Adventure and opportunity

17/1 - Football practice on Friday was really cold. It was so cold, I took my hoody off in the middle of the workout, and about an hour later I came back and there was ice on it! But those two hours went by so quickly. It turns out practice is way more fun when we have pads on and hit each other. In fact, during the scrimmage I made a textbook-perfect tackle on one of the receivers. I think that was the highlight of the season for me. I'm getting more comfortable getting lower and hitting in the right spot. I felt so exhilarated after that practice, and now I'm stoked for Sunday's scrimmage.

I went to another Poole Town FC game today, though they lost 1-0. People were pretty angry after the game, and since the players, coaches and officials have to walk through the crowd to get to the locker room, they got plenty of abuse. Dad called me a soccer junkie, and I think it's true. But I'm going to these games because they're part of my neighborhood. I'm going to try to get an interview with one of the players for the school newspaper. His name is Joe Quigley and he's on loan from the Bournemouth AFC youth team, so that's why we want to talk to him.

20/1 - Sunday's practice left me incredibly frustrated with myself. I missed more tackles, and I was haunted by that the rest of the night. I kept thinking about it and only got a few hours of sleep. It was so bad I decided to learn how to cook Brussells sprouts at 5 a.m.

My final three assignments are turned in. The essay I've been working on turned out to be 4,500 words, not including the 30 references in the bibliography. I worked pretty hard on it, and while there are some issues with referencing within the essay, I don't think anyone will accuse me of plagiarism.

For my sport class, I passed my essay with a 67, which is a merit. For the speech/essay assignment, I got a 50, which is a pass. I'm happy about that. So that class is out of the way. Last night everyone in our course went out to eat at a Brazilian steakhouse and stuffed our faces.

Today was the first day I had to myself without anything to worry about. I chose to go to Gillingham for the day, a smallish town about two hours north of Poole. I chose to go there partly because I found a glovemaker that measures your hands and creates a customized glove for you. It turns out meeting them in person was pretty interesting, as they showed me around their factory where people were cutting leather, sewing and other aspects of glovemaking. I asked if they do apprenticeships and the answer is yes, and they're paid as well. But the guy I met with, Mark, hasn't had great experiences with young people like me because they typically haven't been out in the real world yet and thus don't work as hard. I told him my background so he seemed reassured. He gave me his business card, so that's my opportunity to stay in England after school ends in case I can't find anything else.

In Gillingham I found myself inside St. Mary's Church. It's nothing compared to the cathedrals of big cities I've visited, but it's spire is still visible around the town. There was a sign on the street indicating the church was open, so I stepped inside. I was the only person in there. Since the church is made of stone, it shuts out outside noise really well. Over the years I've found I don't like going to organized church services, but I like to be in churches. They're calming. The silence in them, especially this one, is loud. So I sat on the pew for a couple minutes, breathed deeply and observed; Churches on their own seem to facilitate relaxation in a way that's difficult to explain.

St. Mary's Church was a pleasant surprise. 

It was totally silent inside with just me and my thoughts there. 

I wasn't sure what this meant at first. It turns out it's completely legal to wander around here, just not on a bicycle or anything like that. People walk their dogs here.

World War I memorial in center of town. It gave thanks to the 85 men who died who were from that area. Those are red poppies that are on the statue. They are normally worn throughout November as a tribute to the fallen in the Great War. 

One of the streams that runs through Gillingham.

The whole point of the trip today was adventure; it's more about the journey than the destination. I was able to see a little more of the UK. I saw some rolling green hills at Upwey and rode a rickety two-car train that looked like it should be retired very soon. I had fish and chips in a very stereotypical British pub and explored the little paths and streams that crisscross Gillingham. I saw the pitch of Gillingham Town FC, which, surprisingly, might have less seats than Poole Town. I didn't have enough change to pay the bus fare between train stations, but the driver let me on anyway, and the lady at the snack bar at the train station kindly packed my soup and bread in paper bag like I was going off to school because my train was leaving much sooner than expected. I had a good day today, which was helped along by the friendliness of strangers.