long time no write. well, given my track record of the last year or so, i suppose a few updates in the last couple weeks is pretty good. however. there are family and friends that are eagerly awaiting your newest update (or so i tell myself).

at any rate, lessee, this past thursday, i went to a phenomenal indian restaurant called balbir’s (taken by friends of sam’s (gareth, thomas, john, mark and lynne) for a “proper curry”). we all ordered The Banquet which essentially consists of the waiter asking what we liked and didn’t like, and bringing out dishes that we all enjoyed. there were a couple of starters that were incredibly tasty, and some tandoori salmon with lime chutney and i was suitably impressed before the main course even arrived. take THAT, ambar india! of course, i can’t tell you what the actual main courses were…the wait staff brought out 6 or 7 dishes of indian goodness that tickled my fancy (if you know what i’m sayin’) and i may have even heard a faint angel chorus in the background. (okay i may be exaggerating. but only slightly.) then afterwards, to the state for drinks per usual on thursdays.

on saturday, sam and i went bowling with (10 points for me if i remember everyone’s name): ian, donna, thomas, stephen, gary, paul and lori (sp?). yay me! i’m hardly a league-quality bowler, but apparently, everyone else wasn’t bothered either, because i think sam and ian are the only ones who might have broken a score of 100. heh.

afterwards, we all headed back to ian and donna’s flat for some pizza and chinese delivery and watched music videos. getting to watch the top 10 music videos from the ’90s and only knowing 4 of them really kind of threw me and reminded me that “hey! you’re in another country!”

then (and i have to mention this because it’s just damn funny and cool all at the same time), donna and paul started asking me all sorts of questions about america and americans, questions like “do you really have prom and homecoming? what is homecoming? do you have a prom queen?” and such. it was funny to me because i suppose that i’ve always taken our culture for granted, having grown up with it and everything…and also i suppose because i didn’t really thing that anyone was really that interested in it, what with it constantly being thrown in the rest of the world’s face and all. and paul has the distinction of being the first non-american to ever ask me if i own a gun, which made me laugh. honestly, it’s a fair question…i’d probably ask the same thing if i weren’t american.

sunday saw me and sam up to cornhill house to meet andy and leanne (sp?) for lunch. unfortunately, leanne was sick and couldn’t make it. i’ve known andy as sam’s friend for a couple of years now, and he was also my “myspace” friend long before i’d actually met him, so getting to meet him for the first time in person was pretty cool. coincidentally, andy and leanne are getting married in november (and the reception’s at cornhill house, hence us meeting there for lunch – great food btw!) so i’ll be here to witness a proper scottish wedding where there will be kilts a-plenty *swoon* and bagpipes if i’m lucky.

later that afternoon/evening, we headed over to sam’s parents’ house for a visit before we all went to dinner at kincaid house.

[post ends here, because...well, i sort of left it, and now i don't really remember what else happened that night, except that i don't think it was anything very exciting...]