Blades of Glory.doc

I've been furiously looking to GET THINGS DONE over these past few days with little time to tie up loose ends before heading off and facing disconnection for two weeks. I'll be happy not to be tied to my computer, but there are so many messages I have to write before then. I don't even know where I'm living in Amsterdam in just over three weeks. As always though, it will all work itself out.

The holiday and travel crunch has relegated the essay to second billing. I have managed to get my intro sorted out and two pages on paper, but I look forward to having time this coming Saturday and Sunday morning to try and sort out the rest of the structure. This might mean I'm taking an article or two with me to Turkey but it might prove essential. Since the paper is only 10 pages, and due just under a month from now, like the above paragraph states: it will all work itself out. Well, it might not work itself out, but I'll work it all out one way or another.

Last night, Bec, Lotte, and I took a break from our respective holiday planning and went for a night out in Coventry (a poor man's Leamington Spa). It was, in fact, Lotte's last night on campus so we were giving her a royal send off before heading to the dark land of Finland where in the second term she'll be popping Vitamin tablets due to the lack of sun - I think can expected to get four hours a day. We hopped on the bus to Cov and upon arrival wandered around yet another brightly lit up city. I think I mentioned it in an early post but Coventry is all concrete and lacks old buildings (due to the bombings in WWII). The Christmas displays were nice, but not as picturesque as the ones in the quaint little town of Stratford.

We went to a restaurant called Nandos which is what I think is the UK equivalent to Swiss Chalet! Claire will be able to tell me if I've got this one right. Their signature dish is the quarter or half chicken with chips and another side. The difference in preparation is that instead of a roississerie style with gravy, they spice things up with peri-peri sauce; there is no Festive Special with chocolate to take home. The food was quite good and, like Swiss Chalet, came really quickly. Instead of sitting down and having a server you queue at the front to place your order and the meal is brought to your table when it is ready. The girls got Chicken pitas and I dug into a 1/2 chicken dinner. It made me wish for some Swiss Chalet gravy.

The highlight of the night was the second leg of the night spent at the Skydome! No friends, I did not travel back in time to a pre-2005 Roger's Centre, but instead went to Coventry's sport complex where holiday iceskating was in full swing. Now, skating is something that we talked about doing all the time back home (and friends can attest to my desire to go) so I was more than excited to lace up once again. Two hours in the rink and a pair of skates to "hire" was only 6 quid - what a steal! So I laced up my skates and hit the ice. The first few laps were spent a bit tentatively, since I hadn't had skates on in over two years, but I got my feet under me quite quickly. After 10 minutes I noticed that I had most of the speed I originally had, but was having trouble turning corners and doing the spray stop. It took me a glance down to realize that I was wearing figure skates instead of hockey skates. In the excitement of jumping out onto the ice I didn't even register the style. To give me some credit, I didn't think I'd be handed a size 12 mens figure skates. Apparently they have them in that size!

I negotiated with the guy behind the counter, and after five minutes spent rummaging in the back room, he procured me a pair of real hockey skates. The difference was pronounced. Not only could I perform every little skill I had learned in my thirteen years at the rink, but I felt like I had never taken skates off. If I had to maneouver in another form for the rest of my life, it would be with skates on the ice. I don't mean to puff myself up but I was far and away the best skater at the rink - they may be better football players, but skaters the Brits are not. Bec wanted to shoot a movie with my camera so, like typical performance students, we improvised something fun. Lotte's horrendous skating ability makes me laugh in this clip:

Some other photo documentation:

We've become a great little group of three during first term and it will be sad to see Lotte head to Finland. She has already made plans to come and visit during April. Hopefully we'll find someone just as fun in Amsterdam to join our adventures.

I head to London this afternoon where I'll be staying there for Thursday and Friday night. I'm staying with a dear family friend named Andrew who is the rector at St. Mary Woolnoth Church in London. We are seeing August: Osage County at the National tonight and on Friday night I'm popping by a friend's birthday party in the city. I head back here on Saturday afternoon where I will spent the remainder of the weekend furatively preparing to depart on Monday morning.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: I think it's an obvious one. Strap on those skates and head out to the rink. Nathan Phillips Square, perhaps?