Archery Competition, Pub Games & The Flu

This last Saturday I was considerably more busy than I am usually. I was able to compete in the archery competition at the University of Warwick. Where would you think this university would be located? If you guess in Warwick, you would be wrong. They do have a campus there, but the competition was actually in Coventry. No idea why. The part of the city that I saw was not the least bit attractive, so I have zero pictures of the place. Sorry, people. And I don't have any pics of the actual competition because honestly, photos were the last thing on my mind. I was so nervous and excited I felt like my bones were jumping out of my skin. It was really difficult to concentrate, breathe, slow my heart rate, and shoot when it was my turn.

After the competition everyone goes to the pub on campus and awaits the judges to check and verify the scores. I had a Coke because I wasn't feeling too good. All day I had a fever, and a sore throat. While in the pub I was introduced to a competition that has been on-going between all the archery clubs at every participating university. The Boat Race! The rules are: teams of four people stand in a line, each with a pint of beer in hand. The first in line is to drink the pint as fast as they can once the start has been signaled. When they are done they must sit on the ground immediately and turn the empty glass upside down over their head. Once the person has turned the glass over his or her head, the person behind them can begin to drink their pint. The first team to have all members sitting and glasses tipped over their head, WINS! I took pictures to document this ritual:





Then the Awards are given out. Nottingham won the overall competition, Yeah!!! My personal goal for the day was to reach a score of 400. Unfortunately I only got 399. ONE BLOODY POINT!!! I was a little upset with myself. But, I did feel better when I found out that I still won 3rd place in the Ladies Novice category! Yeah!! Here's a picture of the medal:

Then afterwards all the universities went to dinner together. It was fun to meet new people and see the long standing friendships and rivalries amongst everyone. One guy from our school has a twin at the University of Birmingham, and he was sitting at my table. It was really weird!! When they noticed I was an American, I got the usual questions (where from? Why Nottingham? Studying what??) But they did ask me what other sport I have done. "I used to play soc.." I slapped my mouth in embarrassment. "Football!" I corrected while they all laughed. I'm still not used to calling it football. I tried to explain to my German friend, Sarah, that in America, the boys usually play American Football, and the girls will play Soccer. She looked at me weird, like I just sprouted two heads. (I get that expression a lot) But I figure guys will play anything that has the potential in the future for girls, money, and glory. Sports that provide guys with those goals, and they'll play it!

But I digress. Another American from Connecticut is on the Archery team and kind of a snob. Which is not surprising considering that he is from the Northeast. He got into this big argument with a fellow archer about whether Star Trek Voyager or The Next Generation is better. Keimo (my brother)would probably have a strong opinion, seeing as though the man still has the action figures and reads the books. Did I mention he's 37 years old?? My first thought was WHO CARES??. But the American guy wouldn't let it go. So she poured half a glass of water over his head. I cheered inside! Here is her throwing death-ray glares at him!


The next morning on Sunday I woke up and I had a fever, sore throat, bad cough, was achy all over (from archery or sickness?) and lethargic. I tried to eat breakfast, but threw it up within the hour. Gave up on the eating thing for the day. I basically survived on weak tea and apple juice. But today, I woke up feeling much better! I still have a bit of a fever, sore throat, but my deep chesty cough has diminished greatly. And my appetite is coming back. I can keep food down at least. So Yeah for me!