Homecoming...

Not much to say about homecoming. We sat around and chatted for a while, had some tea and then turned in for an early night...

...or not. 

After a long week of working hard and everyone fighting illness, it was time to have a good time. A dance floor was laid and a marquee put up on Hodson Green and Shana kindly opened up her room in Chester for us beforehand.

Yesterday in general was spent starting on the New Deal paper outside of classes. I also received a very nice surprise from my grandparents so that I no longer have to haul a holdall around when we go away for short periods of time, and with all the travel in the upcoming months it will be very useful. 

Forget The Cold And Carry On...

The cold has hit with full force today, but lots of fluids and a stiff British constitution is keeping the worst at bay. To that end, today has also been the most productive this week. This morning after breakfast I finished reading for the next paper, typed up notes for a quiz next week, amended two first drafts, copied up some film notes, and began planning the upcoming paper. 

Drew, on the right was the barber for today
and he did a perfect job

After Miller's class, I went over the road and experienced my first authentic barber shop experience at 'College Heights Barber Shop' run by three generations of the Thompson family. I decided to smarten up before Homecoming tomorrow - at least my hair can look nice even if my face is saying that I'm dying of cold. After the haircut I went next door to the bank and authorized my credit card for my American account. Then, I went back to Worcester to get my things for the essay plan and made for the library to begin forming an as yet unknown argument. 

At the library I found Caitlin and Marcela working. Before I started planning however, I fulfilled a promise and went with Axel, Amer and Caitlin to hear their upcoming presentation and give them some feedback. Leaving them at quarter past four, I went over to the GEO to meet up with some people who are thinking about studying abroad at Royal Holloway next year. I think that me and Lenka gave a good advertisement for the college and covered as much as we could about life at uni, London and England in general. 

From the GEO I went back to the library and finally got down to filling out the essay plan. With most of the work done, I broke for dinner at 6:30pm and then went back to the library to finish the plan. At 10:00pm I printed off the finished plan, satisfied with a productive day and headed back to Worcester with a large cup of tea - the ultimate remedy for a cold. 

Relay For Life...

In between classes was time spent relentlessly reading up on the New Deal for the next paper that I really need to have planned by the end of tomorrow if I'm going to stay on schedule with such a busy weekend and week ahead. 


This evening was the first meeting of Relay For Life, which was a good way to meet everyone involved at Washington College and see how the organisation works. This year the goal is to raise $60,000 and I will be doing all I can in my position as Online Drafter for their blog to help us achieve this. So, to get things started, anyone here at the college can sign up to join the event on 11th April 2014 and anyone at all can make a donation online towards the cause. 

To do either, simply follow the link below:
http://www.relayforlife.org/getinvolved/findanevent/app/findanevent.aspx?x=51&y=12

If you want to donate you can 'Search For A Participant' and put in my name to get the correct event. If you want to sign up to join the event, then 'Search For An Event', which is 'Washington College' and then under team, choose 'Take A Stand'. If you are unsure what to do, there will be a table downstairs in Hodson all of next week where we will be with laptops to guide you through the process.

Now, back in Worcester I will try to get a head start on some of the tasks for tomorrow and fend of what has now become a fully fledged cold :(

Fending Off The Germs...

Today has felt very unproductive in terms of college work, which is why I felt guilty and started reading for a paper in the library at 9:30pm until 11:00pm. However, it was very nice to chill out and get into The Good Wife on the say so of Eoin, and put my mind off work until the two first drafts to be returned tomorrow. 

Not wanting to be shut in a small confined space with Caitlin's cold germs, I played squash for an hour by myself, which was a very good workout; just me, the ball and the wall with Nickleback and the Red Hot Chili Peppers for company.

After dinner, some of us headed down to the GEO for games and pizza for cultural ambassadors, before I resigned myself to moving to Miller to read up on Roosevelt and the New Deal. Now more than ever I'm surrounded by the sick and snotty, and I am in some denial that my slightly sore throat is nothing more than the need for a drink. 

On the way back to Worcester I found Dale and Caitlin studying in Hodson, so I joined them to listen about some incomprehensible science and the A+ that Caitlin got in her medieval history test purely because of the information I gave to her - I guess the degree is worth something!

Grapes Of Faff...

Today consisted of classes as usual, forty-five minutes of piano playing, the musical '42nd Street', some book stuff, but most importantly...Grapes of Wrath, or the Grapes of Faff as I have come to call it, is finished!!! 

Yes, these past weeks I'm sure you have been apprehensively reading the posts, waiting for the final announcement, biting your nails and ever wondering when I would be able to finally close on Steinbeck. Well my friends, the wait is over and so is one of the longest reads of my life and to celebrate finishing I made a trip over to Walgreen's with Caitlin for some shower gel and deodorant - classy I know. Now, I can turn my attention to more pressing reading for class tomorrow, but I think it will wait until morning. For the moment, I'm going to kick back, relax and watch some TV.  

Beach, BBQ And A Boatload Of Sand...

Lots to tell on the weekend. We set off from the CAC early Saturday morning and made our way down to Ocean City, which is a couple of hours away. We stopped off at Dunkin' Donuts where I really confused the staff, firstly because I ordered tea and then because I wanted milk in it. A few minutes later the confusion was resolved and once Eoin had picked up the least appetizing breakfast wrap in history, we were on the road once more.

We arrived at Fran's place by late morning and didn't hesitate too long to dump our things, change and then head towards the beach. One thing we hadn't counted on, was that we had timed our visit with a large motorcycle rally that brought in hundreds of Harley-Davidson's to create the perfect background melody for a peaceful setting. But, undeterred we made our way to a spot that we thought was out of the splash zone (which it wasn't later in the day) and set up camp. At midday we went for lunch and Dale picked up a seaside delicacy of deep fried Oreos. All in all, I feel that I did everything someone should at the beach; a sunbathed (briefly), built an excellent sandcastle with the engineering help of Dale and some added historical consultancy from Sam, and I went in the sea. 

Now, I can't remember the last time I ventured into the ocean, so I wasn't well-versed in how to handle a wave that suddenly rears up a good foot above your head. Later on I was told to dive through the wave. At the time, however, I figured I would simply turn towards the beach and take it full on - how powerful could a wave be anyway? Well, it turns out, stronger than me. The initial impact not only snapped my neck forwards, which was a painful shock, but I was then thrown off my feet and hurled onto the beach like driftwood. The sand in question was not the soft powdery paradise I had first thought, and after being thrown several feet across it, I did I fine job of some extreme exfoliating to my elbows and knees. Hoping that no one had noticed my blunder, I staggered to my feet and wiped the salt from my eyes in time to see the next breaker repeat the process. Desperate now not to be stuck in an eternal and painful cycle that the nearby children had managed to overcome, I crawled away with a considerable lack of dignity to a safe distance, ruing my attempt to be adventurous. Being British, however, I was not prepared to make a public spectical of myself, so, I got to my feet and in a true Daniel Craig fashion stepped from the water with my head held high with as much self-confidence that I could manage. 

After I emptied my shorts as best as possible of a decent proportion of the beach that was causing considerable discomfort, we went for some ice cream and then headed back to the house, stopping off for some (cough) refreshments (cough). I showered, emptying out some more sand and a surprisingly large pebble, and then we set about barbecuing some burgers and cooking some pasta. By this time Sam had joined us and Sean was on his way. Following dinner I took part in the very American tradition of making shmors with gram crackers, marshmallows and Reese's peanut butter cups over the fire, which were great. Sean arrived and we ended the day, relaxing with some chilled drinks, good music and anecdotes from the day. 


This morning we had a lazy start, going out to the shops to get supplies for eggs and pancakes, orange juice and donuts. At midday we set off back to Chestertown and aside from a bit of traffic that slowed our progress we made decent time. Back at campus I passed the time before an early dinner and then headed to KC with some ironing for family dinner. This week Oz Sam treated us to some spaghetti bolognese, which was very good, and we made more plans of what trips and travel we would be doing in the year ahead.

A great weekend and a huge thank you again to Fran

for driving us down, letting us stay and take the comforts from it!

The Final Book Is Shelved...

TGI Friday. It's finally the end of a long week and I am thoroughly looking forward to a relaxing, work-free weekend ahead. Today began with a slightly alarming encounter with a cricket in the shower. But after a stand-off of flip flops at dawn, I could proclaim myself the victor and get on with the morning before class. 

After the first class and some feedback on the first draft of my first paper, I read a bit and then headed over to the pianos and filled the time before I had to return to Smith for 'The 1920s & The New Deal'. Once classes were over, I returned to Worcester to find that my final course book had arrived. This wasn't the first copy of the book I ordered, which, after the delivery company said had been delivered and the post room had no record of, apparently vanished into the ether. Anyway, cutting a long story of many emails short, I received a full refund and having gone to another company, the next day delivery held true so that I could pick the book up before the weekend. It also means that I no longer have to mooch of Sam, but thanks for letting me borrow yours until now.    

With the book situation sorted, I also looked over my first draft of my Hollywood Film paper and then made my way to the library to print it out and finished another ridiculously long chapter of 'Grapes of Wrath'. Bring on the weekend!