Almost December

Today was a pretty cruddy day. Just one of those long ones that you know you must endure but dread it completely. Alot to accomplish and only enough time to do just that. I had Rugby training to look forward to but I started playing poorly, similar to yesterday's game, and that just kinda summed up the day. However, all was made a million times better when my much awaited package from home was sitting in our entry way upon coming home. This package contained a million things I have needed, wanted, and had been anticipating for almost three months now. Their was some needed clothing, dehydrated meals for my days of skiing, razor blades (they are more than ridiculously expensive here), homemade jam, drink mixes, POPCORN!, an advent calendar, and some camping gear. But the best things found in the box were my ski boots, for without those, all the trips I have planned could be put in a bit of a pinch. Secondly, my mom made me an advent calendar, something she has done every year that I can remember. This special memento has a lot of good memories tied with it. The way it works, upon the candle is drawn 25 lines with white wax and you burn one section every day to count down the days until Christmas. The shorter the candle gets, the shorter the wait and the sooner the day of the Birth of Our Lord is upon us. This truly starts the Christmas season off right. The third best thing in the box had to be my much talked about coffee table book of Oregon Photos. I cannot wait to show everyone here simply how beautiful it is where I am from. I love Oregon, it is magnificent.


The unloading of the box.

We had a rugby game yesterday that was basically a waste of our time. We left campus at 11am for Coventry, a bit further south than Birmingham. It took us a good hour and a half to get there. Coventry has nearly the worst record in the league, all losses and one win. When game time arrived, the captain of the Coventry squad let our captain know that they were only to play 11 players, 2 shy of the necessary 13. We were quite torqued! We were angry because we knew it was going to be a win and the other team should have called and forfeited and saved everyone the time. We still played and we fielded 13 men as having less would not have allowed us to practice our moves and plays. We thrashed the team and only played 45 minutes of the normal 80, ending the game at 62-0 so that we could attempt to beat traffic home. It was horrible. But, we had a bit of a laugh after the game and it was still fun to be with guys for another road trip. Plus, we finally got our brand new socks and shorts, so that was a highlight as well. We are currently in the process of ordering an amazing kit for the big rivalry game against Nottingham Trent University in February. The kit will include shirts, socks, and shorts in black, gold, and white. They will be personalized and I will be able to keep what looks like will be a pretty impressive setup.







Beyond the game, we had our sights set on another quality game of Pub Golf, to be shared with the members of the Women's Rugby Union Team. It was a good time and the girls team put out a good showing. Everyone was properly dressed and we had a course set around town. However, after the 3rd hole, a friend and roommate of my team was coming to meet us and as he was crossing the street he was hit by a car directly in front of us. He was fairly intoxicated which was probably to his advantage as was the fact that the car was only going 15mph. We spent about 30 minutes taking care of Patrick and the driver as he was well shook up and the ambulance finally arrived. The two teammates who room with this fellow went to the hospital and the driver went home since he was devoid of fault as could be seen by the ten or so witnesses. So, after that ordeal we headed out to the final hole and spent another hour there before catching a free bus to Isis, the Wednesday night club that caters to the university sports teams that have games during the day. There was good turnout between our guys and the gals and so both the bus ride as well as inside the club was a lot of fun. Singing on the bus and dancing in the club all made for a good time. Plus, we wee dressed as golfers, what could go wrong. I met up with a roommate of mine later in the night and she let me know that the free ride back to our neighborhood was leaving immediately. Therefore, I too left immediately and I felt like such a champ to have not paid for a taxi ride to or from the club, of which I was planning on walking the half hour home to save money. All in all, another fond memory of Rugby league.

The fellas, suited up, heading into Cucamara's. Golf bags and everything.

A good look at some of the outfits.

Finally, work has been going well. During this month I am working near my home for The Christmas Company, a firm that provides a corporate party venue for the Christmas season. Last weekend I worked as a wine waiter for one night and as a plate waiter for another. The work is easy and there are alot of students from my Uni working each night, around 100, which makes the whole endeavor that much more enjoyable. This weekend I have two bar shifts in the evenings and I help set up for Saturday night's party during the afternoon. Hopefully, cross my fingers, all goes well and I might pull some tips. Anyway, take care everyone, Merry Christmas and keep sending me your notes and phone messages, they always brighten my day.

Cheers,
Al

perryal@onid.orst.edu
503-616-4425

Austrian Al?

The quaint village of Kitzbuhel, Austria at night. Check out the massive slopes to the left.

This last Sunday I was doing a great job avoiding doing homework and was pouring over the Internet checking out all the amazing ski resorts in Europe. The method to my winter madness follows searching for the cheapest flights out of the airport in my town and then searching over the general region around the destination city. I found that during the second week of exams, different than OSU's single week for final exams, I was able to fly to Salzburg for $0.01 and the return flight was also only a penny. After taxes and charges, the round trip flight to Salzburg, Austria is 16 pounds, or about $30. However, Ryanair, the ridiculously cheap airline over here charges for you to check a bag. Thus, to check my skis, I was charged an additional 16 pounds per flight to bring my skis there and back. So, overall, my flight cost me 46 pounds, or around $90.... TO AUSTRIA! So from the airport, I will travel by train for 2 hrs across the amazing countryside of Austria to Kitzbuhel for 3 days of skiing at another of the world's largest resorts. Kitzbuhel is the location of the famous Hahnekamm downhill ski race, a race that makes a man accomplished for simply making it to the bottom. This race is actually being held the same weekend I will be there which will be magnificent. So, all in all, I am treating myself to an amazing 4-day vacation to Austria for finishing up my finals. I am so excited. Plus, I will be well warmed up since 15 days from tomorrow I leave for France with the University Ski Team to spend a week tackling Val DiSere, a ridiculously huge resort in the French Alps. I am giddy with excitement. Wish you were here!


Where I will be having my sack lunch while you are all in school and at work. Sorry.


The Famed Hahnenkamm Race Course Finish Line.

Something's Missing

Given my constant complaints to everyone about how bloody expensive this place, I thought I would do something about it. Yeah, I got myself a job and I am sticking it to the Man one minimum wage hour at a time. My visa allows me to work, part time, up to 20hrs per week as a student. I applied and gained employment with a company called Michael Wisher and Assc which is a temp agency that supplies waiting and hospitality staff to a wide array of different events across the country from sports, racing, and corporate parties. On Saturday, I work at Twickenham stadium in London for a Rugby Union game between the England National Team and the South African National Team. My friend, Dave, and I traveled down with around 60 other workers from Nottingham in a company bus for a three-hour journey. When we arrived we lined up for assignments. I had intended to be a server, but when they ran out positions upon arrival, Dave taking the last one, I was assigned to bar staff. There were about 8 suites in the hospitality area and I was assigned to Suite 1, which was the largest and sat atop the other seven. There were about 80 tables that our staff of nearly 100 was serving. The rumor was that each seat occupied by a guest was paid for by their company at a pricey 800 pounds apiece! I, along with 3 others, ran one of two bars that served mixed drinks, champagne, wine, and alot of beer. Everything was complimentary thus the guests made full use of the bar. Before and after food was served, the only job of each of the waiting staff was to constantly walk between the guests and the bar constantly refilling drinks meaning I hardly ever stopped pouring. It was a fast paced day but also a good deal of fun. However, the fun had was quickly dampened when I returned to the bus that night and met up with Dave, who had worked in suite five, a small suite with only about 5 tables and as many staff. He earned 40 pounds in tips at the end of the day compared to my empty pocket. This was a bit frustrating given how hard I worked for such a large group, but, it was a good experience and hopefully future events will be different.

However, the biggest event that was tied to the new job came a day before. I needed to look presentable for such a high-class profession and I was forced to get a new hairstyle. So for all you who have been secretly hating the long hair, your day has come and my hair is much shorter once again. I am not back to the original crew cut but I at least have a respectable and manageable head of hair. That was very hard to do, an end of an era, but I like the new cut. However, I still feel as though something is missing… a part of me, maybe. Well, it can grow back, if it needs to. Take care and keep in touch.

Love, American Al


The new haircut... so much is missing

Rugby Updates

Well the last three weeks have involved some big games. We have played Oxford, Loughborough, and today Staffordshire. Oxford was away and we had the great privilege of getting lost and ended up in the middle of their campus. Absolutely stunning. It was probably, up to that point being the weekend before London, the coolest thing I had scene yet. We played a team that we were expecting to give us a bit of a challenge. We did not arrive until 4 minutes before kickoff and so our warm-up consisting of rushed stretching. We ended up winning 32-4 but in a very rough game. I cam out with a horrendous black eye that was actually fairly earned. I was hit by a player’s knee while attempting to tackle him. However, the rest of the game, Oxford, upset by their performance, began playing dirty and one of our players was punched and then kicked in the face after he had run the ball. I was punched on 5 different occasions, however, unlike previous weeks, I kept my cool, barely, and we outplayed these guys and showed them up with professionalism too. I was voted by my team as Man of the Match, a great honor having played with the first team.

Last week we played Loughborough, a game expected to foreshadow the entire outcome of the season. Apparently, if any person wants to pursue athletics, they attend Loughborough and the school is nationally known for almost always being very strong in any sport. They came into this game with an undefeated record like ours, but with a weeks rest as well. The team was very strong and their team was well drilled and ran effective plays like us. However, our defense remained strong, and we nearly held them to only one try until the very end of the game when they scored another. We scored on them five times, however missing most of the extra 2 pt conversions (kicks). The final score was 24-12. The win was not nearly as glorious as we had expected, as we did not feel that we played even close to our potential. But, alas, a win is a win and we are still the top of the league.

My infamous Black eye.


After the Oxford victory, Al(vin) and I, "American Al", cheezin

Today was Staffordshire, who had a reputation that preceded them of not being necessarily a strong team, but maintaining at least one player "fabled" to be 6'4" and weigh 14-15 stones, or 196-200 lbs, and be fit to play a whole game. Well he was around 5'11" and 180 but he was nevertheless a very strong player. We beat them some 52-10 but only let them score off missed tackles, one of which I am ashamed to say I missed. I missed a tackle and the infamous giant of a player scored on me. Between that and a dropped ball, I was quite in the dumps, knowing I had to somehow make up for my errors. Luckily, I picked up my game, made some strong runs, and eventually scored a try. I ran the ball on the first play after we received a kickoff and soon was being tackled by the "Giant". However, I was able to spin out of the tackle and seeing that their top player was tackling me, the other team began walking back to prepare for the next play; not expecting that he wouldn't finish the tackle. When I was free every player had his back turned to me so I just ran like mad and went about 75 yards for a try. That giant of a player however did get up and chase me and the whole field all I could hear, above my own breathing, was his huffing and puffing which sounded like a freight train bearing down on me. He almost caught me but I scored nevertheless.

All in all, Rugby is amazing. However, I am very excited for the next week as we have a bye, receiving a much-needed two-week rest to heal and do coursework.

Weekend in London

On the weekend of November 3rd through 5th, I left Nottingham for the greener pastures of London. I left after class on Friday night with Ed and his girlfriend Amy Maslin, headed, in Ed's car, to Milton Keynes, a town about 50 miles north and slightly west of London; also the home of Amy's parents. We stayed with them on Friday night and were received with great anticipation by her parents who were very excited to share there home with us. We were served an absolute feast with no holds barred. It was great to enjoy a home cooked meal and to simply sit around the table for a good hour after dinner just enjoying the company and the wine. The Maslin's have been to many different places on vacation so it was great to hear stories from all over Europe and the America’s.


The light on the Houses of Parliament.


Big Ben, which is actually the name of the bell in the tower.


Buckingham Palace: Ed and I


This is a very small part of Camden Lock. It was great.

On Saturday morning, we woke, ate, and were shuttled to the train station by Amy's mother. Our train ticket was 22 pound, roundtrip, quite expensive for such a short trip. When we arrived in the center of London, as the national rail system is conveniently connected to the London Underground subway system, and immediately headed back out to the outskirts to meet up with a friend of Amy's whom we stayed with on Saturday night. We left our stuff and finally headed into Westminster for some major tourist activities. We got into town and visited Piccadilly Circus, the Times Square of London. Just another busy tourist magnet. We enjoyed Waggamamma's for lunch, a Japanese noodle place that was quite tasty. We then headed across Westminster and on to Buckingham Palace. The walk there was quite pretty as it passed next to a very large park that leads to the palace. The Palace was also over run with tourists, like myself. We took our necessary pictures, watched a guard do some exercises, and promptly went on our way. We walked past the other side of the park and headed towards the Houses of Parliament that sat above the River Thames and neighbor Westminster Abbey. It was like tourist overload. We walked around the outside of Parliament, which was a pretty amazing building. It was so intricate that it was hard to really grasp at what a marvel it truly was. It almost felt like Disneyland where buildings are simply beyond the scope of any normal architecture. The sun was beginning to set, mind you it was only 3:30pm, and the whole of parliament was lit by the great evening glow of the setting sun. We walked around Westminster Abbey, tried to look in a window and visited the gift shop. To be honest, I would have enjoyed a formal tour, but just walking around was also quite enjoyable and relaxing. We walked again past Parliament and headed on downriver on the waterfront, enjoying the sites and sounds of this famous city. Before we left town and headed back to Amy's friend's home we visited Trafalgar Square, which was equally impressive.

On Sunday, we had planned to try and take a tour of the tower of London and see the tower bridge, but instead we headed to Camden Lock, a part of town famed for having a spectacular outdoor market. We spent a couple hours just passing the booths and people watching. It was a mix between the Hawthorne District in Portland, Pikes Market in Seattle and Saturday Market in Portland, and the size of the two combined. In my opinion, this was the best part of the weekend, aside from the great food at The Maslin's home, because it was not just a tourist attraction but instead a place that real Londoners would head to and it was great to see normal people in their hometown... if that makes any sense. We finished with a trip to Covent Garden, an upscale shopping region and watched outdoor performers try and earn a living by performing all sorts of crowd pleasing tricks.

Through with London, we headed back to Milton Keynes to have a proper Sunday dinner and get Ed's car. Amy's mother outdid herself again and served up a roast, about 4 veggie dishes, potatoes, and of course, where would a Sunday dinner be without the infamous Yorkshire pudding, a bready muffin thing that goes great with meat and gravy.

All in all, everyone had a great weekend. However, London is a horribly expensive town, with a day pass on the Underground topping nearly 6pounds. But Camden Lock made the trip worthwhile and it was great to see Amy's home and spend time with my friends. I was invited to her home for Christmas and I am sure I will probably be there with the 18 other expected guests for a very Merry Christmas.