Planning

February 18th-22nd

On Monday I woke up to bruise-feeling legs and decided to head straight back to bed (I did not have any classes). I did miss the meeting I'd set up with some friends to plan a trip to Scotland during the April break. However, I've been able to communicate via WhatsApp to book trains, buses, and hostels. Basically, the first few days of this, and even up to now have been spent researching and booking/planning this trip. We started out with a big group, but now we're a strong 5.

I'd tell you the planned itinerary, but that's hella dangerous to do beforehand, so I'll give a detailed explanation after the trip.

Because we're 5, we ended up finding a hotel to stay at on our first night, and this amazing Airbnb that would give us lots of space, free food, and a great location for most of our trip. Since we're exploring the highlands (and areas not good for luggage, as some friends have suitcases) the ability to safely leave our belongings behind was one thing we were willing to splurge on, but didn't have to in the end.

On Tuesday, my legs were still terrible - the pain was more unbearable than blisters because every time I'd move or even think about my legs there was pain. Thus, I did skip classes.

However, Wednesday morning I forced myself to attend my morning lecture. I then rewarded myself with a breakfast sandwich from Greggs. If I were to call any other food chain here similar to Tim's it'd be Greggs as they have a similar motto, except their food and pastries, after my trial, taste superior. The breakfast sandwich was cheaper than McDonald's and was bigger and healthier, so I may stop by a bit more. I did have some trouble ordering, as the counter worker had a thick Geordie accent (she kept asking me if I wanted any sauce, but that just didn't register at all).

I also decided to get some milk as it could help with my body pain. While picking it up I bought some doughnuts that were on sale for 70p a bag of 5. I'm now obsessed with these cheap doughnuts that have more of a cake texture than doughnut. The pint of milk I got was also super cheaper, after conversion it ended up being about 85 CENTS Canadian.

On Thursday, I stayed in, I missed a lecture on Macbeth (but again I've already studied it so it was fine - if I'm going to miss and take a day off, it's best if it's something I've already learned). At night, I had a play to go to. Luckily, the theatre was by the Quayside, which is very close to where I am, so it was an easy walk. It was a bit annoying as they tend to gate pedestrians in, so crossing the street when it's most convenient is difficult. I had to walk a long distance just to cross over to where I needed to get to.

The play was pretty good. We were sitting cabaret style (think Golden Globes) and my table was right at the front (table actually touching the stage). My neck was a bit sore after craning it up. I was a bout a foot away as a man looking and dressed like Drake pulled out a knife duller than a banana and threatened Hugh Laurie's brother's son. I'm glad to say I didn't even jump, although those around me sure did.

On Friday I went to both of my seminars. I didn't speak much during my first one, as I was tired and didn't have much time to pre=prepare ideas. During my break between, I sat in the Percy building and went on my laptop to read some stuff for my upcoming class. We were discussing Cranford that day, which was an interesting book written by a woman, but annoyingly edited by Dickens. It mentioned Newcastle at one point. It seems to be quite the theme in my courses. After the seminar I made sure to sign up for my seminar presentation, surprisingly the last two slots were empty. This is culturally different from what I'm used to. Back home most people prefer to choose the last few dates to deny the inevitable, and to procrastinate as much as possible (i.e. my preference). I was thankful at least to get a time and day I preferred, although second-guessed it after, as maybe the work I'm going to be preparing for might be difficult.

On my walk home I was going to go grab McDonald's or any other fast food, as I was craving fried junk food, but held myself back because the next day I was going out for the day and would definitely be eating out.