Scott's "A Tale of Two Cities" - Chapter Four: Duck Tales
So, it would seem that it hasn't taken very long for me to fall behind in my posting. Last week (May 8 - 12) was pretty routine, and quite busy with lots of class from Monday to Thursday.
Monday was, by all accounts, fairly uneventful.
Tuesday (May 9) was a day of some excitement. There are a number of ducks and geese that live at the castle, mostly in the moat. There are two families, though, with about a dozen ducklings each, that come in and out of the courtyard in the middle of the castle where they nest. Anyway, on Tuesday during a break in our marketing class, a couple of girls noticed one duckling by itself inside the courtyard - it had been left alone when the mother took her family outside that morning.
So, the girls took it upon themselves to reunite this little duckling with its family. They ushered it through the main hallway and outside, and then started taking it around the moat to where its family was sitting. Partway along, though, the duckling hopped up onto the ledge that runs along the moat, and then fell about 12 feet down into the moat. Luckily, though, the duckling could swim (who would have guessed, eh?) and it just sort of floated among the lily pads calling out for its mother for a while, not really knowing what to do. Luckily, though, a male duck swimming in the moat was passing by, and the little duckling just started following it around.
Anyway, we had to go back to class, but everyone made a point of checking in on the little duckling throughout the day. Eventually, however, the male duck it was following swam close enough to the mother that it and the duckling saw/heard each other, and eventually they managed to reunite successfully, I guess. So that was my excitement for the week. And as a result, the ducks have become a topic of much conversation through the rest of our marketing classes.
That night I went to the pub after class with my roommate and some friends. I think I mentioned the pub earlier, as I had been there in the previous week. It's called the Headless Drummer, and is named for one of the three ghosts that live in the castle. The pub itself is pretty cool... to get to it at night you go over the bridge across the moat, and the pub is just inside the big main gate. Anyways, we had some beer, and played darts and foosball. It was a lot of fun.
Wednesday (May 10) was just another day. In class we discussed the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, that I had read over the weekend. We also watched a film adaptation that was pretty good. On Thursday (May 11), we talked about Jack the Ripper in class, and watched clips from a bunch of different films about the Whitechapel murders. This class set the stage for the "Jack the Ripper" Walking Tour we were taking in London the following weekend. That night after class a bunch of people went down to the pub for my friend Milan's birthday. A tonne of people turned out, and they were playing pretty good music, so it was a lot of fun. After heading home (the pub closes at midnight), a few of us went down to the common room and watched Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. It's a fantastic movie that I hadn't seen in years.
On Friday (May 12) I slept in really late, and spent most of the day procrastinating instead of doing work. My roommate Jim and I played several games of pool (we've been playing a lot of pool, lately) before he left for London for the weekend. I'm pretty sure I did something Friday evening, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
That wraps up the week. But, as always, there will be plenty more to come: another trip to London, another week of classes, a drunken bonfire, and (soon!) my trip to Edinburgh.
Monday was, by all accounts, fairly uneventful.
Tuesday (May 9) was a day of some excitement. There are a number of ducks and geese that live at the castle, mostly in the moat. There are two families, though, with about a dozen ducklings each, that come in and out of the courtyard in the middle of the castle where they nest. Anyway, on Tuesday during a break in our marketing class, a couple of girls noticed one duckling by itself inside the courtyard - it had been left alone when the mother took her family outside that morning.
So, the girls took it upon themselves to reunite this little duckling with its family. They ushered it through the main hallway and outside, and then started taking it around the moat to where its family was sitting. Partway along, though, the duckling hopped up onto the ledge that runs along the moat, and then fell about 12 feet down into the moat. Luckily, though, the duckling could swim (who would have guessed, eh?) and it just sort of floated among the lily pads calling out for its mother for a while, not really knowing what to do. Luckily, though, a male duck swimming in the moat was passing by, and the little duckling just started following it around.
Anyway, we had to go back to class, but everyone made a point of checking in on the little duckling throughout the day. Eventually, however, the male duck it was following swam close enough to the mother that it and the duckling saw/heard each other, and eventually they managed to reunite successfully, I guess. So that was my excitement for the week. And as a result, the ducks have become a topic of much conversation through the rest of our marketing classes.
That night I went to the pub after class with my roommate and some friends. I think I mentioned the pub earlier, as I had been there in the previous week. It's called the Headless Drummer, and is named for one of the three ghosts that live in the castle. The pub itself is pretty cool... to get to it at night you go over the bridge across the moat, and the pub is just inside the big main gate. Anyways, we had some beer, and played darts and foosball. It was a lot of fun.
Wednesday (May 10) was just another day. In class we discussed the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, that I had read over the weekend. We also watched a film adaptation that was pretty good. On Thursday (May 11), we talked about Jack the Ripper in class, and watched clips from a bunch of different films about the Whitechapel murders. This class set the stage for the "Jack the Ripper" Walking Tour we were taking in London the following weekend. That night after class a bunch of people went down to the pub for my friend Milan's birthday. A tonne of people turned out, and they were playing pretty good music, so it was a lot of fun. After heading home (the pub closes at midnight), a few of us went down to the common room and watched Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. It's a fantastic movie that I hadn't seen in years.
On Friday (May 12) I slept in really late, and spent most of the day procrastinating instead of doing work. My roommate Jim and I played several games of pool (we've been playing a lot of pool, lately) before he left for London for the weekend. I'm pretty sure I did something Friday evening, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
That wraps up the week. But, as always, there will be plenty more to come: another trip to London, another week of classes, a drunken bonfire, and (soon!) my trip to Edinburgh.
posted by Scoops at 3:26 p.m.
3 Comments:
By any chance, did any actual school work get done last week? Love Mom
Mr. Scott,
So glad to hear you are keeping well in the UK. A few notes...
1) Watch out for Mrs. Blair. My most recent issue of Maclean's has informed me that she's loopy.
2) I resent your negative comments regarding roundabouts (or, as we Canadians call them, "traffic circles"). They represent a moment of pure engineering brilliance.
3) Have you never heard of bullet points? Good lord.
KD
Lauren -- I have encountered the Doose, but we've all been referring to him as the Guck.
Also, the Headless Drummer has food!?!
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