Weekend in Leeds

Brilliant weekend. I wouldn't call myself a city girl, but after a few more weekends in Leeds, it'll be hard to return to Calvert County where my Friday night options are Dunkirk park or Walmart. (Not to knock on good ol' CC. I happen to really love Dunkirk Park :)

Friday was stormy; saw at least five umbrellas go inside out going to and from class. Yikes.
That night we had spaghetti at Danielle's, plus some leftover birthday cake from Emma's. Haven't mentioned it, but five of us have turned 21 in the past month (including myself), so at any given point, there's birthday cake to be had. I've been teaching my friends games the past few weeks; they're big Mafia fans and can't get enough of Loaded Questions either. It's been fun for me; Loaded Questions is like an Ackermann pastime at this point, so it's been great introducing it to all new players. I honestly didn't expect to make such tight friendships here. The "Exchange Gang", as we've named ourselves- ha, is like a second family to me now :)

Afterwards, we headed out to a pub to hear some live jazz music which brought back memories of our gig at the Westlawn. I miss performing these days.

Saturday I spent a good chunk of time in my pajamas, talking with Paul, and catching up on The Bacholer, which I am completely ashamed to say I am thoroughly enjoying. (Thanks for that, Danielle ;) The premise of the show is ridiculous, not to mention, pretty degrading in my opinion, but my gosh is it addicting. And if he picks Vienna in the end, I'll be upset.

That night we went to Brian's flat for dinner and went clubbing at The Walkabout. There are dozens of clubs in Leeds, but right now the British are really into this real bass-heavy techno. Eh, not my thing. The Walkabout is Australian themed, so the music is great, as is the atmosphere. Such a good time.

Sunday was The World Cup Challenge, which we scored free tickets to see. Until yesterday, my extent of rugby knowledge was from a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode where Ross is trying to impress his English fiance. Rugby is hard core, man. Some guy is passed the ball, and is pummeled in like 6 seconds by three other guys. Pretty intense. The crowd was a little out of control as well. The game was Melbourne v Leeds. I was in a group of about 20 kids from Leeds Met, mainly Aussies (a good chunk from Melbourne, actually), so I was rooting for Australia with them. Let me tell you though, some of those Leeds fans had lungs and weren't afraid to use them. At one point, the crowd was chanting "The ref is a wanker" for a good 5 minutes, haha, pretty bad.

During half time Emma, Danielle and I went to the "loo" and got caught in quite the crowd. It was like nothing I've ever experienced. It was so crowded, I was a little scared even. There was a moment where I had trouble inhaling because I was pressed between some many people; we were moving without moving our feet, if that makes sense? People were freaking out and pushing as well, which made things worse. We were glad to get back to our seats :)

In other news, my Spring Break plans are official- one week in Rome, one back home. I cannot wait to give my parents a big hug, and see my American friends. Plus, I will have a niece by then! Life is good ay.