An American in Leeds

Today I popped my castle cherry. My friends Pete and Lisa took me to Knaresborough Castle. Knaresborough Castle was built around 1100. It was ordered to be dismantled in 1648, after the English Civil War. The River Nidd runs through Knaresborough. The whole town feels Medieveal, with houses crammed together at strange angles, and narrow, winding streets. The White Rose of Yorkshire. This is House of York territory here. Where did that second e go? Sadness.

An inexplicable use of ellipses, which has nothing to do with the rest of this post. I've recently launched myself into the dating pool here in Leeds. It's turned into more of a social observation experiment, instead of actually dating. This seems to be one of those instances where social cues are waaaay different between the US and England. When I first arrived in Leeds, the only men that would flirt with me were the taken ones. This really confused me because, in my experience, men typically only flirt when they have intentions. If they don't have intentions, they usually make it clear that it is just in fun. The intention of the flirting I encountered wasn't clear, and therefore I was wicked confused as to what was going on. This phenomenon I encountered is what Kate Fox calls "courtesy flirting" in her book Watching the English . It's apparently done out of politeness, but can be "confusing for Americans, who mistake it for the real thing". ...

Long time, no see. March was a bit of a nutty month, between a trip to the States for Lunacon, spraining my knee, the potential of being evicted, having the flu, and going to a conference for work. No trip home is complete without beer and waffles at the Abbey. Going home was good for my mental health. It was so nice to reconnect with people, and remind myself that, despite living 3200 miles away, they are still my friends. I had been feeling recently that I had given up so much to move to England. This trip reminded me that in reality, I have gained so much. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Carl wants malt liquor! Inside joke! How I've missed you. Lunacon was fun as well. Geeks galore! I was on several panels, including three science ones: Health in Space, Alien Biology, and The Year in Science. The Year in Science was my shining moment, when I spouted off about viruses. Because viruses are cool. Sometimes at the beginning of the month, I sprained my knee. Probably doing ...