And a happy Christmas season to you all! Liverpool is all decked out with trees and lights everywhere, and the rocket ship cathedral is reminding me a lot of Science World these days!
Blogging opportunity has been limited - the university server seems to be afflicted with a case of holiday blues and sporadically goes out for up to 24 hours at a time. As international students who rely on our broadband for everything from banking to contact with our friends, this poses a major problem. Not to mention that at the (not so) bargain price of Cdn $180 a week for these palatial dorm quarters, we're paying enough to deserve a decent connection. (Rant rant rant).
Sigh. OK, moving on.
Got my first paper back with feedback, and thus can begin my final course paper with a relieved mind that I'm on the right track. (Ooh - I rhymed! Apparently poetry comes with the season. Must be all that eggnog). They grade differently here, and you essentially either pass or fail - very weird. And of course, having seen lots of academic writing samples, you wouldn't have gotten in if you weren't likely to pass. Two more papers are due prior to end of semester. I've been slaving away on robot slavery, and did a little dance upon its completion. This leaves 3500 words between me and freedom, and let me assure you, I'm counting every one!
In between the endless reading and writing, there have been opportunities for many a Christmas festivity. Chris has a party at his place last week, and we all shared a brief Sci Fi bonding moment:
We went off on Friday and wandered downtown in order to explore Smoky Mo's, which is a country-western bar with its own mechanical bull. Or so it claimed. We got sidetracked, though, and ended up at "Reflex, the 80s bar". WOW - talk about a retro Las Vegas! I have never seen 22 disco balls all in the same place before! Not to mention the Pac Man hanging from the wall, or the Rubix Cubes that dangled from the mirrored ceilings and covered the floor, with each coloured square lighting up as you danced on it.
Photographic evidence of this retro palace lies below:
Jean met with one of everyone's all time heroes, who was in full-colour glory across the wall:
The John Travolta urge was strong in all of us:
The night progressed with great amusement, as the drunken Liverpudlians caroused with no regard to dignity nor decency. We did our best to bond with them and with each other:
In other news, I go home for Christmas in 7 days - hooray! Three weeks of academic freedom, and halfway through my coursework. The dreaded thesis looms ahead, but so does the prospect of getting my Canadian life back, and the luxuries of home ...central heating, hot water on demand, a stove, that sort of thing.
Jean is hosting a Tiny Party today, and we are all bringing tiny things and singing raucous renditions of Christmas carols. I am on tiny pancake duty, and so I bid you all adieu as I go downstairs and start creating munchies for two dozen people. (Jon is already popular, but his stock is about to go up exponentially as the Canadian maple syrup is sampled by the Non-Canadian Masses :) )
See you all in a week!
PS Desperately seeking PC 100 RAM...if anyone has some, my lumbering computer and I will be eternally grateful!
