A weekend packed to the gills with outings and meals out left me a little worse for wear today. Icky chills, achey limbs and flegmy throat are excuse enough for me to take an afternoon off.
I fell asleep on the sofa with Harry Potter beside me. When I woke up 2 hours later I was in a panic of disorientation, thinking it was tomorrow and that I'd not yet planned my lecture which I was certain I was already late for.
It's still today, but it's true that my lecture remains unplanned, and I'm going out for dinner with friends in spite of my Mother's voice in my head saying "If you're too sick for school then you're too sick to go out!"
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Currently wondering: How on earth did we go from being friendless foreigners in Aberdeen to having a full social calendar, in a matter of months? I may complain about the weather and expensive restaurants, but there's no denying that the people in Aberdeen are pretty wonderful.
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This week:
On TUESDAY we hosted dinner for two lovely Irish girls from church - a second year med student and a first year nursing student. Back in Belfast these girls live only a few blocks from one another. To listen to their accents you'd think they were from opposite ends of the country - a testament to the ancient British "accent = class" stereotype. One of these girls went to a posh private school and one was homeschooled. It's something we encounter often, and a blog post in the making.
On FRIDAY after a looong day at Starbucks I opted in for the Community & Lifelong Learning Christmas dinner. I am making a genuine effort to like my co-workers at the College. This was a step.
Jaws may drop when I say this: We were spoiled at TWU. Birthday, farewell, Christmas and Summer fun lunches/dinners were always payed for. So forgive me if I resent forking over $50 for my curry dinner with the College.
My consolation was that at 9pm sharp I was picked up by two charming men and whisked away to an evening of wine, whiskey and banter with our four favourite Aberdonians. Dean and I walked home after midnight, happy, feeling known.
On SATURDAY after another day of coffee serving, Dean and I got gussied up for a night on the town with my Starbucks cronies. By contrast to Friday night, we enjoyed a three course meal and a bottle of wine courtesy of the company. Starbucks is not too evil.
After dinner 20 of us walked through the rain, past leering drunks, brawling "
neds" and shrieking
"chavs" (who are apparently impervious to icy wind and rain) to hit up Bassment, the first of what would be several bars before 5am. Ten minutes and one shot of Jagermeister later, Dean caught my eye and gave me the "let's blow this joint" nod. And I gave him the "I heartilly agree" nod.
Suddenly we find we are just too old for that scene. The difference between 22 and 27is vast it seems - from this vantage point, a night of
Chuck and
Heroes downloads is more fun than throbbing bass an beer-soaked carpet.
TOMORROW is our last day in Aberdeen for a little while.
TO DO LIST: Buy more dishes for the 2008 onslaught of guests. Wash sheets, make beds. Mail cards. Get coffee. Pack!
