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Finally, this morning Carrie headed off back to the States, and I am
now on my own again. It was great traveling and visiting 
with
my friends for these past couple weeks, but it will be good to be able
to take a deep breath and relax for a while. We got up fairly early
this morning, took some last photos, and went to the City Centre so Carrie
could catch the bus to Heathrow where her flight was departing from.
Aside from some brief confusion finding the right Bus Station, things went
uneventfully, and she was safely off.
Today is again very nice, which means we have had nice weather for almost
two weeks now, including the entire time that my friends were over here
visiting. I am afraid that they will all be under the illusion that
the weather here in England is always nice and sunny! Perhaps Carrie
and Jeff brought the sun with them from California and Texas, respectively.
In any case it was a wonderful couple of weeks to travel in the UK.
I suppose some background is in order as to why BUOC, the Birmingham University Orienteering Club, was going to the student championships, as we are not exactly the strongest team around. In any case, we beat Aston University's (Birmingham's other big University) Orienteering team in the first round of the Churchill Cup National Championship competition back in January (although I didn't race in it). This was somewhat unusual, but not too remarkable. What happened next was that we beat (although again I didn't race-- if I had we probably would have done worse) Oxford in the second round of the competition. Oxford is quite good, so I am not sure what happened. Perhaps we ran really well, or perhaps they were missing some of their better runners-- who knows what happened, but we won, putting us into the Championships up at Sheffield (actually we could have gone just for fun even if we were out of the running for the Cup).
So, last Friday those of who were around (considering it was Spring Break which goes from March 21 to April 21), piled into one of the min-buses and headed up towards Sheffield. We actually stopped over on Friday Night at Rob Fosters house in Grantham, which is near Nottingham. Mrs. Foster was really kind and prepared a fabulous dinner for all of us. We went out to a pub, but nobody was in the mood to drink a lot before the race the next day, and the manager came around and politely told us to drink up or get out.
Saturday Morning we met up with Fiona, another O-Club member, who had driven in on her own, at the race site, and all prepared ourselves for the run as best we could. Our new Orienteering Uniform (O-Kit) which we had designed came in just in time for the Championships, and had been brought out to the Championships. We all eagerly picked it up, so that we would look coordinated, and could be more psyched up for the race. I had helped with the design, drawing a preview of it on the computer. It had a couple of revolutionary and controversial features to it-- first, the back of the trousers was done in transparent mesh, so you could see through to the underpants (everybody had to make sure to wear clean undies!), and, second, we had 'BUOC' printed across the rear-end, supposedly so that our competitors would have this marvelous sight to see as the fell behind us (with most of us this was an unlikely scenario). Another interesting feature was the words "Race Team" boldly emblazoned across the back, which, considering our laid back attitude was also a bit of a laugh. Nonetheless we were finally all 'kitted out' and prepared to run.
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After dinner was the award ceremony for the Student Champions for the year. Each of the top 20 places in both men's and women's courses are assigned points, and the team with the most points wins the championship. Suffice it to say that we did not win the championship. Actually, we didn't even come close. I had the slowest time for the men's course (although a couple didn't finish), and among our team we locked up 4 of the 5 slowest men's times. If they awarded points equal to your finish position we probably would have done quite well. For the curious, the top men's time for the course was 1 hour and 10 minutes, and Sheffield won the trophy (Tournament in Sheffield, Sheffield wins, coincidence? :) :) ). Despite our rather poor showing, we all had a good time at the party before and after the ceremony.
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Finally, last night I went up to my host club, Tamworth-Anker, and gave
a talk to them. One of the Rotarian's from the club came down and
gave me a ride up there, so I didn't have to take the train (not that it
is much of a burden to take the train). 
I'd already been to the club several times and had met many of the members,
so I decided to give them a different speech than I usually do. Normally
I talk about who I am, what my background is, what I am working on here
in the UK, and how I use the Internet to keep in touch with folks back
home. One of the most frequent questions I get asked by Rotarian's,
though, is how I find the UK and how it compares to the US. Since
I knew the members of the Tamworth-Anker club were fairly laid back, I
based my talk to them on a candid look at this question. I talked
about different topics, like media, eating, socializing, the education
systems, etc.. I also pointed out that people in the UK seems a little
bit slower to accept new technology and ideas, whereas people in the US
tend to accept things before it is even clear if they are reasonable.
A good example of this is the mad pace in Silicon Valley where new computers
and parts are obsolete almost as quickly as they are released. I
summed up by noting that in the end we all have much more in common than
we have differences, and that the best idea in the long run would be to
build on the similarities, rather than dwell on the differences.
I think the talk went over well, and hope that the club member's didn't
take any of my comments the wrong way. I tried to be candid and pick
out good and bad points about both the US and the UK.
Last Saturday I went down to the OVT, a.k.a. Farce and Firkin, with
Brett, Kris and Greg. It is a Pub in Selly Oak near the University
that they like to go and hang out at, but I had not been up until then.
The place was absolutely packed, and we stayed for a few rounds only before
moving across the road to another place called The Brook. We 
stayed
there until last call at around 11pm and then headed home. Overall
it was a fun evening, although I didn't like coming home with my clothes
smelling of cigarette smoke (but then again, I never do).
Today I went to Edgbaston Rotary Club and gave a talk at their lunch meeting. I gave a slightly changed version of the talk that I gave at Tamworth-Anker Club last week on the differences between the US and the UK. It seemed to go over pretty well, and it was nice to speak at a Club within a few minutes drive of the University.
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of
that. The admission price was 18 pounds, about the same as Great
America near where I go to school back in Palo Alto. The rides
at the park were also fairly comparable, being a mixture of roller coasters,
water rides, and the ones that swing you around in circles. One of
the rides was called Nemesis, and was almost identical to the Top
Gun ride at Great America. The first time on it everybody
was holding on for dear life, but after that we started singing songs as
we went along, and trying to get a good pose for the cameras that take
pictures as you go on the ride. Speaking of pictures, on some of
the other roller coasters (Nemesis was a bit to violent), I took
my camera out and used it to take pictures of everybody (see above, and
right). Everyone else thought that I was nuts as they were too busy
hanging on for dear life, but I think that it was worth it.
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but
an excuse to soak people. Basically it took everybody up into the
air, tilted them so they were facing the ground in a seated position, and
then lowered them down onto jets of water shooting straight up out of the
ground. I saw this ahead of time, and noticed that the front row
got completely drenched, while the back row mainly got their upper bodies
wet, so I made sure we sat in the back row. I wore my new Gore-Tex
jacket, so in the end I mainly got my face and hair wet, while the others,
who were wearing denim were much worse off (see photo at right).
The other ride that we had a lot of fun on was the flume ride.
Normally you don't get to wet on it, and most people coming off of it were
almost dry. 
When
we came off of it, however, we were all literally dripping water off of
us. Of course, this had little to do with the ride itself, and much
more to do with the fact that Brett, who was in the back of the log we
were riding in, decided to start a water fight by reaching over the side
and shoveling water up towards the front. Not about to be soaked
without reciprocation, I began digging my hands in the side and shoveling
water backwards, soaking Greg and Brett both. By the end of it, though,
everybody was very wet, although I kept my torso reasonably dry since I
was still wearing the Gore-Tex jacket. Overall it was one of the
most enjoyable days I have had since I've been in the UK.
A couple of big trips are coming up, as both my Father and Mother will be visiting within the next month and a half. My father was originally coming at the end of April for two weeks, and my Mom for two weeks at the end of May, but then my Dad decided he was coming for two weeks in the middle of May, overlapping with my Mother's trip for one week. Fortunately, he changed his trip back to the original time, which starts April 28, and goes for two weeks. Unfortunately, when he changed his trip I had relaxed a little and slowed down on my mini-project work, as I thought I would have straight through to May 6 to work on it. Now, with him coming at the end of April I will have to work faster again, and may need to work on it while he is here, which means I will not be able to spend as much time with him.
Yesterday I was back at the Tamworth-Anker Club, for their annual Student Night dinner. The Student Night is designed to encourage the local students academically, and to introduce them to Rotary programs, like the Ambassadorial Scholarship. They invite the head boy and head girl from each of the local high schools, along with one teacher from each of the high schools. They also have all of the Ambassadorial Scholars in the District come to the dinner, and have some of them give talks, while they just introduce the others. The point is to let the students see what types of people become Ambassadorial Scholars, and to provide them with a possible goal for their future. Unfortunately, the evening got off to a bit of a bad start. Two Rotarians from the Club came down to the University to pick up the five scholars in our area, but two of them didn't show up. We drove around and found one of them at home, unaware that an event was taking place, and unable to attend since they had a paper to finish. So, the evening started off down to scholars. Fortunately, everybody was fairly good natured about it, chalking it up to poor communication, and the rest of the evening went well. Since I had spoken two weeks ago at the club, they didn't have me talk again this time, so I was able to just enjoy the meal, and listen to others.
Anyway, Dad and Deborah arrived on Saturday at around 8am, and I went
out to the airport to meet them. Their flight had been 
pretty
uneventful, although they hadn't really slept. The 28th was also
Shakespeare's Birthday, and there were supposed to be some festivities
in Stratford-on-Avon, so I asked if they wanted to sleep, or preferred
to go down to Stratford. They both agreed it would be better to go
to Stratford, instead of sleeping and getting onto a poor sleep schedule
for the UK, so after dropping their stuff at the Bed and Breakfast they
are staying at, we got on the train and went down to Stratford. Both
of them slept on the train going down (and coming back, for that matter).
When we got there it was raining, and the festivities were mostly over,
but we had a good time wandering around the town anyway. It was my
third time in Stratford, and every time I have gone the weather was different.
When I went with Rebecca back in December it was freezing cold, but sunny,
with Carrie it was warm and sunny, and with my Dad and Deborah it was raining!
On the way back from Stratford we stopped in the City Centre, and ate at
a restaurant called 'San Carlo', that we had discovered early in the day
(see photo at left). It turned out to serve fabulous Italian food,
and we were glad that we had stumbled upon it.
Since I still haven't finished my mini-project, I told my Dad and Deborah, that I wouldn't be able to accompany them during the day until I was finished, but that I would join them for dinner each night. So, on Sunday they explored Birmingham City Centre on their own, and they came over to the University on Sunday night. When they arrived we walked down to Selly Oak, stopping to see the Guild of Students on the way, and had a Balti meal, since that is pretty unique to Birmingham. They both enjoyed it, although I don't think it is the kind of meal that they would want every day!
Since I've left the US, I have really missed having Mexican food. There are a few restaurants around that serve Mexican food, but they are both inconveniently located, and to expensive for me to justify on my scholarship. So, on Monday night my Dad agreed to take me out to a Mexican restaurant a short Taxi ride from the University called Poco Loco. Although it wasn't the best Mexican food that I have ever had, it certainly hit the spot after not having had any for many months! Interestingly, the waitress at the restaurant was American, grew up in Santa Cruz, and went to University in San Francisco, so we had a nice conversation with her.
On Tuesday, I had a Rotary Speech at Coventry North Rotary Club, and
since my father and Deborah were here, they came along as well, 
although
they had to pay for their own dinner, and had to take the train down instead
of getting a ride from the Rotarians. It was another Ambassadorial
Evening, so almost all of the Scholars in the District were again in attendance.
This also meant that each of us only had a five minute talk to give, so
it wasn't too bad (although I don't really mind speaking in any case).
I gave a very quick talk on the differences between the US and the UK,
and most people seemed to enjoy it. My father also got up at the
end of the meeting and gave a quick vote of thanks to Rotary for providing
the scholarships, and to the Scholars for their talks.
This afternoon we are taking the train down to London where we will stay until next Friday. My Dad is a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club back home, and one of the benefits is that he can stay in the Royal Thames Yacht Club in London. So, we will be staying there for a few days, and then will probably go to Bedford next Saturday before coming back to Birmingham on Sunday. Unfortunately I will not be able to go around London with them during the day, but will have to work on my mini-project. I guess it isn't too great a loss, though, since it will be my third trip to London.