At Newcastle! - Part Two
Sorry for the delayed post guys! Time passes quickly here :)
I've been taking lectures for the past two weeks and was given some tasks to attend to during my free time. Many things are happening around here and posting about each is pretty much impractical.
To put my news in short, I moved into a shared flat with other International students (no more stays at hotels), met a number of friends, went on a couple of trips around Newcastle, and best of all: got a broadband Internet connection at my place! :D
Anyway, here are the details, starting with the incidents that were mentioned at the end of the previous post ...
An Evening at a Bar
Victor is a Spanish undergraduate student that I met during my first week at the university. He studies music at Newcastle and has invited me to a "Jam Night" at one of the local bars. He said that this bar holds Thursday evenings for jamming sessions and that many bands and solo artists perform there every week.
I made it there that Thursday and watched some bands perform; the evening was amazing! Anybody who wants to play would simply write their names on a chalkboard and wait for their turn. The songs played ranged from country to some rock oldies, in addition to few originals.
Victor was expecting me to bring my guitar and jam along, but I told him I've been in town for a couple of days and it's not the right time ... yet ;)
Luckily, I got away with my vile no-drinking habit that evening with a simple "Sorry, I have a medical condition, I can't drink" :P
The Tap
This happened during my first week too! I was heading someplace for dinner when a girl got almost ran over trying to cross the street to my side while yelling "Hey! Hey!".
She looked terrified and asked me if I can get her "a tap". I asked her "What's a tap?" and she acted out smoking a cigarette. I figured that a tap is slang for a cigarette! She said "I can't buy it because the guy at the supermarket thinks am a minor but my 18th birthday was just yesterday!".
Now in normal conditions, if somebody approaches me with such a proposition, my reaction would range from simple refusal to beating them to death :P, but this girl really did crack me up! :D
So yes, I went to the supermarket and bought her a tap (how responsible). She gave me a pound and asked for the change but I didn't want to bother counting the pennies so I just told her "It's on me" and she was like "Ooooooh" and she hugged me :S
Of course I didn't let her go without some lecturing about the risks of smoking but she looked like a lost cause, or else I wouldn't have saved myself the hassle of denying her request.
Trip to Tynemouth
A couple of weeks ago I went with some friends to Tynemouth, a town at the mouth of the river Tyne at the east coast of England.
We passed by the historical Tynemouth Castle, a castle that stands on a high rocky cliff and is believed to have been there since the 10th century (making it 1000 years old). Anyway, embare7 wella el youm, it looked nothing more than a deserted bunch of stones to me :F
We also spent some time at King Edward's Bay.
The Tyne River
My favorite place in town is the Tyne river, I just can't get enough of it! It's great that this place is only a 15-minute walk from my university!
There are several bridges over the Tyne, some of which are high and expose wonderful scenery of the river, the town and the lands far beyond. The area around the banks of the Tyne (the quayside) has wonderful walks and is a perfect place for spending some moments of tranquility.
There are also some other places that are worth writing about but I'll leave these to other posts.
More news to followup later!
I've been taking lectures for the past two weeks and was given some tasks to attend to during my free time. Many things are happening around here and posting about each is pretty much impractical.
To put my news in short, I moved into a shared flat with other International students (no more stays at hotels), met a number of friends, went on a couple of trips around Newcastle, and best of all: got a broadband Internet connection at my place! :D
Anyway, here are the details, starting with the incidents that were mentioned at the end of the previous post ...
An Evening at a Bar
Victor is a Spanish undergraduate student that I met during my first week at the university. He studies music at Newcastle and has invited me to a "Jam Night" at one of the local bars. He said that this bar holds Thursday evenings for jamming sessions and that many bands and solo artists perform there every week.
I made it there that Thursday and watched some bands perform; the evening was amazing! Anybody who wants to play would simply write their names on a chalkboard and wait for their turn. The songs played ranged from country to some rock oldies, in addition to few originals.
Victor was expecting me to bring my guitar and jam along, but I told him I've been in town for a couple of days and it's not the right time ... yet ;)
Luckily, I got away with my vile no-drinking habit that evening with a simple "Sorry, I have a medical condition, I can't drink" :P
The Tap
This happened during my first week too! I was heading someplace for dinner when a girl got almost ran over trying to cross the street to my side while yelling "Hey! Hey!".
She looked terrified and asked me if I can get her "a tap". I asked her "What's a tap?" and she acted out smoking a cigarette. I figured that a tap is slang for a cigarette! She said "I can't buy it because the guy at the supermarket thinks am a minor but my 18th birthday was just yesterday!".
Now in normal conditions, if somebody approaches me with such a proposition, my reaction would range from simple refusal to beating them to death :P, but this girl really did crack me up! :D
So yes, I went to the supermarket and bought her a tap (how responsible). She gave me a pound and asked for the change but I didn't want to bother counting the pennies so I just told her "It's on me" and she was like "Ooooooh" and she hugged me :S
Of course I didn't let her go without some lecturing about the risks of smoking but she looked like a lost cause, or else I wouldn't have saved myself the hassle of denying her request.
Trip to Tynemouth
A couple of weeks ago I went with some friends to Tynemouth, a town at the mouth of the river Tyne at the east coast of England.
We passed by the historical Tynemouth Castle, a castle that stands on a high rocky cliff and is believed to have been there since the 10th century (making it 1000 years old). Anyway, embare7 wella el youm, it looked nothing more than a deserted bunch of stones to me :F
We also spent some time at King Edward's Bay.
The Tyne River
My favorite place in town is the Tyne river, I just can't get enough of it! It's great that this place is only a 15-minute walk from my university!
There are several bridges over the Tyne, some of which are high and expose wonderful scenery of the river, the town and the lands far beyond. The area around the banks of the Tyne (the quayside) has wonderful walks and is a perfect place for spending some moments of tranquility.
There are also some other places that are worth writing about but I'll leave these to other posts.
More news to followup later!
19 Response(s) to "At Newcastle! - Part Two"
Naser said:
nice ..... but do not do the cigarettes thing again .. haha
i liked the word "tranquility" u already started to use these words.. :-)
nice job deleting some of the former comments ... :-)
T C
ma3en said:
hey dude, its cool that you're having fun, i heard doing masters is all study no fun! btw i heard something about considering to stay there??!! is it true? what about all the things we discussed about not leaving home? :)
changed ur mind? :)
glad ur doing well :) tc
Ghaith said:
Naser
Don't worry, the cigarette thing was a one-timer, am not that kind ;)
ma3en
Actually, doing masters is all about having fun if you are capable of doing what you are expected to do.
If you have a solid undergraduate foundation then you can just sit in there and get your degree at the end of the year. Sadly, this isn't the case for most people and that's why the majority struggles with postgraduate studies while it's actually very lightweight (the situation isn't any different here at Newcastle).
Anyway, it's still too early to discuss my plans on the stay here. Things are different from what I used to think, let alone to what I've been told. I found the place where people like me, believe me and appreciate the person that I am, the things that I hardly got in Jordan.
This is not to say that I won't be coming back, but I did find some missing pieces of me in this place. It's worth the note, at least.
Take care! :)
ghada said:
esma3 bala find some misiing... bala ba6e5
bet5allis hal kam shahar elli elak w bterja3...w ba3deen ya a5ee shoo huged me hay ma 3ajbatne... :S
deer balak ghais honak..w ma tet3alla2 kteer....
e7na elnet fel home lessa ma shabak w baba nawe y7akihom today nshof sho elessa ...
take care
Ghaith said:
lol, bala ba66e5 golteele? :)
Anyway, 3ajabek wella ma 3ajabek hada elle 9ar ;)
Let me know what happens regarding the Internet connection, take care for now!
Ahmad said:
"Hajeen Wage3 bi sallet teen!"
Whatever makes you happy dude! Really, I know what you mean; we didn't really like here, right! Anyway, you gotta consider that you won't be jammin' in bars forever now would ya!... So; It's not gonna be always fun, now would it?
Anyway, have fun dude and take care of yourself...
Miss ya
Mesh said:
I have a medical condition, I can't drink" :P ROFL !
"I didn't let her go without some lecturing about the risks of smoking" ROFL 2 , looks like my cousin 8-|
as i told you man , dont get back without a passport, or at least a PHD.
tc xD wo tensash to send me el address :P
sharkooseh said:
hehe next time when you play let ur friends video u and show us :D
about drinking stuff, i went with a friend to a bar yesterday and I DONT DRINK! he said "fada7teena! ur drinking water in pub at least drink pepsi!! or u know they will think that u took some drugs!" lool
MAB said:
"Things are different from what I used to think, let alone to what I've been told. I found the place where people like me, believe me and appreciate the person that I am, the things that I hardly got in Jordan."
i dont know what kind of appreciation ur looking for, but seriously ppl here do like you, and do believe you. proving it is everyone that's here when ever u post just wanting to keep up with your stories, and ur news.
anyway, since u have broadband now, shouldnt u be getting online more often?? wella 5ls nseetna
Ghaith said:
Ahmad
lol, that's a very precise description for what I am: hajeen wage3 be sallet teen! :D
Anyway, I didn't jam in a bar, and I don't even have that on my to-do list so am not counting it for having fun here, don't worry ;)
Miss you too! :)
Mesh
I'll do my best! Will send you the address sometime soon :)
sharkooseh
Tell me about it, I do experience this occasionally here!
It still feels awkward every time it happens although people here are far from being judgmental.
MAB
You know that I wasn't talking about you guys. Everyone who's been following my news and commenting here obviously cares and I can't be more thankful :)
Still, during my very short stay here, I came to realize that I was never treated fairly for the simple guy that I was. This is one of the reasons that make this place special to me.
I'll get online more often, and of course I didn't forget about you! :)
There Is No Spoon said:
If u ever come back, i'll shoot u myself! i say this because i have your best interest in mind...think about it.
Devil's Mind said:
There is no denying it. The whole human-to-human relationships are different, and I am glad that you appreciate the human relationships in their simplicity. Good luck.
Ghaith said:
There Is No Spoon
Well, thank you ... I guess :S
Devil's Mind
Thanks man! :)
Anonymous said:
Ok so let's break it down. U've been in Newcastle for over a month now.
During this time u had fun doing the following:
1) Not drinking.
2) Not jamming (well i guess that could be considered fun compared to them throwing ur ass out if u had).
3) Buying a cigarette for a minor. And then thinking that gave you the right to be one of those people who tells others he doesn't think they shouldn't smoke. She and her friends probably have mocked the crap out of u that day.
4) Having a fast internet connection!!! ........ Well woopy for you!
5) And last but not least discovering u have a girly side who needs appreciation.
Oh and beating someone to death cause they asked you for a cigarette ......... well i guess whatever helps u sleep at night.
P.S. I've worked with you ....... you are NOT a "simple guy".
Ghaith said:
Henya33, these seem like last year's headlines now :P
Anyway, I have fun in whatever mess I bring upon myself! You know better =)
Amer said:
Walak shu betsawee bel UK ? lol
Ghaith said:
Beene oo benak lahalla2 mesh 3aref :P
El mafrood ba3mal Masters ;)
Amer said:
Yalla mwaffag ya seedi =)
Ghaith said:
Much appreciated :)
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