My archery instructor, Rob, referred to himself last week as "the fat, grouchy one." That said, he was very pleased with his group's progress tonight and is hoping to get us graduated off ahead of schedule. I also got some nice pictures of myself doing things wrong, as you'll see below. Prior to archery, my day didn't exactly go as I had planned.
I went to the Exeter Southernhay Rotary Club meeting this morning, as is becoming my usual for Tuesdays, and was called upon to give a brief introduction of myself. I was able to come up with something that apparently did the job, and several of the members talked to me afterward about their historical interests. I enjoyed that and got invited to visit the Topsham Museum with one of them.
After that, I had a lovely time in class (especially in the pre- and post-class discussions with my classmates), and then returned home to eat lunch and change clothes, as I was still in my dress clothes from the Rotary meeting this morning. I found, to my horror, that two of my three pairs of trousers had gotten holes worn into them, which forced me to go on a shopping spree. After much trying (and discovering that I'm quite fatter in European sizes than in American ones, because European sizes use bigger numbers), I was a bit grouchy, but I had managed to find four pairs of trousers that fit. Total cost for them: a little under £35! I found them at Marks & Spencer, of all places, which is a higher-end department store (they were on clearance). After that adventure, I went home for dinner, and then on to archery, thus making me a fat, grouchy archer, just like Rob. He'd be so proud!
By the way, I'm not just trying to sound British my using the word "trousers." There is an important distinction between "trousers" and "pants" in British English. In essence, trousers are an outer garment, and pants are an undergarment. I'm sure you can sort the details out.
Showing posts with label archery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archery. Show all posts
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
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?
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?
Sunday, 5 October 2008
The Squash
Today marked the Main Event of Welcome Week: The Freshers Squash. It's a concept that I'm familiar with from my days at UA, but it was called "Get on Board Day" there, and was held outdoors. The Squash is, if anything, a bigger, more disorganized, indoor version of Get on Board Day.
For those not familiar with the concept, pretty much every organization on campus sets up a table in a designated area, and the new students walk around and each group tries to woo them into joining. Several organizations caught my eye as being unusual, such as the Socialist Student Society and the Wild Society (an animal rights group). Also present were several banks, the Officer Traning Corps from the British Army, and Dominos and Pizza Hut, which were giving away free pizza (which was much appreciated). I ended up joining the Evangelical Christian Union (ECU), History Society, Archery Club, and Tae Kwon Do Club. Apparently, anything athletics-related is called "club," and everything else is a "society." I'll be getting the obligatory t-shirts, hoodies, and polo/rugby shirts for each group, but that will come later in the year.
I also stopped by the Student Guild's shop, where I purchased a rugby shirt. Unfortunately, the one I bought is too small, so I'm going to have to return it tomorrow and get the next bigger size. It's kind of depressing that even though I've lost weight since I got here, I've moved from being a Large to an Extra Large. Oh well, I guess it could be worse; the sizes could be in metric.
For those not familiar with the concept, pretty much every organization on campus sets up a table in a designated area, and the new students walk around and each group tries to woo them into joining. Several organizations caught my eye as being unusual, such as the Socialist Student Society and the Wild Society (an animal rights group). Also present were several banks, the Officer Traning Corps from the British Army, and Dominos and Pizza Hut, which were giving away free pizza (which was much appreciated). I ended up joining the Evangelical Christian Union (ECU), History Society, Archery Club, and Tae Kwon Do Club. Apparently, anything athletics-related is called "club," and everything else is a "society." I'll be getting the obligatory t-shirts, hoodies, and polo/rugby shirts for each group, but that will come later in the year.
I also stopped by the Student Guild's shop, where I purchased a rugby shirt. Unfortunately, the one I bought is too small, so I'm going to have to return it tomorrow and get the next bigger size. It's kind of depressing that even though I've lost weight since I got here, I've moved from being a Large to an Extra Large. Oh well, I guess it could be worse; the sizes could be in metric.
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