Change of the season.

So many exciting things, let's start from the top.

Last weekend I was in Birmingham at the Dive show, buying myself a fantastic new semi-dry so I can dive into the colder months. Wetsuit models always look so silly, no one ever looks sexy in a wetsuit. Sausage is the more accurate term to use. My roommate Sarah and I stayed at our friend Harriet's parents apartment and had a small opportunity to walk around the city. Birmingham is known for being an industrial, laid out town, and not very pretty. It is even home to one of England's ugliest buildings, I have read. However I didn't see any ugly buildings, I saw a very pretty city. Briefly as it were, it reminded me of Boston. In the town square they have an old official-looking building with a sculpture of a naked woman in the fountain. They call her the "floozy in the jacuzzi". Mom, I thought you'd find that hysterical. Complete with an art museum, an aquarium and a music hall it is certainly a city I'd like to spend a bit more time in.

We were only in Birmingham for a short period of time before we had to be back in Menai Bridge to hand in our first major project. Harriet and I even brought out laptops to Birmingham and worked on the train, as well as the morning of the dive show. However, the project is in, and over with, on to the next one. I've only been in the program here for about 6 weeks and I already feel like I'm getting my money's worth. I worked harder and learned more from that statistics paper then I have in the past from most other course work. They expect a lot from us, and they expect us to learn mostly on our own. We don't have tests, we have written reports. What I am learning I feel like it's sinking in. At the museum my job was very much "figure out how to use this machine and be able to teach others to do the same". The things that I learned in that job stuck with me, and I found that learning is best done when you are the driving force behind it. I learned how to do my job, and do it well, because I wanted to. Because it was interesting. The same applies here for the course work. It's hard work, but it's useful and I know I need to know it. I want to know it. Grad school is just a whole different ball game then undergrad, and that's certainly a good thing.

So that was Monday, and I think we all know what Tuesday was. Barack Obama became the President-Elect of the United States of America! I kept waking up periodically throughout the night to check on the polls, when at 4 am Obama's electoral college votes added up to 298. Now, I had just woken up, again. So it didn't click right away. 298? Doesn't he need 270? Does that mean...? AND IT DID. I did a little celebration dance. Unlike some of my friends, I wasn't so sure he was going to pull this off. The race was close, 52% to 46% (cnn.com). And I know there are a lot of American's out there that are disappointed, but this is the direction America needs to go in. This election was so much bigger then the next four years, this was the election that help determine the future of this country. A future that is more invested in eco-solutions, education, pro-human rights and making the gap between the poor and the rich smaller. I'm not claiming Obama can do everything he's promised. I'd be a monkey's uncle to believe every word he's said. But this is the way we, as a country, need to go before we destroy ourselves even more. The sense of patriotism seen in the past few days post Obama's victory amongst the citizens of our great country makes me think that it really is possible to come out of this as a entity. As a country stronger, closing an old chapter in our book and moving with future. The times are changing (constantly changing), and we are ready to change with them. Yes, we can.

You know, because being president of the USA isn't stressful enough. Come on, Obama! We all expect you to change to world! Not really, put could you just put the wheels in motion? Thanks, I'd really appreciate it. :)

I was sad to miss the celebration in NYC last night. From the looks of it, it looked like a ball. However, Wednesday was Guy Fox day in the UK. An obscure holiday in the UK remembering Guy Fox, the guy that blew up the Parliament building. So a bunch of us went to Holyhead for one of the largest firework displays in the UK. The lite a giant bonfire on the beach with a dummy of Guy Fox on the top of it and it burned for hours. There was a 45 minute firework display, and it was very nice. Slightly unorganized, it kinda seemed (with the exception of the ending) like they were just sitting around saying "Hey, let's set off that box next! I wonder what's in it?" But it was fun, and (at least for me) it felt like a proper celebration to the new president-elect.

Right, well, I've been rambling for quite some time now. Cookies and love,

Emily
15, Mount St. - Menai Bridge

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