Overall I'd have to say this journal is working out pretty well. I can't think of a better way to keep a traveling journal.

It is now day 9 of my trip to England and I am doing swimmingly with regard to finances mostly because my accomodations are completely free at the hospital residences so all I have to pay for regularly is food. As far as experiences go, I would have to say I am doing ok. Most of my experiences so far have been through my observations at the medicolegal centre which is where the forensic pathology department is located. Typically, I arrive around 8AM and watch one or two post-mortems until noon, at which time, I may hangout in the coffee room and get lunch, and then spend an hour or two reading in the library before I head off home. Sometimes if there are coroner's inquests in the afternoon I may attend, or if there are post-mortems or crime scenes away from the MLC I may tag along with one of the pathologists. Yesterday, I went along with one of the pathologists to 2 post-mortems in Wakefield and Leeds which are 2 adjacent cities. They were interesting but I did not get home until 7PM. Still it was nice to see areas outside of Sheffield and to have spent some time talking casually with the forensic pathologist as we drove. This past weekend I took a trip up to York which is a little town 1 hour north of Sheffield that is somewhat of a historical tourist trap, but there is a beautiful gothic cathedral with magnificent stained glass of which I snapped plenty of digital photos. I also spent about an hour walking through the narrow cobblestone streets and along the York city walls which were designed as a defense against northern marauders, though I have no idea who those marauders were supposed to be. My guidebook, unlike Lonely Planet, is a little skimpy on historical background, but more detailed on practical matters. Anyhoo, it was my first "sightseeing" excursion since arriving in England so it was nice to get my feet wet and start to rid myself of that initial tourist anxiety thing I tend to get as a lone traveller. I only spent about 3 hours in total in York, though, but with the 1.5 hour train ride both ways, it turned into an all day affair. While I've been in the UK, I've also done quite a lot of reading. I read this novel called "Spy by Nature" about a 24 year old guy who is recruited into the MI5 of British Intelligence. Yes, it was trashy, but I needed a break from DeLillo's Undeground. I also read Coehlo's The Alchemist, which was a perfect book for this point in my life, because it is about travelling and taking chances and following one's destiny. I bought the book just as I was leaving the bookstore with the trashy spy novel in hand, because I noticed it's bright orange cover on a shelf and somehow it seemed familiar. I'm still not sure whether I've picked it up before, but I'm sure I've never read it before. Right now, I'm about 150pgs into another trashy novel called Executive Orders (I think), by Tom Clancy, but it's getting pretty boring and I'm becoming irritated by his stereotypical portrayal of asians so I may stop. The fact that the book is thicker than it is wide or long also makes it unwieldy. That reminds me off the Alchemist where the traveler buys a thick book so it will last longer, but also so that he can use it as a pillow. He never gets past the first couple of pages though. Fortunately, I have pillows in my room, but who nows I may use it as a pillow when I start traveling. I'm a little ambivalent about traveling right now. As I've settled in here in Sheffield, I don't feel like I'm traveling at all. In fact, I could imagine myself very comfortably living here in my current situation for quite a while. Ever since I discovered the shower down the hall, all of my basic living requirements have been met. The only differences now between living in Brooklyn and in Sheffield is the lack of a television in my room and the fact that I have stopped smoking. Suprisingly neither of those deficiencies are making much of an impact at all. Oh yes, I still have to find a place to do my laundry. I know there is a laundromat at the Student Union, but the place where you buy tokens for the machine closes before I get off work. Anyway, its a minor problem. Yesterday, I had an incredible pan pizza from a pizzeria near my home. It was baked fresh while I waited, crust and all with whole olives, onions and lots of cheese. One of those meals so vividly memorable you can relive them for days. Man, it was good. I ate the whole thing at one sitting. As comfortable as my life situation is right now though, I still don't feel like I'm traveling, and of course there is the social aspect that is missing but that was missing when I was in Brooklyn as well. I still have the prospect of returning home and moving all my stuff to Minnesota hanging over my head too so its a little hard for me to think about seeking real adventures in just these few weeks I have left. Oh well, maybe I'll lose all my money in Europe and end up on an entirely different path once I start traveling, like the traveler in the Alchemist. This weekend I'm planning to take the train up to Edinburgh just to see what's going on up there, though it will be Easter weekend, so I'm not sure whether there will be anything going on. I'm going to go anyway since I need to get my feet more wet and since my finances are holding up pretty well.