reading as soon as it's set and

so on. For those of you who don't know me, this isn't normal. I just know that if I start of really organised there's a chance of me managing to keep up some façade of control until at least half way through the course! Anyway, this has meant that I'm actually quite surprised by how sudden the work load has started. Some of the reading is actually quite heavy stuff for people who haven't started the course properly and I really pity those who are tackling it in something that is not their native tongue. In addition, there are some assignments that are due rather early like a presentation which counts towards the final grade which I am giving, with my group, on Friday before we've even had a real class... bit strange.

How I'm surviving Week One. By Week 16 this will be replaced by gin, no doubt

The other thing that I've been finding really difficult for the second time in my life is my vision problem (the first time being when I had to leave French because of discrimination and formal proceedings happened). The teachers views have kinda ranged from you'll just have to manage to disorganised but nice. The art history teacher, for example, basically said that she had taught a student with 15% vision before and, although she tweeks slides in advance so there may be some little issues, she'll print them off and we'll find some way to manage... just remind her. She was lovely and 100% human about it. Some of the others have treated it a bit lightly, I think. Banning laptops in your class is one thing but when one of your students is disabled and needs to use one for some reason then you either work to find an alternative or you make an exception. See, the thing is, because my vision doesn't generally impact on my academic life, some people just view it as a silly quirk. Just because you can't see how it impacts doesn't mean it doesn't. Just because I don't have 15% vision doesn't mean that I don't have my own needs. This turned into more of a rant than I intended but it's kinda unfair that in two out of four classes I am actually worried that I'm going to be at a disadvantage because of something the uni knew about before they accepted me. It'll get sorted no doubt but really, more stress?

Whoops. Rant over now, you're safe!

I can no longer moan about my empty shelves.

So, the books have finally arrived, except one which was out of stock so I'm not too worried about that. I'm really pleased because I'll get to have a dip in and out of these as I want, and, of course, as I need. It's great not to have to search out the lucky one who already has the book (thanks to the lovely Dania for helping me out with one of the books the other day). That said, there's a lovely community spirit with people helping one another here. For example, when my books arrived today, along with two other parcels, I was asked to take some parcels for others. One gentleman from a higher year, who I don't think was even picking up post, kindly offered to help and indeed did help me carry this bundle. We'd never met before but all the same he said that if I needed help I could contact him. Now, I probably never will because I'm not one for asking for help at the best of times but that's a heart-warming human experience. It's almost as though the shared 'AUC family title' allows people to ignore the social boundaries that say "don't talk to strangers it's weird" and both give and receive help.

Oh, and I got a parcel from home today containing underwear which was kinda a joke gift because I'm always short on socks. In my defence, back home, my family steals my socks but anyway. It also contained a beautiful little owl card and I must admit I did cry just a bit. I love it here but I miss the people back home.

Owls and glitter, could this card be any better?