a month has gone by already!??!

So this weekend was pretty much the best time ever. no really.
so i go to volleyball practice on thursday night even though i was sick and couldn't very well breathe out of my nose (or in, for that matter). Essentially, every time i went outside into the sloppy raining tundra, the back of my throat and nasal cavity burned unbearably (weird??!.....syphilis?? see last post). so i trek through the wilderness that is concreted UEA to get to Sportspark which is approx. 7 minutes away walking. get there and start practice, i hadn't been in 2 weeks. i knew i was going to be extremely sore the next day because i haven't played volleyball save once in god knows how long. practice went well and at the end El Capitan, Sam, invited me to "Leeds". I didn't know what this was but apparently it was a big deal. So I said I'd go. She said all I needed was my pair of shoes, black spandex shorts, and a sports bra. In short, I got on a bus on Friday afternoon, about 18 hours after I had found out about this, with only my backpack filled with essential goods and no idea where I was going or what was to become of me.

IT WAS AWESOME. Leeds is 4 hrs. northish of Norwich and we sang to music (of the 80s, 90s, and today) the whole ride up. It was fabulous. Only two of the girls on the team that went (out of 9) are British. Nationalities range from Andoran to Italian, Portuguese to Swiss. SO CRAZY. Anyway, it was just great to get to play volleyball again and I had an amazing time. All the girls are so nice. Sadly, we got 9th out of 16 teams but the weekend was still a blast. The whole ride back we sang songs from our childhood.

Random ditties

I get sick really easily in this new land. I feel like the Indians must have felt when the European settlers came over from the Old World sans smallpox, beaver pelts, Thanksgiving....except its the other way around...well, its really nothing like the colonisation of the New World at all. Epic fail (a phrase picked up from the Brits).

I am absolutely mortified that I haven't mentioned this before because its one of the most influential factors in my life here at UEA. My flatmate Sophie and I call it.....wait for it.......wait for it......the shoilet. Pronounced like its spelled, mixing the words shower and toilet together. It is the pod in the corner of my room that is a shower, toilet, and sink all rolled into one in about 1.5 square yards. GENIUS. Sophie and I are the only ones that call it the shoilet to date but the trend is spreading, fear not. These people really know how to utilize their space here*. I can reach out and grab my toothbrush off of the counter whilst taking a shower; I can wash my hands whilst on the toilet (with ease); I can have my feet out of the door whilst on the pot; I could probably even urinate whilst still being under the water if I put my mind to it. Genius, Genius, Genius. Allison will add pictures to Facebook shortly if you don't believe me or would like to be exposed more to this amazing invention. Short of the short, I have concluded that the shoilet is one of the greatest inventions ever. And the best part about it is that all the Brits think the Americans are crazy for loving it. But we aren't. Because its pure genius.

Ta ta for now.