Canberra Ho, The Royal & Ancient, Golf Lessons

So I really am trying to get better at the whole posting my life thing. Here are a few updates from the past few days!

Firstly, on Tuesday Steve talked to the lady in Canberra that we will be renting from! We have a contract and we are just finishing the logistics of signing and handing over the deposit and such! All very exciting. Steve is also looking up flights! We are tentatively leaving around the 5-7 of September!

Secondly, on Wednesday, Steve played the Old Course! It was his first time and I went along as part caddy part paparazzi. It was really fun to watch him play, as I am getting increasingly more interested in playing myself, and the course was really cool. So check out some of the pics!

Thirdly, another golf post, my golf lessons are going well! Not having had them for a while, I did well today, working on chipping with a sand wedge and then I actually got to use my new 7 iron. Now don't go thinking I'm whacking the ball all over the place, we play in the garden here at Deans Court with little plastic practice golf balls so no matter how hard you hit them, at max they go about 20ft. BUT, judging from my performance today, Steve said that I will be able to go to the driving range soon, probably tomorrow, to continue to practice my swing and such. Then maybe after I have a few putting lessons, he said he would take me to do one of the little beginner courses here in town that is only 9 holes and no hazards. I'm so excited. I think golf is going to be great for me, active but not too crazy, I'm falling apart after all those years of 3 season sports!

Guess that's all I have to report for now!

Cheers!
Tori

Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

GOLF

It is no longer just a gentleman's game. That's right, I have officially started golf lessons. The instructor is amazing. He is a great teacher not to mention funny, charming, handsome and he isn't afraid to just wrap his arms around me to help me with that swing. Yep, you guessed it, its Steve. He has been teaching me some of the basics, practicing with those silly plastic practice balls and his clubs. BUT this weekend, we went out and he helped me get my very own new golf club! Its a King Cobra 7 iron. That's its technical name. I just thought it was blue and pretty. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, as the weather has been less than ideal. We actually tried to get out golfing (Steve playing, me watching) on Saturday, but by the time we got to the course he had literally just teed off and it started to rain/sleet and it was damn cold. Ahh well, another day.

Also, random blog update here, on the left you'll see a heading that says "my photos on snapfish" I am in the process of putting up all my pictures onto snapfish so you can all view them (and i think order prints if you want haha). So bear with me, its going to take a while to get them all up and organized.

'Til next time!
Cheers!
Tori

Long Overdue!!

Ahhhh back to the blogging scene…

Well let’s see, where did I leave off? I guess it was before Christmas which is INSANE. I admit to being a complete toolbox for not having updated sooner, but hey school and life happens! Well… Here we go:

End of Term through New Years

End of term went okay. By mid December we were all working hard finishing papers and presentations and trying to begin cramming for exams. Having actually hated my courses for the most part, for many different reasons, I was certainly looking forward to ending term. However, here at St. Andrews, they have exams after Christmas break, which personally I think sucks as you basically can’t relax and enjoy your holiday. To add to that, I actually had a paper due the day after Christmas - Boxing Day. Before break we had formal dinner which was nice enough, just another excuse to dress up and drink.

Steve and I went to his home in Birmingham via a 5 ½ hour train ride. I will admit I was nervous to meet the family, but they are lovely and I found that I fit right in. This Christmas season was a bit strange for me; I was super happy to be spending it with my boyfriend of course, but it was weird not being home. It was the first Christmas I haven’t been home for. Mom and Dad had sent us our presents in the mail so that helped a little with the homesickness. The Paget’s were really great though making me feel welcome and part of the family. Steve took me to the German Christmas market in the city which was a lot of fun. We had brats with mushrooms and potatoes, hot cherry mulled wine and yummy sweet doughnuts. Christmas day was different and fantastic. Unlike Christmas at home for me – a day that is usually really cold, icy and/or snowy and spent in PJs by the fire then cooking – England is quite mild, so we actually could go to the park for a nice walk after breakfast and presents. The gift exchange was good, I think everyone was happy; especially me with the amazingly thoughtful gifts Steve came up with (including a super secret gorgeous emerald ring purchased in Stockholm, which all the other travelers we were with knew about). His Mum made a wonderful Christmas meal and wearing our posh paper crowns and stuffed we watched the Queens speech.

Christmas just kept going – on Boxing Day Steve took me to an Aston Villa game at Villa Park. It was AMAZING. I really do love football (aka soccer by us yanks), it’s such a great game to watch. I’ve become quite the avid fan actually (so has dad, he now has the Fox Soccer channel so he can watch Premier League games!). The atmosphere of the park was extraordinary. The fans are really intense. They sing, they yell, they chant, they jump, and they just get really into it! It was so fun, and the seats were pretty awesome for me, as I’ve never been to a football game. In fact the only pro games I’ve ever been to are two Red Sox games, and one WNBA game. We were about four rows from the field to the side of the goal so we had a pretty great view. Being able to see Barry (Villa player) take the penalty and make it SO close was awesome. It was quite chilly but SO much fun. Steve’s sister Suzy gave me a Villa scarf for Christmas so I would have some appropriate supporting gear on. After the game we just sort of hung out for a few more days, both trying to maybe do some work. St. Andrews is a bit dumb in that the exams for fall semester are in January. We came back to St. Andrews where I was again forced from my room.

Sidebar here on the room situation: I was next door to the most awful, creepy, gross, loud, unhygienic, rude, abnormal, probably mentally ill, man in the history of the world I think. He was so creepy and had been living there since about December 10^th or so. He was extraordinarily disruptive, yelling on the phone, loud conversations until 4a.m., singing very badly to loud songs on repeat. It was really bad. It actually got to the point where he threatened me through the wall we share for coughing. Oh, and he thought MI5 was reading his thoughts… Needless to say it was a bad situation. It was handled, not so appropriately or timely by the managers here, but he was removed to say the least. Now a very nice German girl lives next door to me!

Okay, back to the real blog… It was quiet with everyone off on holiday, so I tried to use the time to study and write a paper. New Years was actually pretty lame, we just made some food, and hung out for about an hour and a half before midnight. It wasn’t like in the states where there is a lot on TV to watch, here it was literally maybe 11:50 and they decided to show Edinburgh celebrate. So there was a “YAY Happy New Year!” kiss and off to bed. My exam was crap a week later, but hey, what can you do.

January Trip Home

The exam was on the 12^th and on the morning of the 13^th Steve and I were headed to the States. We flew into Boston via Amsterdam on KLM which was actually really great. The flights were really cheap AND the flight was so empty we were able to both have a row of four seats each to snooze on. How awesome right? Dawna and Jarred picked us up from the airport; it was so great to see them, especially seeing Dawna after many months and how great she looks post surgery!! Because I still had a paper to hand in two days from landing, Steve and I drove home to Vermont that night. It was so nice (though a little nerve wracking) to drive again! The snow was so pretty to see too! Mom and Dad had the house all lit up which was nice, they know it is one of my favorite things to see. Seeing as we had then been traveling for almost 24hours we didn’t have much time to chitchat with the parents when we got in, which was a little weird as it was the first time Steve and Ma & Pa were meeting. Needless to say, I have no idea what I could have been worried about – I think they like him more than me! Honestly, I have never heard two grown men talk constantly for so long than over that trip between Dad and Steve. That’s a good thing though!

The snow was so nice to see at home. Having only had maybe an inch total in St. Andrews before leaving, it was fun to see it. It was really cold though. I think it was -25F the first two nights. Speaking of nights, boy was it nice to have two things – a squishy new mattress and a DOUBLE bed. SO great to be able to stretch out! Figaro was glad to see me; he was sleeping on my new afghan that mom made me for Christmas. It was nice to have animals around again (even though Steve hates cats, he liked Figaro). Chance shunned me for a day or so, then became all loving. So like I said, I had a paper due on that Friday the 16^th, so I was working (hard would be a stretch…) to get that done while Mom and Dad took Steve on a jaunt to Barre. I finally got the paper done and handed in, and the next day we drove down to New Jersey to see Erin and Brian and the rest of the fam.

It was nice to see them, especially Erin, as I hadn’t seen her at all for like five months, and she had her surgery in December so seeing her progress was pretty awesome! We got to go to dinner with Matt & Mellissa and Karen & Dave which was great. It was really nice to see them! We spent some time with Aunt Pat as well, having dinner and playing Scattegories, in which we all just took whatever Steve said for granted, trusting his answers were “a British thing”. It was a lot of fun. We also had a chance to go to the Philly Zoo in the snow with Erin and Brian. That was actually really fun because there was nobody there! The zoo was ours and actually a lot of the animals were quite active. I got some great pictures of the lions walking around. It was really pretty to see them in the snow. Erin also took us to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly. That was really cool. It was quite cold, but the tour was really interesting and I think Steve really enjoyed it. We just sort of hung out for another day, then we headed back north to spend another week and a half with Mom and Dad.

Back at home, Dad and Steve as I mentioned before became chums yacking for hours about who knows what. It was so nice just to be home. And although Steve was trying to work on a paper well in advance of its due date, it was pretty relaxing and really great to just be able to veg out a bit. We had dinner with Carol and Jim, a really wonderful Polish meal – I made handmade peirogies, Mom and I made homemade golumpki and Carol brought smoked kielbasa and of course her own babka. YUM. I was so happy eating that food. Steve liked it too which is good, seeing as I know how to make all that stuff haha! We spent one weekend hanging out with Jarred and Dawna who had come up for two nights, we went bowling (candle pin) which was fun and entertaining as Steve had never done candle pin before. We also took a day trip up to Maine (one of the few states Steve hadn’t been to…). It was really pretty taking the Kank out there, past Mt. Washington and everything. The mountains (and everything else) was so beautiful covered in snow. It was a gorgeous day, even though it was blisteringly cold. We also had a meal with Anna and Jim, it was really nice to catch up with them, and the following day or so we went over to theirs for drinks and munchies made by Anna. Soon enough though we were headed towards the end of our trip.

The night before we were to leave, there was a massive snow storm. It snowed probably 18 inches on top of the already 20 we already had. It was amazing. After John had plowed the drive, and Steve and I had gotten back from shopping, I decided to go snow tubing down the piles of snow. Reluctantly at first, Steve came out to join me, but he was soon having tons of fun. We looked ridiculous going down the piles together on a tube, me in my snow pants and him in Dad’s camo jump suite. Hilarious. It was a great end to the trip though. Thankfully the weather had cleared and we were able to set out for Boston by noon the next day. Mom and Dad were nice enough to drive us down to the airport, but we had to go early as they had to get back for Mom to go to work the next day. Thus we were at Logan a good 5 hours before our flight. The flight over was actually okay, but it was the smallest transatlantic flight I’ve ever taken. It was a little plane with one aisle, three seats on either side. Thankfully we had three seats to ourselves, but it was still an uncomfortable trip. We landed in Amsterdam again, but had three hours to kill. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough time to get out into the city to do any sightseeing. Bummer. We finally got back to Edinburgh, then a bus, then a train, and a taxi and we were back at St. Andrews. We had definitely been up for 24 hours, so we got some yumtastic take-away Indian food, stuffed ourselves and promptly passed out. That sleep was so good.

A New (and final) Semester at St. Andrews

These past few weeks of the new term have actually been pretty good. I am liking my classes, one is on my favorite period [mid medieval to mid renaissance Italy], and the other is a research methods class which is basically preparing us for writing our theses. I must say the second class is really intimidating. Although I have a rough idea of what I want to write on, it is still scary to think I need to write 15,000 this summer. Yikes. Anyway, even more now am I sick of living in a dorm. I can’t even begin to tell you how bad the food is, or how we really have no dictation of our own lives here. I just can’t wait to leave. On the weekends lately Steve and I have done a few fun things. Other than occupying our free time watching Aston Villa, or listening to cricket online, we went on a coastal walk last weekend.

The Fife Coastal Path is a trail set up all along the coast of Fife as the name suggests. In some parts it is paved, others simply a nice walking dirt path, but other parts are literally on rocks on the coast in tidal areas and such. We spent the entire day hiking the 17-18 miles from St. Andrews to Crail. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the weather cool and mild, perfect for hiking. We packed a lunch and snacks and headed off for an adventure around 9a.m. We reached Crail around 6p.m. after much picture taking, livestock delays and a minor injury or two. It was a really great day. We have already decided to do a different stretch of the path, from Eli to Crail, next weekend.

This past weekend, we went to Edinburgh to watch a Scotland vs. Italy rugby match. It was part of the 6-Nations tourney going on right now. The six nations are England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. The teams are known to be the worst in the cup, but it was an awesome experience. Rugby is one hell of a rough game! It was really cool being in the Murrayfield stadium, and seeing all the diehard fans. Such a great time. Then of course, we watched Villa play on Sunday.

Up to the Minute…

Today the new Rector of St. Andrews came in. There was the traditional "Rectoral Drag", which is basically the new rector, who enters St. Andrews in a unique way – this year he arrived in an ice cream truck, is put in a buggy which is pulled by students, around town visiting various pubs, residential halls, and such. We had a party in our garden here at Deans Court for the occasion. It was fun to get out there and play football (European and American), cricket, rugby, etc. with a bunch of other post grads. There was of course free munchies and Pimms. Later there is going to be a bonfire on the beach, which is always fun.

Well, I guess that really does take you up to the moment in my life over here other than one last announcement which most of you probably already know. In September, Steve and I will be moving to Australia. Canberra Australia to be precise. Steve was awarded the Northcote Scholarship to do his PhD in Strategic and Defense Studies at the Australia National University. Thus we are moving there! The scholarship pays for his tuition (and his flights… bugger…) and I’m just going along for the ride. I’ll be working when I get there, potentially as a research assistant but more likely at a coffee shop. I must say I was nervous at the idea at first, but now, I simply can’t wait. Once my thesis is done, I’ll be super stoked to get packing! More on all this as it all gets finalized, though he did finally officially get accepted by the university just the other day.

Okay, well cheers to you all for getting through that outrageously long blog post. I’ll try to be better about posting, and if I’ve forgotten anything I’ll just post about it later.

Cheerio!

Tori