Projects and Pronunciations

Random Fact: "Cockney rhyming slang is rarely used in Northern England. The last word of the phrase is usually the main rhyme of the word the person is trying to say."

I've been working really hard on my comparison of "Friends" to "Two Pints of Lager". I've been going back through episodes of both shows and I hope that I'm able to pronounce some of the places correctly. I am a lot better at pronouncing place names, but sometimes I will say "Ed-in-burg" instead of "Ed-in-burough" or "York-shire" instead of "York-shur" b/c it annoys one of my friends. We like to joke around with one another and we amaze each other sometimes when we say words that are pronounced very differently. She will say "garage" like "carriage" (but with a "g" instead of a "c") and I'll pronounce it "guh-ra-ge". I really need to learn how to speak in phonetics.

Today, we did a practice run for our television news programme and b/c of the awkwardness of the shooting we've made the interviewee into the presenter and the interviewer b/c he wanted to be the presenter (and it didn't look right if he were being interviewed as well). Therefore, I am now the interviewee, but the theme is music and the interviewer is going to do a comparison between British concerts and American concerts. I'm suppose to be the American correspondent.

I don't have to worry too much about the papers b/c all of my professors say: it does not matter if you use American/British spelling/grammar as long as you are consistent. I'm going to try my hand at writing in Harvard Style. It'll be time consuming, but I've had to teach myself how to write in APA and Chicago, so I'll be fine.

Although, I will admit that I'm going to miss this Uni when I have to go. I'm going to miss the awesome classes, the great people, and the relaxed atmosphere. However, if there's one thing that I will not miss, it is the Geordie accent. It's not the words they use as much as the high-pitch voice that a lot of the Geordie use. I do enjoy the British, Irish, and Scottish accents I have heard so far and as a Communication major I find it very interesting how one language can have so many different dialects and different pronunciations.

Classes and Trips

Random Fact: "Boxing Day is celebrated the day after Christmas and it was originally used by the wealthy who would give their help gifts/food that was left from Christmas."

Here's all the work that I have due by the end of the semester: 4 papers, a presentation comparing "Friends" to "Two Pints of Lager", a 3 minute film, a television studio project, and now you can add producer of a radio show to the list. It sounds like a lot of work that is due within the next two weeks, but I think my groups and I can pull it off if we work together. This could be a problem in one of my classes, but I'm not going to worry about it.

These projects have been keeping me busy over the weekends, so I haven't got the chance to travel as much, but I hope to start traveling some more after all of this is over. I can no longer fly over to Ireland like I originally planned, but I might be able to go back to Edinburgh with a friend of mine. We have also talked about going to Middlesborough to help them prepare for a wedding in Scotland. I was invited to go, but it's on June 26th and my grandmother is making a long-distance trip to come see us before then, so I need to go home early. I haven't seen her in almost a decade, so I definitely need to make sure I get home by then.

Regardless of all the work being due almost the same week, I will admit that this has been the best semester ever. The classes were exciting and it wasn't just theory, but it actually taught me how to use the equipment and some of the skills needed in order to make a film, television news programme, and radio show. I can now take this experience with me and not feel like a stranger when I try to apply for a Master's or a job within the world of media.

British Birthday

First of all, if you ever get the chance to go to Yorkshire I think should go. Especially if you love roller coaster rides b/c my friend and I used the points on her card that she saved and got in for free. The roller coaster is a mile and a half long and it was incredible! Plus, there were no lines so we were able to ride it four times.

My friend's father was celebrating a birthday, so I went with her to the party to see how people celebrate birthdays in Britain. Her uncle, who knew I was an American, told me a story about the "wild haggis" that roamed free throughout Scotland and described what one looked like. Of course, I knew what a haggis was so I didn't really believe him. Unfortunately, the friend that invited me to the party did and later on she did an internet search and discovered it wasn't real. LOL, I still can't believe that she believed his stories. Though, I will give him credit, he was a good story-teller.

In case anyone is wondering, they don't really do anything different for birthdays that I have seen. There was cake and ice cream, friends and family members attended, and I guess the only difference was watching people younger than me drinking alcohol while I drank water. I don't know why, but for some reason Britain seems like a country that lives on alcohol. Not everyone drinks in England, but if you tell someone you don't drink alcohol they look at you like you've just committed a murder.

Today I started classes again and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was stage manager for my TV studio class and I'm surprised at how well we did coming back from break. It wasn't perfect, but at least the equipment wasn't breaking down like last time :). Next time, I'm going to be a presenter I believe, so I'll have to find my own stories to report.

I'm Back

Random Fact: "There are at least three, if not more, dialects in Spain: Spanish, Catalunya, and Catalan."

Okay, I'm back from my travels. I know it's early, but let's just say that things didn't go according to plan. I've learned a lot on this trip though and I will say that it was still fun. However, I really need to get out of the habit of answering people in Spanish instead of English. And to think my Spanish III teacher in high school said that we didn't need to know Spain Spanish b/c "it's not like any of you are going there". I think I'm going to take the rest of this week to relax and maybe go with a friend to Yorkshire in order to ride the longest roller coaster in Europe :).

Also, I know this is a bit off-topic, but considering that I have friends attending this college and my family lives an hour away I felt I needed to make an entry about it. What happened at Virginia Tech was really unfortunate and I hope that this event does not repeat itself. Guns are illegal in Britain, but it does make you take a step back at some of the American colleges and wonder if it could happen to them...then could it happen at other colleges? My prayers go out to all those students and I hope that none of my friends are among those who were killed or wounded.