Le Page is for Lovers

(I had no idea what to call this, hence the title)

Sorry I haven't updated lately everyone! I've been busy and I don't think everyone wants to read about what I did each day, so I haven't had much of an occasion to blog. But I'll update everyone on what's been going on the past few weeks!

I turned in my two procedural essays in the past few weeks. Procedural essays for both history and archaeology are around 2000 words (essays are assigned by word number, not page length like Wooster), and your tutors give you feedback, but the grade you receive doesn't count towards your final grade. It's a way for you to get a sense of where you stand, and receive feedback so you can do even better on the final project. At first, it was a bit weird to adjust to, but then I really appreciated the system. It allowed me a chance to adjust to the new education system and the kinds of expectations they have for written work without being penalised grade-wise. I actually really appreciate the set up, once I found motivation to actually write the essays!

I got the first one back last week, and I got a 68%, which sounds HEINOUS to Americans, but on the English scale, that's actually really quite good. The percentages are assigned to a degree type: First, Second (Upper- 2:1, or Lower- 2:2), or Third, which are the types of honours you can receive. In general, you aim for first or 2.1. A 68% is a 2.1, so I got some advice on how to get a first on my final papers that count for my grades in a feedback session with my tutor. So while I think the grading system is really weird, I do appreciate the way the system allows for you to improve, especially since there are very few assignments counting towards the final grade.

Campus has been quite busy this week since it's YUSU election season! YUSU is the student union, and there are actually a ton of positions to run for. Campaigning is super serious around here! Everyone comes up with some kind of slogan or icon and makes signs which are posted EVERYWHERE (I'll see if I can get a picture of the main walkway near my college), there are debates which are streamed live online- ours managed to be one of the trending topics on twitter in the UK, which was amazing- and the candidates are all over the campus canvassing. It's quite something to behold. This week is voting, so we'll soon know who won. Personally, I'm voting to Keep Kallum and Carry On! (Kallum Taylor, the current YUSU president, with the best campaign slogan so far. I'm voting for him for other reasons, don't worry). I haven't decided for the other positions yet, so I'm waiting to vote until I have some time to watch the debates and read through their platforms (aka after my seminar tomorrow). I know I won't be here for their terms in office, but it's always important to vote when you have the opportunity, and there are definitely things I feel strongly about as a York student, even after my short time here, that they're promising to try to change, so I want to try to help out future students!

What else? Arcadia isn't perfect, but they're doing a pretty good job so far. I had a meeting with an Arcadia rep a few weeks ago- they come twice during the semester to check in on us and make sure we're doing okay, which is nice of them, since we're not in London with the central office. It was a good chat, and he told me I seem like I'm having too easy of an adjustment haha. I'm just really happy and I haven't really had too much culture shock. I'm also registered to start working on my CLC- Co-Curricular Learning Certificate. Pretty simple- I have to pick some aspect of British culture (there are six general categories) and do three or four activities related to it, and write 2500 words about my experiences. I chose British food and culture, since there's so many amazing food related things in Yorkshire- there was an international food market last week, every month there's a local Yorkshire products market, and I can go visit some farms and such in the countryside to count for my activities. The CLC is optional, but I might as well go for it, if I have the opportunity to get some quantifiable certificate of my study abroad experiences. And I get to eat yummy homemade products doing it.

Classes have been going very well. I'm glad I decided to take my Arabic LFA module, since I'm getting exposure to different Arabic dialects and accents, and keeping my vocab fresh in my mind! I really do love the language so, so much, and I'm thinking about doing something with it in my future studies. My favourite class is my Childhood & Adolescence module, although I really enjoy my archaeology practical on artefacts quite a lot as well. It's a bit of an adjustment, because I really don't feel like I'm doing very much work- there are days were I'm done by 10.15 am or I have no classes all day, so I almost have a pseudo-weekend in the middle of my week. I'm doing enough reading to participate in discussion and write my essays, although I feel like I'm doing less work than at Wooster. Senior I.S. might be a wake up call in the fall haha.

My flatmates are the best, seriously I love them all and it's weird to think that I won't be seeing them daily next year as they plan for their housing and module selection for the fall. It's really refreshing to live with them, and get out of the lull of Wooster's suffocatingly small social world where everyone is connected to everyone haha. It's great that everyone gets on so well, and the pranks are great fun, although most of the time we sit around chatting in the corridor/kitchen or watching Netflix (Walking With Dinosaurs anyone?) or making toasties-the English relative of grilled cheese- although it's dangerous! I burned myself again on the toastie maker this week :-( And some of the time, we go out to bars or clubs, which is all good fun. We live right above V-Bar, the college bar for Vanbrugh, so sometimes we'll go sit there and hang out, and on Monday nights there's live jazz music, which is wonderful. It's going to be strange to return to America where the drinking age is 21 and I won't just be able to chill in a bar with many of my friends. But yeah, Le Page is the domb diggity.

Fave babes: Faith, Clare, and I in V-Bar :-)  (Thanks to Faith for the photo!)

Typical, walking around York (again, thanks Faith!)

Me, Saher- my neighbour- and Clare (photo credit to Saher)

Things are going great! I'm going to Oxford this weekend on a trip with the International Student Association, although I haven't seen any kind of itinerary, so I'm sure exactly what I'll be doing there, but hopefully I'll get to see my Wooster friend Wyatt! The term is almost finished, and I'll be in Ireland the three short weeks at the beginning of the Easter holiday! I'm still sorting out my travel plans for the rest of the break- it's five weeks long- but hopefully I'll get to go to Europe and around the UK. But first, I have a few final papers to push through- these actually count for a grade!

Week Six Update!

Time has gone by so fast, I'm already in Week 6 of my first term at York, and my seventh week in England. It's crazy! I've finally settled into a pattern of life with my classes and my flatmates. I really do love life here, and it's such a wonderful (and much needed) change of pace from life in Wooster. Since I'm getting towards the end of term (it's 10 weeks), I'm starting to have to think about final papers, which isn't so fun, but all my classes are really interesting, so it's not too bad. It's a strange adjustment to having one or two assignments determine your grade for a class as opposed to 3-4 essays and quizzes, exams, etc. like in American classes. There's a lot less busy work and a lot more independent study (ha see what I did there, Wooster?).

I really love the city of York itself. I'm in city centre at least two times a week for classes, if not more for social excursions, so I'm getting to know my way around pretty well! I still haven't gone to many of the museums, which I need to start working on before they get really busy with tourists in the spring, but I've managed to wander into many other exciting aspects of the city on accident. Like the markets. Half the time when I get off the bus, there is some kind of special market in the main square on my way to King's Manor, usually selling local produce and goods.

On Tuesday, there was an international food market in the main square near my bus stop, which was amazing. There were tons of stands with authentic food from all different culinary traditions, and they were all really tempting. Many of them were stands where you could buy a meal for 4-5, but since I was headed back to campus for dinner, I didn't get any. There was a Mexican food stand as well, which was a shame! I miss my Taco Bell haha. There were some stands with different candies from around the world and a few bakery stands with Italian and Dutch specialties, but most importantly, there was a pancake stand. And since Tuesday was also National Pancake Day, I had to get one! I got a cinnamon and sugar pancake (which are much more like crepes than American pancakes) and it was delicious :-)

Something America could stand to adopt: Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras). Seriously, it's wonderful. There were pancakes at dinner, and my flatmates made pancakes later in the evening as well. Traditional toppings include lemon juice and sugar, or golden syrup (something America doesn't have as well, and it's kind of like maple syrup from sugar beets, I think). So I got to try all the various combinations throughout the day haha.

I also found out you can go into the Minster for free with a student card, so I went in on another sunny day last week and got to walk around. My art history side was having a bit of a freak out, especially after my medieval art class. The stained glass was gorgeous, and the way the light was coming through the glass was stunning and I tried to capture it on film, but it really doesn't do it justice. Since I went at an odd time in the morning, everything was open, including the crypts, etc. and there weren't many people around. Someone was playing the organ as well, which was really atmospheric. The structure is so light and airy (wooo Gothic style) and it's just amazing to walk through. It's definitely a lovely building, although I might love the Duomo in Siena a bit more :-p

The Minster from outside

The ceiling/bays of ribbed vaults with pointed arches you want to use art history terminology

The crypt-y thing

This is the interior view of the main facade you see when approaching the Minster (see first image)

The light from the windows

This image comes closest to showing how saturated the colours really are inside when the sun comes through

There was an exhibit in the back of the Minster where they're doing some restoration work with information about the production of the stained glass and sculpture in the Minster, and for a second I thought I was in Chicago/outer space because there was a huge giant silver orb thing just sitting there, but when you went inside, it was a display of window panels with a backlight so you could see the amount of detail in the images, which was pretty cool. It was just odd and striking against the gothic architecture.

Does the Chicago Bean have an English cousin?

I've been to Liverpool and Leeds already, but I'm possibly going to Nottingham, and definitely going to Oxford, in the next few weekends, so I'll get to start exploring more of England soon. Overall everything is going swimmingly and I'm loving everything and I definitely don't want to leave in June haha.

Adventures in Liverpool: Patrick Wolf concert

So fair warning, this is probably going to be a really long, emotional post about my love for my favourite musician in the last few years, so most of you might not actually be interested but I'll also talk a bit about the parts of Liverpool I did see and my first hostel experience! So bear with me.

General background: I have adored Patrick Wolf for the past six years or so and he rarely does tours in the US/anywhere near me and often sticks to Europe and the UK (he's London-based) and when I found out he was doing a ten year anniversary tour in the UK while I was studying abroad it was fate and I HAD TO GO. And I somehow accidentally managed to find this the moment the tickets went on presale (thank you time difference) and I got two tickets for the very center of the front row for his performance in the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool.

I left York around 12 on Thursday for the 2 hour and 20 minute train ride to Liverpool. I really do appreciate how convient the train system is here! I was staying at Hatters Hostel Liverpool which was a really great hostel for my first experience. The staff was super friendly and the location was really great (once I found my way from the train station- that was a bit of a struggle because I came out a side exit instead of the main one). I was in an 8-bed co-ed dorm, which was really basic, but it had a great view of the city!

Hostel room on the 5th floor

View from the window by my bunk

After I got settled and orientated myself, I went on a walk around the city centre. I mostly stuck to the Cavern Quarter and the big shopping centre of Liverpool because by the time I would have walked to the main museums in the dock area of town, most of them would be about to close! The Cavern Quarter is where the Cavern Club originally was, where the Beatles first made a name for themselves. The original club isn't there anymore (it's a Vivienne Westwood shop actually) but a club and pub are still on part of the original land, and are remodeled after the original design, so it's pretty close. The whole street is litered with Beatles themed pubs and bars and shops, and anyone who knows me knows I am the world's biggest Beatles fanatic, so this was quite exciting to see!!! I'm planning to go back another time to take a Magical Mystery Bus Tour where you go to their childhood homes, Penny Lane, and other famous locales (they leave at 2 pm and I didn't arrive until nearly 3:30).

BBC Radio Merseyside!

Oh hey John Lennon?

The Cavern Quarter

The current Cavern Club entrance

Mathew Street, aka the Cavern Quarter

I spent most of my time just walking around and seeing what was in the area. I managed to find a Chipotle knock-off called the Bare Burrito for dinner, so I got my Mexican food fix in :-) And I found a place with Reese's milkshakes, so it was like an American food day haha. I haven't really missed it at all, but it was a nice surprise to see those things around!

The doors for the concert opened at 7:15, so I headed over around 7:25-7:30. It was unfortunate that my first proper migraine happened on the night of the concert I was so looking forward to, so I was a bit under the weather but there was no way I was letting that get in the way of me and Patrick Wolf! There were two opening acts that were performing in the bar portion of the venue. The theatre is named after Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager and the person responsible for getting them going, so there was nice little circle of favourite music-ness happening there! One of the opening acts was really good, if you like Mumford & Sons you should check them out! You can listen to some of their music here.

The doors opened around 8:30 which a bit later than scheduled, but they were allowing for the acts to finish up in the bar. The theatre was really atmospheric and quite intimate- it was a rather small theatre with old Victorian type decorations. The opening act was Abi Wade, who was so amazing! I hadn't heard of her before, but she was fantastic live. She plays cello, but also uses the cello itself as a percussion instrument in the most interesting ways, and her voice is fantastic, she's a bit like Florence & the Machine. Here's a video so you can get an idea of what I mean:

She was great and had some banter with the audience. I really love musicians who get creative with their instruments like her.

Abi Wade in the Epstein Theatre

There was a huge wait between her set and Patrick Wolf's because they had to tune like ten instruments- there was a tenor guitar, a ukelele, a piano, a harp, two violins, an accordion, an oboe, and a clarinet. It was crazy. But finally the show started and it was so worth the wait!! He came out and he is seriously one of my favourite humans to grace the planet. Seeing him live was surreal, honestly. He's been a muse to my artwork and kept me sane for years, and it was just amazing to be five feet away from him for an hour and a half. There really aren't words. I didn't cry, which was an accomplishment! (I'm known to shed a tear at concerts of bands I love oops). I think I was so in awe (and in pain, stupid migraines) that it didn't seem real.

He is so talented, as well. His voice sounds better live, and it's so pure and on key, which is kind of rare with a lot of artists today. And he can play a billion instruments. But what was my favourite part was when he would talk between the songs and explain their significance or some little anecdote or whatever. For the ten year anniversary, he put together an acoustic album of rerecordings of some of the songs that mean the most to him or he loves the most, so those were the songs he primarily performed.

"The Falcons" was hilarious, because he went on this long ramble about the backstory of the song- when he moved into his first flat in London with his partner, there were all these bird watchers outside his building because apparently a pair of Peregrine Falcons were nesting there and there hadn't been any sighted in London (or England? I can't remember) for ages, so all the bird watchers were so excited. So he started to watch them as well, and when he and his partner moved out, the falcons left as well, and pretty much he felt a connection to them or something and wrote this song about that period of his life. And he said it was especially important for him to perform that song yesterday because the House of Commons passed a vote on same-sex marriage the day before, and you could tell he was just so so happy about it :-) He was so silly, though, because he said since he'd been talking for so long he would mess up the song, which he did (he forgot the first line), which someone caught on video.

He also performed "The Libertine" which is like MY SONG by him- I made a screen-print of a design based on the lyrics to that song which I then used to make hand-bound books on year at Interlochen and I've always just loved that song, and to see him perform it was actually beyond words. He got really into it as well and it was during that song that he came up to the very front of the stage and was like two feet away and I was about to die.

So it was moments like that that really made the concert. There was a lot of banter between him and the audience as well, as the evening went on- everyone was laughing a lot and interacting with him and he found it funny. It was great because he performed songs he hadn't ever performed live in the past ten years of his career, so that was especially exciting! He could only do them at the Liverpool show on the tour as well because there was a Liverpool a cappella choir that joined him to make that possible! So while I didn't get to hear a few of my favourite songs by him, I got to hear him perform songs that he had always wanted to do live but couldn't, so that was definitely better.

Patrick Wolf- "The Falcons"

I'm not sure what that face is for, but it's one of the clear pictures I have haha

Abi Wade joined him for a few songs!

Actual light of my life

The Libertine!

Blurry, but this was when the a cappella choir joined him.

Also blurry, but this was when he was right at the front of the stage for The Libertine and I almost died a bit

My camera didn't do so well with taking photos, which is a shame, but here are some better photos taken by some professionals haha: there's a review here and a gallery here.
So that was quite long and props to you if you actually read everything haha. I could have gone on some more but I saved you lot from enduring that :-)