Homework
Ok, to be fair, I really can't complain about homework because I really haven't had any. At all. Except for reading fantastic books on September 11 for my September 11 Fact and Fiction class. Did you know there is a whole genre of fictional novels dedicated to post-9/11. If you are interested in reading some, shoot me an email and I would be happy to recommend some of them! Anyway, even though I make it seem like this is all play and no work, I DO have to do some work or else UNM won't give me a diploma, which really would be a bummer. I turned in my first assignment today, which is why I didn't start this blog earlier this week. I've been trekking through that essay, and now I am happily writing to you!
The good (or bad?) news is that at the University of Leeds, a passing grade is a 40%... a 40%! (If you find that acceptable, you shouldn't! At UNM, a D (60-69%) is failing. Whatever grades I get for my two courses here at Leeds will only transfer as pass/fail at UNM, so I'd like to say I'm striving for A+'s, naturally, but a 41% would get me a double-major Bachelor of Arts degree in English Professional Writing and Political Science. Both of which I absolutely love, might I add.
If you haven't put two-and-two together yet, I will not be participating in a graduation ceremony at UNM in December because I won't be back yet. Actually, I will be in Italy with my parents during my graduation ceremony, which is much more epic than listening to 3,500 names being called out. A happy graduation it will be!
Well, that was officially the most boring section of the entire blog, so I'll try to spice this up a bit now that you're nodding off.
Illuminate York--Halloween
The worst part about not keeping up with my posts, besides receiving loads of demands from you all, is that when I get behind, it's hard to catch up because I have so much to say! Last weekend I went to London, and I would love to write to you about that, but the weekend before that I went to York (Halloween weekend) and I can't skip that. So, sorry, London for next time.
My roommates and I and some English friends from Newcastle went to York the Saturday before Halloween. York is one of (perhaps the) oldest cities in England, dating back to 71 AD and was occupied by the Romans long before it was taken by the British monarchy in the 1600s. York is the kind of town I think of when I think of England: cute, quaint, and old. Because of its old age, it is known for its haunted streets and buildings. You can do a ghost tour/walk at any given time of the year, but people flock to York for Halloween for the festivities that the town provides.
In York, we visited the York Minster, the largest gothic cathedral (Church of England, not Catholic) north of the Swiss Alps. A church acquires the title "minster" as an honorary title from the crown (ie. Westminster Abbey) and the churches earned this by being especially missionary-like during the Anglo-Saxon period, but very few churches in England are minsters. I didn't get to walk through the whole church because it cost money. (Charging money to go into a church?! What would Jesus say to that...?) Here are some photos of the York Minster. Remember, you can always click on the photos to view them larger.
We also saw the York Castle, which dates back to the 1100s and was used for multiple purposes over the course of its existence. In its new years, it was used as a place of royal communication with William I. Later, it was used for a prison, jail, and torture chamber. I read that in about 1190 there was a mass massacre of around 500 Jews in this castle. It was used as a jail and prison until 1926! Here is a photo. It looks unimpressive, but when you imagine the things that took place here, it becomes quite impressive very quickly.
I've saved my last two sights for the end. The Shambles and the city wall. The Shambles is an old city street that is one of the narrowest streets in Europe (built before cars, obviously). The buildings overhanging over the street date back to the 14th century, and as some points, one person could lean out of the window on one side of the street and shake hands with someone leaning out of a window on the other side of the street. The Shambles was originally a street for butcher shops and "shambles" is an obsolete English term for slaughterhouse or meat market. We learned on the ghost tour that this street used to be red with animals blood. Now, cute shops and bakeries line the short and narrow road.
York has a city wall! Yes, a wall like in the movie Mulan-- a wall to keep out invaders. When my English friends who were with us told me there was a city wall I literally could not believe it. The innermost and oldest part of the city is enclosed within a wall that you can go up and walk around on.
These are the stairs we walked up to get to the top (that's the Minster in the background). Then some more photos of my silly roommates and I walking around the top of the wall.
When it got dark, we did a ghost tour, of course. We walked with tour guides around the oldest locations in York and they told us the ghost legends. Then we made our way to the light show. The light show was a 3D show projected onto the Castle Museum (which is across from the castle). It was amazing!
Neat, huh? We all really enjoyed York and want to go back soon. It is only a 30 minute, 3 pound bus ride from Leeds, so we'll go again hopefully. It was definitely my favorite place. Well, at least it was until I went to London last weekend...
And London brought a whole new meaning to the words "favorite" (favourite?) and "place"!
And that, friends, will have to wait until next time!
Remembrance Day
Today is a holiday. In America, it is Veterans Day, in all the Commonwealth countries, it is Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is observed on November 11 every year as a memorial for those who died during WWI, and is on November 11 to commemorate the day the war ended in 1918. The war formally ended during the 11th hour on November 11, 1918. King George I (think The Kings Speech) formally made it a day of remembrance for those who died. At 11am on November 11 in every Commonwealth the entire country observes a moment of silence. Everything stops for one minute--radio, tv, traffic, doors to businesses, everything stops. Its a really powerful way to stop and remember those who died. People wear and display poppies in the week leading up to November 11 which signifies remembrance for those who fought and died. The poppy tradition actually started in the US, but isn't popular anymore. I wore a poppy dress today for the occasion. :)
Tomorrow I'm taking off to Liverpool for the day! It might be a while, but it will make it in here eventually. Stay tuned for London.
Have a good weekend!
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