Whirlwind of activity

Where to begin?
I guess saying I'm not dead is a good start.  Sorry for my lapse in posting!  Typing these long posts takes awhile, and a combination of being away from the computer, and dreading the length of the post has led to the late release of this update.  Lesson: I should type shorter posts more often than ginormous summaries.

 Last Monday was Burn's Night, something we don't have in the US.  Sophie invited me over to her flat for dinner; price of admission: one vegetable.  I had some broccoli in my fridge, so I headed over to her place looking quite awkward carrying a miniature, edible tree.  When I got there I found a kitchen full of people; most of them chopping up carrots or potatoes.  This girl is one social butterfly, let me tell you!  She's one of those people that knows everybody.  I handed in my little green charge who was met with much enthusiasm.  Apparently I was the only one who brought a green vegetable! Quite some time later dinner was served.  Since there were about 20 people in attendance there was plenty to go round.  There were carrots, turnips, baked potatoes, my little broccoli, a giant pot of mashed potatoes, and the star of the night: Haggis.  Not knowing what Haggis actually was (besides some type of meat product) and uncharacteristically of me, not caring a bit, I ladelled the stuff onto my plate and took the plunge.  How to describe it? Dry-ish pellets with an oaty, meaty, peppery taste quite unlike anything I've ever had.  That mixed with the creamy mashed potatoes was an extremely tasty compound, I kept eating until I felt quite full.  After dinner we went outside to chat and watch Sophie and a few others play with fiery objects.  One thing I found really odd was that people around here are into circus tricks.  If there are university clubs devoted to circus performing in the US, I sure as heck don't know about them.  Watching the fire dance was interesting; the performer wields two long narrow objects (one in each hand) with fire at the end of them.  They twirl and spin, the fire making shining ribbon formations in the air around them.  At about 10 I'm knackered (another English vocab word meaning tired/exhausted) so I return home, but cannot resist the urge to look up what haggis is.  Yeah, I shouldn't have...
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.
Gross. But hey, nothing I can do about it now. It tasted good the first time, and I didn't intend to force myself to taste the same haggis again.
So...even if the thought is unsavory, the haggis is very savory, so try it!

Wednesday we didn't end up going to Cambridge, but I will end up going soon. : )

What else happened during the week...? I made a fantastic chicken soup which I ate over 3 days.  When I was making it I was wondering why I was going through all this trouble when I could just get soup out of a can, until I tasted it.  I don't like to swell my ego, but it did taste delicious, and best of all, I knew exactly what was in it.  Will def make this again.

Went to the UEA Anime Club twice, but both times I left early because all the shows were in Japanese with unreadable subtitles (to me) and there was no oppurtunity to socialize.  The club organizers said that they'll air a few English episodes...I have no idea when...and until they do it's kind of pointless showing up.

One night I watched Marley and Me with my neighbor Julia.  It was very fun, hope to do it again soon.

Now here comes the long bit about my CRAZY weekend.  The plan was to go to York, England for a juggling/chocolate convention.  Odd combination...I didn't really know what to expect, but I was super excited for a weekend away with my new friends.  I walked over to Sophie's with my friend Pascoe.  When we got there Sophie, Pascoe, Ian, Sophie's neighbor, and I piled into a minivan taxi along with a wheelchair, guide dog, and 2 unicycles.  Got to the train station (taxi was free, yay disabilities!) and got on the train. (Note: UK train stations aren't heated...if you're inside it feels like you're outside. Not good in winter with cute but not so warm boots on.) Since Sophie had a ticket for the train trip already, we figured we could use the "disabled person with carer card" while traveling to save money.  Some conductors didn't question it, one was suspicious, and one lady really knew her stuff and we couldn't talk our way out of paying (but that was on our way back, and it was only 23 pounds, but let's get back to the story).  Along the way we met Sophie's Swedish friend named Linda who would be joining us.  Sophie's neighbor got on a different train to Newcastle, so it was still a party of 5.  We made it to York, and trekked through the city to the bus stop. It was freezing, but the bus finally came.  The driver was probably making a mental note that we were a bunch of wackos, a wheelchair, a guide dog, and 2 unicycles all in one place aren't things you see everyday.
When we got to Sophie's mum's (not mom, mum...or mother) she had dinner for us, which we greatly appreciated.  I don't know what kind it was, but the bread (looked homemade) that she put out was really good (Linda and I took generous helpings of it).  We then hung out a bit in the living room (which contained a wonderful fireplace) and enjoyed the warmth.  You don't realize how nice being able to feel you feet is until you can't.
Before we went upstairs, each of us girls got a hot water bottle. O. M. G. I have found the true love of my life. Going to sleep with the warm bundle was so pleasurable that I think I'll need to buy like 5 of them the next chance I get.
In the morning we had breakfast (quite a spread, I stuck with porridge) and Gail, Sophie's mum, helped us prepare lunch bags for our day out.  When the first bus arrived at the bus stop the driver got spooked by the unicycles (and probably the guide dog and wheelchair) and refused to let us on for "health and safety reasons".  We took down his bus number and called the bus company to report him, which we did, and we had no trouble with the following bus.  When we got to the train station we got into a taxi to go the rest of the way, because the school the event was taking place in was in the middle of nowhere.  When we got there I was surprised at how many people there were participating.  Everywhere you looked there were people juggling various objects, playing with hula hoops, batting around devil sticks, balancing things on their heads, and oggling the chocolate cake entries in the competition.  Since I can't juggle for crap (requires tracking the fast moving balls with your eyes, which I can't do) we went to a hula hoop workshop.  I somehow managed to keep the thing up for a bit, but retired when it got very complicated.  We sat and had lunch in the auditorium where people were practicing their juggling skills.

Before the show that evening we went outside, and Ian was nice enough to let me, Linda, and Sophie try out his unicycle.  Seeing as I can't even ride a bicycle, I was amazed that I even made it up onto the thing. I pedaled around a bit (with help on either side : D) and then let the others have a go.

Fun times. The show that followed was pretty good, some of the stunts looked really complicated.

During the show they announced the winners of the cake competition, and afterward the audience got to pig out. 
We got rides back to the house, had dinner, then huddled up in the room with the fireplace for a few hours, just talking.  After midnight, us girls went upstairs and talked some more until we finally dropped off to sleep.
The next day started out with breakfast and a discussion of what the day's plans were.  The day before we had seen a sign near the bus stop reading "Ride the Hogwarts Express".  Anyone who knows me well enough knows it's been a dream of mine to get on that train. What luck that it's in York! The plan was to do that, walk around York, then catch the train home.  Bambi apparently didn't get the memo.  While we were upstairs changing and getting ready, the snoopy dog put her front paws up on the table and ate a nearly full pan of tiffin (a cake containing marshmallows, crushed biscuits, and a generous helping of melted dark chocolate).  Gail found her and the empty pan first and called up to us not to panic, but Bambi ate the rocky road.  I was a combination of horrified, shocked, and scared shitless; it's a well known fact that chocolate is toxic to dogs, and mine just ate the equivalent of 2 large bars.  We called the vet immediately, sent Linda, Pascoe, and Ian out to York, and were at the vet's office within the hour.  He gave her an injection in her leg to make her throw up.  We went outside by a drain where she could do the deed, but my girl has a strong will, and apparently an iron stomach, so it wasn't happening.  He injected her again, and out the stuff came.  I won't go into detail, but it was a lot.  Luckily, I think we got her to get it up before it entered the intestines, so the vast majority left her system at the vet's.  He advised that we let her recover for a day...seeing as we had to catch a train back to University that night we had to debate a little.  Gail said she would watch Bambi for the day if we wanted to go see the Hogwarts Express and explore York, and depending on how Bambi felt later, she could bring her over to the station in time for our train.  I felt a bit guilty leaving my host with a sick dog, but we agreed on it, and Sophie and I caught a bus into town.
Now this was quite funny; the blind girl pushing the girl in the wheelchair. We lol'ed all the way to the bus stop, and had no difficulty getting on the bus (free since she was disabled, and I was her carer XD).  Met up with the others at the train station and walked over to the railway museum where the HE was.  When we got there we learned that the train was giving rides next weekend, but we pulled the "disabled American Harry Potter fan" card (I was taking a ride in the chair since Sophie wanted to walk around a bit) and scored a private viewing of it, even though it was in the off limits yard.  It took quite a long time to find somebody qualified to take us over there, so I got quite acquainted with that wheelchair.  Pushing yourself is fun, new, and exciting for 5 minutes, but I have no idea how some people do it all the time.  I guess you need to build up your arms.  Luckily for me, Pascoe pushed most of the time, so I was just cruising along (it felt like an amusement park ride).  We finally found someone, and he led us over to it. Wow. I was so amazed that I was staring at something the was ACTUALLY in the movies! It's a real train that actually works, unlike the replica at Universal's WWoHP.  The guy actually drove the train in a few of the movies, so he gave us a bit of the scoop as to what goes on.  Firstly, he said that WB airbrushes the train driver out...which makes no sense to me...but he said he watched the movies and looked for himself, but to no avail.  Second, it took WB and J.K Rowling a long time to find the proper train for the films.  This train is privately owned, and was originally green, but since Jo decided to use it they have it on loan and were able to make all the changes necessary to make it into what it is now.  He told us a little about the cast too.  Some have big egos, others don;t appear to.  Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) is a real train buff who will get a ride on this thing as often as he can.  He also mentioned that Rupert Grint (Ron) is really nice; he brought the train crew tea during his break (the train crew doesn't get breaks during filming).  Nice to know that not every actor is a stuck up bastard.  Recently, the train was used for the film again because they "fouled it up" the first time.  It was taken to a studio where they had a massive green screen behind it.  Ooh now that I think about it, that must be the Epilogue scene, the one where adult Harry is sending his kids off to Hogwarts.  They did have to refilm that. Another tidbit: Universal wanted the real train, but it's a functioning train and part of "British culture", so they sent people over to take measurements of it so they could make a replica.
Here are a few pics. : )

I left the museum feeling elated, just what I needed after that hectic morning.  We walked around York for awhile (I gave the chair back to Sophie, so yeah I was walking at this point).  I was all touristy and took a few shots of the old city walls, a few buildings, and a pretty cool clock.

After walking, we found a nice sit down pub (first I've been to where you can get a meal) and had dinner.  Before I left, Bambi (Sarah's mom) told me to get a chicken and mushroom pie, which I saw was on the menu.  It tasted really good, but probably not that good for me...I'd have it again. : )
Dog Bambi was feeling better, so Gail brought her over to the train station.  We got on the train and stopped in Peterborough to get the next one.  While we were waiting, we played the card game Bullshit, and I won.  We got on the next train, the last leg of our journey, and the lady collecting tickets wouldn't buy our disabled person and carer only need one ticket story.  We played dumb and talked with her for like a half hour, telling her we were given the wrong information etc.  In the end I paid 23 pounds for a ticket for myself, but considering we traveled approx 800 miles that weekend I don't care too much.
Since then the week has been pretty boring.  Bambi didn't have any diarrhea from the chocolate (thank goodness), I've been cooking (but have majorly been craving takeout), did laundry, and watched Casablanca with Julia last night.  Tomorrow I'm going into town to check out the market, buy some hot water bottles, and go to the grocery store.  And reading for class.
Right then, this has been the longest post ever, and I hope I never have to post such a lengthy update ever again.  Keep your eyes open for a shorter post later this week. Ta ta for now.