Well I thought everyone would be pleased to hear that I am making friends... hahaha yep. It all begins Wednesday night I was up at like 2am taking out the trash. Why was I up at 2am taking out the trash? Well because Patrick the inspector of our kitchen and suite was coming at 9am and there was no way I was going to be up for that. Anyway, I was going down the stairs with the trash when his kid stops me on the stairs, he is probably a little tipsy, guessing by the drink in his hand, but he looks at my shirt and says, "You play hockey?" Looking down I realize I have on my Huskies Hockey shirt, so I say yeah I do. He nodded and said that he did too! Now there is no question in America what kid of hockey a guy plays, but here its a little less obvious so I asked, "Field or ice?" and he looked at me like I had three heads and said, "Well of course field." I need to learn to think before I say something, but I laughed, and said, "That's not really hockey. I play ice." I'm sorry to those field hockey players out there, but you can't hit, you can't use both sides of the stick and each player has a little bubble around them that no one can enter... how is that a sport? So this kid is like, "Of course it's a sport, I don't take balls to the head for it not to be", and I was just looked at him and said, "How about a puck to the head, and ice takes a bit more talent since you have to skate and then worry about the rest of the game." At this point he started going up the stairs yelling to anyone that field hockey is a better game than ice hockey. I continued down the stairs to take out the trash.

So last night was the Ice Ball, and I was told by Eugene the Student Union President that there would be ice, because the main attraction was you could skate. And I looked him straight in the eye and asked, "Will there be actually ice... like frozen water?" He said yes. HE LIED! It was the most disappointing night of my life, and to top it off as I was leaving I ran into a DeadWing fan. I had my Avs jersey on because I was going skating, I even had on two different socks... it's my thing. So this kid is returning his skates and he said, "Are you an Avalanche fan?" Now the way he said Avalanche was weird and it took me a few seconds to realize that he had said Avalanche. But then I said proudly that yes I am an Avalanche fan. He looked in straight in the eye and said, "Well they aren't a very good team are they?" Were we talking about the Bruins or something? I gaped at him, and he continued, "Well they haven't won the Stanley Cup recently have they?" Not hesitating I said, "They won it in 2000-2001." And he said that 2001 was a long time ago... it was 5 years ago! And I asked who he supported, and of course he said the Red Wings. I did the automatic step back and growl at hearing the Red Wings name, and basically growled, "You like the Dead Wings?" The Dead Wings being the nickname some Avs fan gave Detroit in the prime of the full out wars the two teams use to have back in the glory days of Patrick Roy. Now if I had been a second quicker I would have realized that the Avs had just played the DeadWings in preseason the previous night and the Avs won in the shootout, but that completely slipped my mind. It was almost has though he had never heard the term, "DeadWing" which makes me question his level of support, because when I said, "Won't say I'm sorry that I called your team the DeadWings but I've been a fan since Patrick got there and well your team does not like Patrick." I don't think he knew who Patrick was, even when I did call him Patrick Roy. You can't be a fan of hockey without knowing Patrick, he's a legend! So yes I walked away from that, he was just stupid.

But that's me making friends one person at a time!!

This post is going to be a long one, it's even longer in my journal but there is a topic that I have been meaning to discuss... the differences between the British and Americans. I can actually sum this one up with one question that Bas keeps asking us, "Are all Americans this loud?" Though for my defense I am not loud, I can be loud, anyone can, but usually I am not loud. Now Amaya, Kathleen and Cassie well yes they are loud, they know it, they strive on it, and embrace it. They have to be doing something every second of every day. They could never just sit and watch the sun set... I can, I am somewhat doing that now. Amaya strives in an atmosphere where there is someone who is just as loud as she is, and that is Kathleen. Cassie wanders from room to room looking for things to do and people to entertain her. When I was sick she kept coming in and I offered to let her watch Miracle with me but she couldn't sit still for five minutes. Back to differences though- the British stroll, and compared to them I sprint. I was down in the town centre today getting food and I was doing some fancy foot work to get past everyone. But they stroll, they look at everything, slowly talk to their friends as they walk slow as can be! I can stroll, when I'm with a group and in the back, but if I'm leading the group, I lose the group. When I'm alone, I'm on a mission. But the British stroll as though they have no where to be for that entire day, and it drives me mad, and some of them are going to be run over soon. I'm not sure if this applies to everyone... but the people of Kingston need a reward for the way they stroll.

One of the most annoying British terms for me right now is 'hole in the wall' A WHAT! They call a ATM a 'hole in the wall'??? What idiotic person came up with that? The first day that Amaya was here she asked the desk where the closest ATM was, and they looked at her if she had three heads. She was like, "Money... ATM... need." They finally figured out that she wanted a hole in the wall.

The whole driving on the wrong side of the road freaks me out too. I still think cars are being driven by invisible people, or omg a 7 year old is now driving! But what gets me the most about Kingston is two things actually. In Kingston if you put your foot onto the road people stop and let you pass. Of course if you do that in London you lose your foot, but here in Kingston they stop. The other thing is Americans complain about rotaries, and the Cape is getting rid of the rotaries by the bridges but Kingston is full of them! Everywhere you turn is around rotary or roundabout! I never hear that much beeping either, rotaries in the states require a horn!

The whole wardrobe thing gets me too... only Mr. Tumnas is allowed to wear scarves... did they not get the memo? Boys do not equal scarves unless its cold, windy and snowing, but just in an outfit??? Especially when its pink like I saw last night. And you can't go outside in your sweats, or looking anything but your best. I've walked into Hannafords or Stop N Shop in my sweats, but I don't dare do that here! My suite mates of course are no help, they are always dressed to impress.

I also love when we don't understand each other's expressions. Like I said, "Fun" in response to a lot of things, just because, but they don't understand it. For example, CJ a friend of Martins was over and was introduced to me. I asked where he was from, and he said from London. I said Fun. They looked at me like I had three heads. I said fun in response to a lot of things, like its a sarcastic response or serious one, depends on the conversation. They didn't get it, CJ was like, "Well I guess you can call it that..." He didn't understand.

Well the sun has gone down and I can no longer see what I am typing, so good bye! Cheers to all the quirks of the British!