The Bag Ladies and the Tramp

Last night some friends and I went to the weekly Pub Quiz, and our team (we were the Bag Ladies and the Tramp) came in third place out of 22 teams! So between the six of us we won £5 at the bar, which we promptly spent on coffees and hot chocolates for all of us. It was so fun, and I'm very proud of us. : )

Proud team: Sarah, Esme, me, Anni's hand (and our prize), Alison and Nicky.

On an unrelated note, going to this website here is guaranteed to cause you inordinate amounts of happiness.

Special Election Night

Oh, oh, see what I did there? With the title? Yeeeeeeah.

Tuesday night really was extraordinary. Historical, of course; a major victory, yes; and also a really good time. The turnout at the Union Pub was unbelievable -- at its peak close to 300 people. Interestingly, I'd guess that only slightly more than half were American, and the non-Americans were just as pumped up and enthusiastic as the Yanks. Actually they were really funny, because they (understandably) didn't have a concept of what states were guaranteed to go to either candidate, so they booed every time McCain won any state, including shoo-ins like Kentucky and Tennessee. But it was really interesting to see how involved and invested in the election everyone was, regardless of nationality, and to see the outpouring of absolutely overwhelming relief and joy that came with the announcement of Obama's win. It was really wonderful.

Fans of staying up late in pubs. Oh, and the election.

Speaking of which, here is a video I took that has since become a Facebook sensation among my friends here. It was just sheer luck that I decided to record at this moment. It was 4 AM, and there were still at least 200 people in the Union Pub. On CNN they were doing a countdown till the west coast polls closed (we're 8 hours ahead), and everyone in the pub was counting along, so I whipped out my camera. As the countdown ended, suddenly the "CNN Breaking News" graphic popped up, followed by the words, "BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT." And this is what happened.

I really could not be any more pleased. It's going to be really hard to leave England at the end of the semester, but I now have one more great thing to look forward to!

Election Night Special

Seeing as this year's presidential election is pretty important for a lot of reasons, both good and bad, I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed I'm not at home in the US to experience the bizarre political climate first-hand. Being abroad means I have to be a lot more proactive to keep up-to-date, and I imagine that I'm missing out on some interesting talk on campus amongst the students and professors. Plus, this is the first (presidential) election where I'm old enough to vote, and I don't even get to go into a voting booth. Boo.

All that being said, though, it has been really interesting to follow the election from this side of the Atlantic. Every aspect of the election is covered by every major British media outlet. Literally everyone I've spoken to, British and otherwise, is well-informed about America's political situation, and has been following the election rather closely. Not only are people very familiar with Obama and McCain and their respective platforms, but Sarah Palin is an extremely hot item. Concrete, "UEA's only independent newspaper," a few weeks ago ran an article about her stance on environmental protection, and my flatmates love to bring up ridiculous things they've heard about her: She believes the world is 5000 years old! She thinks you can "cure" gays!! She HATES polar bears!!! All I can say is, "I know, right?!"

Everyone I've spoken to, British and otherwise, is hoping Obama's victorious. During my first week here I met a couple British guys who overheard me talking to some of my new friends about I don't remember what, and one of them interrupted me to say, "I'm sorry, but are you American? Please vote for Obama!" It wasn't until I promised that I would that they even introduced themselves.

Anyway, I sent in my ballot in the beginning of October, so here's hoping that it went through. All I can do now is sit back with my fingers crossed. As I mentioned earlier, they're keeping the pub open all night tonight, and I have a feeling it'll be the social event of the week, so I'm very excited about that. To get you in the election coverage spirit, take a look at the way the British do elections with this classic Monty Python sketch, "Election Night Special."

Guy Fawkes Day

Tomorrow may be a big day in the U.S., but here in England the real cause for celebration comes this Wednesday. The 5th of November is Guy Fawkes Night, a.k.a Bonfire Night, or The Night Guy Fawkes Failed to Blow Up the Houses of Parliament.

In 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes and a bunch of his fellow Catholics devised to detonate the Houses of Parliament, thereby killing the Protestant King James. He came really close to pulling it off -- he managed to set up the gunpowder under the building and everything -- but someone caught wind of his plan at the last minute and put a stop to it. Fawkes and the other conspirators were tried, tortured and executed.

So now, to celebrate the fact that Fawkes and friends weren't able to eliminate the royal family, every November 5 people set off fireworks and burn effigies of the Catholic traitor. Awesome holiday if I ever heard of one!

Post-Show Withdrawal

Well, the play is done, and has been for exactly a week. Needless to say, I'm very very sad it's done, and so is everyone else. BUT the plus side is that I've made all these wonderful friends! Luckily we can all reminisce and console each other as we withdraw, and now that we're not forced to hang out with each other at rehearsals for 6 hours a day I see that we really are all friends outside of drama too, which makes me indescribably happy.


DramaSoc has updated their website a little bit in the past few days, but only to put up the poster and program (which I of course promptly snagged onto my computer). I'm told the photos are on the way, though, so I'll share those as soon as I can.

Also, on Tuesday they're keeping the pub open all night so we can watch the coverage of the US election! I'm so excited! All my American friends are going, and loads of non-Americans as well. I mean who can pass up an opportunity to stay up late with friends in the pub watching political commentary on television? I'll definitely be there, despite the fact that I have a seminar at noon on Wednesday...

Full Calendar

This play has kept me really busy this past week. Yes, it's exhausting, and it's pretty frustrating how it often interferes with plans to hang out with my other friends, but at the same time I couldn't be happier that I'm doing it. First of all, I've met so many awesome people that I wouldn't have met otherwise because we're not all on the same course and we live in different accommodation on campus. Also, all the hard work we've put in has clearly paid off, because the play's looking great and we don't open until tomorrow. If tonight were opening night I'd be confident that we could do it really well. Plus, it's just really really fun to be on stage and doing this silly play that another student wrote! It's just a cool atmosphere, a cool project, and I'm really happy to be involved.

And this happened in my Writing Prose Fiction class today, which I found funny.

Emily: But plenty of people have written masterpieces while they're unhappy and poor! Just look at J. K. Rowling.
Professor: Emily, I told you not to swear in my classroom.

Speaking of Language Differences...

Apparently in England the word "aviary" is pronounced "avery." So all this time my flatmates have thought my name is Aviary Finch. That is so embarrassing.