World Cup Mania

I have to admit that I usually don't pay any attention to sports (with the exception of the Olympics and the bare minimum stats during the Stanley Cup playoffs to carry on a conversation). However, it was hard not to get sucked in to all the excitement surrounding this year's World Cup in South Africa. Afterall, I am in England, the home of 'footy'. The signs of excitement and anticipation were impossible to miss for 2 months leading up to the World Cup; even the local buses changed their logo to resemble the England flag.

I loved seeing flags from all the competing teams strung up together all over the place, although it made me feel left out. C'mon, Canada... didn't even qualify?

I didn't actually watch any games, but it was easy to tell when England was playing as throngs of fans gathered in front of every television available decked out in flags, teams shirts, face paint, etc. I imagine it was a similar atmosphere in any major Canadian city during the gold medal men's and women's hockey matches this year. (I'm sooooo disappointed to have missed that!) Pictured below, fans gather around a random television set up in a small shopping centre in the city. I don't know who's playing but it's definitely not England.

During England's games, massive crowds of excited people took over Millennium Square in the city centre where the big screen TV played the match. The photos below are right before the England v. Slovenia match, which sadly ended up being England's only win. 

Poor England. They really do deserve to win it... perhaps their time to shine at their national past time will come when they are the hosts. That would be 'pulling a Canada' ;)

Amsterdam's Airport Awesomeness

Need to spend a long layover in the airport? Well no better place to be than Amsterdam Schiphol! I spent 17 hours in that place on my way home for Easter and I felt like a queen rather than the usual tired, achy, dirty mess that transatlantic travelling brings. 

Schiphol actually has a hotel beside the gates after security called Hotel Yotel. I planned ahead and made a reservation and I was SO thankful that I did. The place reminded me of a futuristic mix between berths on a train and a Japanese pod hotel. Everything was incredibly compact, but very functional. Our flight arrived at around 22:30, and by that time all the shops and restaurants in the terminal were closed. The only food available in the airport were hidden sandwiches at Yotel's front desk! 

(Clockwise from the top: hallway inside the hotel; looking into my room from the hall; and the convenient fold-out desk and chair.)

(Clockwise from the top: very comfy bed tucked away; flat screen tv at the foot of the bed with both Dutch and English programming; toilet, sink, and shower with only a curtain separating the rest of the room.)

I awoke in the morning feeling refreshed after a proper sleep and a shower. I even felt a little guilty knowing many people slept in the floor by the gates. Oh well! 

With still another 6 hours to wait, I moseyed on over to the spa a few steps away. I booked a full work up of treatments and sat in their premium leather massage chair while I waited. The quality of the treatments was not the greatest... I got the feeling that the esthetician working on me did not have a lot of experience (she gave me the world's worst wax and cut my toenails too short, which stung for a couple days). But I was not too upset. Here I was getting pampered in an AIRPORT. 

I even wish I had had more time to kill because I missed out on exploring the museum. It is a permanent exhibition of ten works from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and changes throughout the year. 

In summary, volcanic ash cloud got you stranded? Unexpected delays? Planned layovers? Amsterdam is the place to be!

A Few Minor Adjustments...

Friends and family have been frequently asking me questions about what I find different about living here. I've been on this side of the pond for nearly 6 months now, and although I still encounter lots of stuff I didn't know I didn't know on a daily basis, I think I can better answer those questions. So let's "give it a go", shall we?

Things I've had to Adjust to:

• Traffic on the left side -  I knew enough to expect it, but I didn't realize how completely ingrained I am in ways of the right-side... to the point of having to re-learn how to be a pedestrian. I'm still not 100% used to it!
• The inability to make certain phone calls without a BT landline (British Telecommunications) - It just so happens that I don't have access to a landline without walking a couple blocks to a payphone AND that I need to make these calls on a regular basis. Eg. making "reverse" calls (collect calls) or calling the international operator. Nothing like hauling ass in the pouring rain with all my banking information to a public pay phone to resolve issues with my bank/Visa!
• Nobody puts mustard on their sandwiches; they're so bland -  Subway doesn't even have mustard as an option! No dijon, no honey mustard. Nadda. 
• People say, "You alright?" when they see you instead of, "How are you?" - It's a subtle difference but it always makes me think that I look sad or ill and people are checking if I'm ok.
• Bedding packs don't come with a sheet! - You'll get a fitted sheet ok, but I had to REALLY go out of my way to buy a regular old flat (and now mis-matching) sheet. Weird.
• Machines talk to you instead of just beeping - My favourite was the backup alarm on a giant dump truck ("lorry") that repeated in a polite British female voice, "Caution, vehicle is reversing." But it did become rather annoying when the elevator was broken in my flat... I got to listen to the same voice repeat, "Doors open... Doors closing..." all night long.
• Chips are crisps and fries are chips - I'm getting better at this one!
• Customer service in general is awful. And I'm not a hard person to please.
• The indoor exercise facilities - both private and public, they're just not the caliber of North America. I think it's because outdoor activities like football are far more popular.
• The incredibly ineffective washer/dryer combo - That's right, because of lack of space, most people have one machine for both washing and drying clothes and it does neither of those things very well. Oh, and it's rare to have a separate laundry room so you can expect to do your laundry in the kitchen.

Best Things about Britain:

• CHEESE - the supermarkets are just filled with all kinds of interesting, fresh, and very delicious cheese. Anyone who knows my love of cheese can vouch that this makes me VERY excited!
• Reliable transit - well, more than at home anyway. Oh, and double decker buses. It just makes sense!
• British Airways - best economy class flying experience so far. Sorry, WestJet, but I've yet to fly overseas with you. 
• Mild winters
• The NHS - Brits can talk at lengths about all the things wrong with their health care system, but they've really got it together compared to Health Canada. Also, my patient experience was SUPER efficient and awesome.
• The people - polite and a great sense of humour
• Everything everywhere has so much history
• Cell phones and mobile services are far superior. 
• Booze is super cheap, even with the exchange rate
• The BBC (although I do miss CBC)
• If you want to get around, everything is so close! Even Europe!
• 3 weeks holiday at Easter - yes please :)

Day Trip to York

So I know I've really dropped the ball lately on keeping this blog up to date. My Christmas Holidays split over Red Lake and Calgary were absolutely AMAZING, but no need to blog when I'm home, right? At any rate, I definitely have a little catching up to do. 

Firstly, right before I left Leeds in December, Chris Wright and I took a day trip to the town of York. For those of you who don't know Chris, he and his family came to Red Lake from Nottingham in 1997-1998 to do a 1-year exchange with a local family. All of the Wrights quickly became very active in the community as well as friends of the family and I'm glad to have stayed in touch. 

But back to the present. So the two of us decided to take an afternoon to wander around the very historical streets of York. We chose a good time to go as it was bustling with activity on a Sunday afternoon just a couple weeks before Christmas. (But it was freezing!!) Oh and as is the norm for most English towns before Christmas, there was definitely an outdoor Christmas market.

One of many very intricate ice sculptures in the streets. I suspect that to the left is a street vendor selling anything from pumpkin soup to mulled wine to sausages.

Typical street in York. I love the narrow, cobblestone streets and tiny shops.

The famous York Minster, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe

Climbing to the first tower of the cathedral

Taking a break halfway!

View from the top

We were wondering who you have to be to live in that mansion

Inside the cathedral - the choir began singing but they were hidden in a centre section. The acoustics in that place are amazing. It sounded like you were completely surrounded with ethereal music.

View from the street

Walking along the York City Walls that completely surround the core of the town. Some parts of the wall date back to Roman times.

The cathedral as viewed from the City Walls.

Pictures from my Walk

I finally kept my promise and took my camera with me on a stroll to Kirkstall Abbey. I didn't even make it around to the front before my batteries died, though! Here's what I captured before that:

The entrance to the park. Lovely running paths!

Abandoned tracks. Leeds has a rich coal mining history. Could these tracks be remnants of that?

The River Aire at the Weir. (The Kirkstall Abbey is directly behind me from this persective.)

Entrance to the Weir. Ghetto fabulous?

The Abbey ruins

Note the tiny bench in the bottom right for perspective. This is just a corner of the Abbey.

I still can't believe that this is just steps away from my home...

Belated Thanksgiving Post

How did anyone ever keep up a long distance relationship without the Internet? I'd never felt more isolated in my life than those first few hours after arriving in Leeds before my Internet was connected (while I had no phone either). Especially now that I'm alone in a foreign country, my computer is my lifeline to the rest of my world and I would be totally lost without it!

This Thanksgiving, I was VERY thankful for Skype. I still haven't found any other Canadians around to hang out with, so it goes without saying that I was on my own for Thanksgiving this year. Thankfully, Josh suggested an e-date via Skype for the event (dinner for me, lunch for him). Each of us prepared a meal, poured a glass of wine, and dined by the light of our LCD monitors. It was actually a lot of fun and *almost* felt like the real thing.

Running in the Woods

Today I made the most amazing discovery! I decided that I needed to get out for a run since the gym is so far away and it's not worth going if I'm not already on campus. I'd been a but apprehensive about running in my neighbourhood because from what I'd seen of it so far, it looked pretty sketchy. BUT I decided to go for it and I went out on a main stretch of road in the only direction I'd never been.

What Google maps and streetview didn't tell me was that there were walking/hiking/cycling paths leading from the road into a lovely forest and just how close those paths were to the river (River Aire)! I didn't get too far at all before I came upon the famous Kirkstall Abbey. The ruins of this 800 year old monastery are incredible--especially in the backdrop of the fairytale-looking forest on the river. You know the kind, with great old trees that are spaced fairly widely (so it's an easy thing to "run through the forest"... not like in the Canadian boreal forests) and there are massive willow trees that lean way over and dip their long branches into the river on either side. I had the biggest grin on my face as I was jogging along. Eventually, as I passed the abbey and the path narrowed, I had to slow down... not because I was tired but because I was on the riverbank and I was scaring the ducks! It was too beautiful to run by anyway.

That was JUST the motivation I needed to get a running routine down! I have to go back now to get pictures and to see the place on a sunny day when the leaves have turned more brightly fall colours. I will definitely post pictures soon!