My Arrival, In Pictures

Tags: Family, York, News, Food, School, Flickr, Friends, Shopping, Travel, Events

[Because things have been so hectic, here is merely a quick rundown of the past week is the best I can do for now! Lots of pictures, and lots happening enroute to my new home in York!]

Day One - Food and Departure

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Too much food! Dim sum with Bachan, Mom, and Daniel. Claude decided to head over to the aquarium and got up close to some of his relatives. Off to see Patty and to ship boxes! (THANK YOU!) David cooked more food for dinner. Get squished by Daniel and David. Off to the airport with Mom and Dad.

The Flight - More food

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Hop on the Globespan plane - aisle seat, last row. Line up for the one functioning toilet is noisy and inconsiderate, meaning no sleep. Safety instructions in Icelandic. Free wine! And more food which makes me unimaginably full. After letting people off at Glasgow, I get a window seat for the highlands. And landing at Manchester Airport.

Day Two - Landing in York

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Take the train from the airport to York - nice scenery and musical fellow passengers. Finally get to York station from where I can see the Yorkshire Wheel, which I’ve yet to visit. My luggage and I somehow get to my empty room! Sure it’s a dorm, but Wentworth is pretty nice - block C from the outside. TONS of waterfowl on campus which for the short meantime I love. I find my new home at the music building where I pick up my enrolment pack.

Day Three - My First Trip to the City

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After thirteen hours of sleep and a fire drill, I make my way into the city for the first time - the River Ouse. The streets are amazing - I can’t believe I live here, but quickly am so tired and frustrated with having to set up that I stop taking pictures. Clifford Street. New flatmates Ros and Kai. Then me, Demitrius and Ros at Wentworth Karaoke. My room set up, with new bedding - the stuff that was supplied was utter crap!

Days Four and Five - Settling in

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More incredibly tame birds on campus. I’m eating well - see Mom? The first thing, the postgraduate welcome, mostly just emphasizing the fact that “we’re people people”. Chicken bacon and smoked cheese sandwich from Krusties in town. My first peek at the minster, but I’ve more errands - no gawking yet! My new mobile, which has been the cause of some problems.

Day Six - Back again, with Ros

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There’s more things to pick up so I go into town with Ros and can’t resist the Minster. Amazing foot traffic. Our first fish and chips is yummy! A peek of Clifford’s Tower. The room is getting there, with a reading light! (It’s such a fiasco without one!) And the famous Miquelrius notebooks - I FOUND THEM. Oh, and Ros is a stationery freak, too.

posted by Laura at 6:34 pm | Comments

My Bags

Tags: Travel, My Things, Shopping

As a gift for heading off to grad school (T-minus ten days!), my parents bought me a new luggage set. Because I only have a 50kg luggage allowance, we went on a search for ultra-lightweight sets. Keep in mind that this includes my carry on bag, which will have my laptop in it, and that I am essentially moving, so every ounce counts! After everything, I ended up with three pieces of softside luggage: large roller, duffel roller, and a (surprisingly spacious) tote for carry on. It’s a line from Roots called “Clouds”, but I can find NOTHING about it online. Oh well. Regular price? $550. With a sale at The Bay and my dad eligible for a senior’s discount, we got it for $213. My new cosmetics case will go within a larger piece for packing.

And because there was a group for it (what’s in your bag?), I took a picture of the contents of my purse nowadays. Between cream for my bug bites, pounds sterling, a card game, and Claude, I think it sums up my current life pretty well.

posted by Laura at 3:08 pm | Comments

My Seattle Arrival

Tags: Early Music, Travel

Well all, I’m in Seattle. Up before 5am on Saturday, I left for Vancouver at 7:30am. That first flight was around seven hours, riddled with fitful sleep and animated vultures singing “Food, Glorious Food”.

I arrived at YVR and went to go get my luggage for my transfer. Forty minutes later, no bag. I finally find someone to ask and apparently I was given bad instructions. So with only an hour to go, I was given another plan of action which involved running to the other terminal, waiting in a line that spanned the terminal twice, going through immigration, getting my bag, going through customs, and running to the furthest possible location within departures. Sweaty and butterfly-laden, I made my connecting flight. Too close for comfort.

The plane was SO small. No more than 40 people boarded directly from the tarmac. Te short flight resulted in almost all of us waiting after only 3 bags came out. The rest of them were left at YVR - thanks for telling us. I got it last night at 12:50pm.

Flight troubles aside, I’m loving this. It’s what I want to do with the people I want to do it with. I had a lesson with Jan Coxwell this morning and hopefully have a little more direction in life. More updates later.

posted by Laura at 7:37 pm | Comments

My Newsflash

Tags: Random, Travel, Friends, Computers, Western, Music

He kissed me. He is certain that it is best that we stay apart. My heart is broken.
Sarahali is the best roommate ever. The guy she is dating is pretty cool too - he brought me froyo. Even Sober’s truthful advice was comforting. True friends are not those you see the most often, but those who see what you need right now.
My Seattle trip will begin on the 28th. I pray that it is all I have been waiting for these past years.
I have had a confirmed diagnosis of tendonitis. Western’s ergonomist is going to come and hopefully improve my workstation.
Sulasol music arrived. There is actually a “Rajaton Choral Series”. I will get the full price list for another order this fall.
I haven’t looked much for a job for the fall. I need to.
The scars on my legs are fading. I enjoy vitamin E.
My jaw hurts.
Feel free to bug me to blog daily. I’m at work on a computer anyway, waiting for the Welcome page and for server connections to be regained.

posted by Laura at 9:22 am | Comments