Things not to do when you arrive in a foreign country:
1. Spill coffee on your laptop. So now several keys on my keyboard don't want to work. Fortunately, though, (and I bought a Toshiba for precisely this purpose), there is a certified/authorized Toshiba depot in this country that will send a courier to pick my baby up, they'll fix it, then courier it back to me. So hopefully I'll have it back and on my desk in working order in a couple of weeks tops. But in the meantime, I'm using the public computer lab, which is awkward as all hell, 'cuz I don't know where half the keys are. For some stupid reason, for example, the " key is shift+2, while the @ is shift+'. The number sign is over one key from ' and the £ sign is shift+3. I'm never going to get used to this. Argh. But it means that MSN messenger is out (if you read my name you'll probably be able to discern what some of the disfunctional letters are now...). Sigh.
2. Get sick. I was working with a crapload of people who had colds, I've been messing with my internal body clock, and yesterday I spent the day in town exploring - it was pouring rain and I got absolutely flipping soaked. So now I have a cold. And no one really to whine to - although I did call my mother and cry after the coffee incident.
But, anyway, once I get my computer back from the Toshiba depot, I'll post some pictures of my adventures in York - with Margot, a Canadian... an Albertan in fact... who studied at the U of A... in the Dept. of History no less... and is now here doing her MA in Medieval History. What're the odds?
In other news, I've already bought a ticket for a concert that's coming up here soon - York is the home of the National Centre for Early Music, and they have a Christmas festival each year - I'll be going to see Machaut's "Messe de Notre Dame" (Mass of Our Lady) at York Minster on December 8, performed by the Orlando Consort. Medieval music in a medieval setting - what more could you ask for? And the student rate was stunning. The whole thing is costing me maybe 9 bucks Canadian. The Orlando Consort is actually fairly well known, and the regular adult rate is £15 ($37-ish). Kate's student-y status makes her eligible for a £3.50 ticket. Oh yeah.
But that about sums it up for now. I'll check in again in a couple of days tops - tomorrow is an intro to my dept, then Tuesday is intl. student orientation, so when that's over, we'll see what my impressions of this place are.
1. Spill coffee on your laptop. So now several keys on my keyboard don't want to work. Fortunately, though, (and I bought a Toshiba for precisely this purpose), there is a certified/authorized Toshiba depot in this country that will send a courier to pick my baby up, they'll fix it, then courier it back to me. So hopefully I'll have it back and on my desk in working order in a couple of weeks tops. But in the meantime, I'm using the public computer lab, which is awkward as all hell, 'cuz I don't know where half the keys are. For some stupid reason, for example, the " key is shift+2, while the @ is shift+'. The number sign is over one key from ' and the £ sign is shift+3. I'm never going to get used to this. Argh. But it means that MSN messenger is out (if you read my name you'll probably be able to discern what some of the disfunctional letters are now...). Sigh.
2. Get sick. I was working with a crapload of people who had colds, I've been messing with my internal body clock, and yesterday I spent the day in town exploring - it was pouring rain and I got absolutely flipping soaked. So now I have a cold. And no one really to whine to - although I did call my mother and cry after the coffee incident.
But, anyway, once I get my computer back from the Toshiba depot, I'll post some pictures of my adventures in York - with Margot, a Canadian... an Albertan in fact... who studied at the U of A... in the Dept. of History no less... and is now here doing her MA in Medieval History. What're the odds?
In other news, I've already bought a ticket for a concert that's coming up here soon - York is the home of the National Centre for Early Music, and they have a Christmas festival each year - I'll be going to see Machaut's "Messe de Notre Dame" (Mass of Our Lady) at York Minster on December 8, performed by the Orlando Consort. Medieval music in a medieval setting - what more could you ask for? And the student rate was stunning. The whole thing is costing me maybe 9 bucks Canadian. The Orlando Consort is actually fairly well known, and the regular adult rate is £15 ($37-ish). Kate's student-y status makes her eligible for a £3.50 ticket. Oh yeah.
But that about sums it up for now. I'll check in again in a couple of days tops - tomorrow is an intro to my dept, then Tuesday is intl. student orientation, so when that's over, we'll see what my impressions of this place are.
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