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This past Sunday CathSoc staged a series of ecumenical events. Actually, even before that I went with some other members of AngSoc out to Hillary Benson, the assistant Anglican Chaplain's, parish where we helped put on the service. I was impressed at the last minute to help with the reading, but I've never minded reading, so that was okay. Then came the CathSoc sports day, where everybody goes out in the park and plays games. By the time we got back from the service in the morning, the Sports Day had already started, so only two AngSoc members actually participated. I learned how to play "Rounders", a British Game similar to baseball, with the exception that if you get out, you can't bat again, and only "home runs" are counted towards the score.
After this there was an Ecumenical Service at the Catholic Hall of Residence, and then the Catholics had dinner and a line dancing evening. As line dancing is an American invention, everyone was shocked when I told them that I didn't know how to line dance. I've always been to clumsy for any form of dancing that requires a coherent series of steps, though, and had never bothered to learn (well, I am also not very fond of country music!). I thought it was amusing that the big American flag they had painted and put up on the wall had 15 stripes and something like 35 stars, but I didn't say anything since at least they had tried (heck, there are probably a lot of Americans who couldn't tell you the number of stripes on the flag, even though we are all supposed to learn it in history class). I did go out and learn a couple of the dances, and managed not to actually fall down (although I did stumble more than once!). I also met Yoshihiro, one of the other Rotary Scholars, at the dance. I hadn't seen him at any activities before, but apparently he has been attending some of the events with the MethSoc group.
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Thursday was the "BUOC Big Night Out", which was the final (well, almost
final) Orienteering Event of the year. As the name implies, 
there
wasn't any real Orienteering, the club just went out for dinner and dancing.
We went to San Carlo, the same restaurant I had gone to before several
times when my Father was out visiting, so I knew it would be good.
I had an enormous calzone, which me and another O-Club member who had ordered
the same thing raced to finish. After the meal we went back to the
University and all went to the Disco at the Guild of Students, the theme
being "Bond Trop", so you were supposed to dress up like James Bond characters,
but none of us did. All of us who went got temporary tattoos on our
arms with a big heart and the word "BUOC" on a ribbon through the middle
(see left). It meant that we had to keep our sleeves rolled up the
entire night, so we probably looked pretty foolish, but we had fun anyway.
Remember how I said "almost final" event? Well, yesterday was
the real final event for BUOC which were some mixed relays that we went
to, I think in Cannock Chase. Each 
relay
was three legs, a 2.3 km, a 4.2 km, and a 5.2 km. 
Although
I would have liked to do the short leg, I agreed to do one of the medium
length legs on a team with Fiona and Rob, with Fiona taking the short leg,
and Rob, who is a marathon runner, taking the long leg. I shocked
myself (an probably everyone else on the team) by running my leg, the last
one, in about 40 minutes, which is far faster than I've ever gone before.
I even managed to come in ahead of Tan, who was running opposite me on
the other relay team we fielded. This was an even bigger shock, since
I saw him pass me quite early on during my leg, but apparently he got lost
later. Everybody joked that now that I was actually becoming better
I was going to leave and go back to California!
Last night after the church service everybody in AngSoc went over to Andrew Gorham, the Anglican Chaplain's house for an end of year party. He had "Buck's Fizz" which was orange juice and champagne, and an impressive spread of snacks and dessert's laid out. We also got to go out and enjoy his well kept garden, where the most memorable event (for me) happened. Ian and Louise were fighting over who would get to sit down in one of the lawn chairs, so while they were fighting with each other, I just took the chair and sat down. Unfortunately I sat down too quickly, and the chair just overbalanced and went right over backwards with me in it, at which point they just took the chair away from me! Rev. Gorham also made some comments about the year, including a brief word on people who would not be back next year. Earlier, when talking to Andrew, I had joked that AngSoc should have a re-union in California someday. He asked me if I would fly everybody out to California in my private jet in five years if I had made a lot of money. I told him I wasn't so sure I would make that much money, but that in 10 years if I was a millionaire I would fly everybody out to California. So, the funny thing, then, was that when he made comments on those that were leaving he announced that "when", not "if", I was wealthy in ten years I would be flying everybody out to California. He sure has a lot more faith in me having a lot of money in 10 years than I do!
*** Reconstructed Entries End Here ***
Yesterday morning I woke up at 4AM to head down to London. The Rotary International Convention is in Glasgow this year, and several Rotarians from back home are coming over to attend. My Mom sent over a computer for me to use with Aaron Williams, and I went down to London to pick it up. Tan, a friend of mine from the Orienteering team, was going down to Heathrow to pick up a friend arriving on a 6:30AM flight, and he agreed to give me a ride down. Of course this meant that I had to get up at 4AM, but that was okay.
I hadn't actually managed to make contact with Aaron before leaving, so I called him when we got to Heathrow. I called at around 7AM, but wasn't able to get through to him. I then called my answering machine, and he had left a message right when I had been calling him! I called back to the hotel, and they put me through to him in their restaurant where he was eating breakfast. I told him the situation, and we agreed that I would take the Tube in from Heathrow, and meet him in an hour near his hotel (which was in Bayswater, right near where I had stayed with my Mother). Amazingly, I made it there, traveling continuously, within 30 seconds of the time I had agreed upon! Anyway, we met, had a cup of coffee and I took the computer from him, so now I have one to use.
He also brought over a copy of my birth certificate, as my passport was in one of the bags that was stolen, and I needed a birth certificate to get a new one. I didn't have photos yet, but I was able to find a shop that did Passport photos that were suitable for a US Passport, and went down to the Passport office. They processed me through, but were only able to get me a one year Passport as it was only a copy of the birth certificate, and not an original. I had thought it might take over night to get the Passport, but from the time I entered the US Embassy, until I left with my new Passport only took an hour and a half.
Before heading back to Birmingham on the train, I called the Hotel of another Rotarian who was over for the convention and staying in London, Dian Ashley. I wasn't able to get through to her, so I just headed back up to Birmingham, and went to sleep for a couple hours, as I was very tired from waking up so early!
After my nap I headed into the City Centre for the AngSoc final dinner which was at a Greek restaurant. The food was good, but the band which was there playing live music played so loudly it was impossible to have a conversation. Just after we had finished our three course meal, the proprietors decided it was time to get up and do some traditional Greek dancing which included jumping around slapping your feet and clapping your hands. Although many of us had a try at it, we were all to full to give it much more than a half hearted try. After dinner we also went to a fancy theme bar called 'Bacchus', but were only able to spend a few minutes there before they closed for the evening. All told it was a fun evening.
We left from their house in Sutton-Coldfield around 2pm, and drove up to Carlisle, which is right on the border between Scotland and England. We spent the night in a caravan park there-- they slept in the motor home, while I pitched a tent outside. I had initially considered sleeping outside, since I didn't have a tent, but Alan found somebody and borrowed a tent for me to use. It was a good thing too, because it poured rain last night. The end of my sleeping bag got a little wet where it touched the fabric of the tent, but overall I spent a comfortable night.
I mentioned to the Pearce's that I hadn't seen Hadrian's Wall since
I had been in England, and since Carlisle is only a few miles form pieces
of the wall, they offered to drive up to it on the way north to Glasgow. 
Hadrian's
Wall is/was about 80 miles long, and runs from Newcastle to Carlisle, separating
England from Scotland. It was ordered built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian
about 150 AD as a defensive work to prevent the tribes in the area of Scotland
from invading down into the rest of Britain which was controlled by the
Roman's. The first place we went to was called Bank's Turret (see me and
the Turret at left). The wall was divided in lengths of Roman Miles. Every
mile was a "mile fort", which was a small garrison for soldier's to live
in. Between these were two or three of the turrets, with Bank's being the
remains of one of them. Honestly, it wasn't much to see, since it was only
the foundation that was still visible.
We then drove a little further East to Housteads Fort, which is the
remains of a large garrison that was built adjacent to the wall. This was
much more impressive, since there was much more to see, 
and
it had been more extensively excavated. I was particularly impressed by
the latrines, which were built over sluices, so that water could be flushed
through to get rid of the sewage (see right). Alan (see him on the wall
at left) and I both discussed how amazing it was that the Roman's had 
sewers
and running water, and then for over a thousand years after the fall of
the Roman Empire, all of that was lost. The other interesting thing to
see at Housteads was the remains of the hospital for the fort. It was only
the outline of the building, but it was still nice to see. It was amazing
to see the whole complex; it is difficult to believe at how efficiently
it was organized considering how long ago it was built.
When we had finished seeing the remains of the wall, we finally headed north to Glasgow. The Pearce's stopped in a caravan park that they are staying at outside of Glasgow, and I caught a ride from there to the train station, and thence into Glasgow, where I went to the Glasgow Youth Hostel, where I am now. I will stay here through next Tuesday night, when the convention ends. The Pearce's offered to let me stay in the tent at their campsite, but I didn't want to intrude, and in any case, the Youth Hostel is more comfortable than a tent when you are attending a convention. The hostel is quite nice, and is located in a hotel, which until it shut down in 1991 charged 90 pounds per night. I am staying here for 10 pounds per night, including breakfast. The hostel is located on Park Terrace, which is a nice complex set on the hill overlooking Glasgow. It is also supposed to be only a half hour walk to the convention center from here, but we will see tomorrow.
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While waiting for this I went and met the Pearce's who had come in from the caravan park to register. We wandered around the convention center to see how everything was set up. The center is huge, and has about six different halls to it. Three of the Halls have booths set up for various things, stores in one area, and Rotary Programs in the other two. Another two of the Halls are set up for the various talks and luncheons that will be given during the conference. The most interesting one, though, is the House of Friendship. This hall has several exhibits on Scotland and is where all of the shops are located (most of which are selling Scottish merchandise). The Pearce's then went into Glasgow, while I had lunch since I was still waiting to see if I would be able to register.
After lunch I went back to the registration hall and found the Sergeant-at-Arms who had been assisting me. He was just getting off from his shift, so I was lucky to run into him. When he saw me, he took a badge out of my pocket and said that it was all straightened out. Apparently, Lou Bartolini, the District-Governor for my sponsor district had come in and registered and approved me to come in. So, after all of the hassle it worked out in the end. As I was thanking the Sergeant-at-Arms for helping me, his two daughters, both in their early twenties, came up to talk to him. It turned out that they were trying to figure out what was going on for young people, so all of us went to find the Rotaract booth. Rotaract is an organization for people in their twenties and early thirties that is affiliated with Rotary, so it was a good place to find people that were more the age of myself and his daughters. We found the booth, and discovered that there was a Rotaract Dance that evening at the City Chambers in downtown Glasgow, and the three of us decided it would be nice to go. The Sergeant-at-Arms and his family then went off to try some Haggis for dinner.
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After having dinner, I went back to the Hostel to change. Although the
dance was supposed to be black tie, I only had my light weight suit, so
I wore that (the Rotaracter at the booth earlier had said not to worry
too much about the dress code). The 
dance
was part of a dinner and dancing event, but the dinner had already sold
out, so I was only going down for the 
dancing.
I arrived around 9pm, but the dinner hadn't finished yet, so I waited outside.
Some Thai Rotaracters were also there just for the dance, so I talked to
them while I waited (see photo at right with one of them, Piyawan). While
we were talking a Turk and a Pole also came in for the dance and joined
our conversation. Eventually the dinner ended and we went in for the dance.
The hall which was being used was the Ball Room at the City Chambers and
it was magnificent (see outside view at left). It had a high arched ceiling
all inlaid with gold and intricate woodwork. The dance went on until 11:30pm,
and was a lot of fun (photo below left). The daughters of the man who had
helped me
earlier in the day didn't turn up until quite late, and didn't come out
to dance as they were busy catching up with people that they had met at
previous conferences.
Since the dance had ended fairly early, afterwards a bunch of us went up to a Club called Victoria's on Sauchiehall Street. This included the daughters of the Sergeant-at-Arms and some of their friends, one of whom was in a wheelchair. I helped to carry the guy in the wheelchair into the disco, which really wasn't very accessible for him. Unfortunately the Hostel had a curfew of 2am, so after only an hour there I had to head back so I wouldn't be locked out for the night.
Today was the opening ceremony for the convention. It took place in Ibrox Stadium, where they usually play Soccer (football), so all 25,000 or so conventioneers could attend. I was supposed to meet Aaron, and possibly Dian, before the ceremony at the spot marked 'First Aid' on our map of the Stadium. Unfortunately, when I arrived, they had decided not to have the First Aid post where they had marked it, so I never was able to find Aaron.
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After the flags, the President (Chairman?) of UNESCO spoke about how valuable the support of Rotarians was to the efforts of his agency to bring better conditions to developing nations. Then President Luis Vicente-Guiay's year as President was celebrated. This included a presentation of what he had done during the year, an introduction of his family, and a speech by the President himself. Unfortunately, with the cold and the bad acoustics in the stadium, by the time his speech ended almost half of the people had left. By the time his speech had finished it was also past the original time for the ceremony to be over, so many had gone outside to make sure they caught their bus back to the hotel.
It was a shame, since the final part was really the best. President Guiay's motto for the year was: "Build the Future with Action and Vision," and his theme was youth. To that end, the final activities for the ceremony were presentations by different groups of local kids. They had Scottish Dancers, a Choir, and a Youth Theatre group, among other things. They also had Bill McCue, a famous Scot Opera Singer. Finally, at the end they brought in a band of about 50 bagpipers along with as many drummers to play some traditional music, then at the finale, they had all of the groups out on the stage at once, which was very impressive!
The sad thing, was that by the end there were probably less than a third of the people still present. I did stay, and I think it was worthwhile.
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Tuesday I spent on my own. In the morning I went into the conference and attended a Plenary session on the works of the Rotary Foundation, including the PolioPlus program. It was very well done, and helped to explain the value of the programs. Apparently on one day last January, 120,000,000 Indian children were vaccinated against Polio as part of the Polio Plus Program, and they are on track to have a certified Polio-free world by the year 2005. The rest of the day I spent exploring Glasgow. The city seems more modern than Edinburgh, the other big city in Scotland, and there was not a whole lot of historical significance to see. It is supposed to have some nice galleries, but having been at the Hunterian Gallery the night before I wasn't in the mood to see more paintings.
Wednesday was the last day of the conference, and the day the Pearce's were heading back to Birmingham, so I had to pack my stuff up and move out of the Hostel in the morning. Before we actually left Glasgow, the Pearce's, Aaron Williams, Dian Ashley and myself finally got together all at the same time and had a cup of coffee in the Pearce's motor home which they had driven into the conference for the day.
After that short meeting, the Pearce's and I headed back down the road
toward Birmingham. We spent the night 
at
a caravan park on the shores of Lake Windermere (see left) in the
Lake District. It was my first time in the Lake District, and it seemed
quite nice, although it rained almost non-stop from when we arrived Wednesday
night until we left the next morning. Thursday morning we drove the rest
of the way back to Birmingham. Before heading home I helped get the Pearce's
computer working with E-mail, a project that has been on-going for several
months now. In any case, they are now wired and can send email to people.
They are hoping to get their daughter who is staying in California to use
it, which will then save them on phone bills.
Yesterday I pretty much rested up, although I did go into campus to find out what my grades were. I was happy to find that I had more than passed everything, including my mini-project on the Computer Music Composition.