Archive for December, 2005

Home to Canada!

Published by pete on December 18, 2005 in December. 0 Comments

Sunday, December 18,2005

Hello,

I’m now home to Brockville for about a month for the holiday. Friday was a Christmas formal for Wills Hall. We all got Christmas crackers for the roast turkey dinner and afterwards sang Christmas carols. Last weekend I mostly just studied and wrote my essay for biochemistry on Saturday, then on Sunday played to hockey games. The first one we one 3-2 and the second tied 1-1. The first game I made some nice saves – I was warmed up really well because the other team got there late. I had a solid first half, but let in two goals in the second.

On Monday I took a break for the evening and we had a friendly hockey match against the doctors from BRI (BristolRoyalInfirmary) – doctors who have graduated 5th but are now in residency. We ended with a social – went out for drinks and curry. It was great, but I didn’t get done there till about 11:30pm. Then we headed down to a cool club at the waterfront where a friend was having her birthday. A whole bunch of people from my hall were there so it was just a good time, dancing to Christmas music. The club has a bunch of different rooms that play different music – one’s even made like a ski lodge with wood furniture and fireplaces – it’s just a neat club.

For the rest of the week I didn’t do much ‘cause I had my exams on Friday. On Tuesday I tried to do some Christmas shopping with little success. On Wednesday evening I went to the carol service in the Wills Chapel. I got to sing some Christmas Carols and listen to the Wills singers. I even found out that in England they sing, “O little town of Bethlehem” with to a different tune. It was much more melodic than the North American version. Afterwards we had some mince pies and mulled wine. I really liked mulled wine (sweet wine with spices)– it’s like apple cider in Canada, but it’s alcoholic.

Friday morning was our exam. Wrote histology first, I really have no clue how that went, it was really tough. Then, wrote Anatomy which I think went really well. Friday night I just socialized with the few that were left in the Wills. Firstly we went down to the bar for some cheap drinks and drinking games, and then headed out to the club. They played the usual cheesy music that everyone can sing to and then some Christmas tunes too (everyone loves the cheesy music!).

Managed to stay up till about 4am and still get to breakfast and on the bus to the train station by 9am. Then, as I just got my ticket and two trains were both leaving the station I ask the station man, “Is this the train to London?” The doors were practically closing. He said, “Yes, get on the train” I got on and the doors closed, looked up at the sign saying – to Newcastle, which is about a 6hr train ride north, when I planned to head to London (east) for my flight that very same day! I got off in Newport, Wales (Casnewydd-ar-Wysg) where I got to hear some people speaking Welsh for the first time – it was also my first and only time to go to Wales. I only spent a few minutes there and then got on a train to London. Got into Paddington Station and headed out to Heathrow where I still made it there 3 hrs early for my flight. It’s a good thing that I left early for London, or I’d probably still be stuck in England! My flight was okay, due to the smaller, older aircraft that Air Canada flies to Ottawa, I was situated as far back as I could from one of 3 projector screens on the entire plane. But, it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I’d already seen, so I didn’t mind the distance too much. The food was good and I had a nice woman beside me who actually had a conversation with me. You know how loads of time on planes you don’t say anything to the people you sit with? My parent were waiting there for me when I got in and we just headed home. I stayed up till about 11pm here, which is 4am in England.

So, now I’m in Brockville, where it’s a warm (-7 °C). There is about 12inches of snow or more on the ground and the people next door are out building snow forts. It’s kinda weird to see the snow after being in England where I could still go to dinner in Wills without wearing a coat (although England is fairly cold right now). It’s nice to see some snow now, and I can’t wait to get out skiing!

I’ll probably keep updating the site over the break, but I’ll be back in England on Jan 11th. Happy Holidays,

-Pete

Leicester, X-mas Party, Home in a Week!

Published by pete on December 8, 2005 in December. 0 Comments

XMASParty1
XMAS Party 2
This is me at the medics’ christmas party with two of my mates and a pic of us going down to the party from Wills Hall on the bus. You can’t see it, but I was wearing an awesome snowman tie that played christmas music and flashed when you pressed the end of it!

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Hey,

Life is getting back to normal now, after being ill last week. I thought I was feeling better last Friday night when I went to formal, but I was still unable to eat much. I got better for Monday though by managing to take it easy over the weekend.

Saturday I went to Leicester. We went overnight because our game was on Sunday at 12:00pm but the rest of the Bristol teams were going up for games on Saturday. Leicester was great because I got to visit Allison! For friends who don’t know Allison, she’s practically the only Canadian I know from home in England, she’s from Brockville to and studying medicine. She took the time out of studying to give me a little tour around Leicester and to have a coffee (sounds kinda like a dating advert). I thought Leicester was a nice city (from what I saw), and campus. There was lots of huge Victorian style buildings and the city centre was all decked out for the holidays. Leicester is different in contrast to Bristol, it has a lot of red bricked buildings more like home, whereas Bristol has a lot of Sandstone buildings which are very beautiful, but it was nice to see something different. The only thing was that the centre was PACKED with people, I could barely move, but I was down there with a friend on the hockey team from Hong Kong and she said there was loads of space to move around compared to home (yah right!). The team went out Saturday night for drinks/clubbing/partying with the Leicester hockey medics. The people I was staying with were very nice and let me get into their house at like 10pm (I was still ill) so I could get a good nights sleep (I probably shouldn’t have gone away, being ill, but I had started to feel better and thought I could do it).

Sunday, they made us a full fried breakfast (I was staying with two other UoB medics), which was great and very generous! We then headed to the match. I had a pretty good game, saved loads and only let in 2 goals. I actually did a successful tackle out of the net for the first time! We won the game 6-2 (I think), a great match for us! I did manage to stop the ball (really hard plastic ball) with my inner thigh (where there is no padding) and am now sporting a nice, ugly, bruise. We got back around 4pm, and there was a sports club dinner for all the medics teams (so Rugby, hockey, netball, football medics’ teams were all there). They were serving pizza and a bottle of wine. After being ill all weekend, I decided it would be more beneficial to stay at home and get some rest.

Monday I went to class all day and learned stuff. Tuesday was my day off, I went into the library and got some work done then tried to do a bit of Christmas shopping which was unsuccessful. Tuesday night was the medic’s Christmas party. It was great – our society booked out an entire bar for the evening and it was all filled with medics. For £2.50 you got a small glass of champagne and a mini mince pie. Mince pies are a real tradition here at Christmas, my grandma used to always make them at home, so I’ve had them - but they don’t seem to be as big of an item in Canada, but I love ‘em. I had lots of fun, it’s great seeing everyone and wishing them a merry Christmas. The wine/beer was cheap and the music was awesome – just a great Christmas party.

On Wednesday I went to my physiology tutorial in the morning, we mostly took up homework and learned some things for our exam in January. Then after lecture I went to Rugby practice. I had fun, we just played touch Rugby for the practice, but it was great because I’m still figuring out the game (I don’t really do much on the pitch at the moment). I did manage to get a hold of the ball a few timea, and I did score a try - it wasn’t too much, as the play was already at the tri-line and I was just passed the ball, but I guess it was sort of my first one. I was pretty tired that night, and managed to get to sleep at like 9:30.

Today, I woke up late (8:20) after my long sleep and made my breakfast before heading to class (10:00 – so still loads of time). We had histology, which for the first time I found very interesting, for studying tissues, and I felt I really understood the lesson. The last histology sessions have been a little more vague. I had my epi tutorial in the afternoon which I also found interesting, but thought the time moved really slowly even though we were done by 4pm. Tonight I auditioned for the medic’s play next term – don’t know why I did it, but they are very good at making you do embarrassing things (I guess that’s what an audition’s all about). I had to read a passage, but I’ve never had to propose gay marriage or sing the Canadian national anthem in an interview before! It was a riot though, even for me.

Well, Christmas formal tomorrow (last one of the year). We’ve already got a huge conifer Christmas tree in the dining hall and one in the pub. I’ve got and essay due Monday and two exams next Friday to study for on the weekend. I think I’ve got a Rugby fun game an a hockey game too this weekend. Can’t believe I’m home in just over a week!

-Pete

My Room1my bathroom
This is my bedroom (looks messy, but I just have my books out) and my little ensuite bathroom, it’s not huge, but there’s more than enough space for 1 person.

I HATE BEING SICK!

Published by pete on December 2, 2005 in December. 0 Comments

Old Quad, Wills Hall
This is the older part of wills, this isn’t where I live, but it’s where I eat, they have HUGE rooms and the rooms are drafty, so orginally built with wood fireplaces, they now all have gas fireplaces to keep themselves warm.
Mendips, Pasture
This is a pasture we walked through at Mendips, see the beautiful cows!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Wow, can’t believe it’s December already! November seemed to just fly by this year. There’s only about 2 weeks left of school before the holidays! I hate leaving updates to my site for almost a week, but I’ve been sick! Luckily, I had Tuesday off, and only one lecture on Wednesday that I was able to miss and get the notes off someone else. I was pretty much bed-ridden, a little nausea, but mostly just severe headache and fever. I went into the Student Health Services today with swollen tonsils and it was concluded that I have strep-throat, which I could have guessed because this is about the 3rd time I’ve had it. It’s more the fever than anything, it give me such a bad headache and stiff neck that I can feel it every few hours when the Ibuprofen wears off. My throat’s actually not too bad, as long as I keep drinking fluids it doesn’t get to sore. So yes, that’s been my week since Tuesday.

Saturday, I went hiking in the Mendips, just south of Bristol. It was pretty stunning scenery and mostly nice weather (sunny for about 4 hrs, then as what usually happens in Bristol RAIN!). But it was a good day. I was there with the expeditions society, so we had a map, with checkpoints and questions laid throughout the area. We had to get the questions and answer them and we had tasks to do at each of the checkpoints. It was awesome, tons of fun. It was neat too, some of the trails went through people’s farms, so we were just walking past cows, jumping over cow patties, leaving the gates open behind us (just kidding). Afterwards we went to a really classic English pub, I mean it was really dark, the walls were wood, there were wood fires burning, low ceilings, locals (most of whom had brought their dogs along for a pint) and loads of real English ale. I had a local ale, for the life of me I can remember, but it was really good. After returning home, I managed to eat a quick mean, get changed into my suit and still head out for a house party with the expeditions society after a day of hiking! Good times.

Sunday, I played two games of hockey in which we lost both, but should have won both. The first game was against the doctors from Frenchay hospital – we got to play at the campus of the University of Western England (UWE) which is also in Bristol, but it was kinda neat because they have a campus university (like Guelph in Canada) whereas University of Bristol is sorta scattered throughout the city (that’s why I don’t really take pics of the campus, because there really isn’t one!). So we played these doctors, who played well, but when we play most of the game in their end, we should’ve scored more goals then they did (maybe it’s my fault!). Same with the afternoon, we played one of the halls’ hockey teams and they beat us 1-0, and literally the whole game was in their and their goal went under my foot, which really pissed me off. We did stick around an practice afterwards, so I got to practice my dives, and tackles which were pretty fun (in turf hockey, the goalie can run out and sort of slide tackle the ball from the opponent (or just block it by lying down), only one problem, you’re on your ass if they manage to get around you! That’s why I need a bit of practice; I’m just sort of learning what to do. It was fun though.

Hopefully I’ll be better for this weekend. Bristol Medics are going to Leicester to play their medics’ teams. I’m hoping to catch up with Allison (only briefly, because I know she’s studying hard for exams, but I can’t wait to see her!).

-Later,
Pete

pub golfMendips, View
These are a picture from pub golf a while ago, this pic got sent to me so I thought I put it up here, and another pic from mendips from the highest point in the area, you could see the bristol channel and the mouth of the avon.