Archers, Ho!

Today was a day full of firsts. It was also a very full day in general.

My first event began at 7:20 this morning, when I attended my first meeting of the Exeter Southernhay Rotary Club. We had a nice breakfast, with a talk from the head of the Exeter Planning Commission. I now see where Northport (AL) got their philosophy on urban development.

As the saying goes, getting there was half the fun: It poured down rain on me the whole way to the meeting, and again from the meeting to the university. I was thoroughly soaked when I got to the meeting, and even more waterlogged when I reached the university. Ultimately, I reached the conclusion that my shirt was drenched to the point that I had to change. Luckily, I had another shirt in my backpack, wrapped in plastic. No, this wasn't excellent forethought on my part (that would have been using a raincoat and pack cover), it was just the rugby shirt that I bought yesterday.

At 11, my first postgraduate class began. Although not my favorite period, British Naval Power in the Era of Sail looks to be very promising. The reading list is a bit daunting, but should be manageable once I am able to lay hands on all the books.

Much of the afternoon was spend studying and running errands. However, my favorite part of the day did not come until 8 pm, when I went to my first meeting of the University of Exeter Archery Club. I hadn't used a bow in about ten years, so I was badly out of practice, but that didn't matter, as most of my fellow archers were complete beginners. I was assigned to "Fat Grouchy Rob" for training. Rob, to my mind, is neither fat nor grouchy, but I suppose he is both by British standards. Also in my group were Mark, John, Dave, and Holly, making us a group of widely varied experience. We had one aspiring stuntman (currently a drama undergrad), an aspiring competitive archer (who has his own bow and shoots for hours on end when he needs to think about something), and several of us who couldn't seem to get our grips right (although I think I've finally got it). The Archery Club is a very international group, with students from Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, the US, China, and Japan, just to name a few.

I'm very glad to be getting settled into an academic, and for the first time in years athletic, routine. I am signed up for a Rifle Club taster session tomorrow night, which I think will be fun. I'd like to do Rifle Club as well as Archery, but the two conflict, and there is no way that I'm giving up Archery, not least because I've already paid the membership fee! I also can't wait to get the Archery Club attire. What's not to love about a polo with the University crest, "University of Exeter," and "Archery Club 2008-2009" stictched on it?