Sheffield, England - Scott's New City!

I haven't written in my blog for quite some time. This is mostly because I haven't been up to anything particularly interesting, until now. Scott and I are studying in England.He is attending the University of Sheffield for his Master's in Mechanical Engineering and I am attending Newcastle University for my Master's in Media and Public Relations.

It was a very long and budget flight, but we made it!

As a side note, if you are planning a transatlantic flight you should be aware that Thomas Cook does not provide good entertainment, food or comfort. They get you to where you need to go, but it is uncomfortable.

We flew into Manchester and took the bus to Sheffield. When we arrived we were exhausted and quickly went to our hotel, the Harley. 

 After a 14 hour sleep (5pm-7am) we were starving! Luckily, breakfast was included with our stay and it was a very large breakfast. Scott ordered the traditional English breakfast. It included lots of meat, grease and a dollop of beans. I had the vegetarian breakfast which consisted of over-cooked tomatoes and deep friend veggie dumplings. It was delicious! We were so full we didn't eat again until dinner.

After breakfast we walked around Sheffield and got acquainted with the city and Scott's campus. Here we are in downtown Sheffield.

Then we walked to the University of Sheffield to get Scott's dorm key. On our way there we passed a botanical garden and decided to check it out. It was very British. 

Then we got down to business. Scott's dorm is quite large for a dorm room and it has an ensuite bathroom and double bed. Here he is outside his building. His room is on the top floor (4th).

Overall the dorm is fine, but we had a few complaints: the mattress was really uncomfortable (luckily this was easily solved by buying a mattress topper), and the room was dirty. It clearly has not been repainted recently and the bathroom needs recaulking. We cleaned it as best we could. But if I find my dorm in a similar condition (which I suspect I might), Newcastle University accommodation can expect a strongly worded letter. At international student rates, I expect nothing less than sparkling.

After some tidying up and a quick makeover, Scott's dorm was looking much nicer. Here are the before and after shots:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

The change wasn't too dramatic. But given our time and budget, I'd say it looks much nicer and Scott will be nice and cozy. I'm looking forward to decorating my dorm tomorrow!

And a few more pictures. Here is the view from Scott's room.

Overall, for a large, industrial city, Sheffield is quite nice. There are lots of trees and parks. However, its industrial heritage is also evident and it still has a strong 'blue-collar' feel. Never the less it has lots of cute, brick buildings and I even managed to find a Starbucks!

Williams Lake, BC

For my second constituency week I went to the Cariboo-Chilcotin. I had to take a very small, shaky airplane to get to Williams Lake.

I worked at the constituency office of Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett and her constituency assistant.

The weather was beautiful all week. Here is a picture of downtown Williams Lake on a sunny day.

And there's City Hall.

Williams Lake was unexpectedly beautiful. Here is Donna's constituency assistant's, Bonnie, backyard. No big deal, just your standard luscious landscape completely with pond and horse.

Bonnie's neighbour took me to see a tree damaged by the Douglas Fir beetle. Unlike the pine bettle, it has not caused devastation. Forestry technicians have been monitoring them closely to prevent their spread. In the Cariboo-Chilcotin damage to the forest industry directly effects every day life.

I went for a lovely walk with Scout. I tried to get him to look at the camera so he did the opposite.

While on my walk with Scout, he ran into a ditch and came out with a stick.

Only it wasn't a stick. It was a deer leg and it smelled. He was so proud!

Bonnie took me on a day trip to the Chilcotin. It was very dry and desert-like.

The Fraser River.

As a special treat, Bonnie's neighbour took me on a trail ride. :)

It was great!

On my second-to- last day in the Cariboo-Chilcotin I went with MLA Donna Barnett to the Canim Lake Indian Reserve for an educational outreach workshop.

The school children presented a song and said a prayer over lunch.

For lunch we had moose meat shepherd's pie and bannock. For dessert we whipped soap berries which is referred to as Indian Ice Cream.

The Reserve was quite rural and scenic.

Donna was very popular. Everyone stopped to say hi.

On my last night in Williams Lake I was treated to a beautiful sunset, and cows.

Goodbye Williams Lake! I had a wonderful visit!

And the Internship Continues

A few interesting things have happened since I last mentioned my internship. Toward the end of the Olympics the Washington State interns came for a visit for a weekend. We took them around downtown and to the beach. When Sunday rolled around it was the Olympic gold medal game between Canada and the US. Most of the interns (from both sides of the border) wanted to watch the game, but not all of us. Kate and I took a dedicated an adventurous few for a hike up Mt. Doug.

After our hike we joined the other interns at the Sticky Wicket Pub. Canada had just won the gold and it was very crowded. But the atmosphere was great! Everyone was cheering and honking their car horns.

Sadly, shortly after the Olympics were over, so was my time at IGRS. Everyone was so sweet and on my last day, they got me a cake!

Later in the spring I went on my first constituency week to...my hometown Coquitlam! During that time I worked in Coquitlam-Burkemountain MLA Doug Horne and his constituency assistant. I even wrote an article for the local newspaper about it which was published.

There are three interns from Coquitlam - me, Mark and Angie. We were all in the newspaper which was pretty neat.