Ribs anyone?

Well we went to church again and it was another awesome service. The preach was a score! We went to Applebees for some grub afterwards and Kady (on James' left shoulder with a black top on) mentioned that Monty Python has a show on Broadway in New York. We hence made the decision that for Spring break New York will be our holiday destination. Obviously this all depends on cash and everything but I thought I must at least mention the possibility!

In other news...we went to a pub called 'The Londoner' which was a London pub!!!!! (bottom left). I had a curry (how British) and James a steak and kidney pie! Was a real laugh, just a shame we couldn't have a Boddingtons with our food!

And finally...James and I feel that not enough of you are leaving comments on the posts. This brings us great distress, particularly to James who upon checking the blog last time and seeing the lack of comments ran out of the room, slipped on a puddle and broke some ribs on the stair railing! Ow!

So, if you don't know how to leave a comment (Mum and Dad) then click on where it generally says '0 comments' and leave one. If you don't have a blogger account then put it as anonymous but don't forget to sign your name at the bottom!

Thank you sexy people!

x 

Yeah I'm rumblin' in this JCB...

 

The Adventures of Cowboy Colin Unfold....

Last night was stage two in the creation of a set for Cowboy Colin. James (Cowboy Colin) is going to jump through a paper wall into his first scene.

Anna (art student) started the painting process last night at around 9pm and finished at 2am. It looks awesome; shame it's gonna be jumped through.

Another rainy Saturday...boo...x 

Golf War (!)

Greetings friends, James of Woodhall reporting once again. Mike and I are taking our study very seriously - with particular attention being paid to looking the part of golfers. We have the constant misfortune of accidentally buying and then wearing the same outfits. Alas Mike wears them much better than I, evidence (top right) of which is seen in the magnetic attraction that these young ladies felt. They actually swooned upon hearing his accent. I had to stand in the corner and hold the shopping bags. Their boyfriends (brothers!) turned out to be jolly nice chaps - and offered to take mike and I clay pigeon shooting. We hope to take them up on this.Yesterday I did have the amusement of Choral Conducting at 8 am. Until now, all the pieces available to conduct are ghastly patriotic american ones. I choose to arrange God save the Queen, Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory, and upon conducting had to request that God was sung with an O in the middle and not an A (Americans say gawd)Friends our real golf playing begins on Monday. In preparation we played crazy golf today in the mall. Along with our attire, I feel we will be at a distinct advantage. Mike and I are about to leave for a quick swim. Until we speak again, keep it real, big hugs, jw x 

I just had my first HR class. The teacher was so so friendly but man did she work us hard! First up she gave me the photo copies of a WHOLE book!

Then she began the class, she basically spoke about business morality not HR management. She told us that for every hour of class we should be doing three hours out of class.

I still need to buy the book for it as well.
On a more positive note, I got put into a really good group for my entrepreneurship project. We're opening a doughnut shop as our project!

Right....I must now wash myself and start some of this reading...grr! x 

We're going to see Coldplay!!!!!

 

Church

So this Sunday we finally made it to church. We went to a church called 'The Village'. It was awesome, James has been a few times before so he knew some people but everyone was very welcoming. The music was very American with Westlife keychanges and spasmodic harmonies. The preach was amazing though and I think we're definately gonna head back there.

The picture I got off their website now appears to be really small...oh well. Not much other news, we're loving the golf lessons and making some lovely lady friends to drive us to the course. Our final decision will be based not only on their beauty but also on the beauty of their car. I think that's only fair.

Off to lectures now. Fun, fun, fun!

x 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

 

Some photos of our quest

What I didn't mention was that our hunt took us stealing a car (James seen driving) and sitting on rail way tracks with big scary trains.

Next opera/panto already in the works: characters of Sir Prancealot and Sir William de Burgh Wilmot le Kid Esq. (Willy the Kid) are to meet in New York as Sir Prancealot goes on a quest to find the Big Apple....Cowboy Colin likely to make a guest appearance.

x
ps. my dad is only like 20 or sumink or nuthink so shut up.... 

Cowboy Colin gets some prep...

Friends! Today has been my first break from real classes! All I had was golf this morning and after that James and I went on to do some prep on Cowboy Colin shooting locations. We bought some wood for the set and checked out some spots on the rail way track in Denton.

Work, like food, comes in much larger quantities than back home. Althou it's probably not as difficult it is a handful; everything is continually assesed.

Tonight we're going bowling with the international students which should be OK but tomorrow will be uber fun as we go to a gig with the American crew.

Anyway I shall leave you with some photos of today's expedition. A big shout out to some birthday people of late: Tom Ellaby (20), Kate Atkins (20) and my Dad (93)!

Happy Birthday y'all! x 

Mumbling Y'all...

Classes have begun! My first one was with none other than Dr Kim (just like in the OC)! I went into the classroom and the first thing anyone said was 'we don't get many guys in this class'....obviously I won't drop that one then!

James and I had our first golf lesson and we wore our silly jumpers all day in preperation, which got some funny looks.

To give you a picture of how hospitable the Texans are...we did a treasure hunt the other day with some guys I met on day one and they introduced us to their housemate, within fifteen minutes we were driving said housemate's car! Mental; that would never happen in the UK.

Not many ramblings for today; James is writing an opera/panto about a cowboy called Colin. He's having it performed and filmed so it's taking up much of his time and mine as I am staring in it as his horse! More on that will follow I promise!

Anyway I must go to bed, I just had a 6:20pm till 9:20pm class which was exhausting, although I did get to tell the room of 50 Americans that "y'all" is grammatically incorrect! Sort it out!

x 

Super Shopping pt 2

Later on in the day, we had a serious chat about our academic prospects for the following semster. We have made a decision that will no doubt have an effect on the rest of our lives and consequently required the appropriate attire. (that pictured) The subject? Yes you guessed it - Mike and James are studying GOLF this semester. Rah! Tiger Wood(hall)s... Superb. 

Super Shopping

Why Howdy y'all! James Woodhall here - or the Earl of Woodhall, friend of Lord de Burgh Wilmot as far as the Americans are concerned.

Today we bought new swimming costumes from a fundimentalist Christian shop called 'Out of Eden'. Mike was tricked by the snake of a shopkeeper into paying $300.86 for these, and turned to me, saying (Gen 3.13) 'the serpent decieved me, so I bought.'

'What made you think we were naked?' I replied. He said it must have been somthing he ate. (Gen 3.6)

 

Guess who's back...

James is back! He arrived very late Friday night and it's been non-stop crazy fun ever since.

Last night we went out with McClain and Lysl who are two American girls James knows. We were planning on going to a really nice joint and enjoying some jazz but first up we went to a gig in the scummiest part of Dallas to see a guy who McClain knows. He was really good and sounded a bit like John Mayer but we looked so out of place as we were wearing smart shirts and chinos!

Anyway after surviving the nasty part without any gunshot wounds we headed for the nice area and tried to get into a pub but it's 21's here....so we failed! Then we went to the swanky place which was on the 27th floor of a hotel. It was so nice and the jazz band, the company and the wine were all amazing.

I don't think every night out is going to be quite so plush but it was certainly a splendid way to start a new experience.

I'm gonna try and get an American church experience tonight....we'll see...x 

Make Tea Not War

This is a car I walked past in Denton with the names of every person (not just Americans) who have died in Iraq. Click on the picture to enlarge it...the soldiers name is followed by their age at death and their home town/country. Pretty chilling and an extreme opinion on the decision to invade Iraq. x
 

I just went to Walmart to buy some bits for my room like a desk lamp and I was advised to get a mobile.

This Nokia cost me $30 (16GBP) and comes with a couple of dollars credit and when you introduce a friend you get $20.

It's definately my purchase of the holiday so far; I'm chuffed!

Starting to settle in lot more and get to know some of the other exchane students. Yesterday we met two americans who liked our accents so they drove us to the mall and hung out with us all afternoon; people are SO hospitable here it is not true!

Anyway, must run to lunch....x 

Hey friends...this is my new campus card! Wow!
If you fancied writing a letter or sending a box of $100 bills then they would be greatfully received at:
Michael Wilmot
PO BOX 308942
Denton, Texas 76203

xxx

 

It was a sad day! I have just arrived in Texas after bidding fairwell to my brother Tom and his girlfriend Rachel. I have had such a wonderful time with them and I will miss them both greatly.

I got to Texas and was picked up from the airport by the lovely Jennifer who drove me to the university but not before stopping off at a jazz resaurant for dinner....and a sneaky bottle of wine; which I expect will be my only alcohol while in America (drinking is over 21s here).

We went to Walmart and picked up bedding before heading for my room which is an old Holiday Inn! The room is pretty dingy but the layout of the buildings is really in with creating a community. I look forward to getting to know some of the other guys. So far I've met my room mate (Alex) from Mexico. He is a nice guy which is a relief! First night was a little bit lonely and I missed my brother like stink, wishing nothing more than to be with him and Rach in Brisbane. But these thoughts are only natural!

Tomorrow James arrives which I can't wait for. Tonight I'm off for a bit of basketball action! Sounds fun!

Untill next time....
x 

What happened after the coffee shops.....

So after Coffs Harbour we headed for Byran Bay which is surf dude land.

Byran is awesome and slightly hippy. The rain storms continued but were a little more spasmodic (thanks Mr Pett) so we were able to spend some time on the beach as well as the coffee shops.

Here's a photo of some surf dudes; the waves were so massive and the current unbelievable....I walked 150metres along the beach to make my entry and within 30seconds I was back where I had started!

Managed to get a dive in today which was amazing; one of the best dives yet! Saw loads of wobbegong and ray as well as some little Nemos! The dive was around an island called 'Julian Rocks' which had a cave underneath it which we were able to swim through....good times!

No more injuries sustained in the last week....although Rachel did burn me with her hair straightners...minor scar....stitches out of the face....looking pretty!

Back at Tom's in Brisbane now. Last day in Oz tomorrow, then onto the States....little scared....I'll get over it!

One love homies....x 

Mikey Moo's very own label coffee shop!!!

 

Coffee Shops!

 

Rain, Rain, Rain....

I don't know what happened with that last entry....but that was a picture of Tom's car which broke down an hour into our three hour journey to Coffs Harbour. After it broke we turned around and set off again the next afternoon.

Coffs was so rainy....as can be seen from this photo! So we got none of the planned surfing in (although I did slam down some bodyboard action)! We spent lots of time in coffee shops and went to the cinema a couple of times....not really holiday activities but actually was wicked as we got to spend lots of time together just chilling.

Picture of the coffee shops to follow! 

Road Trippin

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year everybody!

I hope you all had an awesome entrance to 2006....this was my view!

We spent the last week in Sydney and it was awesome, especially new years. There were 25,000 people crammed in one park but we by far had the best position for the fireworks.

Sydney is such a wicked city and we spent good time chilling there, we also hit the nearby beaches including the one where home and away is filmed...although that doesn't mean much to me the beach was awesome!

Stay smiling!
x 

I crashed a motorbike into an electric fence trying to hit 100 km per hour....I hit 100...WHOO...and the fence! Stitches in the face (without any soothing drugs, which hurt more than the accident itself) and I was back on my feet...went for a horse ride that night!

In Brisbane now at Tom's flat, off diving tomorrow, can't wait.
One love friends...
x