Back to the grind

A quick update to let the people know that I am alive. Got home from Eu late June and headed to Enders for a few weeks. When I got home a house was purchased and work done. Now, school is in session and real life is back even though I have no permanent roof over my head or books to read. This will all be expanded upon sooner rather than later. Cheers to the fans.

A Week On The Lam

So after the ol work crew left I was left with another week in Ireland to dispose of as I wished. this was a good thing but perhaps a bit chilling at first not because I haven't traveled on my own (obviously, ha) but because it had been some time since the days where if you wanted any human interaction you had to initiate it with new and strange people.

I decided to stay in Dublin a couple more nights after they left because I didn't really feel that I had done the city justice and you never want to leave a rock unturned as it were. Or, as Kevin and I would say: "You never sausage a place." Get it? Good. Anyway moved over to a cheaper and much smellier hostel that did have free internet and some pretty hot French girls who I couldn't talk to because I am a typical American who knows only English. Wah. So I hung out and took myself on a walking tour of Dublin seeing St. Pat's Cathedral, Christ Church (not the Oxford college), a few of the national museums, a William Butler Yeats collection at the national library, and so on and so forth. I ended up sitting in the park a good bit of the day and reading because it was so lovely. Seems when the Irish see sun they skip work, class, whatever and sit in the park and drink beer. Pretty good plan I thought so I joined in.

Liverpool - Chelsea was on that night so I went to Fitzsimons and got kicked out because I didn't buy a drink. Come on Mr Bouncer Dude give a bro a break, fo real. So I left and went over to see Chris at Temple Bar again. Good game and when it was over met up with Tienne (Swede from a few nights back) and we had a good walk round eating ice cream and reading about local concerts in Dragon the nicest and also gayest bar in Dublin. Good night and sweet sweet ice cream (she somehow ate 4 scoops in the same time it took me to eat 1).

Next day got off my ass and headed for the coast. Did a 16k return cliff walk and a 8k or so walk around Greystones. Took the Dart down to Bray got off and went at it like old times. Since my friends had left I had reverted into money saving mode and relying on the trusty PBJ I got through. However, about 2/3 of the way done I was exhausted--could be due to the lack of physical activity or lack of nutrients so I bought a bag of apples and had a couple. Enough fuel to get home to another PBJ. Beautiful country and coast, seems wild and free.

Headed to Galway next day for what was to be the remainder of my stay in Ireland. Checked into the Galway City Hostel (highly recommended) where I stayed for the next 4 nights. Met some great people from all over. Argued with Aussies, Irish, and Germans. Partied with Italians, French, and Americans. Good times. Had some organized tours to the Cliffs of Moher which are 8k of cliffs on the coast that are a sheer 200m above the water. It's great because there are no guard rails. Took a trip to Conemara which was a sleep fest but showed the rugged uninhabited side of Ireland from when everyone died or left due to the potato crop failure. Met a cool Kiwi lady on the Burren walk which looks like the moon and hung out with her that day. Good stories good times. Hope I can be 35 and take 18 months to travel. Looks good so far.

Mainly Galway is about the pubs though and the university and the people. Great live music, beautiful bay and beaches (cold water), and a refreshing sense of home. As we all know Ireland is the 4th richest country in the world based on GDP and Galway is the fastest growing of the cities. Even though there are ass holes who tell you to fuck off when you are having a chat in the blues bar the mood persists and you find others who buy you drinks and want to know everything about you and why you do what you do. Good times, good runs, good Guinness. The black gold runneth over. Out.

It's Been Awhile

Heya mates sorry its been so long but it doesn't actually feel as if I have been traveling and I typically only write when I travel. However, the situation has changed and i am back on the road on my own. I finished exams at oxford on April 17 and have since been on the road...again.

My good ol buddies from AIG came over 2 days after i finished exams to find me at my worst. What you may not understand is that our last exam was 9-12 on Tuesday and from 1230-4am we were pretty much at one pub or another. great afternoon, perfect weather, delicious pints not to mention the 18 bottles of champagne. We had a bit of a going away dinner where I was awarded the fig leaf award, and some other one by my classmates, but i really couldn't say why. I also know that some mean man stole the bottle of champagne that I had rightfully stolen from the college. Ah well. Went out that night and on the way home Phil and I discovered what we thought to be hedgehogs in the bushes. alas, they were not but we gave it a good effort to capture them nonetheless.

Next morning the lovely scouts (more to come) invaded my room quite early, well it was after Azadeh but shes allowed. They tricked me into giving away all my food and i had to go and beg them for a teabag after they had stolen it away to their PRIVATE cabinet. Bunch of bi****s. Whatever, I was up and to cure the hangover Matt came down to finish the bottle of gin I had in my room. Really good idea at the time but not in the long run. after a good wander around Oxford and our last meeting at the turf with the whole Shipley clan Ritu, Azadeh, and I had a drink, watched a movie, and had another. I had to get on the bus to go to the airport at 1am. sleepless night #2.

Flying into Amsterdam leaving London at 6am is never a good idea but it seemed it at the time. Not even multiple cups of coffee could keep me up for that adventure. Terry was supposed to be there when I got there and of course he wasn't. Luckily Dave had sent over a walkie talkie so we could be in constant communication for the trip. the only problem was I had it on the wrong channel. Doh. So after sitting outside the arrivals gate about an hour the noisy Americans finally popped out. what a time to follow...

My Friend Jack Sent Me This Followed By An Invitation To His Wedding

Map-reading postie finds address

A postman turned map reader to deliver a letter which was marked only with a name and a drawing.

A map on the envelope had a dot drawn in north Cornwall and an arrow saying "Somewhere Here".

Postal workers in Bude, north Cornwall managed to pinpoint the right address and deliver the letter.

The letter to Peter O'Leary, was from a long-lost work colleague who failed to enclose his own address so Mr O'Leary cannot write back.

Bude's delivery office manager Andrew Lake said post workers worked out from the map the intended address was in Bude and then asked each other if anyone recognised the name Peter O'Leary.

Postman Eric Seymour realised Mr O'Leary lived on his round and said the customer was astounded when he handed over the letter.

"The customer was very impressed indeed and we were delighted to be able to deliver the item," said Mr Lake.

"I have come across vague addresses on letters such as the house two doors down from the church, but never a map."

----

So yes, it's true, they do have a mail system that works. I know you have all been hesitant to send me mail for this very reason. Now that you know don't hesitate to send me all kinds of things that are American in the mail.

Address:

Nick Carse
106 Banbury Road
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX2 6JU
UK

Thanks, I will be on the lookout. Let me know if you need a map to draw on the envelope, I just figured that the above would be more efficient.

Nick + Snowboard = Quite An Amazing Scene

Over the past few weeks I have been pondering whether board riding sports (or activities as it were) are really for me. I have, in the past, been "into" wakeboarding, snowboarding, and surfing. All of these have one thing in common: balance and coordination. I have felt comfortable for some time now that I am not a great athlete and never will be but I figured that I could manage these fun outdoor activities quite well. Looking back at my record I may have been wrong.

Surfing: don't know if I ever stood up for more than 5 seconds. Wakeboarding: broke my eardrum. And now snowboarding. I have done it several even multiple times in the past with varied results. An experience in Breckenridge left me with a little less brains in that I fell down with concussion like force. In Queenstown Jo nearly lost a leg with my out of control steering of the board. And now in Morzine I don't know what the hell happened. I think that I was pretty bad but I made it down the hill most times in one piece. I took some kids out, was on my ass a lot, and don't know what happened the rest of the time. Still a great time. Fug taught me a lot, Dr Taylor kicked my ass down the hill, and Jo twirled circles around me. Actually, by the end of the week I was quite good and was going full bore down through the powder. I'm loving it. As witnessed by the above picture I needed ski poles when I broke Dr Taylor's bindings the last day. Either that or I stole them from Jo so she would be stranded.

A Little New Year's Wine

Yeah, well I suppose that this was nearly a month ago but don't worry I remember it like it were yesterday. The thing I love about New Year's is that I usually don't remember them so this was a first for some time. Last year Grassy and I spent New Year's in the lovely Sidebar in downtown Atlanta and had all you can drink liquor which is never a good scene if you are trying to "get your money's worth." This year was slightly different but great all the same.

So if memory serves New Year's eve was a Sunday. This would typically be no good were in Georgia because on Sundays there are no alcohol sales. This clearly impedes any good celebration. This year even being in the land of champagne we nearly weren't able to get any either. Luckily we made it to Shoppi about 10 minutes before it closed. We were late because on the walk down a fireworks show happened to start so of course we had to sit at road side to take in the spectacle. Quite nice I tell you, the only one better was in Hakone in Japan for their summer festival. Anyway, Jo and I had decided to cook our own delicious meal for the evening and after some discussion decided on crayfish pasta, salad, bread, wine. Quite typical and let me tell you the preparation was second to none. Luckily in the amount of time it took the checkout lady to yell at us to hurry up in French (I assume) I had made it to the wine section and picked up a couple bottles of bubbly.

Jo's mum had told us that it is a French tradition that at midnight everyone goes into the streets and hugs and celebrates together. We had decided to go to this sweet French discotheque to party the night away however, we never made it. We started watching this guy who controls minds and tells them to give him their wallets, guesses how much money they are carrying, etc., etc. Well we got into watching tv on the computer and drinking our (real) champagne and we realized it was nearly midnight. Went outside and yelled and whistled and couldn't find anyone to hug but ourselves. Luckily up the street a guy who worked in the kitchen at the Concorde was outside smoking. Jo ran to give him a hug and she was pleased. Never made it to the club but it was beautiful because it had begun snowing and was beautiful outside. Chock another one up -- '07 here I come.

My Purple Coated Friend

Ferg (Jo's little bro) and I established a bit of a custom on the lifts at Avoriaz the first day on the slopes. Well, to be quite honest it seems as if he has been pulling this stunt for some time. At any rate while in cue to get on the lift you pile and pack snow onto the front of your snowboard to be used later as snowballs to hit unsuspecting skiers below. Well, on one trip up after a very successful previous mission resulting in 2 direct hits, we were accompanied by a nice purple coated German. To be quite honest he was anything but amused. We all know the German's sense of humor and their ability to be quite serious in certain situations. Things were not good. After we unloaded on some slow targets and missing them this man asks us if we know the people below. Of course we say no because we aren't liars and didn't know the barrage of insults that was to come. He first asked our ages and I told him I was 22 to avoid some embarrassment but even this measure proved to be useless. He told us we were acting like 5 year olds and maybe we should go back to school. He then threatened to get us kicked out by telling the guy at the top who helps the young and old off the lift. After he sees this employee is about 16 he decides not to say anything and tells us we are lucky this time. We of course are snickering and laughing the whole time he is telling us we are 5 year olds. Perhaps the best part is when he tells us that it is our fun in throwing snow balls. I thought this was true and quite obvious which I told him and he of course had something else to say. In all of this I learned that guys in purple ski suits are serious, not to marry a German (although his wife was silent throughout the ride), and that certain things not translating well is a good thing at times. For all who might be wondering: it is best to do this if you are under 18 years of age I believe but we did get Jo's dad to do it as well so maybe not, fun can be had by all. After all this we had to sit down and have a mulled wine and crepe. The above picture is what a typical victim would look like post-pelting.

So it begins...

Well, after a beautiful little jog around the Oxford Sporting Grounds I finally feel that it is the time that dirtysnell.blogspot should be underway. I know many of you have waited with bated breath for me to leave the country again so you can feel close to me again. I have this feeling as well.

First impressions of Oxford: pubs have low ceilings, the skies are usually gray, the people almost all talk with a funny accent, the age of the buildings can be felt and seen no matter what part of town you are in. Since Hilary Term has not yet begun not many people (students) are around. Today however seemed to be move in day as I sat in the St Anne's Library window. It brought me back to 1998 when I was dropped off and moved into Lipscomb Hall to begin a four year Athens adventure. Though this period may be abbreviated I do still have the first day of school butterflies and a sense that there is a new chapter of my life to be written. I suppose we shall see...