Sunday, January 09, 2005

The Magic of England

Yes, of course, you think, it probably is a bit magical, what with all the green hillsides, the ancient castles, the stone circles and Arthurian legends. But in fact, I'm referring to the once-fantastically-popular card game of Magic, which you might remember from about 1995, or more recently if you're that sort of person. Over the past few days, my flatmate and neighbor, Ben, has been teaching me the game as he played it with Toby (also just learning) and today I was able to show off my newly acquired knowledge by creaming him royally in the first three games I played with this Magic pro. Luck of the draw, of course, each time, but I found it funny, and decided to quit while ahead and stop playing.

Today was a pretty lazy day, involving sleeping through my alarm and watching a 1959 horror film called "The House On Haunted Hill." Two more of my flatmates arrived today--Sofia, who is from Greece, and Jack, who I believe is from Wales. I've also met two other girls in their circle of friends--Helen, also from Wales, and Ruth, who I assume is from England someplace. So mostly I've been hanging out with them. Oh, also had my first British pub experience last night, kind of--we just went into the nearby on-campus bar for a bit to play this gambling-Clue-quiz game, so it was a taste of the ambience (smoky, mainly) more than a full-blown experience quite yet... But I'm sure more will soon enough follow.

I cooked my first proper meal today--eggs with onion, spinach, basil, and mozzerella--although Jack, the dutiful vegetarian, informed me I really should be eating something else with it to get a fully rounded meal. I've got a British accent stuck permanently in my head (so the Curse of the Colin Voice still lives, Luba, if you happened to be reading this and wondering), and am hard-pressed already to keep my American intonations when I speak. Which I don't do a lot of, still trying, as I am, to find my niche, and being perfectly content to sit in quiet hysterics in response to the outlandish stories, scattered puns, and unexpected turns of phrase which the conversation is spiced with, if not actually composed of.

I've set up my phone, finally, and got my number, so if I haven't e-mailed it to you and you'd like it, shoot me an e-mail and I'll pass it along. Ok, I'm going to wrap this up now to try to stay true to my promise of keeping it shorter from here on out. There are so many new and different things here, it's hard to know which of them to describe. If you think of anything crucial you feel I've left out, e-mail or comment and I'll be glad to fill in details. Hope these remain (assuming they began such) interesting in some way--if they get boring and I'm including too much detail, feel free to let me know that as well. Hope you're all well. Classes start in two days--exciting but scary. Till then, likely, unless something fascinating occurs in the interim.

Elizabeth

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Libby-

Ha! I haven't called you that in years. One correspondent suggested that you go to the Tate. If you do go there, and it's hot outside (I am thinking late spring, I guess) tell me if the only room that seems like it's air conditioned is the one with Mark Rothko's art. I was in London in August back in '97 during this ridiculously hot spell, and the only room in the museum that seemed even remotely cool was the one with the modern art - paintings that were just blue or white, imaginative thoughtful pieces that communicated monochromatic messages to those who came to view them.

Alas, it's probably just snowing there now. Well, I have read every word of your blogs. Keep keeping me up to date!

Love-

Uncle Frank

3:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The curse of the Colin voice! I am, in fact, reading, though I was away on The Cruise and am now catching up. I know all about having a British accent stuck in my head, since, on the aforementioned adventure, we shared our dinner table with 3 British people. Oh, the things they say! I was taking notes the whole time...-Luba

11:33 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home