Through American History

Time: 8:16am
Temperature: 0F
Location: Beardsley Land Managing (workplace of Joanne Butler who I am now living with)
Emotion: I don't think 'cultured' really counts as an emotion, but that's how the beginning of this week has been. So I'm just going to go with 'cultured'.

"I have a dream!"

These four words are undoubtedly some of the most famous words not only in American history, but in world history and to put them into context and get the full effect, I would strongly urge you to watch this video:



[This is an edited down speech; for the full speech, click HERE]

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/20/6087150/memorable-quotes-from-martin-luther.html#storylink=cpy

Martin Luther King Jr, 28th August, 1963. If you don't know who this man is, please Google him, then bury your head in shame. This man was the leader of non-violent political activism protesting the racial discrimination in many American laws in the 1950/60s.

If you haven't guessed yet the reason for this politically slanted Blog, Monday 20th January was Martin Luther King Jr Day, which, since the year 2000, has been a national holiday for America.
As a person interested in both law and public speaking, I think this man serves as great inspiration for anyone who believes that however inferior a person is treated, he can make a vast difference in the world.

END OF POLITICAL/INSPIRATIONAL SECTION

Okay, political/inspirational part is over, so for all you ostriches with your heads buried in the sand, you can resurface, try and remove all the sand from various parts of the body (which is impossible - 3 months on from a beach trip and I'll still find sand in my shoes) and continue reading my blog. Back on track!

Luther Celebration
I didn't do much on Martin Luther King Jr Day, but I did get the chance to return to Reva Rollerdrome (not to skate, I hasten to add!) and help bake some celebratory cupcakes which all skaters would receive.
Well... when I say bake, the actual cakes were already cooked and Ellen Ferro proceeded to do the icing, so all I really did was artistically splash hundreds and thousands on the finished cakes. But my efforts were vastly important for the overall effect of the cakes, so a job well done, I think!

Seneca Country Court House
As with every other Tuesday while I've been here, I went to Rome Canzano's office. However, this week was a little different. For starters, I went an hour earlier (there was a lot of internal crying at this fact) because Rome said we would be going to Seneca county court for the morning and return at lunchtime for the Rotary Meeting. So, bright and early on Tuesday morning, Rome and I jumped into his car and drove to Seneca county, arriving about half an hour early. So far so good.

We waited.

And we waited. 9 'o' clock, the supposed starting time came and went with no sign of a judge or most of the court. Rome said these things often took a long time to get started. Another half an hour along and we were still sitting in court, which had been taken over by a drug court. Apparently, it was common that cases were put at the same time to make the process as efficient as possible and to make sure there wasn't any waiting.

We waited for two and a half hours at Seneca County Court for a 5 minute discussion between Rome and the Judge. We then drove all the way back.

Now don't get me wrong, it was interesting to see the drug court in action for some of the waiting time. But if I'd wanted to spend time waiting around, I'd rather have spent that extra time in bed! According to Rome, this scenario happens quite a lot for him, so that's one visible downside to becoming a Lawyer.

The Move to Joanne Butler
This Monday, I left the Ferros to start the next part of my exchange at Joanne Butler's house. After inflicting a broken wrist on me, I could not be more glad to leave.

ONLY JOKING! It was sad saying goodbye, especially to Netflix who had become a firm friend of mine during the extreme cold, but it's great to have variety. Whilst Joanne's house is a lot quieter, it is no less lacking in friendliness, heating and most importantly, FOOD. *Note to self; the visible alteration of priorities to food is becoming quite worrying. Try and locate the source of the problem before it gets out of hand.*

Lack of tourist sites
I am going to apologise (note to Americans the spelling of this word) for the lack of any famous

tourist sites. So far, the most cultured I've been is drive past one of the Finger Lakes and discover that one of America's secretary of States was born here (William Seward). I do have plans to go to Niagra Falls, skiing, etc etc, but I have been really busy the past couple of weeks. When I'm not working, I'm eating *ahem, sorry! Food is making an unwelcome appearance again*. Let's try again; when I'm not working, I'm getting to know the area/its people. When I'm not socialising, I'm sleeping. I promise that I will try to be more interesting and explore all New York has to offer.

Another pronunciation/word confusion
I know... you're probably rolling your eyes for the 100th time and saying "this is becoming a bit of a habit in your blogs, Luce". I get it. But I feel so strongly about it this week, I have to say something. Any Americans reading this, please do not be offended!

Word #1: Burglarized
We all know the word burglar, yes? Derives from anglo-latin. Someone who steals. Also the job of Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit? We also know that some nouns can also be adapted into verbs (e.g. a building <--> to build). In England, the "burglar"'s cognitive verb (thank you for teaching me that phrase, Greek camp. I don't know what I'd do without you) is to burgle or be burgled. But apparently in Amerca, from the noun 'burglar', they created a verb 'to burglarize or be burglarized'. Then from that, they decided they liked the long words so much, they changed the noun to a 'burglarizer'.
*26th January: I have been reliably informed that only parts of the US changed the noun to burglarizer. But even so, it seems a little unnecessary!*

Word #2: Niche
"Sacrebleu!" I hear you cry. "This sophisticated French word cannot possible be pronounced as anything but 'neesh'!". Wrong. I have thrice heard this word being pronounced nitch. Oh, America... what did the French ever do to you? Why must they be subjected to such a deep humiliation as this? Would you start eating kitch for dinner rather than Quiche? Oh well, I suppose it's not that important.

Any Americans reading this (if they haven't stopped reading already in protest), I apologise! I know that our great nations differ greatly in spelling/pronunciation and there is no real 'right' version. But when the word is neither English nor American, it is common courtesy to pronounce it as it should be pronounced. God save us if we ever pronounce foie gras as foy grass.

Finally, to dispel any negativity you may feel towards me for my slightly heavy-going/political blog, here are some cat pictures.

Right, enough randomness for one blog. I wish you well, fellow procrastinators,

Kisses,

Luce

P.S. Wrist is doing well... Doctors think only 4-5 weeks in cast so *fingers crossed* I'll be better in time for Banbury Young Musician of the Year.

To the hospital

 

Time: 5:56pm in NY America

Temperature: 29F
Location: Reva Rollerdrome
Emotion: Frustrated

Before I get into detail about this blog, I'm going to make a quick disclaimer: if you see any typos or if this blog appears a little short, it isn't done intentionally. You'll find out the reason a bit later in the blog.

So where to begin? I guess the best place to start is the serious part and get progressively more jokey as I start to procrastinate. You know things are bad when you are procrastinate from something you enjoy doing! Last weekend was fairly uneventful; netflix was my best friend and it was nice just to hang out with the Ferros.




City Law Courts

Work Experience at the drug courtOn Monday I had the great pleasure of meeting Tim Donovan who works at the local drug courts. Not only did he allow me to follow him around, introduce me to his colleagues and explain everything to me, he even took me out for Breakfast and Lunch. The breakfast was particularly appreciated because a certain Ferro (not mentioning any names) finished all the milk and failed to tell anyone so I had the traumatic experience of no cereal.

The drug court itself was nothing like I expected. I went in expecting a sombre, almost depressing, atmosphere and a lot of men and women from the same backgrounds suffering addictions. I could not have been more wrong. Firstly, the men and women were widely ranging in background and many I would never have guessed had addictions. I guess it just goes to show that it is pointless to stereotype addictions. It was actually really uplifting to see young men and women who had extreme addictions to alcohol and drugs begin the lengthy and difficult path to recovery. Inspiring stuff.



One of the few photos of me skating before I fell...

Rollerskating
I mentioned last week that the Ferros own a rollerskating rink called Reva Rollerdrome and this has given me the opportunity to go skating almost every day. I absolutely love it and I'm definitely going to buy some skates when I get back to England. In the space of a week I learnt to skate backwards, to spin around, do a spread eagle (both heels together, toes pointing outwards in a straight line) and an arabesque (skating on one leg, the other leg high behind). So I was getting quite far until disaster struck.

The disgusting wrist

Over the week and a half I've been skating, I fell over every five minutes and had no real injury aside from black bruises. So far, so good. Then, yesterday evening, I was skating completely normally and managed to fall over backwards. I wasn't doing any tricks, no special skating; just skating forwards. I managed to break my left wrist. And it wasn't pretty. I'd like to think I'm pretty manly when it comes to pain and I managed to last the first 10 minutes tear free. And then I saw that an apple sized lump was growing out of my wrist. So I now get to spend the next 5-8 weeks with a cast and only one hand!

Breakfast with the Ferros
I had the great pleasure of going out for breakfast with the Ferro family this week and experiencing an American breakfast. The majority of the food was extremely unhealthy - sorry, did I say unhealthy? I meant delicious!! There was only one extremely stressful part of the morning. The tea was sub-par, and even that description is optimistic.
Problems with the tea:

1. First off, it was delivered to me in a massive glass container. Everyone knows that tea must be drunk from either a tea cup or a mug. Anything short of that is sacriligious.
2. The water was lukewarm at best. Tea must be made from boiling water. Nothing less.
3. Only one teabag + a lot of water = albino tea
4. No milk. Only packet cream. This was the final straw for me. To give me "tea" and not provide milk is quite frankly disgusting.

I can only hope that the few British citizens who live in the US full-time have the resources for the exorbitant fees that Tea counselling must require.

Okay, I admit that I may be overexaggerating the severity of the situation. Tea and its consumption is a controversial issue. I must point out that the rest of the food was fantastic! I just know not to order tea next time.

So, my hand is starting to hurt from all this typing so what I'll probably do is have a picture montage below for anyone interested.





Rome Canzano's office

 

Garden view (arty shot)



Reva Rollerdrome





View from the plane 

Newspaper cutting

Here's a picture of a grumpy cat. Just because.

 

 

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen adieu!

Kisses,

Luce





Through Airports

Time: 5:14PM in NY America
Temperature: -12C - Sorry, I forget this is America: 10F
Location: Reva Rollerdrome (owned by Ferros)
Emotion: Tired.


So, two long flights, a short car journey (on the wrong side of the road to Britain) and I finally arrive at the Ferro's home where I'll be staying the next 2 weeks. So far, very cold; on 7th January, we reached lows of -20Celsius. I have been really busy this first week settling in, getting organised and unpacking a suitcase full of things I probably don't/won't need. I have discovered that apparently the English language as I know it is "wrong"; I should call a carpark a parking lot, a tap a faucet, chips fries, etc. I also reached a moment of pure, unadulterated happiness when I discovered that Walmart (the Tescos of America) had British tea!

But, in order to keep this blog fairly to the point, I'll just say a few exciting things that happened this week.

Working with Rome Canzano/David Tehan
Starting Tuesday this week, I started my work experience with 2 of the 3 lawyers who I will be shadowing over the next 2 months. I shadowed Rome Canzano, a specialist in Criminal Law, on Tuesday/Wednesday and David Tehan, a real estate and business lawyer, on Friday.

With both lawyers, the first hour or so was just introductions and getting to know eachother. Then, with Rome, we went to the local Law courts and I experienced criminal justice first hand. The one thing I will say about criminal trials, is that they are fairly brutal and very eye-opening. All the cases I witnessed were felonies (jail time of at least 1 year). I won't go into too much detail about the cases, particularly because a few were quite frankly disturbing, but also because I'm not sure what level of discretion is required with the cases. With David, I learned a fair amount just on the go; I witnessed a Closing of a house being sold (i.e. they gave the clients some keys). I'm starting to realise the large number of differences between the English and the American Legal system.

Some exciting random trivia: a picture of me somehow found it's way into the newspaper. I feel pretty infamous.



Rome and me at the Rotary meeting





American High School
I can safely say that "Mean Girls" is the only reference I have used to judge the American High School System. So it was with a slightly anxious mind when Ellen Ferro suggested I spend the Thursday of the first week in the High School, following Vinnie Ferro (senior) around for the day. I was in for a pleasant surprise; the people I met were awesome. They seeemed slightly in awe of the fact I was British and I spent most of the day surrounded by "Oh my gaaad, are you from England? How do you say [insert random American word]?". I  took the greatest pleasure in using google to introduce crumpets to the other side of the pond. Not only this, but I experienced some of the lessons; Econ, Engineering (car parts? I really wasn't sure what we were looking at for most of the lesson), English, Maths and Film Class (this class is without a doubt one of the most easy/fun classes I've ever been to). The most interesting class was certainly English; they were studying Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Now, pretty much everyone knows that I am going to study Classics at university and that I studied Oedipus Rex at school last year. These were the proceedings.

Teacher: Right, class, we're going to go through some basic vocabulary you will need for this play. [begins listing lots of basic words]... and the next word is Pythian (he pronounces Pie-Theon)
Lucinda: *looks up, surprised*
Teacher: And the next word is... maenads (he pronounces it "meeenads")
Lucinda: *narrows eyes*
Teacher: And lastly, we have Delphi (pronounces it delph-EYE)
Lucinda: *cracks knuckles*
Yes, I know this is America, so they pronounce words very differently, but this doesn't excuse the fact he went on to make comments which were incorrect. I wouldn't consider myself a particularly shy person or someone easily embarrassed, so when the opportunity arose, I went on to correct him on all his mistakes as well as make some extra points which my dear Mother taught me in my Classical Civilisation Lessons at school.

The result was that all the students asked the teacher if I could stay for good and teach their English classes instead! #Granter (greek banter)



Lacrosse Game
Both Vinnie and Sammy Ferro play box Lacrosse and it was really cool to be able to watch both of them play on 9th January. I knew that Men's lacrosse was violent, but nothing could have prepared me for the game: sticks flying everywhere, shoulder barging, hitting eachother round the head with sticks, scrums against the wall. Although I winced in sympathy when a player went flying, seeing them all play together makes me want to go back to a sports team. Maybe at Durham I can take up mixed Lacrosse or something along those lines.

Food
Perhaps it is a little shallow to have a whole subheading dedicated to food, but I feel this must be made. The food over here, while mostly ridiculously unhealthy, is unbelievable. I did bring a couple of comforts from home with me (like Marmite, a few teabags etc), but there was really no need. Here's a short list of foods which make life incredible:

• Lucky Charms
• Fruit Loops
• Twizzlers
• Warheads
• Sour Patch Kids
• Hershey's chocolate
• Frozen Yoghurt
• Lays crisps

If the CEO of Tescos just happens to be surfing the web and stumbles upon this; get on it, now! Supply these foods and sell them as cheaply as they sell them in America! THANK YOU!

Alright, my lovelies... I think that's enough for this week. Let's hope things are as exciting next week as they were this week!

Kisses,
Luce