November 29–December 5, 2006, Number 129
Homesickness remedy: friends
Our Thanksgiving dinner was very nice! We were expecting a real turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, but we had cold turkey and ham slices—sort of like you would buy in the store to put on a sandwich—no stuffing, and decent mashed potatoes. Despite the expectation mismatch, we were happy with our meal and grateful just to be able to celebrate together. A lot of people brought a little dish of something to share with their table, making it a bit more like home. The dinner was held at our main campus building and the room was decorated with lights and American flag napkins. Veronica brought Alex along for her guest and we had an eating contest. I of course won:) I ate at least four big scoops of mashed potatoes along with large, numerous portions of everything else.
Its been raining here almost nonstop the whole weekend. On the bus this morning the water was up and over the curb for about thirty yards. I was listening to the radio earlier and the report was about roads to avoid and ones that wouldn’t get flooded.
I’m writing this from Wheelwrights Arms Pub, where our friend Alex works. I’m getting ready to watch the pre-game show for a big football game between the two top teams, Manchester United and Chelsea. Veronica (far left) and I (third from left) came early to order our favorite food in England, which is fries (chips) and pepper sauce. People continue to pile into the pub. I believe most of them are Manchester fans, but I’m not really sure.
Manchester United scored about twenty-three minutes in and the pub went crazy, I’m not used to waiting so long for a team to score. In basketball the scoring is constant and in the NFL the score can reach the thirties. This game ended in a 1-1 tie. The older guy next to me was explaining a lot of the rules and recommended that I go to a game. Nick Sims, the owner of the pub and also Alex’s brother, said he could get my friend Tony and me tickets to a Chelsea game. That would be a lot of fun!
Now that Thanksgiving is over I am excited about Christmas, Veronica downloaded a whole bunch of Christmas music that we listen to all the time. I think I may have to buy a fake miniature tree and decorate it with some homemade decorations. Our landlady said that she doesn’t put a tree up anymore because her kids are gone. Even though Nick and Veronica won’t be here for Christmas, I need a bit of home-like décor.
I talked to my professor from my Laboratory Techniques for Forensic Science module. I was expecting a short five-minute meeting about what I can do to help my grade. I was in his office for about forty minutes, and he helped get me on the right track. From there I went to the library for a book or two. In my field of study, it’s hard to get the books I need. Students here rarely buy textbooks because teachers just use them as references. It’s a bit confusing. I tried to get the text for spectroscopy and found out that the forty copies in the library were all checked out. I don’t know where to turn next.
In my hometown, if you see an animal in the wild running around it is usually a stray cat or a deer. Here they have fox everywhere. The other day Veronica and I were waiting at the bus stop and a fox kept running across the lawn of the old folks’ home across the road from us. It seems strange to me because they are everywhere and it’s not an animal that you see all that often in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Homesickness may be starting to kick in a bit with the holidays and stress from school. I was able to talk to a lot of my mom’s side of the family on Thanksgiving when they were all together, but I missed most of my relatives on my dad’s side. I have two phones. One is for calling people in the UK and the other is a pay-as-you-go phone for calling in the States. It only costs me ten cents a minute to call home, which doesn’t seem too bad since a lot of phone cards you get are eighteen cents a minute. Because it is quite easy for me to talk to my friends and family back home, maybe homesickness can be avoided afterall.
- Until next week,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885