31 minutes remaining

Okay I'm in the Castle (well, Bader Hall, really) and I have 31 minutes left on the laptop battery before it dies on me. Will buy a plug adaptor with three frigging prongs tomorrow, if the Castle Shop is open.

A few things:
- rural England looks a lot like rural Canada, only more gentle (read: wimpy, ha ha). Just kidding. Lot of dainty little shrubs and trees. More intense greens. Sheep everywhere, perched on the green between highway lanes, looking like bemused cotton balls chewing cud. Baaaa...
- the first Briton I saw coming off the plane was standing at the exit from the connecting corridor. He looked like Prince Charles, craggy nose and all. Also horrifying teeth. Perfect!
- day one: one fire alarm caused by a 110 volt hair curler with 230 volts running through it until the whole thing melted. Whoo!
- there are about thirty cows in the little pasture about twenty metres from my window. They moo in an amusing manner. Moo.

75%

Three quarters of my way through university. I had my last exam this morning (Operating Systems - the one with the silly dinosaur laden textbook), which was pretty straightforward. The hard part came afterward: packing all my things into boxes, despairing over how much I'm lugging home, discovering things I had forgotton that I owned ("Oh look, long underwear!"), weeping over containers that won't close properly, etc.

Leaving for the Castle on Friday...sometime. I shold really check to see what time my flight is.

Okay: Things to do before I leave --
- check flight times
- get together with Tiff and the G/Jens
- call terrifying driving instructor to book lessons/G test for August
- get haircut
- get money from bank T_T
- unpack boxes
- repack suitcase
- check out Katie's laptop
- pig out at All-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant
- burn a mix CD (yes, a mix CD) for the trip

I also have to apply to 4th year for Computing, but I think the Computing main office may be closed all week (stupidness). We'll see about that.

It's 8PM and still light out

I miss that. It still throws me off because it's still sunny out when we're eating dinner; I keep thinking that dinner should be later because it's not even dusk yet outside, but it's still past 6.

I had a dream last night that it was sunny and summery warm, and going outside feels like you're stepping into an oven. But without the crispifying. An orange kind of day. I wore sandals and my toes were happy to be free and wiggly. Meh, today: sunny and sandals. Two out of three ain't bad. 25 celsius would be nice but 14 is good too.

Woke up in a foul mood for some reason, no idea why. Wandered around the used bookstore for a while, got a newspaper, Matilda and some Kit Pearson. Still mystified by bad mood, went home, growled, retreated into room, came back out, watched curling and suddenly felt better.

Epiphany: Curling is wonderful to the extent of being a mood elevator.

I love Ferby. And I'm enjoying the hockey strike. Seriously, it's been a wonderful thing: good movies on CBC on Saturday nights, full curling coverage, less silly beer commercials, etc. Muhar.

It's SPRING!

But true to form, our good old Ontary-ary-ario climate is throwing a nice little winter storm at us. Wet snow, heavy rain, gusting up to 80 km, the whole shebang. I don't mind so much...but I'm sure the people who were already wearing shorts and flip-flops will be a little upset.

Easter last weekend; I went to church with Anne, who punched me the instant she saw me T_T most likely because I haven't been to Bethel in weeks. But it was the first time in a long time that I found the service meaningful. It can be really easy to tune out any service when you've grown up in the church ("....Easter...sacriment...blood....oh yeah, and SACRIFICE..."), but this service really struck home for some reason. Yay Bethel! Now if only I would go back to fellowship, become a first-class pianist, join the worship team, and convert all my pagan friends my mother would be perfectly happy.

This year's Easter treats: Sunday service, "Milk chocolate flavoured Easter candies" and acceptance for the Spring term at the Castle! EXCLAMATION POINT!!!



Will be studying Art History, British Studies I and British History Since 1850 at Herstmonceaux Castle in England. The ISC office sent me an amusing student handbook along with the other paperwork; it included a list of approximate sundries costs (one load of laundry for 2 pounds = almost CAN$5) and a handy guide to English slang ("Chuffed" = Pleased, "Inverted commas" = Quotation marks, "Rubber" = ....eraser). V excited but I forget I'm going sometimes.

More randomosity -- Songs that are furiously infectious:
     Feist - Mushaboom
     Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
     Aqualung - Brighter Than Sunshine
     The opening song to Dead Like Me

And, last but most certainly not least, Bento is the bestest housemate evar. She brought us SPÖKAs from Ikea. From left to right, mine, Bento's and Wnd's:

Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover?

According to this face analyser, I am:

80% South East Asian
20% Chinese

Gender: FEMALE

Intelligence 6.2 Average Intelligence
Risk 4.1 Low Risk
Ambition 5.3 Average Ambition
Gay Factor 1.1 Very Low Gay Factor
Honor 5.3 Average Honor
Politeness 5.3 Average Politeness
Income 5.4 $30,000 - $50,000
Sociability 5.8 Average Sociability
Promiscuity 2.9 Very Unpromiscuous

YOUR ARCHETYPE: White Collar
Personality Profile: "You particularly enjoy the traditional way of life. Having drinks with your friends, attending parties and relaxing while watching TV are some of the simple pleasures you indulge in. You may also enjoy physical exercise. Your driving force is to retire as early as possible, so that you can do the things you enjoy more often. Your main source of ambition comes from this desire.

You don't particularly like your job but you do it without complaining. You realize that the income that it provides is essential to your lifestyle. You are friendly yet competitive with your co-workers. This competitiveness may lead you to squander your earnings to match other peoples' possessions. You operate most effectively when there is a set power structure, and the lines of authority are clear. You know your place in the ranks, you play by the rules, and will deliver what is expected of you. You do not care for responsibility; you would rather be care free."

Somewhat accurate. But this picture had the website at a loss:



0% East Indian
0% Middle Eastern
0% Eastern European
0% Southern European
0% Anglo Saxon
0% South East Asian
0% Korean/Japanese
0% Chinese

Gender: ?

YOUR ARCHETYPE: No archetype found!

They really need to include "Boy Robot" or "Superhero" in their list of archetypes.