not much excitement.

Classes and homework has been taking up the majority of my time lately. One exciting thing to note is that all the snow is gone and temperatures are in the high 40s. This is really nice, but definitely not the norm for Northumbria. The snow will likely return but I am enjoying the balmy weather. 

I hope to get out to Hulne Park soon. I am always a little hesitant to go, because the Duke has had several fox hunts scheduled, so the park has been closed. Anyways, I am really looking forward to exploring the wilderness and historic monuments. I also plan on stopping by Alnwick's chocolate shop. I really need some dark chocolate. I heard that they have Champagne infused in some of their dark chocolate. So getting some of that!!!:) 

Currently, I have been trying to gather research on land preservation in the UK and US for my biology paper. I have been having a rather difficult time finding good articles. I might change my topic. Its looking rather tedious. 

While watching Harry Potter 4 in the commons room, Sam, Marie, and I were discussing meeting famous people. That was interesting. At the beginning of the Twilight series, Sam went to meet the actors, who play Jacob Black, Laurent, and Victoria at the Mall of America. Sam, being who she is, went up to meet the stars and out of the corner of her eye sees a guy with this crazy rainbow Mohawk and gets completely distracted from the people she is supposed to be meeting. While she is expressing her amazement over this guys hair, the stars are getting a kick out of her. I haven't meet any amazing movie actors, but I did meet Chris Kratt from Zaboomafoo at the Minnesota Zoo when I was little. So that's my claim to fame! I must admit I still think that was pretty cool:) 

We also decided that our server, Lee, looks like he could be a student of the Durmstrang Institute in Harry Potter 4. He has the exact same hair cut and build as them. Of course, we ended up comparing the computer generated castle to the one we live in. Yes, the one in the movie is way bigger and has lots of cool things we don't. But, I still like ours better. Its real!

This morning I took the big history exam. I felt very confident I did well. I love that the history tests are not cumulative. For Contemporary Britain, we don't take notes or memorize facts. We instead discuss and analyze the differences between UK and US culture. Our homework is usually watching British TV and reading the newspapers to learn about events and values. I like that kind of class structure. 

I sat across from David, one of the professors, during supper. Conversation was most engaging. We discussed many subjects including Jane Austen, the Russian Mafia, Scotland, Olympics, and popular British TV shows. He is most interesting to talk to, very opinionated. David reminds me of someone else I know (Mr. Aurich), except he is completely opposite in political views. The similarities are astounding, despite the one major difference. I would love to see the two together debating about which way the government should swing.