Katherine

For the next six weeks or so, I am one degree ahead of Seth. Awesome.

To those that pray: please add my sister and brother to your prayers.

My parents went to St. Louis today to bring Laura home. Aside from worrying about her health, I'm afraid Richard will get lost in the shuffle.

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving from a country where there are more jokes than celebrations!

I'm cooking my first Thanksgiving Dinner this afternoon and celebrating with my English, Dutch and French Friends. And my Christopher. :)

Have a good day!!!!

K

Great big wet happy snowflakes this evening!! The kind that melt as soon as they hit the ground, but gradually build up on cars after a few hours. It's stopped now, it's cool and clear.

I'm Christmas shopping in Leeds tomorrow with someone I met at the Buddhist Centre last week. Chris arrives on Saturday.

I could go on and on about my good mood, but hw calls.

Love,

Me

I woke up to Virgin radio dummies wondering how *at this moment* the American people were voting. At that moment it was 8ish am here. 3ish on the east coast. So I think the American people were probably sleeping and not voting just then.

The day goes on... so many questions, from everyone I have even the slightest acquaintence with. "Did you vote?" "Who for?" "Is Bush going to win? I hope not." But the real question everyone has is "when are we going to know the results?" One of the bars on campus is hosting an all night TV-watching party to watch the votes come in. I know a few Europeans that will lose sleep tonight watching the polls close and in America. I'm going to bed and checking in the morning.


But the best moment of the day was while a representative of boycottbush.org lectured me on how very Evil big American multinational corporations are ... he admitted that his hat cost £1.50 and was probably made in some sweat-shop somewhere.

Most mornings I get out of bed around 8. Sometimes Chris stays up and calls between 7.30 and 8. I wasn't surprised to hear the phone ring at 7.45 this morning. HELLO SQUIRRELFRIEND!!!! got my attention.

Thank you Rob for the jubilant, drunken, wake-up call. :-)

1st year students who don't know how to cook + res halls with kitchens instead of cafeterias = fire alarms going off 3 times today. Hopefully this will be contained to today and this evening instead of tonite when I'd rather be sleeping.


In news that you might care about...

Went to Liverpool with Kevin & Kai Sunday. A pretty city. Lately. They were named the first winner of the European City of Culture award. An extremely diverse city that made its fortune as a huge port town during the time of the Empire... think of the triangular trade and then the decline of the city with the end of the Empire. It got pretty ugly. In the past few years they have refurbished the city center--more shopping-- and cleaned the white Victorian buildings. The Albert Dock has been the heart of the tourism industry for the past few years. Now they are converting the huge warehouse into boutiques and million-pound condos. There were a few museums I wanted to check out, but didn't.

We went on an hour-long ferry ride on the river Mersey. Very choppy water--and windy. Cloudy and cold when we left Bradford, we enjoyed a perfect blue sky and 60deg F weather. The boys decided to sit indoors for the 2nd part of the ride. We could hear the recorded history better, but the windows were a frame for the sky then the city then the sky ... ugh. Better to be cold in the wind.

Next lunch at a restaurant above a health club. Good, healthy, cheap, prepared-by-someone-else food. Can't get that in Bradford.

And then... the Magical Mystery Tour. I learned a lot about the Beatles. We also saw much more of Liverpool & the suburbs than we would have on our own on our way to each Beatles' birthplace, school, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields and various pubs & clubs they played at.

I think I have different expectations of being here than Kevin & Kai. I think I enjoyed Liverpool more than they did--not that they didn't have a good time. I know better that to expect London anywhere other than in London and I know not to expect a lot out of seeing different cities. Many cities have some tourist-oriented things to do, but are primarily set up for people to live and work in. In marketing classes they teach us about the importance of managing expectations. You should expect that I am a geek, and do notice things I learn in school occurring in my life. That way, you won't think I'm cooler than I am.

So there.


I've had a cold for a few days now. Sometimes I can trace the source of my infection--but the only other person I know with a cold right now is Chris. Same symptoms, but 3500 miles away. That can't be it.

I noticed something about myself: the worse I feel, the better I look... to a degree. For instance, if I have a headache, a sore throat or a stuffy nose, I look great. I feel like, by dressing well and fixing my hair and makeup, I can make the rest of myself feel as good as I look. If I have a migraine, I feel like and look like shit. That is the exception. Today, I am beautiful. My eyes are stunning.

Aside from Liverpool, I've been taking it easy. It's nice--I feel much more comfortable here. I'm not homesick, but I am very excited to go home.

Pictures from England--my trip to London, Windsor Palace, Stonehenge, and Bath with Dad, the Yorkshire Dales and city of York with the other international students, and then some silly ones of the people I live with and my bedroom can be found at my DAD's yahoo picture site thing: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/donkreski/my_photos

Pictures from Poland are at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/polski04/my_photos

8 October
5.30pm

I feel so incredibly loved right now. I'm weeping and breathe only enough to clear my eyes and write.

I opened a letter from Grampa, a box from Mom. Grampa sent me a necklace with the usual Grampa heavy symbolism of love and life. Mom sent me my winter coat and purse, as promise, plus a nice card, October 1st Daily Herald and an election coverage based Newsweek.

I talked to Chris for 90 minutes last night. I emailed Laura a letter which took 45 minutes to compose. I received an immediate reply.

Carol sent me a long email. Bonnie sent an email and two postcards. Tom wrote me a long email yesterday.

Love is pouring in. I'm overwhelmed. I'm not quite homesick. I've managed to like being here. It's just the realization of so much love is so powerful. I'm wrapped in so many thoughts and prayers. I'm so grateful. Maybe I am homesick--I want to pull everyone close to me and love them back.

I'm not going to get into a political discussion. But I would like to mention that I'm much more comfortable talking about politics here than I was at home. Another bit of acclimating. Many people I've met here--English, Dutch, especially French--have never had a good chance to grill a real-life American about politics. Professors make derogatory comments about President Bush, and students in the lecture literally turn around to see my reaction. Someone asks me about the election and how I will vote every day.

A few days ago Kai (a Dutch student I live near) asked me a few questions. He said he was relieved that Kevin (the other student here from U of I) and I seem so much different than the students from California. That we think through issues and bother to form opinions. I guess the Californians openly told a group of European students that John Kerry is ugly and so they are voting for Bush.


In other news on the kids from California, one decided he'd like to play rugby for the first time. He's in the hospital now. A broken arm which required surgery.

I went to a meditation class led by a Buddhist monk just now. As is everything else here, it is different than it is at home. To be fair, a class led by a monk would probably be different than a class led by a counselor working for U of I.

Our instructor, at Illinois, showed us articles and talked about benefits of a meditation practice, focusing on stress relief, but also discussing increased ability to concentrate extending to everyting we do. He was careful to tell us that he was trying to give us another tool, or method, to ease the stress in our lives.

The monk mentioned stress relief, but focused on the line that in this day and age, people are more and more desparate to find happiness, they look from one material thing to the next, quickly moving on to the next thing, because as he knows, no material thing can ever give humans a sense of satisfaction--we need to look deep within ourselves for our source of happiness and internal peace. That's why we're all here, right? Well, you may be stressed out because you are students after all, but really, don't you want happiness and peace of mind? The only/best way to get there is to calm your mind down through looking deep inside yourself through meditation......

Whenever there is that only or best way of doing something, little alarm bells go off and I stop taking the speaker seriously. Funny that I think the class at home was not only BETTER than the one here, but the RIGHT WAY to do things.

As far as the meditation, it was similar, but not the same as at home. The monk led us through the meditation--which was terribly annoying as it's very hard to keep concentrating on my breath as someone is interrupting, talking and giving more instruction. Every time my concentration broke, I would become very agitated. I'd start comparing the monk to the counselor at home. Then my mind would wildly fly to anything and everything I like better at home.

Strange to actively calm myself and experience culture shock at the same time. Strange to have one of my better days in terms of meditation and ablilty to concentrate, at the same time as becoming the most agitated I've ever been while meditating. Strange to hate the class, determine I'm better off meditating on my own as I do every morning, and vowing to make myself go back next week and every other week this term.

Stuart: Hi Katherine. Are you alright?

I think to myself, I didn't think I looked particularly pale or sick today? Do I have something on my face?



some things that I've noticed:

They don't sell many varieties of bagels in the grocery stores here. The few they do are a little expensive. So I bought English muffins for breakfast.

They don't bother to say the "English" bit.

Is paracetamol the same as acetaminophen? They've never heard of acetaminophen and I've never heard of paracetamol. The major brand names like Tylenol don't carry over.

Kleenex does crossover. They sell boxes of "Man Size Kleenex" here. Crazy marketing.

It's really hard to find spiral notebooks here. Stuart says it's not hard. I think I need to go to TESCO.

more cheerful:

I'm not so homesick anymore. Stuart had the good fortune to have a birthday Wednesday night. So I agreed to go have a good time.

I *think* I'm registered for classes. Strange that they can't tell me for sure, but I've been to all my classes and met some nice people in each of them.


Translation of "Are you alright?"
It means "How are you?"

nowadays, I know I'm acclimating to life here because Stuart says "Are you alright?" and I say "I'm fine, Thanks," after only a short pause.

:)

Goodnight!

View picture of our trip to Poland here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/polski04/my_photos


I'm homesick yesterday and today. It doesn't help that the English kids I live with have decided it's fun to make fun of my accent. And my word usage. There are little vocabulary differences here. I've mostly adapted.

I miss the University of Illinois. Prof. Sullivan repeatedly told us that we never really understand our home until we leave it and look at it from the outside. This was in context of the class we took in London last year--in terms of the African diaspora. But it's a generally applicable principle. We were in London for such a short time, and we were with other UIUC students, a UIUC professor and TA. We may have felt like we were away from home, but we weren't really in a different environment. London is a big city, like any other big city in the world.

Bradford is a small city, although it is in the top 10 largest in the UK. Bradford and its suburbs have a population of 500,000. Chicago's population is 3 million, the suburbs' 6 million. Champaign-Urbana's population is nearly 200,000. The University of Bradford is much smaller than UIUC, but with 10,000 students it is by no means small. The campus is very compact, making it feel much smaller than it is. The other student from UIUC said he feels like he's at Fisher Price University--everything here is very elementary. I agree. I never realize what a luxury the dorms at U of I are. Attached computer lab, small library, laundry room, kitchen and cafeteria. The refectory here is a few buildings away. I need to go to the library to access a computer. The laundry room is in the Communal Building (the equivalent of the Student Union at home).

At UIUC, everything is large-scale and spread out. But if I ask enough questions, or look through the extensive website, I can always find an answer. Here, I ask questions and am not given answers. Or someone will tell me something I already know. Being at school for 3 years already, I'm used to when I need to show my student ID card. Here, people patiently explain to me that in order to access the library, I need my ID. Or that the shuttle bus between the main campus and the School of Management's campus (2+ miles away) runs during the semester. Last week, I wanted to take the bus, but because it was before classes started, I suspeccted the shuttle may not be running. The 22 does not run during the breaks at Illinois. I had 6 Chinese students conferring in Mandarin about how to get me on a bus. They couldn't tell me. Their advice was "Leave very early." I asked and asked and wound up walking and getting lost.

That is a good story though. Tuesday last week, it was both raining and sunny. I left 2 hours before I was supposed to be at the Management campus. I do not have a good map of the city, but I do have a map. I did my best but managed to walk about a half-mile out of my way. My map just shows the main roads--not side streets. Street signs are very difficult to find here. They are not at every intersection. The roads are not straight. Finding my way around is therefore quite difficult. Walking last week, I knew I was off the right path, and stopped to look at the map. I figured out where I was. A left and a right turn a few times should put me in the right place. But I was still uncertain. I looked up and there is a full arc, bright, beautiful rainbow over where I think I should be going. I walk toward the rainbow. It is a few minutes before I find the road I need to take. In case I didn't notice the road, the rainbow has all but disappeared--except for a short spike pointing directly to the road. God is making this obvious for me. I turn right and keep walking. After several blocks I check my watch. I did go out of my way, but I've been walking for 40 minutes, and it should only be a 2 mile walk. Have I gone too far? I look up, the rainbow is still there, brighter than before. Now there is a second rainbow over the first. They are directly over where I think the management campus is. I keep walking. I arrive at a park and find myself on the map again. I am almost there. The rainbow starts to fade. By the time I reach the campus, the rainbow is gone and it has stopped raining.

This is the second time God has put up a rainbow for me. It's nice to feel well taken care of.

Anyway, when I got to the management campus, I was told that I was not supposed to be there, come back 2 days later.

Enrolment and registering for classes is literally 30 years behind U of I. I went back to the management campus on Thursday. There was an orientation and lunch, and in the afternoon we were to choose our modules and register. Each department is completely autonomous here. I literally wrote my name and address on a piece of paper, then wrote the titles of the two business classes I wanted to take. I put the paper in a pile at the front of the room. That was how we registered. No computers. Someone else will put us into the computer system. If that paper doesn't get lost. To register for my elective classes, I went from department to department requesting module (class) descriptions and timetables. Nothing is published online. Each department is separate. Students here do not take classes from outside their course (program of study or major). Without information all in one place, and without being able to take the information out of the department's office, it is very difficult to choose classes and arrange them so they do not conflict with one another. I managed it. Then, to register, I called the undergraduate office at the School of Management. I told the secretary or whomever answered the phone what classes I wanted to take. She didn't quite know what was going on, or who to direct me to. So she took the titles of the classes and said she would do her best to get me registered. I'm really not sure if I am or am not registered. Every class uses Blackboard here, and Blackboard shows that I have no classes. I'll check on that tomorrow.

Enrolment was another thing altogether. After Thursday's orientation, Kevin and I went from the Management campus to the Richmond Building on the main campus. We were told we needed a signature from the Undergraduate Office to enroll. The undergrad office had never heard of us--our names weren't in the computer system. The programme manager at the School of Management--the ONE person on this campus who knows who we are and why we are here--was not in her office. Come back tomorrow? The next day I went without Kevin. Our names had shown up in the computer, but the undergrad office still didn't know what to do with us. After talking with several people it was sorted out. The only benefit was that I didn't have to wait in the hours-long queue. But it was a bit of a nightmare. Once enrolled, I had to wait 24 hours before I could register with the library and gain computer access. But the University's network was down the entire weekend. So it was Monday before anything worked out.

I'm taking two classes with the Social Sciences and Humanities department. Modern Social and Cultural Trends and Social Policy in Europe. Both met yesterday. I think I'll like the lecturers and the classes look very interesting.

I hate this university for being disorganized and inefficient, and I miss the U of I terribly. But I think once things get sorted out I'll be okay.

Using the girl next door's computer. As I don't have much access yet.

No phone number yet.

It's a far cry from Champaign here. I miss knowing my way around. I'm actually so stressed out I started meditating again. I never meant to stop, but it's nice to be at it again.

It's more windy here than in Champaign. But the semi-locals say it will stop. A storm is coming thru.
Of course, they also say this is how the whole winter will be. I'm cold. I met a girl from Alabama. Her jacket isn't as thick as mine and she's even less accustomed to the weather.


University of Bradford is much smaller than UIUC, but much, much less organized. I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out where I'm supposed to be & when. it's not that I'm not doing my best to figure it out. I ask questions and no one can tell me the answers. For instance, I'm supposed to be 2 miles away at the School of Management campus at 10 tomorrow morning. There is a room set up with continuing students willing to answer questions for the new international students. I ask how to get on the bus from the main campus to the Management campus--and can't get an answer. 5 or 6 students conferring in Chinese for 15 minutes could only tell me "Maybe you should leave early, maybe you will run." I'm not kidding. I've never been there, I'll look at it as an adventure.

It's not very handicapped accessible either. I noticed yesterday--carrying two large boxes w/o the buttons to open the doors. No fun.

I don't much feel like writing, and I only have a few more minutes before we meet the tour for lunch. So I won't tell a story, but let you in on little things I've noticed.

-The water in Warsaw seemed to smell like woodsmoke. The non-smoking rooms still smell like tobacco smoke.

-Many buildings were built under the communist rule. Many apartment buildings and high-density type buildings. People had to put their names on a waiting list and pay a monthly fee for up to 20 years before moving into one of these building.

-On the tour, I've liked Krakow the best.

-Zakopane is beautiful. Unpolluted. It's in the mountains. Population 26,000. Their only means of supporting themselves is tourism. They do very well.

-Poles are very hard-core Catholics.

-Old ladies are even more serious about being devout. And they push pretty hard.
Story behind this is we are in Chestowha (spelling fixed later). Last nite we went to the shrine to see the closing of the Jasna Gora. We got there at 8.15. Closing at 9.00. 3000 people were packed into two (very large) chapels and the courtyard outdoors. It was very difficult to see the painting. The only way for me not to feel claustrophobic is to leave space in front of me. But not a person-size space. Then someone would fit themself in there. A round old lady standing next to me couldn't see. And she wanted that space in front of me. She pushed. And dug her elbow into my hip. I wouldn't look at her or give her the space. Silly Catholics, fighting it out to pray.
There are even more people here for mass this morning.

-I couldn't understand the chants, prayers, or mass. The unity & fervor people were singing with reminded me of the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigly.

-A Latin nightclub is near this hotel. They dance music--Madonna and "Summer Lovin" from Grease. I don't think they understand the words.

-Oh, and when you drop your digital camera onto stone, it stops working. But that camera is my dad's, so it's okay.

Arrived safely in Poland. Tired & a bit dehydrated. We messed up the communication somewhere & our relatives did not come to greet us at the airport. After almost 2 hours of waiting, we avoided a pirate taxi and to a cab to the hotel.

Warsaw seems nice. Much less expensive than most cities. Most everything is printed in both English and Polish. Except for the lj page. They know I'm here!

Most everything is packed, photocopied and updated. I'm sleepy, but if I hope to sleep on the plane, I can't give in to a nap now. Dad & I are leaving at dinner time. Arriving at dinner time Monday in Warsaw.

I think I'm going to miss Illinois.

Not sure if Yahoo is the best way to go on this, but pictures will be posted at http://photos.yahoo.com/katherine2319

look, I made one of these. nothing to say, tho.