12/3 - I'm going to start this blog off by talking about food and drink. Earlier this week I cooked a duck breast for the first time, and it turned out excellent. You begin by cooking it skin-side down in a skillet for a few minutes. When the skin is crispy, it then goes in the oven for 25-30 minutes. During that time the duck fat can be used to cook vegetables in the skillet.
(Update: I cooked duck breast again last night [16/3] and marinated it in red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme and lime. I then added butter and white wine vinegar to the fat in the pan and then cooked asparagus, mushrooms and cucumber in it. Later, I added paprika, cumin, lime juice and a little bit of rice milk for its sweetness. It tasted great, and as always, I was winging it, just seeing which things work successfully or not.)
And I've learned that cooking vegetables with a little bit of oil and small chunks of bacon is so simple but it turns out so tasty.
And now about coffee. Oh, coffee...
Since I moved to England, I think I've had more cups of coffee here than I've had my previous 24 years and four months of living (two). What have I learned? It makes you feel like you've just drank a Red Bull, except it's a lot less terrible for your body. And it's like beer in that you get a taste for it. But since I almost never consume caffeine, it makes me so jittery to the point where I stumble over myself when speaking, more so than normal.
That's what happened to me today when we took a tour of the West Hants Tennis Club in Bournemouth. The club gave us a cup of coffee near the end of our meeting with one of the club officials. I was starting to feel the caffeine immediately, and it didn't help when I was asking questions. So I began rushing and struggling to get out a coherent sentence. (In fact, just writing about this is making me feel jittery, thus making me giggle.)
But what essentially cranked up my heart rate was when we were told the club does not use Twitter because some of the officials don't feel it's useful.
Bam.
Opportunity. SNATCH IT! Both as an opportunity to put something new on a resume and as a dissertation research question.
We talked about how Twitter is better than Facebook when needing to reach more people. I sent the guy a tweet afterwards, thanking him for the tour. I also sent an email asking how I could start a Twitter account for the club. (Update: the club has already hired a person to oversee their social media accounts.)
But perhaps the most relevant question during the visit was when the man in charge of the club's finances, when finding out I'm from California, asked me what brings me here. That's a great question, and lately I've realized I take being from California for granted. There's so much there. And it's less bloody expensive than England! Also, it seems everywhere I go, the Brits ask me this same question. I guess I just like cold and rainy weather so much.
14/3 - I've spent a few moments here and there reading past blog posts here. And it's kind of amazing to look back and realize how much I've been able to do. I have some awesome memories of my (six?!) months in England so far. Wow.
I remember the first day I was here, completely freaked out about the prospect of living so far away from campus, taking out a loan and being in a completely new environment. Now, it's home! I want to find a way to stay here because (1) it's less expensive than going back to Cali and (2) I'd like to try to go live in another new place. But really, I can't believe I ever felt so uncomfortable and, frankly, scared. But that's what'll happen before you meet the kind of friends I have.
15/3 - I accidentally drank expired and curdled milk tonight. It was great!
But we had another rugby session today. It's kind of surprising how different a rugby football is. It's bigger than an American football, but it's so easy to catch and feels lighter. Callum, our trainer, told us today just because you can make a perfect spiral on a pass doesn't make you a better player. Just focus on delivering an accurate, quick pass. I've also noticed it's much more difficult for me to pass to the right as opposed to the left.
I also noticed how playing it has helped me understand what is going on in professional matches, like when I watched a bit of Ireland vs. Wales in the Six Nations Cup yesterday.
17/3 - I meant to do some work this morning, but I ended up talking to Stella for at least an hour in the kitchen. Whenever I have these chats with her, it makes me want to visit her and her family in Kenya. What I'd really like to go there for is to try the food, because when I really think about it, I don't think I've ever had food cooked outside of the first world. Food in Kenya sounds so real and so much more flavorful, like it has its natural spirit. And it'll be as real as it gets with Stella's family because they have their own farm, so they grow all their own food.
It's interesting to hear what someone from the second or third world has to say about the food here. Stella, for example, says nothing tastes real. It's rubbery. It doesn't have the right flavor. It makes you think about one question: What have I been eating my entire life?
But then again, I've had completely natural food before, like the oranges on my parents' tree which taste so sweet it's like candy, and cherries from our tree every year which are always so deliciously tart. I've had bits and pieces here and there, but I didn't grow up on meals that were completely free of first-world tampering (No offense, mom. Your cooking has always been great!).
It also sounds like I've actually convinced her to ride the ferry. She sounds eager to visit Marie in Cherbourg with me to Couchsurf, but is nervous about riding the ferry over the Channel. So I told her to start smaller by riding the ferry from Sandbanks to Shell Bay, which takes just five minutes (seriously, just build a bridge!).
And speaking of Couchsurfing, I've found another person to crash with and a date to go, which will be next weekend. As with Marie, I've found a man from Spain who's had lots of great references from past guests, as well as hosts. He lives in Hemel Hempstead, which is on the northern outskirts of London. It'll be a good opportunity to work on speaking Spanish, as well as a good time to go explore the city. I was also thinking about going to a professional basketball game there as well.
So this isn't as incredibly spontaneous as the Cherbourg adventure, but it should be another great time.
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