Settled

Well, I regret that it has been so long since my previous post. Part of it is business of Rugby, school, incessant cold I had last week, and most of all forgetfulness. But alas, I am here now to type away.
Classes have been going well. I had to rearrange my schedule a bit and change a class here and there but it has finally been settled and set in stone. The final schedule is Coastal/River Engineering, Structures and Materials 3, Construction Management 3, Construction Planning and Risk, and Railway Transport. Three of them are masters courses and the two classes with the number 3 following them are 3rd year courses, the final year of the undergraduate degree here in England. I am enjoying my classes and the construction classes I have found the most enjoyment in. The teachers for those courses are passionate and enjoyable to listen to which makes all the difference in the world.
Rugby is alot of fun and I am gaining a better appreciation and knowledge for the game with each and every practice. We had a game against University of Birmingham on Wednesday. They brought only one squad so we separated our players into two even teams. One squad played the first half and the other squad the second half. Sadly for Birmingham, they had to play two half games against fresh teams. It was alot of fun and we played well pulling out a strong victory. I have been complimented for my intensity and my consistent tackles. I am really enjoying the game and I imagine I will play when I get back to Oregon State University.
Last weekend was my housemate Lou's birthday and we, as a house, traveled to her hometown of Birmingham and celebrated with friends and family. It is about the same distance as Portland to Salem, but took us about an hour and half on the train with transfers and such. Her party was put on by her parents and the parents of her best friend who was also celebrating her 21st birthday at this party. So there were around 150 guests at this local meetinghouse and we had a night of dancing and celebrating. It was alot of fun and enjoyable to leave Nottingham as it is currently all I know of England.... yes sadly. I visited the city center and went to one of Europe’s largest mall called the Bull Ring. It had every designer store you can think of and the prices to boot. I am pretty sure there will be no clothes shopping while I am over here as it is far too expensive for me to exchange money and buy clothes with such already inflated prices. I guess that means more money for food and travel, oh darn.
Anyway I hope all is well back at home and I look forward to any emails letting me know how everything is. My email is perryal@onid.orst.edu and I also have a Portland phone number that you can call me on. 503-616-4425. This number calls my Skype computer telephone and is only a local call for you all back home. So drop me a line or shoot me a call sometime and let me know how life is on the other side of our world.

Cheers,
English Al