This week went by really quickly. Time flies here. Well... except for during British politics.
Life here is starting to become more routine in certain ways. I've become really use to walking along Tottenham Court, the street parallel to the one we live on. It's about a 5 to 10 minute walk to the grocery store. If you go to Sainsbury there is a chance the creepy Scientologists may try and stop you to get a stress test... lol... I'm not even kidding. I'm going to take a picture of the center, but I'm afraid they might kill me or something so I'm going to wait until later in the trip, lol.
The school week goes like this:
Tuesdays are pretty relaxed - we have our music course from 11 until around 2, usually after going to see a concert. Chris and I typically play for the class. I am a bit worried about this class, because there are expectations that we begin reviewing performances in an appropriate manner... lol, but it's worth the work.
Wednesdays are long now... this one I basically woke up and read Shakespeare until class started. Our Shakespeare teacher is rather hilarious, a bit flighty, and usually class involves a great deal of talk about sex. Lots of sex. From 6 until around 9ish we have our WWII class now that our professor has decided to start showing up. He's so sarcastic and quick he actually makes war interesting.
Thursdays are special because we have British Politics from 2 to 5, but... well... just ask me about it. I go to class, but exam time is going to be really stressful because I'm going to have to learn it all in a day or two.
Before classes I intend to practice flute. Unfortunately I've caught a terrible cold and that has basically ruined that for the week. Oh well.
Last night was ridiculous... it's a long story. Lesson learned. Feel free to ask me about it, lol.
Overall things are really going great. I really love this group, and that's without exaggeration. I love the boyfriends and their room is always a nice place to hang out. The girls are such sweethearts and I always feel like there is someone I can talk to. Also I was able to see Jiwon this week which was fabulous, of course.
It's the little things that matter here. Walking around the neighborhood to find a place to study alone. Walking around Oxford Street and watching the busy shoppers. Getting to know someone more at unexpected times. Trying not to burst out laughing in class. Random documentary on penis size. Always being late to everything. My newfound obsession with dry cereal. Walking everywhere. Egg noodles. A hugging contest. Knowing the main shopping street is only a 15 minute walk away. The BBC news. The crazy Scientologists. Hoegaarden. Being mama cat. It taking an hour to buy a pair of sneakers. Finding a secret little park to read for a while. Sitting in the Student Union.
And most of all I love that when I come home I'm still going to get to take a huge part of this with me - the amazing friends that I've found.
Wow... sorry about the sappiness... lol - I love you London bunnies
P.S. - to my UNC people: I still freaking miss you and our sketchy adventures ;-)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath
Stonehenge was a little bit cooler than I thought it'd be. It's a really neat sight to see. However I did get tired of the audio tour near the end, but overall it was actually worth the trip, especially for the pictures :-)
Salisbury is a lovely town and the Cathedral is gorgeous. We took a tour and saw one of the original copies of the Magna Carta - it's comparable to the Bill of Rights for the US.
In Bath we had hoped to go visit the Roman ruins... but we were too late. Soo... Mary and I got the idea, along with the guys, to get some beverages and go to the park. It was a great idea and I feel like my Bath experience was very fulfilling, lol. Actually the town or city is absolutely gorgeous and it is somewhere I'd actually visit again.
It was a really long day - we left at 7:30AM - but a good one overall. Sitting with Katherine especially made it worthwhile because we started getting close. Also the truth or dare game on the way back was pretty friggen funny... Tyler, you are a champ.
Sunday
Sunday Mary and I tried to go to Westminister Abbey at 3PM for Evensong... it didn't work out AGAIN. This is the second time I've screwed this up. But I'm going to blame it on the fact the bikers were in the way... not the fact we turned a street too early and stopped for orange juice (I was starting to catch a cold... and still have it... oh well).
BUT the good news is Tyler, Andy, and I made it right on time for the 6:30PM mass that night.
There is hope :-)
Futbol day
Well... it went like this...
I woke up at 10AM and was drinking by 10:30AM. By the time we met at Winston house at noon I was rather sufficiently schnockered, lol. And whats worse was we met to go to a pub :-)
At the pub the pictures are rather self explanatory... I started classy and then went downhill (or uphill arguably, lol) from there. I took 48 pictures and they are all on facebook.
By the time we were heading out I was a very happy girl and rather confused. Thank god we followed the group and made it to the stadium without an issue. I even took pictures of people waiting for the tube... lol
Watching the Queen Park Rangers was a great deal of fun. Equally as fun was eating food during the breaks, lol - I'm a big fan of the Sausage roll. Anyways - the Rangers ended up tying against a really good team. The crowd is very engaged and cheers a lot. Yea... that's about it.
When we got back Sapna and I seriously just laid down and slept for the rest of the day; that night we all hung out. Specifically I watched Bridget Jones and then hung out with the boyfriends, lol. Drinking all day wears you out, but it was certainly worth it - I mean, it WAS in the name of futbol :-)
Saturday, September 22, 2007
back to Friday
Ok, so back to Friday :-)
After coming back we went to the London dungeon. As usual we barely made it in time - you had to get there by 4PM, lol, but we managed. It was really fun.
OK, relatively. It honestly scared the sh*t out of me. I don't do scary movies; I have nightmares. And I hate being startled... so this was bound to freak me out. Thank god Katherine O and Andy put up with me :-)
Overall there wasn't anything too freaky. The place was basically an hour and a half long haunted house/Tower of Terror type ride/show that talked about torture, the Plague, the fire of London, Sweeney Todd, and Jack the Ripper. Doing it as a group was the best part.
Then we walked back. Which took about 2 hours. We hung out around the Thames for a bit then walked over London bridge. Eventually we stopped for sushi and yea... that's that.
When we got back we all hung out (some of us drank or were already drunk... lol) and it was a nice time.
OK, so I think this is my most dull post yet. Sorry ya'll - the one on futbol is gonna be much better :-)
After coming back we went to the London dungeon. As usual we barely made it in time - you had to get there by 4PM, lol, but we managed. It was really fun.
OK, relatively. It honestly scared the sh*t out of me. I don't do scary movies; I have nightmares. And I hate being startled... so this was bound to freak me out. Thank god Katherine O and Andy put up with me :-)
Overall there wasn't anything too freaky. The place was basically an hour and a half long haunted house/Tower of Terror type ride/show that talked about torture, the Plague, the fire of London, Sweeney Todd, and Jack the Ripper. Doing it as a group was the best part.
Then we walked back. Which took about 2 hours. We hung out around the Thames for a bit then walked over London bridge. Eventually we stopped for sushi and yea... that's that.
When we got back we all hung out (some of us drank or were already drunk... lol) and it was a nice time.
OK, so I think this is my most dull post yet. Sorry ya'll - the one on futbol is gonna be much better :-)
Friday, September 21, 2007
well this week...
lol, I guess it's been a week since I've written and A LOT has happened... yea... of course.
Anyways, Monday... gosh... it just took me a few minutes to remember it. We got up and went to a concert at the Royal College of Music. It's located in Kensington and we totally managed to miss half of it. Thanks Andy and Tyler ;-) jk... it's cool. They played the Beethoven Septet which is a great piece, but they did not play together as a group which is a bit sad. Great piece... ok ensemble full of great players.
After that Tracy and I branched off to have lunch. This was absolutely wonderful - we had a delicious lunch and it was really nice to hang out with someone 1-on-1. PLUS we totally stopped for coffee/tea and chocolate after. Talk about heaven, lol.
That night I totally wanted to go out so I believe it's the night I went out Salsa dancing? Shoot, well it was either Monday or Tuesday. We have this great club about 15 minutes away. It was an absolute blast. I met one guy named Adam "like the first man ever, darling" - he was flaming and drunk ( and a true Londoner... hmm...). The one great guy I danced with was Francis. He just danced perfectly in rhythm and was an amazing lead. Lol, he said I tend to backlead though...... oh well. It was a really nice night overall.
During Tuesday's music class Chris and I were asked to play Villa Lobos' 'The Jet Whistle.' It actually went really well so that was good. Later that day Todd and I took a 2 hour walk around London which was really nice. We somehow ended up in the really rich district where there were Bentleys and Mercedes dealers on the corners. Then we walked through Green Park to Buckingham Palace. There we stared at the guard until he moved... he did. I guess I should give him a break - everyone has an itch every once in a while, lol.
That night we went and saw Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Sort of... it was the Indian version. It's a long story, but anyways... it was definitely an experience. A lot of it was "interesting" but it wasn't really Shakespeare. Shoot... half of it was in Hindi and other languages... but that dancing and costumes were lovely. Yea... that's all I'm gonna say about that.
Also I got my laundry done thanks to Todd's and Creecy's help... I didn't shrink my beautiful clothes, lol. Thanks guys :-) Oh wait, I doubt Todd reads this bc he asked me "who reads your blog anyways" the other day
Answer: I don't really know, but I DO know who probably doesn't read it, lol
Wednesday morning we got up to go to our makeup WWII class. Our professor personifies the British culture and I love it. We only have to go to class and write 2 papers. Talk about great. Then we went to the British Museum for a tour. It was good, but I was pretty worn out. It's nice to know the history of the place. Sloane donated that money. And that's that.
Later we talked about the performance from the night before in our Shakespeare class. I like that class. She felt bad that most of us didn't care for the performance. I hadn't read the play so I was a bit nervous, but I never got caught (thank goodness!). I have a strange feeling I'm going to end up reading it right around exam time, lol.
Wednesday night was our dinner at the Winston house with Mr. and Mrs. Winston (she's SUCH a sweetheart!), Holden Thorp, Professor Oehler, and his wife. It was DELICIOUS. I'm sure Mr. Thorp thought to himself I must be starving here. This dinner also meant I started drinking around 6:30. I mean... I certainly paced myself in an appropriate manner considering the formality of the occasion, but how could I refuse free, high quality wine? Dinner went well. Chris Homick gave a charming speech about how great our program is... etc...
That night we totally went out, lol. We first ended up at 'The Queen's Larder" which is apparently haunted according to the tour of our neighborhood. I asked the bartender and he said the only thing that is mysterious is the disappearing booze and he believes that it is caused by the manager... hardy har har...
anyways, that's where I found Hoegaarden. The best beer ever. Period.
After we went to 'La Salsera' and got 2 pitchers of amazing Sangria. It was a freakin' fun night. It was also nice most of our group went. I love we all get along so well.
Thursday I somehow felt ok in the morning. I spent an hour and a half... basically all of the time I had... researching the presentation my nerdy-a** self volunteered to give to the class about the pros and cons of Britain having a Constitution. I managed to get through it. Too bad the material is painfully boring.
That class is rather boring. Not because of the Prof, but because of the boring subject matter.
All I can say is... going on AIM during class is dangerous. And thank god Tracy didn't start a brawl :-)
good times
Today (Friday) was great. Kaitlin, Katherine O and I got up and went to a concert. It kind of sucked. Well it was different. I'm not a huge fan of 21st century music... and no one EVER should own a fleece jacket with sheep on it... lol
Honestly, I'm kind of tired and need some sleep so I'll post more on today later :-) Goodnight!
(btw... it's 2AM here... 5 hours ahead of the states and we're getting up early to drink before the futbol game tomorrow! yay! )
Anyways, Monday... gosh... it just took me a few minutes to remember it. We got up and went to a concert at the Royal College of Music. It's located in Kensington and we totally managed to miss half of it. Thanks Andy and Tyler ;-) jk... it's cool. They played the Beethoven Septet which is a great piece, but they did not play together as a group which is a bit sad. Great piece... ok ensemble full of great players.
After that Tracy and I branched off to have lunch. This was absolutely wonderful - we had a delicious lunch and it was really nice to hang out with someone 1-on-1. PLUS we totally stopped for coffee/tea and chocolate after. Talk about heaven, lol.
That night I totally wanted to go out so I believe it's the night I went out Salsa dancing? Shoot, well it was either Monday or Tuesday. We have this great club about 15 minutes away. It was an absolute blast. I met one guy named Adam "like the first man ever, darling" - he was flaming and drunk ( and a true Londoner... hmm...). The one great guy I danced with was Francis. He just danced perfectly in rhythm and was an amazing lead. Lol, he said I tend to backlead though...... oh well. It was a really nice night overall.
During Tuesday's music class Chris and I were asked to play Villa Lobos' 'The Jet Whistle.' It actually went really well so that was good. Later that day Todd and I took a 2 hour walk around London which was really nice. We somehow ended up in the really rich district where there were Bentleys and Mercedes dealers on the corners. Then we walked through Green Park to Buckingham Palace. There we stared at the guard until he moved... he did. I guess I should give him a break - everyone has an itch every once in a while, lol.
That night we went and saw Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Sort of... it was the Indian version. It's a long story, but anyways... it was definitely an experience. A lot of it was "interesting" but it wasn't really Shakespeare. Shoot... half of it was in Hindi and other languages... but that dancing and costumes were lovely. Yea... that's all I'm gonna say about that.
Also I got my laundry done thanks to Todd's and Creecy's help... I didn't shrink my beautiful clothes, lol. Thanks guys :-) Oh wait, I doubt Todd reads this bc he asked me "who reads your blog anyways" the other day
Answer: I don't really know, but I DO know who probably doesn't read it, lol
Wednesday morning we got up to go to our makeup WWII class. Our professor personifies the British culture and I love it. We only have to go to class and write 2 papers. Talk about great. Then we went to the British Museum for a tour. It was good, but I was pretty worn out. It's nice to know the history of the place. Sloane donated that money. And that's that.
Later we talked about the performance from the night before in our Shakespeare class. I like that class. She felt bad that most of us didn't care for the performance. I hadn't read the play so I was a bit nervous, but I never got caught (thank goodness!). I have a strange feeling I'm going to end up reading it right around exam time, lol.
Wednesday night was our dinner at the Winston house with Mr. and Mrs. Winston (she's SUCH a sweetheart!), Holden Thorp, Professor Oehler, and his wife. It was DELICIOUS. I'm sure Mr. Thorp thought to himself I must be starving here. This dinner also meant I started drinking around 6:30. I mean... I certainly paced myself in an appropriate manner considering the formality of the occasion, but how could I refuse free, high quality wine? Dinner went well. Chris Homick gave a charming speech about how great our program is... etc...
That night we totally went out, lol. We first ended up at 'The Queen's Larder" which is apparently haunted according to the tour of our neighborhood. I asked the bartender and he said the only thing that is mysterious is the disappearing booze and he believes that it is caused by the manager... hardy har har...
anyways, that's where I found Hoegaarden. The best beer ever. Period.
After we went to 'La Salsera' and got 2 pitchers of amazing Sangria. It was a freakin' fun night. It was also nice most of our group went. I love we all get along so well.
Thursday I somehow felt ok in the morning. I spent an hour and a half... basically all of the time I had... researching the presentation my nerdy-a** self volunteered to give to the class about the pros and cons of Britain having a Constitution. I managed to get through it. Too bad the material is painfully boring.
That class is rather boring. Not because of the Prof, but because of the boring subject matter.
All I can say is... going on AIM during class is dangerous. And thank god Tracy didn't start a brawl :-)
good times
Today (Friday) was great. Kaitlin, Katherine O and I got up and went to a concert. It kind of sucked. Well it was different. I'm not a huge fan of 21st century music... and no one EVER should own a fleece jacket with sheep on it... lol
Honestly, I'm kind of tired and need some sleep so I'll post more on today later :-) Goodnight!
(btw... it's 2AM here... 5 hours ahead of the states and we're getting up early to drink before the futbol game tomorrow! yay! )
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
trying to go to church
Well before I go into Sunday... I forgot to mention I totally saw Orlando Bloom Saturday night. I can die happy.
Actually, it wasn't all that exciting.
Sunday afternoon Tyler, Andy, and I tried to make it to Westminister Abbey for Even Song which is the mass where the boys choir sings. It starts at 3PM. We left around 2:15 which was plenty of time, but somehow we completely screwed up. We got to Trafalgar Square (which is actually only 15 minutes away from our flat, btw) and had we gone straight towards the Thames River we would have been there with plenty of time to spare. But no... we looked at a map and went towards 'Westminister,' which is a part of town... where we figured the Abby might be located.
Yea... completely wrong way too. On the upside, we totally passed Buckingham Palace (so I feel complete now, lol). And we walked/ hustled through St. James' park, which is lovely. Then at 3PM we finally accepted we were screwed. But here is the catch...
we decided to walk back towards Westminister Abbey to see where it actually was, but on the way we noticed a Cathedral to our right. It turns out it was Westminister Cathedral, which is actually Catholic. At 3:30 they conveniently had the Vespers for the day. This isn't actual mass, but instead a prayer service featuring a choir. First we were able to walk around for about 20 minutes and the cathedral is breathtaking. I really should go into detail... but it's late, lol... and I don't think it'll do the experience justice.
Afterwards we decided to go find Westminister Abbey so next time we know where to go :-)
After that we came back and hung out before the fireworks, which were part of the Thames River festival. They were pretty awesome, especially since most of us weren't sober. After we came back and hung out... and yea... I think that's about it.
Actually, it wasn't all that exciting.
Sunday afternoon Tyler, Andy, and I tried to make it to Westminister Abbey for Even Song which is the mass where the boys choir sings. It starts at 3PM. We left around 2:15 which was plenty of time, but somehow we completely screwed up. We got to Trafalgar Square (which is actually only 15 minutes away from our flat, btw) and had we gone straight towards the Thames River we would have been there with plenty of time to spare. But no... we looked at a map and went towards 'Westminister,' which is a part of town... where we figured the Abby might be located.
Yea... completely wrong way too. On the upside, we totally passed Buckingham Palace (so I feel complete now, lol). And we walked/ hustled through St. James' park, which is lovely. Then at 3PM we finally accepted we were screwed. But here is the catch...
we decided to walk back towards Westminister Abbey to see where it actually was, but on the way we noticed a Cathedral to our right. It turns out it was Westminister Cathedral, which is actually Catholic. At 3:30 they conveniently had the Vespers for the day. This isn't actual mass, but instead a prayer service featuring a choir. First we were able to walk around for about 20 minutes and the cathedral is breathtaking. I really should go into detail... but it's late, lol... and I don't think it'll do the experience justice.
Afterwards we decided to go find Westminister Abbey so next time we know where to go :-)
After that we came back and hung out before the fireworks, which were part of the Thames River festival. They were pretty awesome, especially since most of us weren't sober. After we came back and hung out... and yea... I think that's about it.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
amazing day
Well yesterday was really great. The night before I went out with the guys and a 3 girls Cory had met that live in our building at Walkabout (the club we went to last week). The pub/bar was really nice and it was cool to just hang out with a group. Afterwards we were really hungry so we stopped at burger king. I love the fact that the dollar menu here is a 2 pound menu (aka $4, lol). But ya know... it was worth it :-)
Yesterday Sapna, Katherine L, Katherine's friend ... Creecy, and I slept in for a bit and then walked to the Camden Town Market which was pretty cool. This was the first local thing we have really done since being here. There were a lot of goths around, so I'm really glad I didn't wear pearls, lol. The tshirts they were selling were hilarious. There was an iporn shirt, borat shirts, one that said: god made pot, man made beer, who do you trust?, etc.
I think the best part of this all was getting lunch. I was won over by the Thai booth - it was amazing. The chicken tasted like the greasiest chick-fil-a in the world and the lo mein was indescribable. Yea... it was that good, lol
Anyways, Little Venice is in the same area. I actually had no idea this existed. There is a canal that looks similar to what Venice looks like - so it's really pretty. We walked 2 and a half miles along the canal to get to Little Venice. The actual area of time is just a really pretty, rich neighborhood. There weren't many people and it was just nice to walk around.
Yet again... none of what we saw all day yesterday brought to mind the fact we are in a city. London really is just a ton of neighborhoods really close together.
Overall it was a really nice day with the girls (and Katherine's friend, lol).
Creecy and I came back a bit early, but this was a huge plus because I finally get the tube system! It sounds stupid I hadn't figured it out, but it is one of those things you don't learn until you actually need to use it yourself (haha, if you're lazy that is...)
Last night was definitely the best. We went and saw Avenue Q which is a musical featuring Sesame Street-like puppets. It is hilarious! Apparently it even beat out Wicked at one point for best musical. The whole thing is about a guy right out of college trying to find his 'purpose'. Well it was about a lot of other things too, lol. Here are some of the song title's: 'If you were gay', 'Everyone's a little bit racist', and 'The Internet is for porn'. Lol, the cookie monster in this was Trekkie monster and he was a perve who stayed inside watching porn everyday. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone. The music is really well written and the ending is amazingly feel good.
Yesterday Sapna, Katherine L, Katherine's friend ... Creecy, and I slept in for a bit and then walked to the Camden Town Market which was pretty cool. This was the first local thing we have really done since being here. There were a lot of goths around, so I'm really glad I didn't wear pearls, lol. The tshirts they were selling were hilarious. There was an iporn shirt, borat shirts, one that said: god made pot, man made beer, who do you trust?, etc.
I think the best part of this all was getting lunch. I was won over by the Thai booth - it was amazing. The chicken tasted like the greasiest chick-fil-a in the world and the lo mein was indescribable. Yea... it was that good, lol
Anyways, Little Venice is in the same area. I actually had no idea this existed. There is a canal that looks similar to what Venice looks like - so it's really pretty. We walked 2 and a half miles along the canal to get to Little Venice. The actual area of time is just a really pretty, rich neighborhood. There weren't many people and it was just nice to walk around.
Yet again... none of what we saw all day yesterday brought to mind the fact we are in a city. London really is just a ton of neighborhoods really close together.
Overall it was a really nice day with the girls (and Katherine's friend, lol).
Creecy and I came back a bit early, but this was a huge plus because I finally get the tube system! It sounds stupid I hadn't figured it out, but it is one of those things you don't learn until you actually need to use it yourself (haha, if you're lazy that is...)
Last night was definitely the best. We went and saw Avenue Q which is a musical featuring Sesame Street-like puppets. It is hilarious! Apparently it even beat out Wicked at one point for best musical. The whole thing is about a guy right out of college trying to find his 'purpose'. Well it was about a lot of other things too, lol. Here are some of the song title's: 'If you were gay', 'Everyone's a little bit racist', and 'The Internet is for porn'. Lol, the cookie monster in this was Trekkie monster and he was a perve who stayed inside watching porn everyday. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone. The music is really well written and the ending is amazingly feel good.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Finally posting after our internet outage
I guess I'll start with last night then go into today... our internet was out. Lol, in fact, Creecy called the 'emergency' number and they yelled at her for 10 minutes about how an Internet outage isn't an emergency. I'm with her... it is an emergency...I freaking need the Internet.
Anyways, here is what I wrote on Word last night... I'm having to transcribe it since apparently you can't copy and paste from Word into here (yea... and it's a lot which sucks):
Well today Creecy and I went shopping and it was really great. I know that sounds really shallow, but I'm starting to miss home and wanted a relaxing day. I even managed to not say the F word for most of the day... until we talked about how well behaved we'd been at lunch... then I went back to cussing... my goal is to cut it down to a minimum by the end of this trip, lol. After eating at Subway we tried to go buy our Shakespeare plays from a store our teacher recommended located on Fitzroy St. Well... first off, I was really proud of the fact I actually looked it up in the back of my London AtoZ and found it on the map... too bad we never found the freaking place. We walked down the street and never saw any bookstore so we stopped to ask if anyone knew where it was. An arrogant guy answered it was most likely the other way (the one we had just walked...) and that it shouldn't be more than 100yds or a few blocks. Then he asked "You do know what a block is?"
What we should have said is, "Do you know what an a**hole is?" but instead we just walked away rather thoroughly pissed, so we decided to give up and go back to our flat before class to take a "break." Haha, and it was a good break... yea... After that we had British Politics from 2-5PM. It's going to be a fabulous course. Prof. Vosper has an accent comparable to the British actress from 'Love Actually' whose character gets pseudo-cheated on by her husband. She's also in 'Sense and Sensibility' with Kate Winslet. She talks about the political system similarly to the way you would talk to a best friend over coffee. She goes fast and adds her personal opinion to everything - I love it. It's hard to take notes because she goes so fast, but I definitely prefer it to boredom.
Afterwards we came back, ate dinner, then changed for the Alvin Ailey dance performance. They are an American dance troupe with a very strong reputation. They were really good. I'm not going to lie, I was only really captivated by about half of the performance, but I believe that is because I'm so much more inclined to prefer opera or musicals. The first dance was to Stravinsky's 'Firebird Suite' and the main problem I had with this one was I had no idea what kind of story they were portraying. I love this piece, but I knew they were trying to tell some story and I didn't get it, lol. Also I was watching this after having read the article 'The Ballerina's Phallic Point' all about how erotic the ballet is. So I was constantly seeing the performance from that angle. In the article it talked about how it is problematic for heterosexual males to watch men dance ballet. And of course in this number the main dancer was male and wearing a skin tight, red spandex number. At one point a ballerina totally jumped into his arms and at another moment him and another male dancer were in questionable positions. Yea... anyways... it was intense, lol
The next number was great. It was called 'The Golden Section' and it was high energy, great music, and the dancing was astounding. The last section was a number of separate dances to American, southern gospel songs. I really liked most of this routine. One section was a slow dance between a male and female dancer and it was completely breathtaking. Overall this was a great experience.
After the performance we came back and hung out around the guy's room. It was a pretty good time, but I haven't been in the best mood today. Honestly, I'm really missing my friends from home. Lol, as a disclaimer: I'm lacking sleep and I'm more apt to be emotional right now (cough cough, lol) but even so I'm sure it would have happened at some point anyways. Don't get me wrong, when I say I'm homesick I mean I wish my best friends could be here with me experiencing this. I guess I should have seen it coming. Before I left I finally found a strong group of people who really care about me... the kind it takes a lifetime to find... and that kind of support system makes things easy. The people in my program are really great, but you know... it isn't quite the same. A lot of it is I do best one-on-one. I think that is just my personality... it takes me time to get comfortable around most people. I'm sure time will help me build closer friendships with everyone else here because they really do seem really great.
And now back to today...
I'm definitely starting to feel better. I got a lot of sleep last night... maybe 10 hours. Then we went on a walking tour of our neighborhood. Lol, our tour guide looked like a tackily dressed Clark Griswald. He was incredibly knowledgeable, but I started zoning out about halfway through. Oh well... :-)
Afterwards Creecy and I went to the Spaghetti house for dinner because she has been dying to go and I'm not going to say no to eating Spaghetti, lol. It's nice having one person I really connect with easily... it definitely makes me feel less alone within the crowd. Tonight we're apparently going to a pub to watch a Rugby match between England and South Africa. Lol, apparently it's an attempt to connect to British culture. Haha, and go to a pub. Later we might go out. Now that I've written entirely too much I guess I should go socialize, lol. Ciao!
Anyways, here is what I wrote on Word last night... I'm having to transcribe it since apparently you can't copy and paste from Word into here (yea... and it's a lot which sucks):
Well today Creecy and I went shopping and it was really great. I know that sounds really shallow, but I'm starting to miss home and wanted a relaxing day. I even managed to not say the F word for most of the day... until we talked about how well behaved we'd been at lunch... then I went back to cussing... my goal is to cut it down to a minimum by the end of this trip, lol. After eating at Subway we tried to go buy our Shakespeare plays from a store our teacher recommended located on Fitzroy St. Well... first off, I was really proud of the fact I actually looked it up in the back of my London AtoZ and found it on the map... too bad we never found the freaking place. We walked down the street and never saw any bookstore so we stopped to ask if anyone knew where it was. An arrogant guy answered it was most likely the other way (the one we had just walked...) and that it shouldn't be more than 100yds or a few blocks. Then he asked "You do know what a block is?"
What we should have said is, "Do you know what an a**hole is?" but instead we just walked away rather thoroughly pissed, so we decided to give up and go back to our flat before class to take a "break." Haha, and it was a good break... yea... After that we had British Politics from 2-5PM. It's going to be a fabulous course. Prof. Vosper has an accent comparable to the British actress from 'Love Actually' whose character gets pseudo-cheated on by her husband. She's also in 'Sense and Sensibility' with Kate Winslet. She talks about the political system similarly to the way you would talk to a best friend over coffee. She goes fast and adds her personal opinion to everything - I love it. It's hard to take notes because she goes so fast, but I definitely prefer it to boredom.
Afterwards we came back, ate dinner, then changed for the Alvin Ailey dance performance. They are an American dance troupe with a very strong reputation. They were really good. I'm not going to lie, I was only really captivated by about half of the performance, but I believe that is because I'm so much more inclined to prefer opera or musicals. The first dance was to Stravinsky's 'Firebird Suite' and the main problem I had with this one was I had no idea what kind of story they were portraying. I love this piece, but I knew they were trying to tell some story and I didn't get it, lol. Also I was watching this after having read the article 'The Ballerina's Phallic Point' all about how erotic the ballet is. So I was constantly seeing the performance from that angle. In the article it talked about how it is problematic for heterosexual males to watch men dance ballet. And of course in this number the main dancer was male and wearing a skin tight, red spandex number. At one point a ballerina totally jumped into his arms and at another moment him and another male dancer were in questionable positions. Yea... anyways... it was intense, lol
The next number was great. It was called 'The Golden Section' and it was high energy, great music, and the dancing was astounding. The last section was a number of separate dances to American, southern gospel songs. I really liked most of this routine. One section was a slow dance between a male and female dancer and it was completely breathtaking. Overall this was a great experience.
After the performance we came back and hung out around the guy's room. It was a pretty good time, but I haven't been in the best mood today. Honestly, I'm really missing my friends from home. Lol, as a disclaimer: I'm lacking sleep and I'm more apt to be emotional right now (cough cough, lol) but even so I'm sure it would have happened at some point anyways. Don't get me wrong, when I say I'm homesick I mean I wish my best friends could be here with me experiencing this. I guess I should have seen it coming. Before I left I finally found a strong group of people who really care about me... the kind it takes a lifetime to find... and that kind of support system makes things easy. The people in my program are really great, but you know... it isn't quite the same. A lot of it is I do best one-on-one. I think that is just my personality... it takes me time to get comfortable around most people. I'm sure time will help me build closer friendships with everyone else here because they really do seem really great.
And now back to today...
I'm definitely starting to feel better. I got a lot of sleep last night... maybe 10 hours. Then we went on a walking tour of our neighborhood. Lol, our tour guide looked like a tackily dressed Clark Griswald. He was incredibly knowledgeable, but I started zoning out about halfway through. Oh well... :-)
Afterwards Creecy and I went to the Spaghetti house for dinner because she has been dying to go and I'm not going to say no to eating Spaghetti, lol. It's nice having one person I really connect with easily... it definitely makes me feel less alone within the crowd. Tonight we're apparently going to a pub to watch a Rugby match between England and South Africa. Lol, apparently it's an attempt to connect to British culture. Haha, and go to a pub. Later we might go out. Now that I've written entirely too much I guess I should go socialize, lol. Ciao!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
night 3, day 4... I think?
Wednesday night we went to an "American Sports Bar" which was pretty cool, but kind of awkward at the same time. It was basically what Europeans think of American sports bars... but it wasn't totally American. It made me miss the techno *tear* But the beer was affordable and it was a chill night.
Today Tracy and I walked around. OK, more specifically we intended to go to Buckingham Palace but once we hit Oxford Street we ended up giving in and shopping for a bit. The street is about half a mile or so long and is completely lined with shops - everything from cheep, sleezy stores to Burberry, Brooks Brothers, etc. Top Shop was one of the most overwhelming things I've experienced. It was 3 massive floors of... actually it's a waste to try and explain it... it was crazy. There were so many choices I was astounded.
I feel like that is how a lot of things are in London. It's really tough to describe... and it's probably different for everyone.
Anyways, by the time we made it to Trafalgar Square we had an hour left before class so we decided to turn back. But first I stopped in at boots to see if they had Clinique... they didn't. What they DID have was bandaids and neosporin, which was awesome... I lost mine in the room somehow... I've looked everywhere. Unfortunately I still need these items because the 3 massive gashes on my ankles from my new pumps need to heal...
The creepy part about that experience was I completely lost Tracy in there. It's only a 2-story store, but good grief... I couldn't find her at all. Thankfully she waited outside which is where I found her. I would have been so screwed without her because I definitely could barely remember the way back and the tube still confuses me... seriously... (it's shameful, lol)
After that incident I accomplished the main goal for the day: I bought a London AZ. It's a small pocket-sized book of the London map. Apparently you don't look like such a tourist if you use one. Too bad my map-retarded self still hasn't figured out how to use it, but there is hope. .. I've looked through it enough that I could use it from my flat all the way to Covent Garden... although if I went anywhere beyond there it may take me a day to get back... :- Like I said... I'm trying...
On a more positive note, class was fabulous. Our Shakespeare Professor is such a character. She's an older, opinionated, hmmm... not totally whimsical, but... umm... open-minded woman. OK, I'm bad at describing people who have very unique character. But one example of her eccentric personality is she decided to go see a play after seeing the advertisement with a really good looking man in a white vest. That was the basis... he looked good... and she liked his outfit...lol. She is totally cool with productions being set in different times and being edgy... she says she appreciates "creativity." At one point she was describing different plays she has seen and why they fascinate her and there apparently was a scene in one where three of the actors took off their clothes. She said she had a very quiet class, but the minute they saw "three flailing willies" (or something of that nature) they couldn't stop talking. Yea... nudity in Shakespeare was discussed at least 3 times... including a discussion about Ian Mclellan being... hmm... either well endowed or having serious shortcomings. You know class isn't going to be boring when you talk about sex on the first day of class - haha, she is like a Shakespeare-obsessed Sue Johanssen from 'Talk Sex'. Lol, anyways she talked non stop the entire class and often went on tangents, but yet was completely fascinating. At one point we asked for a break and she managed to let 30 minutes go buy before bringing us back in. She is obviously very passionate about Shakespeare and takes a romantic opinion towards things, which is perfect. Btw, she isn't sure if he was gay or not. Anyways, we're going to be really doing most of the work on our own, but classtime is going to be highly entertaining which is perfect. Plus it'll be an excuse to read in the gorgeous parks :-) ok... I'm such a nerd...
After class we decided we wanted Sushi. Katherine, Kaitlin, Mary, Laura, and I headed over to Tottingham Court Road but we realized there was only takeout sushi so we opted for Japanese. This restaurant was SUPER Japanese... ok... when I say that I mean they spoke little English and it was probably similar to what a restaurant atmosphere straight out of Japan would be like. It had a variety of Japanese music ranging from a jazzy 1950s-like song to a ballade that must have been from the Japanese Dolly Parton.
I ordered the Jimi sadkj - I'm not sure it's actual name. She described it as the Japanese version of chow mein. The menu said it was fried noodles with meat and vegetable. Katherine got the same thing. Our plates came out first and imagine this...
the food was moving. Creepily moving. It looked like live seaweed on top of my chow mein noodles. haha, but it's cool - it tasted good. I guess you had to be there to see it to understand how odd it was, but I've never seen anything like it. What was moving was what seemed like dried out cabbage... anyways... writing about it does it injustice.
The moving stuff tasted like bacon
haha, come to think of it... maybe that's a bad sign. Later Kaitlin was accused of robbing Bailey's from a grocery store... you boozer (what our new Prof calls alcoholics - she seemed to suggest she is one, lol)... it was actually the clerk's fault for not taking off the metal lock on it...
After that I hung out upstairs, then around my flat for a bit until finding Creecy later to talk. Once the guys and Sapna came back from a concert we all hung out for a while. We really have a great group of people.
Anyways, it's 2:30 and I want to go shopping tomorrow before class (I can't wait to buy my Shakespeare! lol) , so I'm off to bed :-)
Today Tracy and I walked around. OK, more specifically we intended to go to Buckingham Palace but once we hit Oxford Street we ended up giving in and shopping for a bit. The street is about half a mile or so long and is completely lined with shops - everything from cheep, sleezy stores to Burberry, Brooks Brothers, etc. Top Shop was one of the most overwhelming things I've experienced. It was 3 massive floors of... actually it's a waste to try and explain it... it was crazy. There were so many choices I was astounded.
I feel like that is how a lot of things are in London. It's really tough to describe... and it's probably different for everyone.
Anyways, by the time we made it to Trafalgar Square we had an hour left before class so we decided to turn back. But first I stopped in at boots to see if they had Clinique... they didn't. What they DID have was bandaids and neosporin, which was awesome... I lost mine in the room somehow... I've looked everywhere. Unfortunately I still need these items because the 3 massive gashes on my ankles from my new pumps need to heal...
The creepy part about that experience was I completely lost Tracy in there. It's only a 2-story store, but good grief... I couldn't find her at all. Thankfully she waited outside which is where I found her. I would have been so screwed without her because I definitely could barely remember the way back and the tube still confuses me... seriously... (it's shameful, lol)
After that incident I accomplished the main goal for the day: I bought a London AZ. It's a small pocket-sized book of the London map. Apparently you don't look like such a tourist if you use one. Too bad my map-retarded self still hasn't figured out how to use it, but there is hope. .. I've looked through it enough that I could use it from my flat all the way to Covent Garden... although if I went anywhere beyond there it may take me a day to get back... :- Like I said... I'm trying...
On a more positive note, class was fabulous. Our Shakespeare Professor is such a character. She's an older, opinionated, hmmm... not totally whimsical, but... umm... open-minded woman. OK, I'm bad at describing people who have very unique character. But one example of her eccentric personality is she decided to go see a play after seeing the advertisement with a really good looking man in a white vest. That was the basis... he looked good... and she liked his outfit...lol. She is totally cool with productions being set in different times and being edgy... she says she appreciates "creativity." At one point she was describing different plays she has seen and why they fascinate her and there apparently was a scene in one where three of the actors took off their clothes. She said she had a very quiet class, but the minute they saw "three flailing willies" (or something of that nature) they couldn't stop talking. Yea... nudity in Shakespeare was discussed at least 3 times... including a discussion about Ian Mclellan being... hmm... either well endowed or having serious shortcomings. You know class isn't going to be boring when you talk about sex on the first day of class - haha, she is like a Shakespeare-obsessed Sue Johanssen from 'Talk Sex'. Lol, anyways she talked non stop the entire class and often went on tangents, but yet was completely fascinating. At one point we asked for a break and she managed to let 30 minutes go buy before bringing us back in. She is obviously very passionate about Shakespeare and takes a romantic opinion towards things, which is perfect. Btw, she isn't sure if he was gay or not. Anyways, we're going to be really doing most of the work on our own, but classtime is going to be highly entertaining which is perfect. Plus it'll be an excuse to read in the gorgeous parks :-) ok... I'm such a nerd...
After class we decided we wanted Sushi. Katherine, Kaitlin, Mary, Laura, and I headed over to Tottingham Court Road but we realized there was only takeout sushi so we opted for Japanese. This restaurant was SUPER Japanese... ok... when I say that I mean they spoke little English and it was probably similar to what a restaurant atmosphere straight out of Japan would be like. It had a variety of Japanese music ranging from a jazzy 1950s-like song to a ballade that must have been from the Japanese Dolly Parton.
I ordered the Jimi sadkj - I'm not sure it's actual name. She described it as the Japanese version of chow mein. The menu said it was fried noodles with meat and vegetable. Katherine got the same thing. Our plates came out first and imagine this...
the food was moving. Creepily moving. It looked like live seaweed on top of my chow mein noodles. haha, but it's cool - it tasted good. I guess you had to be there to see it to understand how odd it was, but I've never seen anything like it. What was moving was what seemed like dried out cabbage... anyways... writing about it does it injustice.
The moving stuff tasted like bacon
haha, come to think of it... maybe that's a bad sign. Later Kaitlin was accused of robbing Bailey's from a grocery store... you boozer (what our new Prof calls alcoholics - she seemed to suggest she is one, lol)... it was actually the clerk's fault for not taking off the metal lock on it...
After that I hung out upstairs, then around my flat for a bit until finding Creecy later to talk. Once the guys and Sapna came back from a concert we all hung out for a while. We really have a great group of people.
Anyways, it's 2:30 and I want to go shopping tomorrow before class (I can't wait to buy my Shakespeare! lol) , so I'm off to bed :-)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I'm here!
Ok, so I can't believe I'm writing a blog, lol, but here it goes. I'm going to try to write in this regularly... haha, with 'try' being the keyword. We are going to be doing sooo much this semester I've realized the only way I'll remember half of it is if I record it in a diary... so yea... there are definitely going to be some adventures in here.
I guess there is a lot to talk about since I've been here... 4 days. We're doing so much each day feels like 2.
The trip here went smoothly. I fortunately was seated next to a UNC Grad student in Sociology who specializes in Labor Sociology, so she was a pretty interesting person. Also she didn't talk too much either, which is a big plus.
Our flight attendant liked us - he insisted I drink wine with dinner and encouraged me to get drunk, lol. I decided arriving in London schnockered wasn't a great idea... so I was responsible and turned him down :-)
The plane was actually nice - I didn't feel like I was crammed into coach. There seems to be a bit more room and everyone has their own little t.v. Even the food wasn't bad.
When we arrived we had to wait in customs for about 40 minutes... it was a REALLY hot, long wait. But once through Barry was there to pick us up. He is from Ireland I believe and really charming. He's apparently known my father for years. During the flight I was actually pretty sad about leaving the States. I've finally found the true friends I've always hoped for and saw first hand that I would have had an amazing semester at UNC. I'm so glad I got to go to Bid Day, but I really hate I'm not getting to know our new girls - they seem so great! Well... I do know Danielle and Abby ;-) and they are wonderful.
Anyways... back to the point... once we started driving through the England countryside I finally began to feel excited. The houses are so different and the countryside is beautiful. Also it started to hit me I'm going to be living in London.
At one point we passed a pub called the Piccolo, and a minute later we passed the "Whistle and flute" (which my dorky, flute playing self couldn't help but comment on, lol) and apparently Whistle and flute were used to refer to a man who is dressed up in a suit and tie. It's a cockney expression. Barry feels that they are stupid and often will use 10 words to describe something simple. During this convo he was like "You know what dog and bone is..." of course I didn't... "a phone"
ok, it makes sense, lol - the point: cockney expressions are stupid
When we arrived in London Acorn didn't have our keys ready for us... which was REALLY sucky since I had emailed the program letting them know we would be in early. Someone messed up, and I'm guessing it wasn't the program's organizers. We had to unload our luggage and were sent to do whatever for 4 hours, and at 2PM "they might be ready" for us.
Chris, Heather, and I decided to get food then visit the British Museum. First we just sat around and people watched. Then we went in there. It's not my favourite... maybe it'll grow on me. I guess it is difficult to say, because by this point I had only gotten about 30 minutes of sleep for the night, lol. But lack of sleep leads to interesting commentary :-)
Next we decided to try to get to know the area, and fortunately we ran into Professor Oehler who helped us get our keys and bags. We then walked 7 blocks with our luggage to our flats on Gower Street (ya know... a short walk, lol, especially when you're dragging 80lbs worth of luggage... and about that: you try and pack your life for a semester, haha)
Haha, other than that incident there has been very little to complain about. Oh wait... the size of our room. OK, so I was picturing everyone shared apartments. That was completely wrong. We are basically in hotel rooms with mini kitchens. Sapna and my's apartment is the smallest by far. Haha, I walked in and was like... "you've got to be kidding." It was worse when we saw how much bigger most of the other rooms are. But on the positive side our closet is the biggest and our shower is nicer than most.
That night Sapna, Andy, and I went out. The area we live in, Bloomsbury is really safe overall. In fact, I feel pretty safe in the city. But at night... not quite so much. We roamed around looking for a pub to drink in with people. After walking around for 40 minutes we finally found the London pub and drank for about an hour. It was nice - but pubs are a place to hang out with friends... not really a place to meet new people. I don't like Old Speckled Hen lager. Haha, by this point we had no clue where we were, but about 30 minutes later we found our way home.
Sunday morning was our bus tour. Sapna and I barely made it up... lol, thank god she set her alarm. Our tour guide was great. It is amazing how huge this city really is - in fact it's really actually 2 cities that are put together.
Afterwards I made a list of the top things I want to do before I leave:
Stuff I want to do before I leave:
Portraits museum
Natural History museum (see the dinosaurs!)
Shopping
Walk in Kensington Gardens
See a concert at Royal Albert Hall
See at least 3 musicals
See another opera (other than Carmen)
Tower of London
That enter at your own risk museum
Ride on the Millennium wheel
also apparently there is a festival sometime this week at the Thames river. Mary mentioned a Tango dancing festival... I definitely want to check that out.
After the bus tour we took a nap... jet lag is a b*tch. Later in the afternoon we went to shop for groceries and buy cellphones. Here they have orange service which is pay as you go. It's really convenient. I've been to the grocery store: Sainsbury... 3 times. This is one thing that makes me really miss having a car. Carrying heavy grocery bags for 10 minutes sucks... and I can't buy everything I want in one trip. But it's cool... I'm getting there :-)
Later Sunday night the whole group of us hung out in Andy, Tyler, and Cory's room. It's pretty big and it was a good time. Haha, I bought this terrible WPG (or something) vodka drink at the store - I was intrigued bc it actually had real vodka in it - but it tasted like Blue Rasberry soda... which eventually got old. I'm going to stick to wine and beer from now on, lol
Monday was our orientation. We're not allowed to bring people in to stay at night... haha, not like Sapna and I would be able to put someone anywhere. Seeing the University of London Student Union was really cool. Unlike the UNC student Union they have a whole floor dedicated to a bar and hang out area. Can you imagine a bar in the student union!? lol, it's soo cool. We definitely plan on checking that out. They also have tons of clubs for us to choose from so we can meet British students. I'm planning to join the salsa dancing club (of course) and I believe they have an orchestra... so I'm doing that if I can :-) haha, if not maybe I'll do canoe polo. They try to create different sports - like REAL tennis, which is the original game. Apparently they use wooden paddles and a hard ball... and the goal is to hit your opponent. Lol, I think that maybe it went extinct for a reason... BUT I'd love to see people painfully getting hit in the face.
In our tour of the library I almost fell asleep, lol. It's nice... yea... that's that.
After that we went and took an hour nap. Then we went and sat in Bedford Square which is a nice little park right near our flat. The weather here is GORGEOUS. It has only sprinkled once. It's not hot, not cold, just perfect. I definitely plan on staying outside as much as possible before it gets colder. On our way there we got free tabloids - yes, they hand them out for free here - and it talked about how much of a whore Britney Spears was at the VMAs, lol. Sitting on the perfect grass, talking and hanging out was amazing.
Then we decided to check out Regent Park. It was about a 15 minute walk. It was completely worth it. It is soo gorgeous... there is no better word. I have no idea how they maintain it so perfectly, but walking through it is breathtaking. It's like the minute you walk in there it's hard to imagine you're in a city. So we took pictures and hung out there for a while... walking around and whatnot. We didn't make it there, but there is even a freaking zoo in the park... actually, the oldest zoo in the world maybe as a matter of fact. I want to go, lol
For dinner we headed over to Trafalgar Square. I was really antsy to start seeing the city. This definitely calmed me down, lol. First off I finally got my oyster card, which lets me ride the Tube whenever I want. The Tube here is sooo much nicer than DC's metro. Haha, I actually am not afraid to be on it... the seats are nicer and it's brighter. The square is pretty near Big Ben and right next to the British National Gallery. We inevitably took as many pictures as possible. Lol, and Katherine and Kaitlin got on the Lions. I had a terrible time trying to get up onto the monument... good grief. I am so afraid of standing higher than 6 feet off the ground. Plus you had to climb up... which took 3 attempts to accomplish. Haha... yea... it was worth it though.
By this point we were all really hungry. We went to this small Italian restaurant for dinner nearby and it was AMAZING. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was wonderful. lol, I was craving spaghetti and meatballs.
Last night was ridiculous. After dinner we decided we wanted wine, lol so we made a pit stop. When we got back everyone was getting ready to go out so we changed quick, basically drank the wine in 20 minutes, then headed out. Haha, the sad thing was the wine was actually pretty good... it was a waste we had to drink it so quickly. But going out was worth it :-)
It is about a... 20 minute walk to Soho, which apparently is the place to go out. We had hear on Monday nights this bar/ club had pound pints so that seemed like the perfect place. It was awesome. haha, earlier in the day I had been telling the girls I really wanted to go clubbing and seemed to be the only one. Little did I know I'd be in a club that night. Our group is so much fun. I guess it's just the European atmosphere, but everyone danced. Haha, maybe it's because the Europeans are such bad dancers our guys weren't intimidated.
They started the night with pretty modern music - Jay-Z, Akon, etc... but when things started picking up they totally pulled out the techno, lol. Soo much fun, haha. They played Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" 2 different times... haha, but it was set to a techno beat. In fact... they set a lot of rock classics to techno. It was exactly what I thought Europe would be like, but better :-)
We danced for 2 or 3 hours... and then had to walk back. Unfortunately I wore my new black pumps and they completely tore open my heels... so drunk Christina took off her shoes. Thank god Tracy was sweet enough to give me her socks to wear. So far today I've felt fine... so I don't think I have tetanus :-) Plus it's so warm I can wear rainbows, so it's not too bad.
Today we had our first class. Shoot, it's hardly even class. I love it. It's our Active Listening in London course with Professor Oehler. Basically he's going to teach us to review and critique concerts. We are required to see 20 concerts and review 4 of them for grades, although in order to do well we are going to need to review most of them we see. He does have very high expectations regarding our writing. But still... it's going to be so much fun. I would go see that many concerts anyways.
Most of the class was actually going to see our first concert. We were late... our bad... but only by 5 minutes. We had a hard time finding the venue... and took a 5 minute stop to get food. lol, you need food to listen well :-) The concert was really great - they played a Beethoven piece for cello and piano, Stravinsky's three pieces for solo clarinet, and a Brahms trio.
In order to get there we had to change cars 3 times... I've got to learn how to get around on the subway... and how to read a map. Haha, in fact I still don't own a map of London. Shoot, I hardly know my way to the grocery store. It's bad. I'll work on that this week :-)
Anyways, that basically covers everything until this point. I need to go wash dishes, lol, and then I think tonight we are going to go explore more :-)
I guess there is a lot to talk about since I've been here... 4 days. We're doing so much each day feels like 2.
The trip here went smoothly. I fortunately was seated next to a UNC Grad student in Sociology who specializes in Labor Sociology, so she was a pretty interesting person. Also she didn't talk too much either, which is a big plus.
Our flight attendant liked us - he insisted I drink wine with dinner and encouraged me to get drunk, lol. I decided arriving in London schnockered wasn't a great idea... so I was responsible and turned him down :-)
The plane was actually nice - I didn't feel like I was crammed into coach. There seems to be a bit more room and everyone has their own little t.v. Even the food wasn't bad.
When we arrived we had to wait in customs for about 40 minutes... it was a REALLY hot, long wait. But once through Barry was there to pick us up. He is from Ireland I believe and really charming. He's apparently known my father for years. During the flight I was actually pretty sad about leaving the States. I've finally found the true friends I've always hoped for and saw first hand that I would have had an amazing semester at UNC. I'm so glad I got to go to Bid Day, but I really hate I'm not getting to know our new girls - they seem so great! Well... I do know Danielle and Abby ;-) and they are wonderful.
Anyways... back to the point... once we started driving through the England countryside I finally began to feel excited. The houses are so different and the countryside is beautiful. Also it started to hit me I'm going to be living in London.
At one point we passed a pub called the Piccolo, and a minute later we passed the "Whistle and flute" (which my dorky, flute playing self couldn't help but comment on, lol) and apparently Whistle and flute were used to refer to a man who is dressed up in a suit and tie. It's a cockney expression. Barry feels that they are stupid and often will use 10 words to describe something simple. During this convo he was like "You know what dog and bone is..." of course I didn't... "a phone"
ok, it makes sense, lol - the point: cockney expressions are stupid
When we arrived in London Acorn didn't have our keys ready for us... which was REALLY sucky since I had emailed the program letting them know we would be in early. Someone messed up, and I'm guessing it wasn't the program's organizers. We had to unload our luggage and were sent to do whatever for 4 hours, and at 2PM "they might be ready" for us.
Chris, Heather, and I decided to get food then visit the British Museum. First we just sat around and people watched. Then we went in there. It's not my favourite... maybe it'll grow on me. I guess it is difficult to say, because by this point I had only gotten about 30 minutes of sleep for the night, lol. But lack of sleep leads to interesting commentary :-)
Next we decided to try to get to know the area, and fortunately we ran into Professor Oehler who helped us get our keys and bags. We then walked 7 blocks with our luggage to our flats on Gower Street (ya know... a short walk, lol, especially when you're dragging 80lbs worth of luggage... and about that: you try and pack your life for a semester, haha)
Haha, other than that incident there has been very little to complain about. Oh wait... the size of our room. OK, so I was picturing everyone shared apartments. That was completely wrong. We are basically in hotel rooms with mini kitchens. Sapna and my's apartment is the smallest by far. Haha, I walked in and was like... "you've got to be kidding." It was worse when we saw how much bigger most of the other rooms are. But on the positive side our closet is the biggest and our shower is nicer than most.
That night Sapna, Andy, and I went out. The area we live in, Bloomsbury is really safe overall. In fact, I feel pretty safe in the city. But at night... not quite so much. We roamed around looking for a pub to drink in with people. After walking around for 40 minutes we finally found the London pub and drank for about an hour. It was nice - but pubs are a place to hang out with friends... not really a place to meet new people. I don't like Old Speckled Hen lager. Haha, by this point we had no clue where we were, but about 30 minutes later we found our way home.
Sunday morning was our bus tour. Sapna and I barely made it up... lol, thank god she set her alarm. Our tour guide was great. It is amazing how huge this city really is - in fact it's really actually 2 cities that are put together.
Afterwards I made a list of the top things I want to do before I leave:
Stuff I want to do before I leave:
Portraits museum
Natural History museum (see the dinosaurs!)
Shopping
Walk in Kensington Gardens
See a concert at Royal Albert Hall
See at least 3 musicals
See another opera (other than Carmen)
Tower of London
That enter at your own risk museum
Ride on the Millennium wheel
also apparently there is a festival sometime this week at the Thames river. Mary mentioned a Tango dancing festival... I definitely want to check that out.
After the bus tour we took a nap... jet lag is a b*tch. Later in the afternoon we went to shop for groceries and buy cellphones. Here they have orange service which is pay as you go. It's really convenient. I've been to the grocery store: Sainsbury... 3 times. This is one thing that makes me really miss having a car. Carrying heavy grocery bags for 10 minutes sucks... and I can't buy everything I want in one trip. But it's cool... I'm getting there :-)
Later Sunday night the whole group of us hung out in Andy, Tyler, and Cory's room. It's pretty big and it was a good time. Haha, I bought this terrible WPG (or something) vodka drink at the store - I was intrigued bc it actually had real vodka in it - but it tasted like Blue Rasberry soda... which eventually got old. I'm going to stick to wine and beer from now on, lol
Monday was our orientation. We're not allowed to bring people in to stay at night... haha, not like Sapna and I would be able to put someone anywhere. Seeing the University of London Student Union was really cool. Unlike the UNC student Union they have a whole floor dedicated to a bar and hang out area. Can you imagine a bar in the student union!? lol, it's soo cool. We definitely plan on checking that out. They also have tons of clubs for us to choose from so we can meet British students. I'm planning to join the salsa dancing club (of course) and I believe they have an orchestra... so I'm doing that if I can :-) haha, if not maybe I'll do canoe polo. They try to create different sports - like REAL tennis, which is the original game. Apparently they use wooden paddles and a hard ball... and the goal is to hit your opponent. Lol, I think that maybe it went extinct for a reason... BUT I'd love to see people painfully getting hit in the face.
In our tour of the library I almost fell asleep, lol. It's nice... yea... that's that.
After that we went and took an hour nap. Then we went and sat in Bedford Square which is a nice little park right near our flat. The weather here is GORGEOUS. It has only sprinkled once. It's not hot, not cold, just perfect. I definitely plan on staying outside as much as possible before it gets colder. On our way there we got free tabloids - yes, they hand them out for free here - and it talked about how much of a whore Britney Spears was at the VMAs, lol. Sitting on the perfect grass, talking and hanging out was amazing.
Then we decided to check out Regent Park. It was about a 15 minute walk. It was completely worth it. It is soo gorgeous... there is no better word. I have no idea how they maintain it so perfectly, but walking through it is breathtaking. It's like the minute you walk in there it's hard to imagine you're in a city. So we took pictures and hung out there for a while... walking around and whatnot. We didn't make it there, but there is even a freaking zoo in the park... actually, the oldest zoo in the world maybe as a matter of fact. I want to go, lol
For dinner we headed over to Trafalgar Square. I was really antsy to start seeing the city. This definitely calmed me down, lol. First off I finally got my oyster card, which lets me ride the Tube whenever I want. The Tube here is sooo much nicer than DC's metro. Haha, I actually am not afraid to be on it... the seats are nicer and it's brighter. The square is pretty near Big Ben and right next to the British National Gallery. We inevitably took as many pictures as possible. Lol, and Katherine and Kaitlin got on the Lions. I had a terrible time trying to get up onto the monument... good grief. I am so afraid of standing higher than 6 feet off the ground. Plus you had to climb up... which took 3 attempts to accomplish. Haha... yea... it was worth it though.
By this point we were all really hungry. We went to this small Italian restaurant for dinner nearby and it was AMAZING. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was wonderful. lol, I was craving spaghetti and meatballs.
Last night was ridiculous. After dinner we decided we wanted wine, lol so we made a pit stop. When we got back everyone was getting ready to go out so we changed quick, basically drank the wine in 20 minutes, then headed out. Haha, the sad thing was the wine was actually pretty good... it was a waste we had to drink it so quickly. But going out was worth it :-)
It is about a... 20 minute walk to Soho, which apparently is the place to go out. We had hear on Monday nights this bar/ club had pound pints so that seemed like the perfect place. It was awesome. haha, earlier in the day I had been telling the girls I really wanted to go clubbing and seemed to be the only one. Little did I know I'd be in a club that night. Our group is so much fun. I guess it's just the European atmosphere, but everyone danced. Haha, maybe it's because the Europeans are such bad dancers our guys weren't intimidated.
They started the night with pretty modern music - Jay-Z, Akon, etc... but when things started picking up they totally pulled out the techno, lol. Soo much fun, haha. They played Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" 2 different times... haha, but it was set to a techno beat. In fact... they set a lot of rock classics to techno. It was exactly what I thought Europe would be like, but better :-)
We danced for 2 or 3 hours... and then had to walk back. Unfortunately I wore my new black pumps and they completely tore open my heels... so drunk Christina took off her shoes. Thank god Tracy was sweet enough to give me her socks to wear. So far today I've felt fine... so I don't think I have tetanus :-) Plus it's so warm I can wear rainbows, so it's not too bad.
Today we had our first class. Shoot, it's hardly even class. I love it. It's our Active Listening in London course with Professor Oehler. Basically he's going to teach us to review and critique concerts. We are required to see 20 concerts and review 4 of them for grades, although in order to do well we are going to need to review most of them we see. He does have very high expectations regarding our writing. But still... it's going to be so much fun. I would go see that many concerts anyways.
Most of the class was actually going to see our first concert. We were late... our bad... but only by 5 minutes. We had a hard time finding the venue... and took a 5 minute stop to get food. lol, you need food to listen well :-) The concert was really great - they played a Beethoven piece for cello and piano, Stravinsky's three pieces for solo clarinet, and a Brahms trio.
In order to get there we had to change cars 3 times... I've got to learn how to get around on the subway... and how to read a map. Haha, in fact I still don't own a map of London. Shoot, I hardly know my way to the grocery store. It's bad. I'll work on that this week :-)
Anyways, that basically covers everything until this point. I need to go wash dishes, lol, and then I think tonight we are going to go explore more :-)
Friday, September 7, 2007
leaving the country
Well... I'm leaving my house in 20 minutes. I've decided I'm packed although I'm sure I've forgotten something...or a lot of things, lol.
My suitcase weighs at least 100lbs so it isn't like I can add anything and in addition to that I'm carrying a duffel bag, backpack, and purse... basically a guy could rob me without a gun I'm carrying so much.
Anyways, that's it for now. If you are reading this pray to god I get there in one piece, with all my belongings, and without pissing anyone off severely.
The adventure begins :-)
My suitcase weighs at least 100lbs so it isn't like I can add anything and in addition to that I'm carrying a duffel bag, backpack, and purse... basically a guy could rob me without a gun I'm carrying so much.
Anyways, that's it for now. If you are reading this pray to god I get there in one piece, with all my belongings, and without pissing anyone off severely.
The adventure begins :-)
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