Lunch across from parliament
Monday, September 3, 2007
Free Fancy Friday
Friday held more promise. Hilary and Deirdre had made a list of things they needed from town and were relishing the idea of a free trip provided by the NSA. At one o’clock they hopped into a fellow student named Andreas’ shiny red Volkswagen. He was an exceptionally large WASP whose car accentuated his lumbering size. The girls thanked him after arrival and Deirdre's eyes lingered a while as he drove away. They ate at Pizza Hut with the group. Deirdre scraped the cheese off her slices which Hilary used, to her sister’s disgust, on her crust. Conversation at the table became interesting when a few Norwegian girls began to explain, in no uncertain terms, why they did not want to join the EU. Tickled by their blatant selfishness and concern for independence, Hilary and Deirdre decided they liked Norwegians.
Norway
Deirdre in Bracknell
After the meal they separated from the group and spent the rest of the afternoon pillaging all the thrift and discount shops of Bracknell. Deirdre bought a bone coloured pea coat that fit her shoulders and waist perfectly; while her less practical sister bought a stegosaurus on a necklace, which Deirdre insisted looked like a hedgehog, for ninety-nine pence. The “Indian” store was finally discovered and was everything they had been promised. School supplies, candles, detergent, headphones, etc…the girl’s combined total did not reach twenty quid.
Decorations purchased at the Indian store
With all their essential shopping completed they ventured back to the indoor mall where the sister’s differing monetary discretion was once again demonstrated: Deirdre bought a bottle of water and sat at the café with all their booty while Hilary strolled across the mall into Sainsbury to purchase something. Exiting the store, she grinned shamelessly at her little sister, with her new Doctor Who, sonic screwdriver and slightly-psychic paper cradled in her arms. Between swigs of water, Deirdre photographed her sister’s joy and eventual disappointment: the sonic screwdriver required a more earthly screwdriver to insert the batteries.
Hilary opening her new toy
After being ignored by the 5:15 bus to Binfield, the girls hoofed their way to the bus station where they met another student who suggested they share a cab back to the school. After again avoiding the bus they freshened themselves for vespers in their room and fought sleep through the entire service.
Ready to escape after its conclusion both decided to skip out on exchanging blessings they were supposed to have written on 3x5 cards. But they steadied their rush after noticing an attractive pride of male students sitting a few rows behind them. As if they had spoken their thoughts aloud, the sisters were soon surrounded by these students. While they approached Deirdre scribbled down a blessing in Gaelic she struggled to spell correctly. Hilary left hers blank and smiled at the approaching pack. Drawn out by a musician who requested her help deciphering a blessing given to him in French, Hilary was cut off from the her sister. He was part of a band that played frequently in London and had EMI records knocking on their door. Genuinely relieved to have finally found a music scene after four days of purely school related events, Hilary felt a tightness loosen in her.
Deirdre was surrounded by the four other gents who filled the group. All attention on her and her California persona, she managed to charm each of them from the most concrete to the most cerebral (her knowledge of Doctor Who aided in the later).
Blessing given to Deirdre by one of the pack
Both sisters were invited to the next night’s event and looked forward to the next morning, a little more than the last.
Getting ready for church.
Considering what to write with her new pen.
Norway
Deirdre in Bracknell
After the meal they separated from the group and spent the rest of the afternoon pillaging all the thrift and discount shops of Bracknell. Deirdre bought a bone coloured pea coat that fit her shoulders and waist perfectly; while her less practical sister bought a stegosaurus on a necklace, which Deirdre insisted looked like a hedgehog, for ninety-nine pence. The “Indian” store was finally discovered and was everything they had been promised. School supplies, candles, detergent, headphones, etc…the girl’s combined total did not reach twenty quid.
Decorations purchased at the Indian store
With all their essential shopping completed they ventured back to the indoor mall where the sister’s differing monetary discretion was once again demonstrated: Deirdre bought a bottle of water and sat at the café with all their booty while Hilary strolled across the mall into Sainsbury to purchase something. Exiting the store, she grinned shamelessly at her little sister, with her new Doctor Who, sonic screwdriver and slightly-psychic paper cradled in her arms. Between swigs of water, Deirdre photographed her sister’s joy and eventual disappointment: the sonic screwdriver required a more earthly screwdriver to insert the batteries.
Hilary opening her new toy
After being ignored by the 5:15 bus to Binfield, the girls hoofed their way to the bus station where they met another student who suggested they share a cab back to the school. After again avoiding the bus they freshened themselves for vespers in their room and fought sleep through the entire service.
Ready to escape after its conclusion both decided to skip out on exchanging blessings they were supposed to have written on 3x5 cards. But they steadied their rush after noticing an attractive pride of male students sitting a few rows behind them. As if they had spoken their thoughts aloud, the sisters were soon surrounded by these students. While they approached Deirdre scribbled down a blessing in Gaelic she struggled to spell correctly. Hilary left hers blank and smiled at the approaching pack. Drawn out by a musician who requested her help deciphering a blessing given to him in French, Hilary was cut off from the her sister. He was part of a band that played frequently in London and had EMI records knocking on their door. Genuinely relieved to have finally found a music scene after four days of purely school related events, Hilary felt a tightness loosen in her.
Deirdre was surrounded by the four other gents who filled the group. All attention on her and her California persona, she managed to charm each of them from the most concrete to the most cerebral (her knowledge of Doctor Who aided in the later).
Blessing given to Deirdre by one of the pack
Both sisters were invited to the next night’s event and looked forward to the next morning, a little more than the last.
Getting ready for church.
Considering what to write with her new pen.
Babel-Babble
Diversity is a curse. Or so the Lord thought when he confused all the day workers stacking bricks for the tower of Babel. But in a never-ending Christian quest to turn lemons into lemonade the administration at Newbold prides itself on enrolling students from sixty different countries. The first chore the Hackleman girls faced after settling into their new surroundings was registration. Multiculturalism in all its glory taxed the still jetlagged ladies. The words: What? Pardon? Excuse me? I’m sorry I don’t understand, etc…were the most used that day. It was not only a stupid American problem; the handicap was shared by every student. This speed bump combined with Newbold’s recent discovery of computer networking, made registration a tedious, day-long process. Unlike the tower however, no one seemed particularly frustrated during the length of the day. This puzzled Hilary most. The idea that all these students were being corralled by a comparatively incompetent staff, without complaint, astonished her. She was torn between admiration and frustration. She silently commended everyone’s patience, but couldn’t help from being disappointed with everyone’s acceptance of mediocrity. Deirdre was appalled by the organization and even after completing registration wasn’t convinced they actually were.
One bonus to the day’s disorder was that they were assigned to two tutors (advisors) each (everyone else only had one—this was purely a mistake on the school’s part). They had to hunt to find them and finally found one of the four. His name was Professor Balderstone. Being the head of the dramatic arts at Newbold, Deirdre couldn’t help from looking at the ground and shaking her head in pity. She wasn’t sure she felt sorrier for her sister or for the tutor if he rubbed Hilary the wrong way. When they entered his office the posters on his walls made the girls immediately warm up to him. Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet was above his desk along with a movie still from Blade Runner. He quickly realized that Hilary really belonged to his colleague, Professor Trim. After showing them a picture of Trim in a kilt at Balderstone’s wedding, he took them one door down and introduced them to the eccentric, unruly-haired, Dr. Trim. They exchanged details about their countries of origin. Still confused by accents, Hilary managed to understand he was from India and England. Once they established a course schedule (that’s pronounced shed-yool) Hilary and Deirdre proceeded down the hall to Professor Traille’s office. After three swift knocks a busy lady in her late forties answered the door while abruptly ending her phone conversation. She stepped around the room quickly adjusting papers, shifting chairs, sidestepping piles of books and school rubbish. Once standing still she looked at both girls and said, “Take a seat. So, you’re the Hackleman sisters!” The sisters glanced at each other and then back at their new tutor and Hilary asked if they had already established a reputation after only three days in the country. Traille rattled off something in English neither girl understood and then began apologizing for the sad state of her office. Apparently the school had moved her office while she was on holiday and was still trying to attain normalcy. She pointed to a shattered picture frame on the floor with her toe and said, “I still need to bill them for that nonsense.” She was native to Britain and seemed to genuinely enjoy the girls. Hilary took a liking to Dr. Traille after she mentioned her resemblance of Brit pop-star Billie Piper. Even though Deirdre believed Traille to have underscored her sister’s looks with the comparison, she was pleased to have Traille as her tutor.
Billie and Hilary comparison
The first day of classes was their longest so far. French class was to be their first but, true-to-form, the French tutor was still on holiday. The girls bided the next few hours by cleaning their room even more. Their next classes were at eleven. Hilary’s was Reformation, Culture and Society in Early Modern England, c. 1545-1640 with Professor Trim. She liked him better after the introduction to his class. His disheveled, academic, strictly-historian attire fit him better after evidence of his knowledge and affection of and for his subject.
Hilary's drawing
Deirdre was under whelmed by her first day of college and hoped to be at least whelmed in the coming weeks.
After class was the first NSA (Newbold Student Association, not to be confused with the National Security Agency) event: The Barbeque. Not having made it to the last two beginning of school mixers of her college career, Hilary feared the ritual would be unfamiliar and awkward. Never willing to be a victim she armed herself with her new Canon XTi and hoped her sister would fare the storm unarmed. Accidentally a half hour late, they arrived to discover only buns, salad and condiments left on the tables. Deirdre quickly led the way to a group of friends while Hilary slowly joined her taking pictures the whole way. The events of the evening are best retold in photographs:
Chef
Principle
Awkward relay
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Piercing Day Two
English breakfast + SDAism = Decaf tea, dried fruit, toast and jam.
Internationalism is alive and well at Newbold. After collecting nourishment on their dining trays Hilary and Deirdre stood before the dining hall. The room was not nearly as intimidating as say, PUC's dining hall. The choice of seats are limited and Deirdre, feeling adventurous and kind lead the way to a seat with a girl from Spain named Maria. The language barrier became apparent very quickly and lead to a lot of eye contact with the cereal in their bowls.
After Maria departed from the Californians, another girl sat with them. Her cheery smile and better handle on the English language allotted more conversation between the three ladies. A new convert from Norway, she gave the sisters a brief testimonial. Before Deirdre finished her peppermint tea both sisters had an invitation to a Norwegian youth conference in October.
Later the girls embarked on their second journey to Bracknell. The half hour jaunt made them think perhaps they were jetlagged. Having a list of needed items with no definite destination did not help with their increasing exhaustion. But they tallied forth, attributing their perseverance to the glorious weather and their American breeding.
Princess Square on High Street provided their every need. Argos was the store that really amazed them. It was filled with catalogues as thick as phonebooks. Within every catalog were products with codes you entered into a machine along with your credit card, after your purchase the machine spits your receipt out at you. Upon your receipt is your order number. Very simple. But not if you're unfamiliar with this form of shopping.
With all their essential purchasing out of the way Deirdre decided to step into Claire's to have her ears pierced. Hilary was only slightly disappointed by Deirdre's nonchalant attitude about the life changing, body altering procedure. After signing her name on several dotted lines agreeing not to sue Claire's for punching holes in her cartilage, she received two evenly placed CZ studs in her lovely lobes.
It was time to begin their return. With hands full of bags they shrugged and sighed as they pondered their plight. Hilary, feeling her years, decided to look for a bus. The two ladies stared at the bus sign until they were sure they understood the route. Seated patiently upon a bench they both silently wondered if the bus system worked on bank holidays. Several people passed them without answering their, "Excuse me" or, "Hey!" Undiscouraged, Hilary attempted to grab the attention of a gentleman exiting the gym behind them. His attention was grabbed and held. She asked him if he knew anything about the bus system and he replied no. Then paused and offered them a ride to Binfield if they could wait five minutes while he closed the gym. Hilary quickly analyzed the situation and decided that a ride with the gym manager couldn't be any more dangerous than the English bus system (or waiting for it alone at the bus stop). After the gentleman, named Jamie, locked up they piled their bags into his car and headed towards Binfield spinning through roundabouts and threatening cyclists. He spoke most of the way there and answered a few of the ladies' questions. They understood some of the answers but were dumbfounded at how little they comprehended. The half hour walk was only a two minute drive and Jamie dropped them off at the front of the school with well-wishing. Hilary and Deirdre were very appreciative and thanked him profusely. They walked back to their dorm thrilled with their good luck.
Sleepy again, they put their new pillows to use and slept until dark. The rest of their evening was spent creating a Little America in their minds while they watched an episode of Veronica Mars they wished they could have shared with their beloved parents.
Internationalism is alive and well at Newbold. After collecting nourishment on their dining trays Hilary and Deirdre stood before the dining hall. The room was not nearly as intimidating as say, PUC's dining hall. The choice of seats are limited and Deirdre, feeling adventurous and kind lead the way to a seat with a girl from Spain named Maria. The language barrier became apparent very quickly and lead to a lot of eye contact with the cereal in their bowls.
After Maria departed from the Californians, another girl sat with them. Her cheery smile and better handle on the English language allotted more conversation between the three ladies. A new convert from Norway, she gave the sisters a brief testimonial. Before Deirdre finished her peppermint tea both sisters had an invitation to a Norwegian youth conference in October.
Later the girls embarked on their second journey to Bracknell. The half hour jaunt made them think perhaps they were jetlagged. Having a list of needed items with no definite destination did not help with their increasing exhaustion. But they tallied forth, attributing their perseverance to the glorious weather and their American breeding.
Princess Square on High Street provided their every need. Argos was the store that really amazed them. It was filled with catalogues as thick as phonebooks. Within every catalog were products with codes you entered into a machine along with your credit card, after your purchase the machine spits your receipt out at you. Upon your receipt is your order number. Very simple. But not if you're unfamiliar with this form of shopping.
With all their essential purchasing out of the way Deirdre decided to step into Claire's to have her ears pierced. Hilary was only slightly disappointed by Deirdre's nonchalant attitude about the life changing, body altering procedure. After signing her name on several dotted lines agreeing not to sue Claire's for punching holes in her cartilage, she received two evenly placed CZ studs in her lovely lobes.
It was time to begin their return. With hands full of bags they shrugged and sighed as they pondered their plight. Hilary, feeling her years, decided to look for a bus. The two ladies stared at the bus sign until they were sure they understood the route. Seated patiently upon a bench they both silently wondered if the bus system worked on bank holidays. Several people passed them without answering their, "Excuse me" or, "Hey!" Undiscouraged, Hilary attempted to grab the attention of a gentleman exiting the gym behind them. His attention was grabbed and held. She asked him if he knew anything about the bus system and he replied no. Then paused and offered them a ride to Binfield if they could wait five minutes while he closed the gym. Hilary quickly analyzed the situation and decided that a ride with the gym manager couldn't be any more dangerous than the English bus system (or waiting for it alone at the bus stop). After the gentleman, named Jamie, locked up they piled their bags into his car and headed towards Binfield spinning through roundabouts and threatening cyclists. He spoke most of the way there and answered a few of the ladies' questions. They understood some of the answers but were dumbfounded at how little they comprehended. The half hour walk was only a two minute drive and Jamie dropped them off at the front of the school with well-wishing. Hilary and Deirdre were very appreciative and thanked him profusely. They walked back to their dorm thrilled with their good luck.
Sleepy again, they put their new pillows to use and slept until dark. The rest of their evening was spent creating a Little America in their minds while they watched an episode of Veronica Mars they wished they could have shared with their beloved parents.
Arrival
The Hackleman ladies arrived at the airport without father due to the enormous size of Hilary's suite case. Upon arrival they also discovered that each daughter could have checked an additional 50lb case. This lead to some last minute packing adjustments in a $30 Virgin Atlantic duffle bag that threatened the dominance of Hilary's suite case.
After receiving tickets and checking the luggage they proceeded to the international building at LAX that provided an assortment of restaurants to satisfy a variety of pallets. Father Hackleman would not have been sad to have missed this dining experience due to his lack of affection for Mexican cuisine.
The girls waved farewell to their mother as they effortlessly ascended on an escalator to the terminals. They waved without reservation and experienced a fleeting feeling of freedom followed by imminent responsibility. Once on board their flight both girls poured through the on flight movie listings. Hot Fuzz was first on the list followed by other Hackleman girl staples: Arrested Development, Doctor Who and The Office. Sleep was not an option due to the cramped space and general fear of missing something.
The flight fittingly flew by and landed like a really heavy feather. Suite cases were found and hauled all over Heathrow. The Newbold ride looked at their luggage with dread and hurried them to the parking lot. With expertise and determination all the luggage was piled into the Nissan four-door. The ride drove on the wrong side the entire time and arrived with speed and at Binfield in under 45 minutes.
After some arranging the dean managed to fulfill Deirdre's three-month-old request to room with her sister. During this time both girls waited a couch, Hilary curled up on her side resting her head on her sisters lap. Once in their first floor room the girls used their last ounce of energy to leave the school to find an adaptor, shampoo and bath towels.
The town was farther away than they thought and the 4pm Sunday closing time was fast approaching. Hilary and Deirdre both wished that Hilary's beloved Lark was there to help carry her and her sister to town. They found a hardware store that had an adaptor they could use. The young man who helped them named Michael, required five other attendants to answer their second question: if Safeway was still open and if they had towels. Sleep deprivation was starting to make everything cloudy and increasingly sleepy. One more fast-talking brit would destroy the girls ambition soon. With their new adaptor in hand they returned to the school and bought some soap and conditioner at a mini-mart down the way that was apprently in violation of the Sunday law or so Hilary thought. When she asked the clerk about it she was told that "little shops weren't held under that law." And, "It's not like America here, not all stores are open 24 hours." With unusual self-control, Hilary recoiled and did not take offense at the gross generalization.
Back in the room both girls checked and wrote e-mails to inform their loved ones of their safe arrival, made their beds and went to sleep...
After receiving tickets and checking the luggage they proceeded to the international building at LAX that provided an assortment of restaurants to satisfy a variety of pallets. Father Hackleman would not have been sad to have missed this dining experience due to his lack of affection for Mexican cuisine.
The girls waved farewell to their mother as they effortlessly ascended on an escalator to the terminals. They waved without reservation and experienced a fleeting feeling of freedom followed by imminent responsibility. Once on board their flight both girls poured through the on flight movie listings. Hot Fuzz was first on the list followed by other Hackleman girl staples: Arrested Development, Doctor Who and The Office. Sleep was not an option due to the cramped space and general fear of missing something.
The flight fittingly flew by and landed like a really heavy feather. Suite cases were found and hauled all over Heathrow. The Newbold ride looked at their luggage with dread and hurried them to the parking lot. With expertise and determination all the luggage was piled into the Nissan four-door. The ride drove on the wrong side the entire time and arrived with speed and at Binfield in under 45 minutes.
After some arranging the dean managed to fulfill Deirdre's three-month-old request to room with her sister. During this time both girls waited a couch, Hilary curled up on her side resting her head on her sisters lap. Once in their first floor room the girls used their last ounce of energy to leave the school to find an adaptor, shampoo and bath towels.
The town was farther away than they thought and the 4pm Sunday closing time was fast approaching. Hilary and Deirdre both wished that Hilary's beloved Lark was there to help carry her and her sister to town. They found a hardware store that had an adaptor they could use. The young man who helped them named Michael, required five other attendants to answer their second question: if Safeway was still open and if they had towels. Sleep deprivation was starting to make everything cloudy and increasingly sleepy. One more fast-talking brit would destroy the girls ambition soon. With their new adaptor in hand they returned to the school and bought some soap and conditioner at a mini-mart down the way that was apprently in violation of the Sunday law or so Hilary thought. When she asked the clerk about it she was told that "little shops weren't held under that law." And, "It's not like America here, not all stores are open 24 hours." With unusual self-control, Hilary recoiled and did not take offense at the gross generalization.
Back in the room both girls checked and wrote e-mails to inform their loved ones of their safe arrival, made their beds and went to sleep...
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