What was October?

After Ireland, I decided it would be best to spend a few weekends around the manor (read: save some money). So between working shifts on the library on Sundays and a few day trips here and there, I enjoyed sleeping in and wearing lots of sweatpants. My roommate was often off traveling these few weekends, so I had the room to myself. I usually slept in til around 10, take a shower, eat lunch around noon, then work on homework til dinner.

I had lots of homework due in about a two week span. A few quizzes, lots of Shakespeare to read, a Shakespeare presentation and paper on two film versions of Henry V, a rough draft for my term paper in British Studies. It was exhausting! But I survived.

One Saturday, my friend Libby and I went to Skegness. Now, we had heard that Skegness was

kinda...shady. I mean, it's a touristy British vacation place. In all actually, it is the Smokey

Mountain area of the coast of England. It's like Pigeon Forge was picked up and relocated. But I loved it! The train took us right there, and we just walked around. But here, pictures do a better job than my paltry words.

This is actually the view from my window, looking a little to the left. It's quite lovely, no?

This is the real reason we went to Skegness - baby seals!

They have a HUGE rescue operation - they rehabilitate them for however long, then release them back in the wild. Since they have been doing this (the 80s, I think), they have released over 80.

We even got to watch them be fed!

Sadly, we could not pet the seals. The illustration is my favorite.

Aren't they cute? They are just like dogs waiting to be fed.

I love this picture. This is an adult seal that they keep for breeding/study purposes. They have four or five adults.

The beach at Skegness. Not the most picturesque, but I liked it. See the windmills? Yay for renewable energy!

Libby and your lovely blogger on the beach. We're rocking the shades that day.

The pier.

You can see the rides and such.

Beautiful weather!

All closed up.

Really, Skegness was a nice little jaunt away from campus. It was nice to walk around in the the fresh air!

The next exciting thing to happen was a field trip! Here in the UK, we get to go on field trips still, even in college! It's wonderful. The first field trip was to Lincoln, and it was nice. The second one was...okay. We went to Southwell (pronounced Suth-ul) Workhouse. The workhouse was a Victorian institution that was founded on the idea that poverty could be avoided by putting the poor in these houses and making them work, all day, for just food, room, and board. Somehow, it was supposed to make them want to get a real job. I'm still unclear on how exactly it was supposed to work myself. After Southwell, we went to Belvoir (pronounced Beaver, I don't lie) Castle. The Duke of Rutland lives there, as he has for many, many years.

The workhouse was cold and depressing, and the castle was huge and ornate. The best part? Belvoir had peacocks! So yours truly became The Peacock Wrangler Extraordinare.

See, they are trying to run. But they can't!

I got thisclose to a peacock. And didn't run. Somehow, England has made me hate birds of all sorts. The peacock is okay. Pigeons are my new worst enemy.

Our bus driver started feeding them nutra-grain bars.

Well, that was October for the most part. Lots of studying and chilling here on campus. I love staying here some weekends, simply because I live in a giant Victorian manor house. It's beautiful.

If you want a little present-time update, I just got back from Amsterdam. It's a beautiful city with lots to do and wonderful museums. But that update will come soon enough!

Much love.