EastEnders

I went to bed late last night so when I woke up today, I pushed the snooze a couple times. I eventually clawed my way out of bed and went to Sociology for the last time. Justin decided to finally take us to the East End and have a walking tour. He had been talking about doing this all semester so I was glad that it finally happened. The name of this post is the famous British TV show about people who live in the East End. We took the Tube over to Whitechapel. We walked by a pub, The Blind Beggar, where one of the Kray Twins killed a guy (picture 1). I don't remember the whole story but it is a famous place in the mythology of the Kray Twins. It is still popular nowadays. Then we walked by some football (soccer) fields (picture 2). It turns out that there used to be houses there but when the Lufthansa bombed London, they focused on the East End. They did that because the docks were located there and the largest concentration of people lived there as well. So all the houses in this area were bombed and never rebuilt. They were turned into recreation areas instead. We walked by the boxing club that the Kray Twins went to all the time. We also passed by the house where they grew up. Our second to last stop was a pub where all the victims of Jack the Ripper frequented, The Ten Bells (picture 3). It is a fact that that pub was the last place the last victim was before she was killed. We ended our tour at Spitalfields Market. It was a fruit/vegetable market for over a hundred years but recently has gone under redevelopment into a commercial area. There are still some little flea market stands inside though. This was where we all said goodbye to Justin. He went and had coffee with some people from the class but I wanted to go back to my flat. Before I left, I got my picture taken with him (picture 4). Justin was awesome and really taught us a lot about British culture and what it means to be from London. He was a really good teacher.

Back at Metrogate, I ate my PBJ lunch and did a little research for my Islam paper. I decided to write about head scarves. My plan was to write about the origins of them, their current application in some countries and some controversies surrounding them (ban on them in French schools, lifting the ban on them in Turkish Universities). I didn't get too far though because I had Senior Sem to go to. In Senior Sem, Phil gave us a packet about readjusting when we come back home. It had a lot of good points in it. Then he gave us the final plan for storing our luggage. Anna and Nick (two of my classmates) gave presentations on the independent learning projects they did here. Anna's was about the perception of art, more specifically music and theatre. Nick did his on comparing different kinds of performance (ballet, theatre, opera). They did a good job and had nice interactive elements to their presentations. After that Phil gave us money for our expenses on our HostUK trips. Then we left.

I came back and then immediately left for the library. I had a bunch of books I needed to return because they were due. I only took two books back, both just overview books of Europe. I want to do a little more research before I leave. I completely that chore I came back and started working on the Islam paper more. I made dinner and that's where I am at right now. I still have a little bit to go on the paper but I wanted to take a break and get this post done. Hopefully I will be in bed by around midnight. I cannot wait until this paper is done.

Just a short information note. In the left column, I added the list of tags I have made on all my posts. So if you scroll through the list, you can click on a label and see all the posts connected to that label. It is an incredibly long list but I figured if anybody is bored they can look up things. It's also fun for me to scroll through the list and see all the interesting and cool places I have been to. Also, as you can see below, I updated the post from yesterday to include more details of my day so have a read if you like.

Adios!

Everytime I Leave

Today was an interesting day. I was (and am) eager to do something but nothing seemed to be interesting to me. I was very fidgety and just wanted to GO. I get this same feeling every time that I go anywhere for an extended period of time. Like before I left for London or Scotland or Italy (the list could go on...). I can only imagine what I will be like next Friday, the day before I leave for my travels. It is going to be interesting.

Last night, I was really tired so I went to lay down in bed which I did. The tv was (Mo had fallen asleep with it on) so I channel surfed for a little bit. An NBA game came on which was a big surprise to me. I had no idea they showed basketball games here. I was really tired but I stayed up for the whole first half. I really miss being able to watch sports so it was nice to be able to. I eventually got too tired and turned it off and slept. In Senior Sem we talked about the Social Contract Theory of morality. Again, pretty boring to me and the anxiousness was really bugging me at that time. At the end of class, we talked about our final farewell activity. Phil told us about this Medieval Dinner we could do. It was really nice food and there were actors serving the food in medieval costumes. The other option was the river boat cruise. There was a lot of tension because some people really wanted the dinner and some people really wanted the cruise. The room was extremely tense and on edge when we finally voted. The vote was 13 for the Medieval Dinner and 12 for the river cruise. SO CLOSE. One person didn't vote which sealed it. It was really crazy. I will miss the dinner though. They were going to schedule it for Friday or Saturday night and I will be gone. Oh well. I can't really feel bad about it because I am excited about Paris and feeling bad about it won't change the fact that I will not be able to go.

I came back after class and ate lunch. I finished up my Art History Journal (picture 1). I had to do so much cutting and pasting. I like the way it looks though. On one side of each page is the notes and on the other is a picture of the art. I put some pastel colored paper behind each. It is organized by class period. I like it a lot. I will be able to get it back before I leave and will show people when I get home. While I was working on the book, I watched some house hunting show on tv. It was about finding a house for some English woman in Portugal. The houses they were looking at were on the Silver Coast which is north of Lisbon. It looked very nice there. I have basically been wasting time since I finished my book. I packed. I watched tv. I researched for my two papers due next week. I read some sports blogs. I facebooked. Now I am about to go make dinner. After that I think I will leave for the Coach Station.

My coach leaves at 8:30 and arrives at 6 am (yikes). I am staying at the Young and Happy Hostel (what a funny name). I will be back at around 7 am on Sunday. It is going to be cool. I hope everyone has a really good end of the week and weekend. I will post while I am there if I can. Um, that's all. See you soon!

Au Revoir!

P.S. This was my 99th post on the blog! I cannot believe I have posted that many times or that I have been here that long. Incredible. Thanks so much everyone that reads this blog. I love doing it and I love everyone who takes the time to read it and care about what I do here. Bye!

Arts and Crafts

I went to bed really late last night because I just was not tired. So I was kind of tired all day. In Islam, we watched the second part of The Power of Nightmares. Again documenting how radical Islam and Neo-Conservatism are tied together. Then we talked about Muslims in the West today. I got my hair cut after class. I wanted to do it before I left traveling and today seemed like as good a day as any. It is ok job. I don't have any opinion either way. In Art History, we had an essay test where we had to write about 3 out of 9 different topics. I wrote about the Parthenon, Impressionism, and the Victorian Age. It was easy. Sad to see that class end though. After that I came back and cut and pasted a bunch for my Art History journal. For the journal, I typed up all my notes and then printed them and cut them out. I pasted them on some colored paper and then pasted them into the book. It took a long time to do all that. I still have to print and cut out the paintings. That's for tomorrow. Before dinner, I finished up the paper for Senior Sem. Other than that, just more homework, researching travel plans, and getting more excited about Paris. I leave in less than 24 hours. Woo! It is going to be so much fun. I am just super tired. I can barely keep my eyes open so sorry about the short entry. Just a pretty boring day. I will write a post before I leave tomorrow.

Bon Soir!

Paul, John, George, and Ringo

Today was a day of class, grocery shopping and the library like most Mondays are for me here. We continued our study of music in Sociology. We started where we left off last time, that being the Beatles. We listened to "I Saw Her Standing There". It was written by Paul McCartney and was a huge hit in the US. Starting here, the Beatles and their producer George Martin start to change their sound incredibly quickly. We moved forward 12 months to 1964 and the McCartney song "And I Love Her". The sound is much more confident and studio production is a lot more noticeable. The guitar sound is similar to Spanish guitar because the Beatles took a holiday in Barcelona and heard it there. It made me think of St. Nicholas Square in Granada at night. Lennon's writing was more abrasive, radical, and sad. McCartney's was more optimistic and romantic. A good example of this difference is that last song (romantic) and the Lennon song "I'll Be Back" (kind of sad). We listened to "Help!" next. Another huge hit. A song that sounds happy and stuff but the lyrics are actually pretty dark, a trend that becomes more prevalent. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was recorded only 18 months after their first single but is so different it is astounding.

The music for "Yesterday" was thought up by Paul in the middle of the night and he thought he had plagiarized, it came so easily to him. Turns out he didn't. It was the first song that only one Beatle sang and played on. There are more recordings of this song than any other ever. The song broadened the appeal of the Beatles to more people. McCartney was only 22 when he wrote it (!!!) but the lyrics are very world-weary and jaded. "Eleanor Rigby" has a very interesting story behind it. It was originally called Dorothy Hawkins because that was Paul's first girlfriend but wanted to change it. Paul and John both liked a woman named Eleanor Brown so they named it Eleanor Hawkins. Then Paul was with his girlfriend at a clothing store named Rigby's so he changed the name to Eleanor Rigby. Father McKenzie in the song was originally Father McCartney but he didn't want to do that to his dad. Well, Paul and his girlfriend went to Liverpool to visit his parents and he showed her the churchyard he used to play in as a kid. One of the gravestones said Eleanor Rigby and the one next to it said McKenzie. CRAZY!!! He totally didn't think of them like that. Next we listened to "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "A Day in the Life" both of which were induced by and sound just like a drug trip. They were heavy into LSD and such by now. "A Day in the Life" was recorded with a 100 piece orchestra in a 24 hour period. A 24 hour party came afterwards, haha.That's where we stopped with the Beatles. It was so interesting.

We finished the class by looking at a slide show of British Subcultures. The Edwardian Boys, The Rockers, The Skins (not like we think of them) were some of the subcultures through the 60s. The 70s had Hippies, Glam Rock, and Jamaican. The most famous of all was punk. The Clash and the Sex Pistols were huge. The 80s had Gothic, New Romantics, and House/Techno. Since then, there haven't been any documented subcultures really. Justin said that it is just a "Post-Modern Supermarket of Style". People just grab and use styles of the past and mix them all together. The best example of this is Amy Winehouse. I love her song "Valerie"(wait through the first minute or so, then the song starts). She doesn't make an appearance in the video though .

In Senior Sem, we talked about morals. We finished with Utilitarianism and then discussed Kant. We talked more about baggage storage. The last part was spent talking about our final farewell activity. The basic consensus was trying to find a river cruise where we could maybe eat lunch or something. I might be in Paris when it goes on because people want it on the weekend and I will only be here on Sunday. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it really. Frankly, I would rather go to Paris no matter what anyway. That's not to say that I won't be kind of sad about missing it.

After class, I ran a bunch of errands. I bought just a couple groceries to get me through to Wednesday night. I bought some art supplies to make my Art Journal (construction paper and a journal). I got my glasses fixed. I walked in the optician and asked the guy if he could fix them. It took him like 5 seconds and I asked how much it cost. He waved me away and said it wasn't a problem. I was very grateful. That was so nice of him. Then I went over to the library to drop off and pick up some more books. I came back and worked on stuff then made and ate dinner. I had quiche in preparation of Paris (haha, not really, it's cheap). That was my day. Sorry about all the Beatles info. I think it is really interesting and I like posting the YouTube links. The music is crazy good too. Tomorrow more class.

Cheers!

Wonderful Walking

Well. It is pretty late right now and I am tired because of all my walking but I am going to punch this entry out. I woke up late today (5 minutes before class started, which is always fun) but still got there like 5 minutes late which was a pretty good achievement. We learned that, because a TON of people are going back earlier, the price for storage is a lot shorter. I only have to pay 6 pounds. WOO! Then we read an example of Theatre of the Absurd called "Embers". It was about a guy sitting on a beach talking to himself basically. It was interesting. Then we talked about Merchant of Venice because we had reviews due today. Interesting and stuff. Next week is going to be all Morals discussion... Um. I am not looking forward to it. Oh well.

After class, I was sitting in the computer lab, eating lunch and it was super warm and sunny out. I didn't like being inside so I decided to walk up to Hampstead. It's a neighborhood that still maintains a very "village atmosphere" even though it is very within London. I walked through Hyde Park and up to Abbey Road again because it was on the way. They had repainted the wall outside the Studios so I couldn't see my message. They do this every week so I wasn't offended, I knew it was going to happen. I took a picture of the crosswalk like on the cover of the album (picture 1). I also wanted to walk by again because I wanted to buy some souvenirs. Abbey Road made a big impression on me so it was important for me to buy just a little something from it. I went to the gift shop located in a coffee shop next to the Tube station. I spend probably 10 minutes just staring at the selection because I couldn't decide. A pretty cute girl came over and asked if I needed help. I said, "Is it that obvious?" She laughed and offered that a lot of people buy magnets or key chains because they are small and cheap. Also, you see them everyday so you are constantly reminded. I took her advice and bought them. I also bought a postcard. After that I continued my walk up to Hampstead. I should mention that it is 5+ miles from my flat to Hampstead. That's a hike. The last part of the walk was totally uphill which was fun.

I got to Hampstead and started the walking tour in my Eyewitness Book that I always have with me. The start of the walk was Church Row (picture 2). I think I have said this before but this road is also one of the most complete Georgian streets. It is super nice and all the metal work is from the 18th century as well. At the end of the road is the Hampstead Parish Church. This church was constructed in 1749. The graveyard has a bunch of famous Hampsteadions. The most famous grave of all (and the one I wanted to see) was John Constable (picture 3). To refresh your memory, he painted a lot in the early 1800s and I walked around the area that he grew up in last January. Anyway, it was cool to see his grave. The inside of the church was prototypical English 18th century. From the church, I walked past Fenton House. It contains a large selection of old keyboards. It also has a very pretty garden. I walked through some more very pretty houses including one called Admiral's House (picture 4). It was so named because it reminded people of ship. It was the inspiration for that ship house in Mary Poppins. I continued on until I got to Whitestone Pond. There is stone nearby that marks the distance of 7 km from Holborn. Why that is necessary I don't know. From there, I entered the park known as Hampstead Heath.

I walked into Hampstead Heath. This is a HUGE park but different from every other park in London. It is not organized or specially landscaped like Hyde Park or Regent's Park. It is wilderness basically. There are mostly dirt paths through woods and giant hills (picture 5) and lakes. Really beautiful. My first main objective was Kenwood House (picture 6). I walked through some woods, almost lost, but made it there ok. Kenwood House is a Palladium mansion at the edge of the Heath. It contains a bunch of art work and period got furniture. I felt bad because they were closing everything up (I was the last person to enter before it closed) so I was rushed through the house. It contains "The Guitar Player" by Vermeer (picture 7) who is one of my mom's favorite artists. I wish she could have seen it with me. It also contains a really cool painting by Constable. While he lived in Hampstead, he did a bunch of paintings trying to work with the sky. This house contains one of them. There was a self portrait of Rembrandt, some Turners, and a bunch of paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds. I continued on to my next objective, Parliament Hill. I walked by a string of lakes (picture 8). They were very beautiful and pleasant. There were a ton of dogs around. It was so nice to walk around with the sun shining and a little breeze and the quiet. Parliament Hill is the highest point in the Heath. It offers a great view over London from afar (picture 9). It is sometimes called Kite Hill because kites fly on it all the time (it is almost always windy at the top). From there I walked back over to Hampstead.

In Hampstead, I wandered around and saw Christ's Church. Don't know much about it though. I made sure I walked past the house where Constable lived. Very nice looking. I think it is interesting that I am sort of book-ending my stay in London with trips to see the beginning and end of Constable's life. It was an accident but kind of cool to me. I walked down Well Walk and Flask Walk, two streets with nice houses and quite a few quaint pubs. Then I came upon the Tube station.

I got on the Tube and sort of collapsed in that passive, vegetable state that I usually get in after a hike or walk like this. I love that feeling. It is just so darn peaceful and realaxing. I would estimate I walked 9-10 miles today. I basically walked for 5 hours straight. It was highly enjoyable. Anyway, I walked back to the flat and ate a toasted bagel as kind of a snack/dinner. Then I walked over to the play I saw tonight, "Billy Elliot" (picture 10). It is the story of a boy in Northeast England in the 1980s during the Thatcher era. Billy is the son of a miner and the miners are on strike and Billy decides to do ballet while his masculine dad and brother try to cope. Anyway, a really good story, really good music (written by Elton John), really good dancing, really good singing. Basically, really good everything. The spectacle of seeing a big-time musical (which I had not done yet here) was amazing. Completely different from the Shakespeare play I saw last Saturday. Words cannot explain how different they were. Then I took the Tube back and talk to my Mom on Skype. My uncle, Jim, in Switzerland emailed me back so it looks like I will be spending a few days with him in May sometime. That should fun. I bought my plane ticket to Milan from Athens. More and more of my trip is coming together. I am now pretty much set on where I am going to be from April 26 until May 23 (I still need to figure out the last 8 days. Um, that's about it. There is a guy down here in the computer who has his music playing so loud I can make out every word through my own music. It is insane. However, it doesn't matter because I am going to go to bed. I am super duper tired.

Till next time!

Musi-c-lass

So today was a day of schoolwork. Probably my punishment for all of the sweet stuff I have been doing lately. I woke up and went to Sociology. We talked about music and the relationship of the US and the UK. First, we talked about Jazz and Blues and their growth in the US during the 1920s and 30s. It was called Delta Blue and we listened to a bunch of different examples of it: Bessie Smith, Bukka White, Robert Johnson, and Louis Armstrong. All of them were really good. It's just good music whether it was recorded 70 years ago or not. Plus, it was so influential. We continued on to the Big Band Era and listened to "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller. I played that song in jazz band in high school. While all of this music was being made, very little of it was being brought over to the UK except by people who really wanted it. That all changed during WWII when loads of US soldiers brought themselves and their music over to England. Frank Sinatra was our next stop on the musical tour. He was one of the first "lead singers" ever which made him very influential. We listened to "I've Got You Under My Skin", my favorite Frank song. He played at Royal Albert Hall a bunch of times in the 50s and 60s but always brought his own band because he didn't trust the British musicians.

After Frank, we talked about Chicago Blues which was Blues but had electric guitars and real bands. Our example of this was "Smokestack Lightning" by Howlin' Wolf. Great song. We contrasted that with the Rolling Stones's song "Midnight Rambler" which sounded very familiar. Howlin' Wolf recorded and toured with them in their early years. That really tells the story of the Blues. It started in the US. Then went over to the UK. Which brought it back to the US in a new way. Really cool. The we talked about Elvis for a while and listened to "That's All Right Mama" and "Mystery Train". Elvis was influential because he bridged the gap between the black and white radio. People didn't know what race he was so both types of station played it. Next up was Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio. We listened to "The Train Kept A-Rolling" which was a great song and just insanely popular in the UK. Jimmy Page, the guitarist from Led Zeppelin, fell in love with song and the band played it on their first tour. Finally we talked about the Beatles. We listened to "Love Me Do", their first single. Justin told us that the Beatles recorded 16 albums in their 8 years at Abbey Road. INSANE! That is just incredible. We ended with "Twist and Shout" which was recorded in one take in Abbey Road Studios at 9:30 pm after they had been recording all day. They were super tired but did an AMAZING cover. The video of course is not from that recording but still good. That song alone showed how far British had come in catching up to the established Americans. When people heard this, they knew that music would never be the same after. This was a great class of listening and learning about music. Justin made an astute point. British kids know the history of music and where stuff fits in. Americans kids, like me, usually have no clue.

In Senior Sem, we discussed some business first. We can reserve a locker to store stuff for about £2 per week that we need to store (so £10 for me). That is RIDICULOUSLY cheap. So that was good news. After that we talked about existentialism for a little bit. It is a philosophy that holds that life is meaningless. There are two branches though. One says that life is rational and without meaning and religion is irrational but we need to make that "leap of faith" to make life more meaningful. The other branch grew out of the destruction of WWII and held that life is just plain meaningless and messed up and religion doesn't fix that. People who believed this wrote plays and that were later called Theatre of the Absurd. They thought that life was meaningless and incomprehensible so their plays were too. They felt that language lost it's coherent ability so their plays did. Basically, their plays are weird and messed up just like life. I read a play in this style in ALP in high school called "Rhinoceros". It was weird. So many connections from what I have learned here to what I learned in ALP. Crazy. Anyway, it was a fun class as well.

After class, I read the book I had to write a review on and then set about writing the review. That took up all of my evening. I did take a break and go to the grocery store. I also looked up ferry times and days for when I am traveling in Greece so I know when and where I can go. But that was about it. By the way, the book I reviewed was called Leo the African and was an historical fiction novel about a Moorish guy who travels around the Mediterranean in the 1500s. Pretty good I guess. Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the music!

Toodles!

School Awesomeness

A couple reasons for the title today. One reason is that I signed up for classes for next semester today which only signifies further how close I am to my time here being over (sad). The other reason is that I went to a primary school and played with some kindergarteners this afternoon.

So I woke up and made a toasted bagel with nutella on one half and peanut butter on the other. It is just miraculously good. I had a banana and a yogurt as well. That's my usual breakfast, well rounded and delicious! In Senior Sem, we talked a little bit more about our Stratford-upon-Avon trip. Phil told us that the theatre the Royal Shakespeare Company normally performs in is being demolished and rebuilt so they are in a smaller one. Then we spent the rest of the class discussing the next chapter in our textbook. It dealt with the arguments for and against Utilitarianism. I am not a huge fan of discussing these moral things to be honest so I am not going to on my blog. Before we all left class, Phil told us that he is retiring at the end of the semester. He has been teaching for 48 years and at CSB for 36. That's a long time... We didn't push him over the edge if that's what you're thinking, he had decided last fall but didn't tell anyone until now. I'm happy for him. He said he is going to do a little bit of work for some non-profits in St. Cloud from now on.

After class, I came back and had some terrible microwave macaroni and cheese. Seriously, it was bad. I wish I would have just stuck with my PBJ. Then I went with Rachelle to Park Walk Primary School in Chelsea. I have said before that Phil was going to try and find a school for some people to volunteer at. Well he never found anything but Rachelle did. She told me to come with her today. We were in the kindergarten class. They were having recess when we arrived so we helped the teacher get stuff set up. The teacher is a younger guy and he said that he is from Canada but taught in New Zealand last year and is now in London. So cool. Then the kids came in. A couple of the boys called me Bushy Head because of my hair but I put them in their place (nicely). It was funny though. I was in charge of the painting table. Some of the kids' paintings were... interesting. They resorted to painting with their hands after a while (we had stamp things for them to us). We did that for an hour. Then we went outside for a break where all the boys sat on my feet and hung onto my legs to try and make me not be able to move. It didn't work. Then we came back, read a story and they all left. It was about 2.5 hours in total. As one girl was getting ready to leave, she touched my arm and said, "Why is your arm all hairy?" I said I didn't know. She responded with "I think it's because your arm wants to hide". Hahahaha. Reminded me of the time last summer when one of the students touched my arm and said, "I bet you have 1,200 hairs on your arm". Kids say the darnedest things.

I came back to the flat and registered for classes. For those who want to know, here's my schedule:

1-3-5 9:40 Astronomy 212, SJU
1:00 Nutrition 125 Lab (only day 5), CSB
2:40 Education 359 (only C Mod), CSB
2-4-6 11:20 Nutrition 125, CSB
1:00 Math 331, SJU
Monday 9:30 am Astronomy 212 Lab, SJU
Tuesday 6:30 pm Education 390, CSB

If you don't understand how the schedule works just look at the class names and you get the gist. I am taking Nutrition 125 with my best friend from SJU, Garrett, which should be a lot of fun. I finally got all caught up on putting my pictures on Facebook which is nice. I had a pepperoni pizza for dinner which was spicy and delicious. Um, yeah, that's all for today. No idea what I want to do tomorrow but I will think of something, you know me!

One more thing, I was perusing YouTube and I found this girl on there named Kina Grannis. She's good looking and she's a really good singer and songwriter. This video is a cover though. The song she is covering is probably my favorite song of the moment (the moment lasting basically since I got here) called "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Anyway, I know some people aren't into music that much or never go on YouTube but I am putting it on here anyway. When you hear this girl on the radio in a year, you can say you heard it here first. Haha.

Tschüs! (Informal goodbye in German)

Routine Life

Well today was definitely a return to my routine. Sadly, I don't have many more times that I can have the routine. Not to be too weird but this was my fourth to last Monday in London. That means I only have three left. That makes me feel so many things: sad, happy, scared, excited, anxious, depressed. Right now though, all I feel is good about getting back to blogging. I kind of missed it the past week. Speaking of blogging, I added two entries about last Sunday and Monday. I put them under the actual day they occurred. It makes more sense that way. I also added a little more to my post from yesterday, about what I actually did and such.

Now, about today. I woke up a little earlier to put the final touches on my Sociology in the City paper. I had to describe a social activity in London. I wrote about the church I went to. It was fun to write about it. In that class today we talked about Parliament. I had heard most of it before during our tour of Parliament but hearing Justin put in his little anecdotes and opinions made it really funny. He is a really good teacher. We spent about an hour talking about the monarchy and what they do and what's going on with them. That was really interesting. We watched a video of Queen Elizabeth II performing the ceremony of opening Parliament. Lots of traditions and weird things going on. Like the Queen has to request the the House of Commons to attend and sends a guy over to do it. The House of Commons slams the door in his face (part of tradition) and he has to request to enter. This shows the superiority of the democratically elected Commons to the monarchy. Anyway, there was a ton of stuff like going on. I thought it was really fascinating and had never heard of most of it before (at least before my visit to Parliament).

I got lunch at the sandwich shop (I had to go grocery shopping later) and read in some books in FIE about Turkey and the Greek Islands. I am going to say this just about everyday until I leave but I am so excited about my trip. It is going to be so amazing. In Senior Sem, we discussed the next chapter in our moral philosophy book. It is about utilitarianism. Basically, that theory holds that whatever decision creates more happiness is the best decision. This created lots of discussion during class. Like utilitarianism says that animals can feel pain and unhappiness so we shouldn't kill them and we should all be vegetarians. I'm not even exaggerating or anything. That's what my book says. Then we spent some time talking about Shakespeare since we are going to Stratford-Upon-Avon this Saturday on our last group excursion. I will admit that I did not really pay attention during this part. I was busy planning my schedule for next fall. I register on Wednesday. Everything that was talked about I had heard before. Then we talked a little about the role of critics and what one needs to include in a critique of a piece of art (like a play).

After class, I did my usual Monday grocery shopping trip. Not much to say about it. I bought some frozen pizzas which should be really good. One is Cajun Chicken flavored and the other is Tikka Marsala flavored. Yum! After grocery shopping I went to the library and returned a bunch of books then checked out a bunch more. I got a ton of books on the places I am going to travel to which I am looking forward to looking through.

I came back and sent off some e-mails to figure out where I am going to work next fall. McGlynn's e-mailed to say that if I wanted my manager position again next fall, I would have to re-apply and re-interview. The prospect of doing all that work for a job that I used to enjoy but not really anymore doesn't get me very excited so I sent in an application to be a math TA today instead. We'll see what happens. The rest of my evening was spent writing those blog posts (uploading the pictures took FOREVER), finishing my class plans for next fall, posting pictures on facebook, and eating dinner.

I like my Monday routine here. Sociology, Senior Sem, grocery shopping, and the library. I am really going to miss it when I am traveling and have literally zero routine so I better enjoy it while I can. I hope everyone had a good day. Hopefully, a couple more Spain posts tomorrow.

Toodles!

The Second Biggest Church in the World

Today turned into a much more interesting day than I thought it would be when I woke up. I went to Senior Sem and then, on a whim, decided to go to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a great idea.

In Senior Sem, we discussed a bunch of stuff pertaining to getting ready to leave London. Ready to leave?? We just got here!! But, alas, I only have a month left here. That is insane... and sad... and scary... and a million other things. Anyway, we talked about storage and knowing when and where your flight is and other stuff. Then we started talking about visual art. We looked at a painting (picture 1). Phil made four groups and each group represented one of four elements in the painting, positive space, negative space, edge, and line. We pretended each of those four elements was a state and the whole painting was a country. Each group came up with an idea of how our own state was doing. Like, my state was the black color (positive space) and we said that we were expanding our borders and proclaimed that the country would be much more at peace if we took over all of it. Some other groups proposed eliminating some elements and stuff like that. We didn't know the name of the painting when we were doing this. The painting is called "Elegy of the Spanish Civil War" so without knowing what the painting was about, we got a lot of the elements the artist was going for: genocide, anger, uneasy, battle, etc. It was a very cool way of doing it. I was impressed with the idea and surprised by how it all worked out.

After class, I came back and ate lunch and sat around for a little bit. I knew I couldn't do that all day so I decided to go to St. Paul's Cathedral (picture 2) and go inside because I haven't done that yet. I was not allowed to take pictures inside it (that is SOOOOOO dumb, ugh) so you'll just have to trust me that it was astoundingly impressive. St. Paul's is the second biggest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome) and has the second tallest dome (same). This incarnation of the church was designed by Christopher Wren who did numerous other churches in The City (the neighborhood stretching from Temple to Tower Bridge). None of his other churches even comes anywhere close to matching the splendor and sheer size of this building. The church was built after the Great Fire of 1666 on the same place as the older St. Paul's. There has been a church on that spot since around 600. Wren had a much different idea for his church than the one that ended up being built. The people in charge were more conservative than him. I'd say he did a pretty good job anyway. The two bell towers in front were added later (but still by Wren) and were supposed to both have clocks but only one does now. They are topped by pineapples (yes, pineapples) that symbolized peace and prosperity (plus pineapple is delicious). The dome is topped by a ball and cross, just like the older churches.

I went in and the first thing you notice is the amazing nave (picture 3, from the internet). It is so tall and spectacular. The chandeliers in it were really cool, I never noticed anything like them in Rome or Florence. I walked under the dome next which was incredible. The inside of the dome has monochrome paintings of Bible stories. A very big contrast to the apocalyptic paintings on the inside of the Duomo in Florence. The Choir had wrought iron all around it which was amazing. Inside the Choir is the High Altar which had a canopy like the one in St. Peter's (but small and less extravagant). The High Altar was destroyed when a bomb or something crashed through the roof and on it during WWII. The ceiling above the Choir and the High Altar was mosaics. The mosaics were special because they were made using glass pieces that were set in at odd angles to make them sparkle. It was sooooo cool (picture 4, again from internet). I wanted to take a picture so bad. They were beautiful. Definitely my favorite part of the church.

From there, I started my ascent of the dome where I could take pictures. There were 450 or so steps. Brought me back to all the steps I climbed in Italy. Its interesting to compare the staircases. In the Campanile in Florence, the stairs were in a square pattern. The Duomo was a circular staircase. St. Paul's was in the shape of an oval. It is strange that they are all different. Anyway, the first stop is the Whispering Gallery which is on the inside of the dome, at the very base. It's called the Whispering Gallery because if you talk into the wall, you can hear it all the way around it. A very cool effect. There was a really good view down in the church and up at the inside of the dome. More stair climbing followed until I got to the Stone Gallery which is outside. It is located where the curved part of the dome meets the up and down part, if you know what I mean. The views were pretty awesome. There were stone columns that I had to take my pictures through but it was ok (picture 5). The views of the bell towers with the London Eye and River Thames were really cool (picture 6). There was also a good view across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern (picture 7). Then it was more stair climbing up to the top. The top is called the Golden Gallery and it is tiny. It is a very small circle that you can walk around. I happened to go up at the exact same time as two classes of French and German high schoolers. That was way over maximum capacity. We were all squished. I did manage to get my picture taken up there (picture 8). It was cloudy so the pictures weren't out of this world, but the views were still magnificent. I made my way down all those stairs and back into the church.

My next stop was the crypt. In the crypt, a lot of famous English people are buried including Lord Nelson, Duke of Wellington, Florence Nightingale, Lawrence of Arabia, T.M.W. Turner, Winston Churchill and Christopher Wren. On Wren's plaque, it says "Reader, if you seek a monument look around you". Wren didn't actually want that on his plaque (he was modest) but its there now and he can't do anything about it. After the crypt, I took one last look around and tried to take it all in (impossible) and left. I decided to do one of those walking tours I always do. This time, it was of the The City.

My first stop was St. Nicholas Cole, a church that was almost completely destroyed during WWII from the German bombing. I didn't like this church that much frankly. My tour led me to St. James Garlickhythe Church but it was locked so I couldn't get in and see it. Then I walked over to St. Mary-le-Bow, yet another church (picture 9). This one I was able to get into. Tradition has it that anyone heard within earshot of the bells of the church is said to be a true Londoner or Cockney. From there, I walked over to Mansion House, where the City of London's Lord Mayor lives. I looked at the outside of the Royal Exchange. My last stop was the Bank of England (picture 10) and the museum inside it. James, my cousin Sonya's husband, works for the Bank of England. The building was designed by Sir John Soane. That's the guy who's house I went to a couple weeks ago. The museum was pretty cool but I'm not that interested in money so I didn't stay very long. The highlight of the visit was that I got to lift up a gold bar. It ways about 26 lbs. and is worth around £200,000 ($400,00). It was awesome.

Then I took the Tube to Victoria to buy a Coach ticket for tomorrow because I wanted to go to Brighton which is a town on the English Channel. I walked back to the flat and on the way back, there was a really cool sunset (picture 11). I ate dinner. I had minced beef and onion pies things along with green beans. It was all pretty good. Before you know it, I might actually cook myself an entire meal at once. I watched Barack Obama's speech from yesterday (about race and politics in the US) on YouTube. It was so good. And that's about it. I hope everyone had a good Wednesday!!

Ciao!

Food & Friends

Monday Monday... I had a pretty good day today. Nothing too crazy. Just a couple classes and then dinner with Phil.

In Sociology of the City, we discussed multiculturalism in Britain. One of the big issues we talked about was "What is British-ness?" because that is an issue going on right now. The idea came about in the 1800s when England took over Scotland and Wales and made Great Britain. This is a separate question from English-ness or Scottish-ness because it involves the colonies that Britain ended up taking over and all the immigrants from those places that moved here. We watched a pretty funny movie about a guy who was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland but is second generation Indian. It was funny but serious at the same time. Kind of a serious topic of class but that's ok. I have to write a paper due two weeks from today. It is an observation paper. I am going to write about the people in my church and stuff. It should be fun.

In Senior Sem, we took a test. That's all. It was pretty easy because I pay attention in class really well. Mostly just regurgitation questions which I am pretty good at. (Pre-positioning: This way of doing things is fine) Some people don't pay attention in class but study a lot for tests like the one we had in Islam and this one in Senior Sem. I do the opposite strategy, I pay attention in class but hardly study. The results seem to be the same.

After class, I bought some bread because the bread I bought a week ago spoiled. I knew I should have used it but I had so much other stuff that was going to go bad that I couldn't. Oh well. The real lesson I learned is put the bread in the fridge. Only problem is that that would probably freeze it which I don't want to happen. Haha, enough bread talk. I went to Phil's for dinner tonight with Peter, Vanessa, and Chelsey. They live in a flat that they rent from FIE in Chelsea about 25 minutes walk from Metrogate. It was a lot of fun. We talked about a bunch of stuff and the food was just amazing. We had Scottish Pie (beef and vegetables topped with mashed potatoes), cut up fresh vegetables, banana creme pie and (my favorite part) a salad with lettuce, candied pecans, oranges, and onions. So good!! Katherine and Phil did a great job! Like I said, we talked a lot about their kids and our plans after the program and art and a bunch of other stuff. A total blast. I brought my camera to take pictures but, alas, I never really got a chance to.

No St. Patrick's Day celebrations for me. But for anyone who is celebrating them, have fun!

Tomorrow I am going to a mosque for Islam vs. the West and to Somerset House for Art History. Should be fun!

Bye!

Five Actions

So today was punctuated by five actions: listening, buying, writing, taking, and attending. You will see the rest of the phrases below.

Listening: We listened to The War Requiem by Benjamin Britten today in Senior Sem. It was really interesting. I can't say I particularly liked it but I thought it was well done if that makes sense. To remind you, The War Requiem was written to commemorate the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. It combines the old Latin funeral mass with poems by Wilfred Owen. The music was really powerful but I was a little put off by the solo singers. They were singing in an operatic tone and it was just hard to adjust to. Thank God I had the lyrics in front of me, otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on. Like I said, it is an epic piece of work (90 minutes long) but it really puts out the message of pacifism strongly. It would be hard to hear this music and still be pro-war which I think was Britten's point. I also spent a lot of the day listening to my own music on my Zune walking places and stuff.

Buying: I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of groceries. It felt so good. I know that that sounds very capitalistic or something but it felt good to get what I wanted (cheapest option of course, and I didn't get EVERYTHING I wanted, but still) and not worry about not having enough cash. Granted I still only spent £30 and I bought enough food to last me for 8-9 days hopefully but just the comfort of not having to worry about it was great. Mom and Amy will be happy to know that I bought potato flakes and rice/couscous mix things. Just like old times! I also bought some more fruit cocktail, haha Dad. I really like what I purchased which sounds kind of weird but I felt like I got a bunch of each food group, where as before I would basically buy bread, PBJ, pasta and sauce and that was it. Anyway, just exciting.

Writing: I spent a while writing my blog post about my weekend in Abingdon. It is a really long post but worth the read (I always say that). That's all there is to say about that.

Taking: I decided to walk to the National Theatre where we all went to a play tonight. On the way there, I walked by Big Ben, the London Eye, and across the Jubilee Bridge. I had not seen them at night since like my first night here when Vanessa and I walked around. That's terrible but it is probably true. I just don't go out at night. I'm like an anti-vampire. Anyway, since I never see them at night, they were truly spectacular. So all the pictures in this post are from that walk to the National Theatre. It was so cool. Another one of those picture on my Pictures I Truly Love is the first one. On some of the others, I love the reflection on the Thames. Amazing! I think I am getting better at taking cool pictures. Maybe not, you be the judge!

Attending: As I said, we attended a play at the National Theatre. It was called Major Barbara. The main story surrounded the owner of a armament factory in the early 1900s and his search for his successor. The play was really about right vs. wrong and morality and stuff. Like, how does one attain salvation and is there such a thing as that. Pretty heavy stuff but it was actually really funny. A lot of one liners and there was one ridiculous guy who would always say, "Well, I say" but it a really weird and funny manner. I thought it was really good and I enjoyed the main character very much.

One thing I forgot to say was that the best part of my day (no kidding) was my lunch. I made it right after I got back from the grocery store. I made a panini sandwich just like the ones I had in Italy (panini bread, cheese and meat), BBQ chips, peach slices, and a yogurt because I didn't have one at breakfast. It was SO GOOD. I know I center around what I eat a lot but it is a big part of my life here (or anyone's life for that matter) so deal with it I guess.

Well that was my day. I wonder what verbs will happen tomorrow... (haha, good ending, I just never know how to end these things)

Toodles!

A Rainy Day in London Town

Don't think I forgot to do a blog entry for today. I realize how late it is. But I got sucked into looking up travel information. I know it seems like that's all I do (you are probably right) but it's not all I do. Today I did some other things too I promise. By the way, it rained all day today and was incredibly windy. Pretty crappy really.

First off, I went to class. In Sociology of the City, we discussed the Kray Twins some more. It was more about gangsters and the fascination that people have for them though. Then we learned about the paper we have to write. It involves observing some people doing something and then writing about it. Like people in a park or restaurant or on the Tube, the list could go on. I don't know what I want to do yet. The last part of the class was spent talking about multiculturalism in London. In Senior Sem, Phil read some excerpts of more of the War Poets and talked about Benjamin Britten some more. On Wednesday, we are going to listen to the whole piece The War Requiem which is going to be a complete 2 hour affair. That should be interesting.

The most exciting news of the day was certainly the fact that I got my debit card and it works. YAY!!!! I was so happy. I felt completely hopeless and alone without any source of money (other than Vanessa) so it's nice to be a little independent again. After class, I went to the library and got some more books. I think a got a nice variety of stuff like usual. Over the weekend, I read a couple books. One was A Teacher's War which was a memoir about a British woman who taught English in what is now Tanzania and then later in Turkey during WWII. Quite a bit of the book is telling stories of things that happened on the trains while she traveled. It was a really good read and I loved her descriptions. She did some paintings of where she lived and people she met which were in the book. I loved them a lot. It made me excited about all the sweet places I am going to go (granted I am not going to Turkey or Tanzania). I also read The Conscience of the King which was a historical fiction novel about the first King of Wessex. It takes place in 450-500 and is about this Saxon guy taking over the area that is now southwest of London. It was pretty good and filled me in on a big part of British History I was missing (the Saxon Invasion).

Tonight, I called my mom on Skype and we made more plans for when she comes to visit. We are going to go to the Andalusia region which is in southern Spain. I am incredibly excited about it. It should be a lot of fun. That area of Spain used to be the center of the Western Islamic World so there are a lot of mosques and churches and just lots of stuff.

The other part of exciting travel news is that my best friend from SJU, Garrett, is going to be in Sweden at the end of May so I am trying to figure that into my travel plans. I hope I can get up and see him and Sweden. That would be really cool. Because of the rain, I spent most of my day researching and thinking about my travel plans (with my mom, the free weekends in April, and after the program). I am getting a lot more of it settled down in my mind. By that I mean, narrowing down the places I want to go and figuring out how to get there and all that stuff. It is really exciting and I love thinking and reading about all the places.

Well that's all for today. Sorry about not doing the update of my weekend. I just never found the time for it. By Wednesday, I will though.

Bye!

Anthem for Doomed Youth

Well if I thought the past couple days were uneventful, today was the Dark Ages. So I will recount today but also give everyone a little look at all the excitement coming up this month. By the way, the title of this post is the title of a poem by Wilfred Owen, who we talked about today in class.

When I walked into Senior Sem today, Phil called me over and told me that an Indian woman at the grocery store he always goes to asked him to help her two kids (16 and 13) with their English proficiency. He couldn't do it so he asked me if I wanted to do. Of course I said yes. It would involve a couple nights a week and maybe a weekend or two. I would get paid. Sign me up! We'll see what happens but I hope something comes out of it.

In class today, we talked about a bunch of stuff. We discussed the War Poets which were some poets who served for Britain in WWI and wrote anti-war poetry because of it. The most famous of the War Poets was Wilfred Owen. The poetry he wrote holds nothing back and is quite grim and depressing. If you're interested, here's a link to some of his works. It really is worth it to just read one or two of the poems. I suggest Anthem for Doomed Youth because its short and is similar to the rest of his stuff. The most tragic part about the whole thing is that he ended up dying in WWI, just like all the people he wrote about.

We read those War Poet poems because they are featured in a piece of music called The War Requiem by Benjamin Britten. he wrote it for the re-opening of Coventry Cathedral after it was destroyed in WWII. We are visiting the cathedral in a week. Um, lots of connections there to stuff we are doing (British music, morality of war, program excursion, etc.). We are going to listen to that music next week in preparation for our visit. We spent the rest of the class time talking about "englishness" in music. We continued our journey through English music history by learning about the three great English composers of the late 19th and early 20th century, with Holst the biggest among them. Holst wrote The Planets which is very popular among high school marching bands. Park Center performed that music in 1999 I think, maybe 2001. I don't know. At any rate, I had heard it before and am going to hear it again soon. On Thursday we are going to a concert by the Royal College of Music and they are performing The Planets. You should be able to listen to some of the music at this link if you are so inclined. *Phew* That's a lot of connections and a lot of stuff to talk about and get ready for.

After class, I sat around in the computer lab applying for summer jobs and doing more travel research and just catching up on Facebook and emails. I could spend a lifetime doing travel research. Eventually, I will need to stop and do something else with myself but for now, I enjoy it and feel like I need to do it for all the reasons that I think I said before (lots of potential trips coming up). I ate dinner and read and watched tv and generally lazed around. Tough life, I know. That's about it for today.

To fulfill my promise at the beginning, here's a look at some of the uncoming stuff that I know about right now in my life:

March 6 ~ Orchestra Concert
March 7-9 ~ Home Stay near Oxford (more on that tomorrow)
March 12 ~ Theatre: Major Barbara
March 15 ~ Coventry Cathedral and Warwick Castle
March 21 ~ My mom arrives
March 23 ~ Easter
March 26 ~ Theatre: The Importance of Being Ernest
March 30 ~ My mom leaves

Busy, busy. Bye!

Class Space

"It looks like someone has a case of the Mondays"

That's how I felt today. I was tired when I woke up. I also just didn't really feel like going to class. You do what you gotta do though.

In Sociology, the whole class time was spent listening to my prof tell us about the Kray Twins (Reggie on the left and Ronnie on the right). They were two brothers who grew up in East London in the 40's. By the time the 60's rolled around, they were super powerful gangsters (there is rumored to be a picture of them with the Queen somewhere out there). They were ruthless and violent when they had to be. They basically ruled London during the entire Sixties. They got away with a lot of stuff. It was a really good story and parts of it were pretty amazing. Like all the political corruption that went on back then. There is political corruption now too but I suppose I am pretty naive and don't think about it much so when I get a big reminder like the story of the Kray Twins, it amazes me.

We spent the first hour of Senior Sem talking about the two plays we saw last week. Lots to talk about with them. The second hour was spent getting a little refresher on what an orchestra is. We are seeing the Royal College of Music's Orchestra on Thursday night (they are playing Planets). In preparation, Phil told about what makes an orchestra and how each instrument is like a color for an artists. They have different moods and sounds and looks. We listened to examples of each instrument which was fun. I never listen to band music and when I do, it makes me remember being in band in HS and how much I liked it.

After class, I went down on the computer and researching travel stuff. I looked at Rick Steve's website (just search Rick Steves). He has a TON of information and the people who contribute to his message boards are really good too. They have good advice and funny stories. The reason I am spending so much time researching is because, as I have said before, I like it and because there are still a lot of chances for me to travel while I am here: when my mom comes, two free weekends in April, and after the program. That's a lot of opportunities and a lot of decisions to make about where and what I want to do.

I guess that's about it. It was a pretty boring and uninteresting day so that means this blog entry was probably boring and uninteresting. Sorry about that. Part of the deal though. It can't be exciting all the time. Have a nice day everyone!

*Waves Goodbye*

All the World's a Stage

So originally I was going to do my last Italy post tonight after I went to that TV show taping or whatever. Turns out I did not do either of those. The person I was going to the TV show taping with never came and got me and I ended up sleeping from 7:30 to 11:30. Haha, oops. I was really tired all day.

This morning I woke up at 7 and got ready to walk to the Globe Theatre (picture 1) which is about 4 miles away. Vanessa and I walked there. The morning light was really pretty. We walked by Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern. Now that's a list of London attractions! It was fun to walk and it felt good. Our tour and presentation at the Globe was our class for the day. That is really cool. Our tour guide is an actor at the Globe and he was really good. I thought he was energetic and funny and kept us involved. I was never bored. He talked about how the theatres in London started and what life was like as an actor in Shakespeare's time. Like I said, very informative and fun. We did a scene from Romeo and Juliet. I was the friar. He was showing us how all the directions and cues were in the words of the play. No stage directions necessary really. It was the scene were Romeo is going crazy after he kills Tybalt and nurse comes to visit the Friar and Romeo. It brought me back to ninth grade where me, Matt, Andrew, and Nick did a scene from R & J.

After that, we went into the theatre itself which was really cool. Smaller than I thought it would be. Also the stage was more elaborate than I thought it was going to be (picture 2). More art and carving than I imagined. Our tour guide explained the thatched roof and about the history of the Globe (picture 3). It was interesting to me that an American visiting London and looking for the Globe was the one who ended up getting it rebuilt 11 years ago. We walked behind the stage doors and then walked out on the stage and it was a really cool feeling stepping out and imagining all those people (max capacity 1,700) looking back at you. That's the difference between the Globe and other theatres. At the Globe, the actors and really see the audience and all of their faces. Scary. I really enjoyed the tour.

After that I walked to Trafalgar Square and ate lunch on the steps in front of the National Gallery. Amazing view down the street to Big Ben (picture 4). Plus it was partly sunny which was really nice. After lunch, I walked around the West End killing time until The Pirates of Penzance started. I never come to West End so it cool to explore Chinatown and the theatre district and Soho. Lots of places to eat and very commercialized. I saw 4 different McDonald's.

Pirates of Penzance (picture 5) is an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan (two English dudes) and was written in the Victorian era. An operetta is like a cross between a musical and an opera. There are some lines that are not really a song but are sung. There is just plain dialogue. Plus there are songs. I was incredibly tired during the play.. Plus we were in the last room on the floor so part of our view was obstructed by the balcony (the top half of the stage was gone). I wasn't that interested in the play. Gilbert and Sullivan poked fun at something different in every operetta they wrote. This one poked fun at the army and the police (some keystone cops action). Parts were funny but other parts were sung in an opera voice and I just couldn't understand what they were saying. Especially the lead woman singer. Ugh. It was a matinee and there were A TON of older people there. I was still glad we got to go just to get a flavor of what theatre was like 130 years ago and to see what an operetta was.

For those counting, that was 3 theatre experiences (The Vertical Hour, Pirates of Penzance, and the Globe) in less than 24 hours. Crazy. After the play, I walked back to the flats. I dinked around on the computer reading sports stuff then went into my room and decided to "rest my eyes" for a couple minutes. As I said, that turned into 4 hours of sleeping. Oh well. I felt I needed it so I don't mind. Then I came down and am writing this. I don't have any plans for tomorrow as of yet. We'll see what I end up doing. I was thinking British Museum but who knows. Have a wonderful day!

Cheers!

Back to School, Back to School

Well I didn't write an update of what I did yesterday because I didn't do anything. I went to church which was really nice. As I have said before, and the Pope agreed (haha), going back to Our Lady of Victories Church is kind of like going home here. It was weird to be gone for a week. After church, I went on the computer and promptly sat there for most of the rest of the day. I put a whole crap load of pictures on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook, try and find someone who does because I can only put 8-10 pictures on my blog per day but I put 60 per day on Facebook. Plus I took the pictures so they have to be good :-) I had tortellini for dinner and started reading The Odyssey.

Today we all had to go to back to school which was weird. In Sociology in the City, we watched From Hell which is a movie from 2001 about Jack the Ripper. It was pleasant way to spend a class period. Haha, so easy. The movie was good though and it was interesting comparing what they did in the movie to what happened in real life. In Senior Sem, we talked about all the stuff we have coming up this week:

Tuesday - The Vertical Hour, a play at 7:30 pm
Wednesday - Globe Theater Tour at 10 am; Pirates of Penzance at 2:30 pm
Saturday - Cambridge Visit with Evensong at King's College

That's a lot of stuff. We talked about Anglican Music more and about the plays we are going to see. After class, I went to the library and got a new card. I picked up a bunch of new books that I am excited about. I also stopped at a store and bought some new ear phones because my old ones broke. Then I came back and worked on my blog more. That's about it. Kind of boring but its nice feeling like I am getting stuff accomplished and almost caught up with the blog. I had some pre-made lasagna and a bread stick thing for dinner. The lasagna was no where near as good as my mom's and made me a little sad. I miss everyone back home and I hope you all are enjoying the stories of my trip!

*Waves goodbye*

The History Boys and Italy

Well hello again. I started the day off by going to Senior Sem. We talked about the play we went to tonight The History Boys and spent a lot of the rest of the time talking about perception and how people view art forms and what affects how people view art forms. That was about it. Not super interesting and I was itching to leave just because I wanted to start getting ready.

After class, I ate lunch and just sat around reading some more books about Italy and not wanting to pack. It's funny how I sat in class wanting to leave and pack but when it came down to it, I didn't want to pack. Oh well. It was around 2:30 and the sun was out so I decided to go to Hyde Park and walk around the Serpentine, the big lake in the park. It was really pretty and there were a ton of people out. I took some pictures, trying to get used to my new camera (one of the other reasons why I wanted to go out and walk around). I'm not going to put any of the pictures up now because I need to finish packing and then I want to try and lay down a little bit before we leave (you will see why I said "lay down for a little bit" in the next paragraph). After walking around, I ate dinner and walked to the theater for the play. On the way, I passed a movie premiere for a movie with Uma Thurman and Colin Firth. I didn't get to see them, I had to get to the play.

I just got back from the play. Um, I thought it was pretty funny but a big part of it really made me uncomfortable. The play is about a bunch of boys who are trying to get into Oxford or Cambridge. They have two teachers, Hector and Irwin who teach them. (Not for young readers) Hector fondles one of the students each day after school when he drives them home on his motorcycle. He gets caught but soon after dies in a motorcycle crash. Before he gets caught, Irwin and one of the boys are like sort of in love but never do anything about it. The big question of the play though, is what do you teach kids in school? Stuff to pass tests or stuff they like. So I liked that aspect but the student teacher relationships made me very uncomfortable. Not because they were both guys, that really didn't bother me. But because that is just unacceptable. I mean, it really is. Like really really. So yeah. Interesting but I wouldn't want to see it again frankly.

OK so here's the plan. Vanessa and I are going to head out of our flats at around 3 am and walk to Victoria Coach Station. Its not far and only takes about 45 minutes (we did it for Edinburgh). We will get on a coach bus at 4:10 to get to Stansted Airport. The coach arrives at around 5:25 and our plane leaves at 6:30 for Venice. Then our trip really begins. Here's some of the important dates and where we are sleeping.

Flight from London to Venice: 2/14. Departs 6:30. Arrives 9:25. Flight number FR792
Feb. 14-16 Venice: Sleeping in a double room at Casa Gerotto & Calderan
Feb. 16-19 Florence: Sleeping in a hostel at Hostel Archi Rossi
Feb. 19-22 Rome: Sleeping in a hostel at Roma Inn
Flight from Rome to London: 2/22. Departs 22:05. Arrives 23:45. Flight number FR3015

I looked it up online and all three places we are staying at have free internet. I still don't plan on doing big posts or anything, something similar to what I did for Scotland, but the free internet will allow me to check my mail and stuff so if you feel like, continue sending e-mails letting me know how things are going with you and I will try to get back to you. Um, I guess that's all I have to say about the trip for now. I can't believe its already here. It felt like a really long ways away when we were planning it about a month ago. It will be super exciting and fun and I can't wait to go.

I will miss all of you a ton and try to get some sweet souvenirs! Have fun!

Bye!

Updates of All Kinds

There have been a bunch of updates on this here blog the past couple days. I have been working really hard trying to catch up with photos and the Scotland trip and stuff. Here's the list of posts with new photos:

Good News/Bad News
Me in the Cathedral
We All Follow Chelsea, On to Victory
Scotland: Ends (Saturday)

For those who missed it, below this post are the three posts about my trip to Scotland, I think that they are definitely worth a read. The trip was really awesome and I am so glad that I was able to go and that Vanessa came with.

If you're wondering why I didn't post about my day yesterday, I would kindly like to point out to you the length and breadth of the Scotland posts. I was pretty much blogged out by the end there. Also, Vanessa's camera ran out of battery at the end of Friday so the pictures now up on Saturday were from my disposables. Actually, all the pictures put up except the ones for Good News/Bad News were from disposables. You can tell by the poor quality of the pictures. At least I have pictures. I guess I am a glass-half full type of person.

On to my day yesterday. I woke up and got ready and was out the door at around 8:45. I thought it was curious that no one else was walking there and some people (like my roommates) were still showering but I didn't really ask anyone. Well, it turns out that class started at 9:30. Oops. I was a half hour early. Haha, you would think that by now I would have that down but apparently not. In Sociology in the City, we discussed the myth of Jack the Ripper and how it relates to the story in the East End. The murders were really gruesome and happened in 1888. No one knows who did it and there are still a ton of books written about it. I don't know, I wasn't that interested in the whole thing so I don't have that much else to say about it.

In Senior Sem we talked about some general program stuff. Phil gave me a copy of Wicked to read so that should be fun. We spent a lot of the class time talking about perception and how people react to a piece of art (whether that be music or art or whatever). We have our first theater visit on Wednesday night when we see The History Boys. That should be fun. We were given some worksheets to use to evaluate the play correctly and stuff. Then Phil said, "Art communicates" and played two pieces of music. We wrote down our reactions to the music and what we thought it was communicating. The class discussed our thoughts and that was that.

After class, I got back to the flat and saw I had a package. MY NEW CAMERA!!!! It was like Christmas, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Easter, Channukah, Rammadan, Kwanza, all rolled into one. I was SO happy. I ran around and found Vanessa and showed her. She wasn't as impressed but was still happy for me (she said she secretly hated the disposables, I openly hated them). So that was exciting. Then I worked on my blog entries for a loooong time. I ate dinner (shell noodles, sauce, garlic bread) and continued my work. I stopped and called some people on Skype which was sweet. Then I went to bed.

Today I was really tired when I woke up and slept in a little longer so I didn't shower before class for the first time since I got here which was fine. In Islam vs. the West. We discussed the fall of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century to the 19th century and why that happened. Then we shifted gears and discussed in small groups Bush's Legacy in the Middle East. We talked about homeland security, afganistan, iraq, and this idea of "change" with all the candidates now. It was interesting to talk. Our prof is insanely smart and I really like him. He doesn't use ANY notes and still delivers a well thought out and informative lecture and discussion. Awesome.

I didn't have any bread and didn't want to buy some since I leave tomorrow (!) so I stopped at Tesco (a small grocery store thing) and bought a cajun chicken wrap. Delicious. Then it was off to the National Gallery again for Art History. My prof talked about William Hogarth, an artist in the 18th century and widely regarded as the first real British artist. Most paintings that were bought in Britain before that were by Italians or French. Hogarth went to Parliament and complained of people copying his work so they passed the first Copyright Law. He painted 4 different series of paintings. One was about a harlot, another about a rake, etc. They were all kind of depressing and warned of being bad and that sort of thing. The gallery that our prof really wanted us to go to, Sir John Soane Gallery, doesn't allow groups so she told us to go in on our own time in the next week or two and see it. I didn't go today but I will go when I get back from Italy

Speaking of Italy, tomorrow I leave. We have the play The History Boys tomorrow night and when that is over, Vanessa and I are going to grab our already packed stuff from our flats and head off to the train and then to the airport. We are planning on trying to get a little sleep there before our plane takes off at 6:30 am for Venice. Very exciting. I will get all the necessary info (hostels, dates that I will be places, plane stuff, etc) up tomorrow before I leave. I am really excited and a little nervous (as always). I cannot wait to see all the amazing stuff in those three cities.

Tonight was spent updating all of those blog posts which means scanning in pictures and uploading them. I also read a litle bit from the next book in the Atilla series, Atilla: The Gathering of the Storm. Pretty good so far. I am about two thirds done. I guess that's all for now. Have fun everyone!

Toodles!