Last Day in Londontown!

I imagine this will be my last post! Although it was tough to keep up with the blog, I am so glad I decided to write one, not only to share with family and friends who might be wondering what I'm up to, but because I will be able to look back on it and remember all the little details and the day-to-day things about my semester in London.

SO. How do you end something like this, anyway? I suppose what's at the forefront of my mind right now is the snowstorm that is hovering unpleasantly over the East Coast. My flatmate's flight (on the same airline as mine) got cancelled yesterday, and she had to scramble to re-book a flight. Luckily, she's on her way home now, but I'm nervous about my flight. I've been checking pretty regularly, and everything seems to be okay. Probably because I'm not flying out until Sunday morning, and my flatmate's flight was for today, Saturday.

The flat is clean, I'm all packed and (hopefully) under the 50 pound weight limit for checked luggage. All I have to do is get myself to Heathrow, check in at the airport hotel, hang out, get up early tomorrow morning and COME HOME.

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Now I want to offer some kind of summary reflection. This entire experience has been really incredible, but also kind of whirlwind. It HAS gone by really fast, and it has actually been pretty difficult to process and digest everything that happens everyday here. I suppose living in central London has contributed to this hustle-bustle kind of feeling, but at times it has been hectic. That being said, I really do love living in a big city. There's always tons of things to do, and especially in London there's always tons of FREE stuff to do. I had to come to terms with the fact that London is just a really, really outrageously expensive city, but it is only money, and I think this entire experience was invaluable.

I found myself going through phases of likes and dislikes while here in London. Towards the beginning of the semester, I would spend hours just sitting in Trafalgar Square, watching the people moving against this unbelievable backdrop of Big Ben and Parliament and Nelson. Perhaps it was the changing weather, but I stopped going there as the semester went on. My favorite trip would definitely have to be the recent, 5-day Ireland trip with my literature class. Ireland's history is just so complex and in some ways the wounds of the past still haven't healed over. I think I will definitely go back to Ireland sometime in the future, to see more of the place.

Going to Paris by myself was another big deal for me. My parents and flatmates were kind of worried about it, but I knew that I could handle it. I think sometimes you have to do things that scare you a little bit, if only to show yourself that you're capable. I'll never forget walking around the Louvre at like, 10 o'clock at night, with the Tour Eiffel lit up against the sky... it was wonderful.

If nothing else, I think this experience, albeit kind of short, has taught me a lot in terms of cultural immersion. I suppose you can't live abroad for 4 months and not change in some ways. I expect my family and friends will comment on my generally more dressed-up appearance. Everyone in London dresses so well, that it was hard to leave my flat in jeans. Likewise, the women wear more makeup, and so I started spending more time on that, too. Probably more than this, though, would be my newfound attention to the art of conversation. My dad and I recently discussed the differences between Brits and Americans in terms of speech patterns and general manners, and I think I've matured a bit in the way I express myself verbally. I noticed this the most in class discussions... I definitely use fewer "likes" in conversation, and I've noticed that I also generally talk a bit less than I used to, especially while conversing.

This is all just personal reflection, but I'm having a hard time trying to process "What London Means To Me" at the moment. I suppose the subtleties will come out more the longer I've been away from here, but I have most definitely been changed by this experience, and I believe changed for the better. That being said, I believe I am ready to come home. I didn't really make many friends on this trip, which is totally fine, but it just made missing my friends and family that much more difficult. I was able to distract myself with the city, but the holiday season only made me pine for familiarity that much more. My dad asked me if I wasn't going to miss London. I will miss this city, the culture and the general attitudes of Europe. These attitudes, in my mind, are in some ways better than American attitudes. However, I think I can take what I've learned here and apply it in some really good ways to my life in America. I think that, wherever you go, you're still in your head. Sure, there will be some cultural shocks when I get back to the States, but I think I'm strong enough to keep my head and maintain what I believe to be valuable elements of British and European culture. I'm happy to be coming home, not devastated to be leaving London.

Will I be back? Someday. Perhaps I need to see a bit more of the world before I'm ready to come back to Londontown. But I know this city has changed me, and perhaps will continue to change me even though I'm not here. It is a beautiful city with a beautiful character. I can only hope that I do this experience justice by continuing to learn from it and by making an effort not to unlearn all that I've seen and experienced.

Torrey

Ireland, extensively, with pictures!

For the past five days, I've been exploring Dublin and its immediate surroundings with my Irish literature class! I literally just got home an hour ago, so I'm still digesting some of the subtleties, but I wanted to get a post written about what I saw...

We left from Heathrow airport on Wednesday afternoon, and basically just got ourselves to the hotel. We had a little free time, and so we went to a pub for dinner, and I had my first of many pints of Guiness, or "the black stuff" as Dubliners call it.

Thursday, we had an early start. We all got three-day DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) passes, and so we went from our hotel on Lansdowne Road to Tara Street Station. First, the group went to an exhibition on the life and works of William Butler Yeats at the National Library of Ireland on Kildare Street. The exhibition was really great, and featured many of Yeats' original handwritten and typed copies of his famous poems, like "Easter 1916" and "Sailing to Byzantium". After the Library, we went on a guided walking tour of the city, focusing on the events of 1916. Our tour guide was called Lorcan Collins, who seemed to know every single person in the city of Dublin. He took us walking down the River Liffey, showing us the Liberty Building where the republican rebels set up camp during the 1916 rebellion. In this picture to the right, the Liberty building is the "tall" one... it's only 16 stories and it's the tallest building in Dublin. On our tour, he also took us walking down O'Connell Street, which is the high street of Dublin. Unfortunately, a lot of it has been converted to stores in an attempt to draw tourists.

We saw the General Post Office building, though, which the republican rebels also took over in 1916. We saw the bullet holes that were still left in the marble exterior, although the building itself was all but totally destroyed in the fighting. Inside, we saw one of the 12 or so remaining original proclamations of the Irish nation. We also saw a statue of Cuchulain, a mythical Irish warrior who strapped himself to a rock when fighting, even after he couldn't stand up. That's him over on the right. Birds plucked out his eyes, apparently, but he kept fighting!

After some free time for lunch, we took a bus to the outskirts of the city to visit Kilmainham Jail, where the Easter 1916 rebels were imprisoned and executed. The fourth picture is from the basement of the jail. Interestingly, the bodies of the rebels were not given proper funerals, because the English realized that if they allowed the rebels to have proper graves, the Irish people might make martyrs of them. Instead, they were buried near the jail, in unmarked graves with quicklime thrown over their bodies. We saw the yard in which they were executed by firing squad for high treason. It was really moving, especially in light of a movie we recently watched for class, "The Wind That Shakes The Barley", which talks about the problems with the rebellion and the subsequent War of Independence and Civil War.

Friday, we started off with a trip to Prospect Cemetary in Glasnevin, which is on the outskirts of the city, as well. There, we saw the graves of the rebels (after public opinion changed and they were given proper funerals a few years after the rebellion). This cemetary is once of the oldest and largest in Dublin, and unlike many of them, is not segregated by religion. After lunch, we went to the Joyce Tower in Sandycove, which is on the southern part of Dublin Bay. In Joyce's "Ulysses", this is the fictionalized Martello Tower on the sea where the first scene of the novel is set. The curator gave us a talk and a tour, and told us of how Joyce lived here for a short time, and ge drunk and went swimming in Dublin Bay at the Forty Foot Pool. Myself and two of my classmates decided that if it was good enough for a drunk James Joyce, it was good enough for us, sober. We stripped down to our underwear and dove into Dublin Bay in December, and it was all I hoped it would be and more. Picture at the right.

After, we went to Trinity College Library to see the Book of Kells, Ireland's oldest Celtic manuscript, c. 800 A.D. It was truly stunning, and we also got to see the huge Trinity College Reading Room where nearly every Irish luminary studied. I included a picture of a college building on the right. After that, I walked through St. Stephen's Green, which is a famous Dublin landmark. Later that night, the group went on a musical pub crawl that included more Guiness and a "Noble Call", for which members of the audience are invited to sing, a capella, a song from their home county (or country, in this case). A few of my classmates sang some folk songs and Bob Dylan, and I was sorely tempted to sing a verse or two of Lady Gaga, but decided to refrain, as I thought I'd had enough alcohol to properly do it justice. The live musicians were great, and sang and played traditional Irish folk songs. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday, we were up and out early again. We went to the National Museum of Ireland to see an exhibition of the Iron Age "bog bodies". These bodies were discovered in Co. Offaly and Co. Meath in 2003. Research suggests that these human sacrifices were often tortured and sacrificed to the gods, and were placed on significant kingdom boundaries in ancient Ireland. Most of the bodies were incredibly well preserved, though I was thinking mostly about mortality during the exhibit. The National Museum had many other artifacts from around this time, including lots of gold jewelry and metal-on-wood crosses from the 8th through 13th centuries. It's easy to see how a museum like this, showcasing Ireland's rich history, would have given the average person a greater sense of pride about their country.

After lunch, we went to Newgrange, in Co. Meath. Set in the Bru na Boinne Valley, this Neolithic passage grave was built over 5,000 years ago, before the pyramids in Egypt and before Stonehenge. The exterior was re-built in the 1970s, but the inside of it has held up so well, no stone breaking, no rain. When we got inside the tiny chamber, the guide turned off the lights and simulated the sunrise on the winter solstice, when a tiny shaft of light comes in through the entrance in just such a way to light up the entire inner chamber. We couldn't take pictures inside the inner chamber, so I included a picture of the exterior and of the highly decorated entrance stone. The entire experience was pretty magical, and it was one of my favorite activities on the trip.

That night, we went to a play at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play was Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer". Although the original Abbey Theatre was rebuilt in the 1960s, this is Ireland's National Theatre, founded in 1903 by Yeats and Lady Gregory. Its early productions were often radical; in 1907, the premiere of Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World" provoked riots.

Sunday, we went on a bus and walking tour of the Wicklow mountains, south of Dublin. We saw Lough Bre and Lough Tay (more commonly known as Guiness Lake), as well as the Glenmacnass Waterfall, just north of Laragh. We stopped for lunch in a little village near Glenmacnass, and then continued on to Glendalough, to see ruins of a 6th century monastic city founded by St. Kevin, who was actually a member of the royal house of Leinster. The scenery was unbelievable. It felt a lot like Scotland, especially the pronunciations of all the Gaelic names of lakes and valleys. On the tour, our guide was really interesting. His name was Eamon Murphy and I managed to sit in the front seat next to him the entire time, and we talked about everything from bilingual education in Ireland to music and movies. He's lived in Dublin his entire life, and had a lot to say about the Easter 1916 rebellion. He comes from a family of Irish republicans from "rebel County Cork" and Co. Wexford in the South. He was a blast to talk to, and he was definitely one of my favorite tour guides, because he knew a lot but was able to tell me things in a casual way, without being too academic or stuck up about his knowledge of the country. That night, the professors took us all out for a pint and dinner, and I had a traditional Irish Boxty, which is basically a potato pancake that you wrap meat and vegetables in, burrito-style. This was a traditional Irish restaurant, very expensive and not like a pub at all. For dessert, I had bread and butter pudding, served hot with homemade custard and rum raisin ice cream. I don't think I'll ever forget that meal.

So, that's about it for specifics of the trip! Once it all sinks in a little more, I'm going to write about my impressions of the place, specifically compared to London and all that. It was an incredible five days, and now I have to write a four page "field trip response" paper before tackling a seven to nine page final paper. Less than two weeks until my arrival back in the States. It's going to be so surreal being back after having been gone living in a fancy European city for four months. More soon...

schlepping around London

I realise these posts are becoming more infrequent, but that is simply because there is less and less I feel is relevant to share. The initial lustre of London life has worn off, and I find myself succumbing to routine, as I suppose one does when one lives in a place for longer than a month or two. After I returned from Paris, I was confronted with much reading and paper-writing. Even though the workload is substantially less than even my first semester at Grinnell, it takes quite a bit of effort to get down to work, what with all the distractions of city life.

More recently, we celebrated Thanksgiving here in London. My flatmates and I attended a Thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral, which was lovely. Normally, one has to pay an entry fee in order to wander around St. Paul's, though it can be avoided by attending a service, which was the initial enticement. That evening, we went to a potluck dinner at our program director/Irish lit professor's house in Chiswick, and it was a really nice, relaxing way to spend Thanksgiving.

Alas, now London is pulling out all the stops for the Christmas season. Starbucks plays a continual loop of jazzed-up holiday tunes, and Oxford Street and Regent Street are both decked out in lights and decor. Christmas trees are beginning to pop up in front of high-end establishments. This is all rather nice, as it gives the comings and goings of life a little bit of sparkle, but it makes me miss home a little bit. My friend Becca is visiting from Granada this weekend, so we had a little soiree here at the flat last night, followed by dancing at the Social. It was really fun, though I think I will be staying in tonight with my flatmates and having a low-key movie night.

Coming up: a five night trip to Ireland with my Irish lit class! We're mostly going to be in Dublin, though we're making some trips to surrounding environs including Tara, the Boyne valley and Newgrange. After we get back, I have only 2 weeks left abroad. I will be going to a Marilyn Manson concert, making a second trip to Hornchurch in search of my great-grandparents, and writing a final paper for Irish lit. I feel things beginning to wind to a close here, and I'm thankful that I will always have these silly blog entries and photos to bring me back to my time here in London. I do miss home, though. There are a lot of things that will be changing for me within the next year and a half... a lot of plans to be made. I'm looking forward to getting started with all that.

Paris (belatedly)

After much foot-dragging and delay, I present MES AVENTURES PARISIENNES:

I woke to the sound of my cell phone alarm at 4:30am Thursday. Ungodly. I had managed to throw some things in my canvas messenger bag the night before, so I only had to stumble to the bathroom, shove a toothbrush in my mouth, and go. Of course, the tube doesn't open til about 5:30am, which is when my train was set to leave from King's Cross/St. Pancras Internat'l. The buses were also apparently in the weird limbo time from when night buses stop and when day buses start, so I had to walk the 1.2 miles down Euston Road. Kind of scary.

BUT I did manage to make it in time for the train, and I proceeded to promptly pass out for the 2.5 hour journey, waking up only to register the misty morning fog of northern France. When I arrived at Gare du Nord, I was a little taken aback. No Parisian vista upon entering the city? Where's the Eiffel Tower? The neighborhood of the train station and my hostel is on the Rive Driote (north side of the Seine), in the 10eme arrondisement. Kind of bleak and built up, but who was I to complain, I was in PARIS.

After locating my hostel and dropping off my bag, I set off on a sightseeing tour of extravagant proportions. I checked out the exterior of the Louvre, rode around the Charles de Gaulle Etoile (where the Arc de Triomphe is) on a public bus at dizzying speeds, stood under the Tour Eiffel, and climbed Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur... all on only a few hours sleep!

The Paris metro was great, though. So much dirtier than the London Underground, with a faint, lingering smell of urine. My dad told me that the Brits, for all their politeness, have zero courtesy on the tube, which I haven't really seen much of, but SACRE BLEU the French are SO rude on the Metro. Literally, sardine city. For three days, it was hysterical, but I think I'd get sick of it really fast if I had to deal with it everyday. I got a three day "Paris Visite" pass, which meant unlimited access on all public transportation in central Paris. Suffice to say, I did a lot of riding around and sightseeing on public buses.

Day two was LOUVRE DAY. For only 9 euro, I was able to see thousands of the old masterpieces (see Facebook for photographic evidence). My favorite memory was wandering around the Napoleon III Apartements at about 9am... because there was NO ONE ELSE THERE. That changed by about 10am, when the place became inundated with tourists of all nationalities. It felt a little like a scavenger hunt, simply because there is SO MUCH to see and not nearly enough time. The Salle de Rembrandt was pretty phenomenal, as was the Sphinx and the Venus de Milo... I could have done without the absurdity of the Mona Lisa... but I did see it!

Day three involved a coffee stop at La Coupole, a famous restaurant/cafe near Montparnasse where the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Lenin, and Trotsky dined and discusses ex-pat things... like Communism. It felt very modern, but I tried to imagine the place as it might have been then. Apparently the food is to die for, but again, I only had a coffee. I also went to La Cimetiere de Pere Lachaise, the largest cemetary in Paris, where TONS of people (famous and otherwise) are buried. Speaking of scavenger hunts, there was a little info map at the main entrance of the cemetary... basically how to locate the graves of famous people. I saw the graves of Chopin, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, and Jim Morrison. Very cool, but kind of creepy as a tourist activity. An early afternoon departure meant my time was cut short, though I did manage to see Notre Dame (but not Sainte Chapelle) before I left.

Paris was lovely, but I think in terms of my city rankings, London is higher. It's cleaner, and the museums are all (mostly) free. Maybe it's the propensity for rebellion that Paris has about its character. I did witness a riot outside the Barbes-Rochechouart metro station, which was a little scary. A great three-day weekend trip, but I don't think I'd want to live there. Getting to speak French was pretty cool, though.

Irish lit, Paris

It's been a while since my last post. Things are relatively the same here, though I think I might be getting depressed. I really miss my boyfriend and the weather is turning colder here and all I'm reading about is the damned potato famine.

I am going to Paris tomorrow, though, which I am really excited about. Maybe that will cheer me up. I promise to post lots of pictures here and write more in-depth about what I saw, I just don't feel like I have anything to say right now.

fall break!

The past few days have been WUNDERBAR here in Londontown. I've been exploring various new and exciting neighborhoods around town, watching tons of films, reading, etc.

Yesterday, I went to a few galleries. I saw a polaroid exhibition near Baker Street. The gallery was super-tiny and everything was WHITE in it, which actually was a nice backdrop for the polaroid pictures. I saw four taken by Andy Warhol, and I think my favorites were ones taken in 2008 by a British artist called Mark Quinn. He splashed paint all over his polaroid prints (mostly of eyes turned upside down). I also went to see a Damien Hirst exhibition. Apparently, he is the richest artist in the world, and very rarely does paintings (I think he does more installations and stuff like that). I didn't really enjoy that exhibition, but it was still fun to go. It is being housed in The Wallace Collection, which is in an 18th century house on Manchester Square. It's a family collection, so there were a lot of other neat displays, including portraits, furniture, china, etc.

Last night, I went to see Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques" (1955), which is part of the vintage film season at the PCC. It was really, really amazing. It seemed clear to me that Hitchcock would have probably seen this movie, and there were a lot of techniques that Hitchcock imitated in his later work, including a sort of suspense-building scene involving a bottle of liquor, a glass, and a vase. Going to all these films is really bringing out the film-buff in me; I bought a (kind of campy, cheesy) book of the "501 Must-See Movies". It's defintiely unsophisticated, but it has a ton of movies with information about dates, directors, awards, etc.

Today, I didn't get out the door until about noon, which was really lovely. I stopped by Sainsbury's for 2-for-1 pound croissants, and then at Pret for 99p filter coffee. This is becoming more of a routine for me - I'm really into croissants right now! Perhaps someday I'll learn to make them. After brunch, I went to Camden! Only three stops up the Northern Line leads you into a kitschy, labyrinthine marketplace with A MILLION semi-identical stalls selling everything from hookahs to Doc Martens to latex corsets (what?!) and everything in between. Being the genius that I am, I managed to stumble across a vintage, vaguely Army/Navy store called "What Goes Around." It. Was. Phenomenal. I have generally resigned myself to the notion that London (especially central London) is just ridiculously overpriced and expensive. This store wasn't cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was really high-quality stuff for cheaper than I've seen in any other thrift store. A purchase was made. I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about it here just yet (though it was under 40 pounds, Mom, I promise). It is beautiful and outrageous and warm and I think it may be in the top-ten of my favorite purchases of all time.

Still giddy with excitement after my purchase, I stumbled out into the market and decided to take the District line WAY East to Hornchurch, to check out the cemetary in which my great-grandparents are buried. My first impression of "East London" was very working-class, and much browner than central London. There were lots of ugly, cinderblock housing complexes that James said the government owns and lets to the working poor and the unemployed. Hornchurch is all the way out in Zone 6, so it took us an hour or so to get out there. It was already beginning to get dark when we got to the cemetary, and a combination of poor grave markings and fast-fading light meant that the cemetary was being locked up for the night before we could find the graves. I will definitely be going back, though, because now I know the general area the two graves are in, and so it will be way easier for me to find my great-grandparents the next time.

This evening, I went to see Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" (1965), starring Catherine Deneuve. This is Polankski's first film in English, and it was really a terrifying film, in my opinion. It basically shows the descent of a beautiful French girl in London into complete madness. The cinematic techniques were great: sound cut-outs at really dramatic moments, disembodied hands coming out of walls... really good. After the film, I came home and had some Earl Grey tea (another new obsession) and watched ANOTHER movie: Hitchcock's "Rebecca" (1940). I didn't like this one as much as other Hitchcock films, but it wasn't bad. It was based on a novel by a French author, but I felt that there actually wasn't much STORY being told. Maybe I was just tired...

That's all for now. Tomorrow I'm going walking in the country up on Hampstead Heath, then I'm going to practice my acting skills while conducting a hare-brained social experiment: I'm going speed-dating at a cafe/bar/record store. More details to come...

finals and the blissful aftermath

I am happy to report that I made it through my finals (relatively) intact. I worked hard, and hopefully my grades will reflect that. Now it's smooth sailing for the next week until Modern Irish Literature starts. I am, however, overly excited to actually have a LITERATURE class. I picked up an introduction to literary theory the other day, you know, just for casual reading. Mostly, I think I'd like to get a jump on the theory element of literature, as I haven't encountered a lot of theory at all in my studies at Grinnell.

Last week, as a kind of study break, I saw Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious", with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. It was phenomenal. It makes a huge difference being able to see films in theatres, as opposed to on a television or a laptop. This week, the Prince Charles is showing three films I really, really want to see: "Gamer", "Les Diaboliques", and Polanski's "Repulsion". The latter two are part of the PCC's "vintage film season". In a few weeks' time, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is playing, which will be wonderful, I'm sure.

Things here have been pretty quiet the last few days, as we're on fall break now and all of my flatmates have left in a mass exodus to various European destinations. I went out to a nearby club last night for Halloween (I went as "Blackmail": I dressed in all black and put a postage stamp on my shirt), which was pretty fun. Yesterday, I also walked around the Portobello Road Market for quite a while, and I ended up purchasing a leather briefcase similar to the ones I had mentioned before. I got it from a street vendor, and I was pretty impressed with my haggling skills, as I paid 20 pounds for this bag, which was marked at 50 pounds, and which probably cost the original owner about 100 pounds.

Speaking of purchases, I have booked a train ticket to Paris the weekend of November 12th! I'm staying for 3 days and 2 nights, and although my parents are skeptical about me traveling alone, I think it will be a lot of fun to go by myself, because I will be able to see and do everything I want without having to compromise with others about time management, etc. I'm staying in a hostel right on the Rue de Dunkerque, which is near Gare du Nord, where my train arrives. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

Tonight, I am going to a liturgical performance of Mozart's Requiem complete with a full orchestra. It's part of a requiem mass on the eve of the commemoration of All Souls. Tomorrow night, I'll be going to the requiem mass at another church, but the performance is Camille Saint-Saens's Requiem. Lots of classical music!

tour guide, "Enron: The Musical", free films in Trafalgar

My friend Elizabeth arrived here ridiculously early on Sunday morning, and so we grabbed some coffee and caught up on eachother's lives before going on a bit of a tour of central London. I took her down Oxford Street, past all the lovely shops, then to my study centre on Tottenham Court Road, then down to Trafalgar Square, then down Queen's Way to Buckingham Palace, then through the Green Park, where we had lunch. Basically, I've been playing tour guide, which has been a lot of fun. Monday night, we went out to a club called The Roxy, and we just got home from having dinner at a local pub called The Green Man, where we met up with another Grinnell student who is visiting other friends here in London.

Yesterday, I had classes all day, and things are going to be really stressful here for the next week until finals are over! Oh well, I've been looking up day trips out of London, so I'm sure I'll be kept plenty busy over our fall break. I'm actually really glad that I decided not to go abroad for this time, because I get the feeling that many of my fellow American classmates are going to go to all these cities and not really SEE anything. Well, that's not true... what I mean is that they aren't going to get a sense of the cities or the countries they visit. I think I would much rather stay in one country for a longer time, in order to really get a sense of it, than to jump around from city to city, spending only 2 or 3 days in each place. On some level, cities are all really the same, anyway.

Yesterday evening, the Grinnell students were invited out to dinner by two members of Grinnell's international study department. We had dinner at the Royal Court Theatre's bar and restaurant, and it was nice to eat in a classier place than Sainsbury's or Pret a Manger. After dinner, I stayed for the performance of "Enron", which I have decided ought to be called "Enron: The Musical". It was a wickedly funny performance of Enron's rise and fall and the consequences. I enjoyed the play because it was a fresh take on economic crisis. The dialogue was great, and there were hysterical song-and-dance numbers, as well as snippets of Bush speeches on video, and the like. On some level, I'm glad that this was the last play I'll be attending with the program, because I've been to at least 20 plays, and it has gotten a bit overwhelming. I'm looking forward to having more time to do things on my own (and I already do most things on my own) after I get back from fall break. I'll only have one class to focus on, and I'll have free four day weekends every weekend.

Today, I began to write a paper for my Black Atlantic class, and Elizabeth and I went to Portobello Road to browse the antique shops. She found a cute, wooden box from India that she plans to give to her boyfriend for Christmas, and I found these handmade leather satchels that are literally to die for. At 40 or 50 pounds a pop, I know I'll have to give myself some time before I go back to look at them again, but they are incredibly well made, supple, and just really beautiful. Tomorrow, I have class again all day, and afterwards I'll head to Trafalgar Square for the free screening of a few short films that are part of the annual British Film Festival! I'm excited!

I also found a new musician that I really like. If you know who Nick Drake is, the artist I found has a very similar style. He is Swedish-born of Argentine parents, and his name is Jose Gonzalez: finger-picked guitar, moody, autumnal bedroom songs. Perfect.

Capitalism!, Liver'puul, Lib-tron emminent.

This past week was at once busy and non-productive. Finals week is nearly upon us, and as a result the homework load is getting heavier. This is extremely unfortunate, as I have recently joined the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, the only independent cinema in central London. 1.50 for a weekday matinee = disaster for Torrey's academic prowess. Oh well. I've already seen "Mesrine: Killer Instinct", "Public Enemies", and "The Godfather (Part I)". Lots of crime/outlaw drama, though I personally am looking forward to the Halloween weekend horrorfest that starts at 9:30am on Saturday and continues until 10pm on Sunday...

Tuesday night involved a trip to the National Theatre to see a play called "The Power of Yes", which was about the origins and unfolding of the 2008 financial crisis in the UK and US. Very interesting and informative, though pretty depressing. Basically I've been in a funk about money/the Future/JOBS, etc, though talking to my mom and convincing her not to abandon me financially for 2 hours this evening helped immensely. This Tuesday we're going to see another contemporary play called "Enron".

The big event of this week was a 2 day, 1 night trip to Liverpool, from which I've just arrived back at the flat. The trip was for my Black Atlantic course, so the majority of activities focused around Liverpool's role as a port city, and subsequently its involvement in Britain's slave trade. After the 4+ hour drive on Friday morning, we stopped off at the Quarry Bank Mill, just outside of Manchester. The mill was built and operated in the 1700 and 1800s, predominantly by the Greg family. The museum was really interesting, as all the buildings are original. The mill was fully functional up until the post-war era, and so much of the machinery still worked, which made for some pretty amazing demonstrations. The mill mostly dealt with cotton, thread and fabric production, and it was amazing to get a sense of how terrible working-class people's lives were, even at a "progressive" institution like Quarry Bank Mill. After the tour, we loaded into the coach and drove the last stretch to Liverpool.

LIVERPOOL! City of my recent predecessors (kind of)! The approach into the city yielded an impressive view of 7 miles of docks, the imposing Anglican cathedral, and a host of modern, cement-block buildings that comprised Liverpool's new "ONE" complex. According to a city council pamphlet, Liverpool won a European Cultural City award a few years ago, and so they've been trying to re-invent Liverpool as a bustling metropolis filled with all the trappings of a cosmopolitan paradise. Lots of luxury stores, lots of punky kids, lots of Beatles branding. Fun, but not terribly interesting in the historical context. We stayed at a generic youth hostel, which was actually pretty nice compared to the one my art class stayed at in Bruges. Dinner included a cheap burrito stand and a walk around the docks and the ONE complex, then bed, as I had been up until 3am the morning before (see Mom, I DO get out!)

Today, we woke up early to a full breakfast courtesy of the hostel, which included sausages, croissants, yoghurt, scrambled eggs... YUM. Then, we walked as a group down to the Albert Dock area, which houses the International Slavery Museum. There, we met a good friend of my academic advisor's, Mike Boyle. Mike teaches at the University of Liverpool and at NYU, specializing in history and sociology, specifically of Liverpool, I think. He was great, and his lecture was very informative regarding the level of commerce that the slave trade brought to Liverpool. Although not many people worked DIRECTLY within the context of the slave trade, lots of people were indirectly involved, including ship-builders, dock-workers, sewers, merchants, cloth tradesman, etc. My dad had told me all about his side of the family and their move to Liverpool from Dundee in the mid-1800s, and so after the lecture I mentioned this to Mike Boyle, who immediately asked about how this line of my family got to the US. I told him by way of New York/New Jersey, and we found that we had a similar story, as half of his family line settled in Westchester County, NY in the early 1900s. Before I had a chance to really comment on the matter, he asked me what it felt like being in Liverpool, as I wasn't that far removed from it. "You could have just as easily been born here than in the States," he said. I had to laugh, because I'd been hearing similar things from my dad for a long time.

After poking around the exhibits in the slavery museum, the group (along with Mike Boyle) jumped on the coach to see some of the city that was less accessible on foot. We saw many of the Georgian houses that belonged to slave ship captains and venture capitalists that made their money within the slave trade. It was really interesting to see how close the lower-classes lived to the extremely wealthy in Liverpool, as evidenced by the different styles of houses and such on various streets. To some extent, this is still true in Liverpool, which I thought was interesting, as here in London there are definite pockets of wealth and poverty, both historically and in modern times.

After that, we were free to roam the city for a couple of hours before getting back on the bus. Although I couldn't make it up to Everton to see some of the houses and addresses that were inhabited by my ancestors, I tried to get a sense of what life must have been like for them. Mostly, I'm glad they decided to come to America, as my life (and indeed, the lives of my father and grand-father) would have been much different (and much tougher) if that part of my family tree had stayed in the UK.

So, now I'm back at the flat, doing laundry and staying up too late, per usual. My friend Elizabeth is currently on a plane coming here to London to stay with me for a couple of days over Grinnell's fall break. I'm excited to see her and to show her around! Finally, I'll get to feel a bit like a local!

Beckett, Death Disco, A Monumental Purchase, Free Music

This week has been very, very busy.

On Monday evening, we went to see Samuel Beckett's "Endgame", second only to his famous 'Waiting for Godot". In an earlier post, I complained that I didn't like Brecht's "Mother Courage", and I suppose logically I shouldn't be a Beckett fan, but I am. I think Beckett is better because his plays, though absurdist and often annoying, are short. I can take absurdist theatre in small doses. Next up on the theatre front, I'm going to see "The Power of Yes" on Tuesday. I can't say much about it because I haven't read anything about the play, but it's still so amazing to me that I've had the opportunity to see all these incredible plays.

Wednesday night, my "local", James, took me out for a drink and some live music. We met up at four, and decided to check out the National Portrait Gallery, which I hadn't been to. There was a special Bob Dylan exhibition of about ten photographs of Dylan during his European tour in..... I want to say 1966? Anyway, the photographs were great, and my favorite was the one that Dylan used as the cover for "No Direction Home". After the museum, we went across the street to a pub called The Chandos, which felt very old. It was raining buckets, so I decided to get a hot toddy. Not only did only one of the bartenders know what I was talking about, but apparently Brits only drink this concoction when they're sick. It's hot water, whiskey and lemon. It was pretty gross, but it was warm and that's what I needed. After the pub, we went to Notting Hill to check out some local bands playing at Death Disco. We only stayed out until about midnight, and the bands were pretty good. One did an acoustic cover of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes", which was great, and there was a lot of Kings of Leon-influenced vocals and guitar. It was super fun and FREE!

This morning, I made a decision that I hope will positively impact my life. I bought a standing ticket to see Marilyn Manson perform in December in Brixton. Oh. my. god. I'm going to a Marilyn Manson concert!!! It's just one of those things... like I'm in London and I feel like I should be taking advantage of all these opportunities. The ticket was neither expensive nor inexpensive, I guess. Of course I had to pay a bit more because I want to be right up front near the stage. I don't think I will regret going, but I think I might have regretted not going. Life's too short (or so I keep telling myself).

Tonight, I'm going to another FREE live music gig at Pure Groove Records. An Australian band called Blackchords is playing in a small coffee-shop setting. It's moody, alt rock a la Chris Martin. Sounds good to me!

Also, I'm considering whether or not I ought to get a membership pass to the Prince Charles Cinema. Unfortunately, they only sell 12-month passes for 12 pounds, which isn't bad, but I'm only here for another 3 months. However, with a membership pass, weekday matinees downstairs (the downstairs theatres are more indie) are only 1.50. Which is awesome. I'll have to consider this...

Afrikaans, Stratford-upon-Avon

Thursday evening, my Black Culture class went to see a South African performace of "The Mysteries", which was originally performed in the Medieval period. It tells the stories of the Bible, both old and new testaments. This production, being South African, incorporated a lot of languages into the performance, including English, Latin, Afrikaans, and a South African tribal language, possibly Zulu. It was an incredible performance. I found myself wishing that more of the plays we went to were like this one; it was loud, fast, interesting and accessible. I thought it did an excellent job of humanizing elements of the Bible and of the stories so that people could understand the larger political and human issues behind biblical events.

Friday morning, I went on a trip with the Shakespeare class to Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. Having been there before, I found myself feeling really cynical about the kind of tourist industry that is built up there. I understand that, certainly, it is a great source of income for the community, but there were all sorts of restaurants with hokey names referring to Shakespeare. One of the "recommended activities" was to visit Shakespeare's birthplace, as well as the Nash House and Anne Hathaway's cottage. Having done these things before, I passed, and was glad of it.

I did, however, really enjoy seeing the plays which were included in our itenerary. Friday night, we saw Julius Caesar, which was great, except for the audio-visual elements. The director apparently wanted there to be screens which showed the throngs of Romans cheering. It just wasn't that successful in my opinion. This play always makes me a little uncomfortable, because it shows how easily public opinion can be swayed by rhetoric. The other productions I've seen of Julius Caesar did a better job, in my opinion, of conveying the political power of language.

Saturday, we saw a pretty terrible matinee performance of As You Like It. We had already seen this play at the Globe Theatre, and I wish I hadn't gone to this production in Stratford-upon-Avon, because the acting just wasn't great. It's not my favorite play to begin with, and I ended up leaving at the interval, instead opting for coffee and Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" in the blustery autumn weather. A good choice, I think. However, Saturday night we say a performance of The Winter's Tale, which is a more interesting play to begin with, and it was a much better performance. I'd seen another production before, and had written a mid-term paper on the nature of madness in The Winter's Tale and King Lear, so I was much more invested in the play. I really enjoyed the way the actor playing Leontes showed the ways in which he truly believed his wife was having an affair. It was great.

We got back to London Sunday afternoon, and I spent the evening doing laundry, catching up in some school work and just relaxing. Today is a similar kind of day; it's rainy (lovely) and a bit cold and I have to finish the first part of my art history journal, which focuses on Jan van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Portrait". After I jump in the shower, I'll probably swing down to Starbucks and set up shop.

It's amazing to me how much I like doing things by myself. All day Saturday, my flat-mates were traveling around in little groups. I wish I could enjoy that kind of social atmosphere, but I can't deal with it. We were discussing plans for fall break, and two of my flatmates were talking about traveling in Europe together. They were a little anxious about figuring out train schedules, hostels, different languages, etc. I was surprised, because I will probably end up traveling alone over fall break. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. I wonder what makes people so different when it comes to preferences for social interaction and that sort of thing...

Weekend in Bruges and Ghent!

This weekend, I went to Belgium with my art history class! We are studying Renaissance art in Florence and Flanders, so this trip was heavy on the history and art, luckily for me!

We left St. Pancras station at around 9am on Friday morning, getting into Bruges (after a train switch in Bruselles (sp?) at around 1pm. We went to a hostel called Le Passage at the west end of the city. Then, we went to a private viewing at the Groeninge Museum, where we got to look at lots of paintings up close and personal. An exhibit was in the works, so many of the paintings didn't have glass covering them, and one huge Jan van Eyck painting was leaning against the wall. I got to sit right next to it, which apparently is something few art historians ever get to do!

Saturday was a busy day. We started out with a walking tour of the city, including checking out the Markt and the Burg. A great fast food option in Bruges turned out to be fries (do NOT say "French fries"... locals are very touchy about French culture in Belgium...) For lunch, me and some friends checked out a fry stand, and I got mine with curry ketchup which was phenomenal. We sat in the Markt square and basked in the sunlight while eating fries. After lunch, we went to the Church of Our Lady to see Michaelangelo's "Bruges Madonna and Child" which is one of the few Michaelangelo sculptures outside of Italy. Then, we went to the Memling Museum which is housed in the old St. Jaan's Hospitaal. Forrest and I went to Bruges last summer, so a lot of this was redundant, but it was fun being with an art professor who knew a lot of information pertaining to what we were looking at.

Saturday night was a night I'm sure I'll never forget. It started out with me and a few girlfriends going to "BRAS", which is a bar that played terrible techno music. It was pretty quiet, though we witnessed a barfight and subsequent police intervention at the bar next door. Some other Grinnellians and Oberliners showed up at BRAS and they wanted to go to a club across town next to the Bauhaus Hotel. We all ended up going, and it was pretty dead when we got there. One of the girls proceeded to get really drunk and had to be taken care of. At this point, though, me being the ridiculous person I am, I had introduced myself to some 20-something Belgian locals, Janna, Christoph, Pieter and Andrew. When the rest of the Grinnellians and Oberliners left at around midnight, I decided to bite the bullet and stay, considering my new Belgian friends told me that clubs usually don't start getting busy until 1am.

I had THE BEST time. These Belgians were so incredibly nice to me. They spoke in English the whole time for my benefit, and they bought me drinks. It was super cool to see nightlife from the perspective of a local. The music got progressively better and the club definitely filled up. I had a great time dancing and hanging out and didn't end up leaving the club 'til (Mom, skip this part) 4:30am! Bruges is a very safe and well-lit city, so I decided to walk back to the hostel alone. I definitely felt safe, and communing with the belfry tower in Markt square was pretty cool.

So, after 3 hours of sleep I got up and went with the group to Ghent, or "hent" as the locals pronounce it. The train ride was about half an hour, and once we got to Ghent we did a little sightseeing, grabbed some lunch (fries again!) and then went to St. Bavo's Cathedral to see Jan van Eyck's "Ghent Altarpiece", which was seriously incredible. Then we got on the train back to London!

I DID take pictures like my mom told me to, but my camera's low on battery right now and it takes a while to charge, so if you want to see pictures, try checking Facebook in a day or two.

an okay play, paper, mOdErN ArT, brits, pizza

Busy week!

Tuesday night I went to see "The Pitman Painters", a play based on a true story, in which miners enroll in an art course and begin painting pictures, only to confront the issues of class that lie embedded in the institution of ART. I enjoyed the play: it was mercifully short and the dialogue was witty. All in all a lovely performance.

Most of my week was consumed with writing my first PAPER for my four-credit black culture course. To give you an idea, I titled it: "The Black Death: Racial Politics of Disease". Basically, I wanted to explore the ways in which racism is perpetuated within the context of modern medicine. This was prompted by a classroom discussion in which myself and an Oberlin student argued about blood donation. In the U.S. (not sure about the U.K.), men who have sex with men aren't allowed to donate blood, and neither are people from Africa or people who have had sex with someone from Africa. I understand that statistically it makes sense, especially in the context of HIV/AIDS, but they check all the blood anyway before it gets used in transfusions. I'll give you a verbatim quote from this particular discussion, courtesy of this Oberlin ignoramus: "Whose blood would you want, a white person's or a black person's?" What?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?! I seriously couldn't believe my ears. Fortunately, another professor told me today that my academic advisor (and the professor of this black culture course) commented on the debate and basically said that I did a good job using facts and information, whereas this Oberlin dude just got really emotional. I think he fell for the trap I set when I said, "Statistics aren't real: they're completely fabricated." Ha.

Anywho, I also visited the Tate Modern this week! SUUUUPER cool stuff in there. I really enjoyed the Picasso's, and I saw Monet's "Waterlillies" and a Rothko. It's kind of a haul to get there, but I'm sure I'll be going back a few more times this semester. Last night, I went out on the town with some true-blue Brits I met a couple weekends ago. They're older and they all have jobs and stuff, but it was cool to hang out with authentic brits. We went to a dance club called "The Roxy", which played great music. Of course, this was a Wednesday night, so I felt it a little this morning, having to be in class at 8:45am... oh well. You're only young once!

Today was packed full of classes, but my friend Claire (from Oberlin) and I went to get PIZZA after history class. We went to a place called Pizza Express, and it was surprisingly upscale. We got a pizza with spinach, goat cheese, onions and balsamic vinegar and another with chicken, jalapeno and red peppers and chili oil. SO good. We cut the two pizzas in half and each had half of each variety. We were starving and definitely ate ALL the pizza.

Tomorrow, it's off to BRUGES for the weekend for my Renaissance art course. I feel kind of pretentious because I've been to Bruges already, so I won't be getting the look of wide-eyed wonder that I'm sure most everyone else will. It's a lovely city, though, and I'm looking forward to checking out all the amazing art!

A better play, Oxford, Oxford Circus, dancing at discos

The second half of this past week was much better than the first half. Wednesday night, we saw Troilus and Cressida at the Globe, and we got to stand in the pit. Three hours is a long time to be standing, and it was pretty cold right under the open roof, but I thought it was great. I was trying to imagine myself as a lowly peasant in Elizabethan England, and how this would have been the primary source of entertainment. Shakespeare's plays are so amazing to see being performed. I remember being in high school and having to read the plays, and while I enjoyed them because I'm a huge nerd, other students didn't really like them. There's something about hearing the lines being spoken in an active context that just makes the plays that much more interesting.

Thursday was my busy day of classes, and Friday I went on a field trip with the neuroscience class (I'm not actually IN the neuroscience class, I just wanted to come along for the ride) to OXFORD! What an amazing town. The whole place is built upon the premise of academic pursuits, which sounds perfect to someone like me. We went on a 2 hour walking tour of the city, and our tour guide was affiliated with one of the colleges of Oxford University, so she new a lot about the academic side of the city. We got to go into all these college quads and dining halls... it was spectacular. I certainly wouldn't mind doing some post-graduate study or even teaching at Oxford, and the tour guide said that a lot of Americans come to Oxford for those things. While in Oxford, I lunched at a pub called The Eagle and Child, where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to drink and discuss their work. They left notes written on the wall in the Rabbit Room, clearly in various states of intoxication. I definitely got a sense of history just sitting there. It was so atmospheric in that pub, and thankfully there weren't too many tourists. I had a steak and ale pie and it was incredible. Also in Oxford, I explored Blackwell's, which is a book shop that caters mostly to students. Their underground room is apparently the largest room of books for sale in the UK! There were so many sections... History, Biology, Metaphysics. Super cool.

Saturday I mostly bummed around and tried to start this paper for my Black Atlantic class. Midway through I decided to hit up the shopping district in Oxford Circus. It WAS A CIRCUS. Saturday is apparently a big shopping day here, and there were a surprising number of tourists for it being so late in September. I checked out the major stores, H&M and Urban Outfitters, but didn't find anything phenomenal. I then ducked into a little hole-in-the-wall store and found the COOLEST faux-leather jacket. It was pretty inexpensive, and most Londoners have some variation of this jacket, so I felt justified. Don't want to look like a turista, right?

Saturday night I went out with some Oberlin friends. My flat-mates had a "cocktail party" here, but I had already made plans. We met up for a drink at the Oberlin flat and went to this bar/club called The Den in SoHo. There was a pretty ridiculous cover-charge, but once we got in we stayed until around 2am, so I think it was worth it. I still have yet to figure out the club scene, because it seems like most places I go on the weekend I'm the youngest person there. Not that these clubs are packed with old guys, just that they're all late-twenties, early-thirties. Where are all the students?! It was a fun night, though. Pretty low-key, except for the married guy that kept pestering me and my friends!

Tomorrow I don't have class, so I'm thinking of making a day of museums and hitting up the Tate Modern, which I haven't been to yet! Gotta love the free admission to all these amazing museums!

The worst play, rain, vegan buffet, blue boots.

I should preface this post by letting you know that all plays/field trips I write about are FREE (or rather, are included in the tuition costs for the semester). I'm so thankful to be getting all these opportunities to do things without spending a fortune!

Monday night, I went to the Royal National Theatre for a performance of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children". I can confidently say that this was the worst production of any play I've ever been to. I left during intermission - something I've never done before. I love art and am genuinely interested in seeing art performed, even if I'm not in love with it. I seriously couldn't stomach this performance. The play is set in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), though Brecht was writing in the 1930s. This play is strongly anti-war and anti-fascism, which I appreciated, but a central element of the play really bothered me. Brecht is considered to be an innovator of theatre because of his development of "Verfremdungseffekt", literally "alientation" or "distancing effect". As a result, the audience is not supposed to identify with any of the characters, and this particular post-modern production made sure the audience was fully aware, the entire time, that they were watching a play. Mother Courage is a nasty character who benefits from the war and says things like, "There's no point in keeping one's principles during war." Ultimately, all her three children die as a result of the war, so we're supposed to feel sorry for her on some level, but she was a nasty character. I'm sure I might have appreciated this production more had I read the play first, but going into it blind was terrible.

On Tuesday, I had my first experience with London rain! It rained ALL day, and at times it was coming down really hard. I noticed that it is harder to get around when it rains. I never noticed how uneven the sidewalks and streets are here, but the water tends to pool in these deep and wide puddles, causing major pedestrian traffic flow issues. After class, I decided that since I hadn't eaten much all day, that I'd try the vegan buffet that's right near my flat on Euston Road. I'm not a vegan, and although I'm not a vegetarian anymore, I can definitely appreciate the food. It was SUPER delicious and very inexpensive for an all-you-can-eat place, although I was a little disappointed that none of the dishes nor the twenty-odd dishes of sauces were labeled. Oh well, it was definitely a culinary adventure.

Today, I woke up late and, since I don't have class, decided to procrastinate doing my homework and instead Googled the best thrift stores in London. The one I chose to visit is called the Three Pound Shop over in Notting Hill. Once I got myself there, I spent a good hour and a half digging through huge bins of clothes, books, troll dolls, etc. Even better than advertised, all clothes and shoes only cost 2 pounds, so I ended up leaving with a cute, vintage tee-shirt and a pair of the most amazing, buttery blue leather knee-high boots I've ever seen. The inside label says they were handmade in Italy. Even better, they're completely broken in and in great condition! When they were new, these shoes probably cost $200 or $300, and I got them for about $4. I LOVE thrift stores!

Tonight, I'm going to see Troilus and Cressida at the Globe, which I think will be a better experience than Monday's theatre-going disappointment!

Southwark, Tower, Parliament, Borough Market

Yikes! Sorry for the hiatus. I think it's safe to assume that if there is a long period of time in which I don't write, I'm very busy. Such was the case this past week.

This weekend involved very early day trips around London. Friday morning I woke up at around 7am and went down to the Thames to meet my history class for a morning walking tour of Southwark, the area on the south side of the river where a lot of the theatres (including the Globe) are located. The most summary thing I can tell you about Southwark is that it was, and in some ways continues to be, the "bohemian" part of London; back in the day, the brothels and theatres set up shop there, and there seemed to be a kind of coexistence between the government proper on the north side of the river and the artists/vagabonds that ran things on the south side.

After lunch in a pub called The Old King's Head, we walked over the bridge to the Tower of London. Originally, it was a palace called Whitehall. Henry VIII relocated there from Westminster Palace. It's said to be one of the most secure palaces. In the fortress, I saw the chapel, where Anne Boleyn is buried, as well as an exhibit called "Dressed to Kill", which displayed a huge collection of Henry VIII's armor. It was funny to see his progression from fat to fatter as the years went on. Of course, I saw the crown jewels. They were... sparkly. One of the scepters has set in it the largest diamond in the world. I believe it's called the First Star of Africa. Seriously, it was the size of an egg. I suppose what I took away from this experience is just the level of tradition inherent in the British government. I was trying to imagine Obama (or any U.S. president for that matter) being coronated. There is so much symbolism. For example, the display showed film footage of Elizabeth II being coronated in the 1950s, and it's so interesting to listen to what all these people are saying to her as they're handing her orbs and scepters and mantles and swords... "Protect the Empire"... it was kind of a trip.

Saturday was another early start. We all met at Parliament to go on a walking tour. Very informative and very interesting. I saw the chamber of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and again thought it was telling that the tour guide commanded us "not to sit down" in either chamber. As we are not elected officials, it would not do for us to sit in their places. I did find it interesting that the term "lobby" developed here: any British citizen can walk into the lobby of Parliament and request, in writing, for their representative in Parliament to speak to them about any matter. If that MP is in the building, he or she must come to the lobby and speak to their constituent. Imagine trying to do that in Washington!

After the tour ended, I headed south of the river again to explore the Borough Market. This market is open Thursday through Saturday and features miles of food, clothing and knickknack vendors. I was hungry, so decided to sample some British fare. I purchased a pork pie, and quickly realized my mistake. Imagine a cold hunk of porkchop wrapped in a sticky puff pastry. After checking out some of the free samples (these included sheep's milk cheese, pate, garlic pesto, white and black truffle oil, and a lot of Spanish chorizo), I stumbled upon a kangaroo and ostrich burger stand. Having tried a bite of a friend's ostrich burger once before, I decided upon the kangaroo burger, slathered with homemade mustard and other trimmings. It was really delicious, although one of my vegetarian flatmates took offense when I told her, because apparently kangaroos are really intelligent animals. I told her everyone should try everything once. She disagreed.

Plays, Classes, Pub Crawl, New Friends, ART

Second week of classes and things are already starting to heat up! Yesterday I handed in my first written assignment (alright, so it was only one page long..) for my black culture course. I wrote it on the shift from race-consciousness to class-consciousness in 18th century Britain. As it was so short, I didn't have time to delve into the topic, but basically it interested me that working class white London actually supported runaway slaves instead of conforming to the aristocratic slaveholders' ideas and practices.

Monday night I went to see a play called "Arcadia", which was written by Tom Stoppard and is about the events that unfold in the same house, but at different times. One story is set in the 1800s and the other is set in 2009. Basically, it was a comment/satire on academia and on the nature of knowledge. Very funny, but it went on a bit too long for my tastes. Tonight, I'm going to see Shakespeare's "As You Like It" at the Globe Theatre!

So, after a long day of classes yesterday, me and some cool girls from Oberlin decided to get dinner and go out for drinks, as none of us have class on Wednesday. We went to this cool pub and I ordered British beef lasagne which was SO good, and went perfectly with my pint of Fuller's, which is a London ale that's hand-pumped. After dinner, we strolled down the street to "The College Arms", a student-y bar, where I tried Aspall's cider. So good! It was nice to hang out with some different people, and these girls are definitely a lot more my type than some of the other people on the program. It reminded me of hanging out with friends from Grinnell.

Today, I woke up and did the usual roll-out-of-bed-and-down-the-street-to-Starbucks routine, read some magazines and then decided to head to the National Gallery to get a start on my Renaissance art journal. For the class, 50% of our grade is determined by a journal we craft that is based on one piece of art from the period. I chose "The Arnolfini Portrait" by Jan van Eyck, so I spent the afternoon looking terribly like an art student, taking notes and looking at the painting. Afterwards, I went and saw Van Gogh's "Sunflowers", and "A Wheatfield, with Cypresses", as well as some Seurat and Monet. Lovely, lovely afternoon. Afterwards, I people-watched for a bit in (where else?) Trafalgar Square.

Greenwich, Burritos/Ecuatorianas/Mexicanos, Mayhem

Yesterday we were up quite early for a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich. The driver, though not officially a tour guide, knew a lot about the river and the ways in which it has defined London over the centuries. We saw all the bridges, the old wharf warehouses, and a boat full of drunk footballers... all before 10am!

At Greenwich, I went with group of Grinnellians that I hadn't spent much time with to the Greenwich Market. So cool! It had a bazaar-type feel, with all sorts of ethnic food, as well as little street vendors selling handmade goods, etc, etc. For lunch, I befriended a woman from Ecuador and a man from Mexico working at a burrito stall. I got to speak to them in Spanish, which was a lot of fun, and they made me the most outrageous burrito I've ever had. Seriously.

We wandered around the market for about an hour, during which I also discovered a guy selling books he wrote telling the history of ancient Rome, only the protagonists were CATS! The titles included: "The Adventures of Spartipuss," "Catligula," etc. So cute. I bought a little canvas tote bag from him that features an interpretation of his own cat, Bleep.

Determined to actually see some things of historical relevance, we went to the National Maritime Museum, which is also free to get into. They had some pretty interesting exhibits, but by FAR the coolest item they had was Admiral Nelson's coat that he wore during the Battle of Trafalgar, and it actually has the bullet hole clearly visible in the jacket from the bullet that killed him. After the museum, we wandered up to the observatory in search of the prime meridian. Pretty anti-climactic, considering it's pretty much just a gilded gold line in the ground, but it was cool to see.

After the boat ride back, we hung around the flat for a bit before my flat-mates decided to go on a quest for Buckfast, a fortified, caffinated WINE. Ewww! However, we are all in agreement that we should try it. What we learned: 1. Buckfast is nowhere to be found in London, apparently it's more frequently found in northern England and Ireland. 2. When Buckfast is mentioned to the locals, they cringe and ask why we're looking for "that rubbish". After the failed quest, everyone came back here and we had a little party. We invited the other Grinnell students and some Oberlin kids and hung around, listened to music and bonded. At around 11:30, we decided to set out in search of a disco right by our flat, called the Social. We found it alright, and the place was SO much fun. The music was great and there weren't too many people, and we danced until the place closed at around 1am. Suffice to say, we'll definitely be going back there again!

Classes, Cheese Balls, War Horse, Trafalgar, Street Food

It's amazing how much happens around here in just two days. Yesterday, (Thursday) I had my three classes, but my art and history courses took place outside the classroom. That seems like it's generally going to be the schedule, at least for those two courses. For the art class, we went to the National Gallery where we looked at some Flemish and Italian altarpieces from the Renaissance. In passing, we saw the Arnolfini portrait, that really famous painting of the solemn man and his pregnant wife. That was pretty cool. Then, we went on our first walk for the History of London class. We started right near the Tower of London, and we saw part of the original Roman wall. London was founded in about 50 A.D. by the Romans, so we're starting that far back. We looked at all sorts of historical markers, plaques and things from Roman times, and it was sort of fun wandering through London with a very knowledgable professor. It's very true that you can't walk down any street in London without walking through centuries of history!

After class, some friends and I went out for dinner before a play. We found this random Dutch pancake house that serves these GIANT pancakes. I opted for fried cheese balls that came with the most outrageous mustard ever. And of course, a pint of Heineken. After dinner we went to the New London Theatre to see a performance of "War Horse", which is adapted from a book that describes the first world war through the eyes of a horse. It was unbelieveable! They used these complicated puppets for horses and animals, and the effect was incredible. Here's the web address of a YouTube trailer if you're curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-bni4QqSv4

Today, I didn't have any classes, so I woke up late, tottled on down to Starbucks for the usual, then decided I wanted to hang out more in Trafalgar Square, so I went by myself. They're having some sort of festival there this weekend, so it was crowded and there were these little tents everywhere. After a bit, I walked down Queen's Way toward Buckingham Palace, then back through The Green Park, which was lovely. It was nice to see all the Londoners hanging out in the park, just enjoying the greenery. On the final stretch home, tummy-a-rumbling, I decided to stop in at one of the sketchy little buffet places on Euston Road. For "take-away", the price was only 4 pounds, so I tried some crispy lamb, some teriyaki chicken, some vegetable noodles, and some fried squid. Very tasty! Tonight's looking pretty low-key; we have to be up early tomorrow because the group is going via ferry to Greenwich for a little day trip. Should be fun!

In general, I feel like I'm adjusting pretty well to "city life". I don't feel quite as tired at the end of the day, anymore. I'm missing my friends quite a bit, but I'm enjoying being in a big city. I'm beginning to realize just how capable I am of getting around (unlike some of the other students on the trip). It's actually been a little difficult having to live with other American students, just because I am such an independent spirit and enjoy exploring on my own. How do you tell someone nicely that you'd rather they not come with you somewhere? It sounds kind of harsh, but I'm constantly worried that this experience is going to be more like extended summer camp. I try to be in the flat as little as possible, but sometimes it seems like that's all my fellow students want to do... just "hang out" at home. No thanks!

Errands, .75p doughnuts

No classes today, which meant me waking up at noon and rolling out of bed and down the street to $tarbuck$ for a vanilla latte (surprisingly-not-too-expensive) and a little homework. After the noon-time rush, I headed down to the teaching site to get tickets for a few upcoming plays, to get a course book for my History of London class, and to go to the post office.

On the way home, I stopped at a street vendor to look for a messenger bag (I have a couple really heavy books) and ended up getting a cute, grey canvas bag for 10 pounds. Not bad. Also, Sainsbury's tempted me as I was on the last block home. They have these raspberry jam- and custard-filled doughnuts there for the shockingly low price of .75pence for 5 doughnuts. Suffice to say, I picked up a box. YUM.

First Day of Classes, More Wagamama

Today was jam-packed! My schedule is such that I have all three of my classes on Tuesday's and Thursday's, but no classes on Monday's and Wednesday's! So today I had "The Black Atlantic" from 8:45-10am, "The Early Renaissance in Florence and Flanders" from 1:45-3pm, and "History of London" from 4:30-6pm. Very busy, but also not terribly exciting considering that the first day of class usually just deals with logistics, anyway.

In between my first two classes, I hopped over to Wagamama's for NOODLES ROUND II: this time I tried the chicken ramen, which was, again, outrageously good. I'm quite tired after running around and being in class all day. My flat-mates and I are having a movie night tonight! And tomorrow is going to involve laundry and homework. It feels good to be back into the swing of some kind of schedule, though. I was beginning to feel like I was in limbo; being in a new city but not really having a concrete routine.

Laziness, Homework, Omelette

Today is the Bank Holiday here in the UK, so not much is happening. Similarly, I had a spectacularly lazy day, which I'm going to argue is justified, considering that classes start tomorrow (bright and early for me).

I rolled out of bed at 11:30 this morning, then proceeded to shower and get ready, then grabbed my books and slouched down to the Starbucks on the corner for coffee and some homework that's been hanging over my head since I received the assignment in July. Oops. I hung out there for about two and a half hours, reading Castle Rackrent and a history of Ireland. This assigment isn't actually due to be completed until October, but both books need to be read before the first day of class for phase II, so I thought I'd get a start on it before my phase I classes begin tomorrow.

Slouched home, made an omelette with red peppers, onions and cheddar cheese. It wasn't bad. Fun fact: The Brits (and most Europeans) don't refrigerate their eggs! So, the rest of the day looks comparably lazy. We have a nice TV in the flat that gets a really bad American movie channel, so that's looking like the plan.

Tourist Tour of London, Wagamama, Getting Lost in Zone 3

Today began early, again. We were up and out by 9am this morning to get to the teaching site in order to catch our tour bus. We were accompanied by an effervescent Cheapside native who acted as our guide, and it was truly an experience. As is to be expected, the tour packed a lot of information into not a lot of time, and I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. London is a BIG city with a LONG history, and it's hard to retain all the little details. One of my favorite pit stops of the day was St. Paul's Cathedral, and because it was Sunday morning, we got to hear the bells going. It was very calming. They certainly don't do churches in America like they do here. The tour basically went ALL around central London, and as I write this I'm finding it hard to summarize the whole tour. Lots of information and good tips on where to go and what to see, so I suppose I'll be re-visiting a lot of the sites again this semester.

Lunch. Lunch was divine today. The tour guide recommended a small chain of restaurants called Wagamama... basically an inexpensive, quick, cafeteria-seating style Asian noodle place. After the tour, myself and five other Grinnellians found one. I ordered the seafood ramen, and with a little soy sauce, I was in heaven. The ramen comes in these giant bowls with lots of perfectly cooked noodles, delicious broth and lots of yummy fish, prawns, and calamari. I have a feeling that I'll be there quite a bit this semester, especially on cold, rainy days. It's like the perfect comfort food!

After lunch, we headed back to our flat to recuperate for a couple of hours before leaving for our program advisor's house. She hosted a garden party at her house in Chiswick this afternoon. My flat-mates and I managed to get to the Gunnersbury tube stop in zone 3 easily enough, but we were working with pretty awful directions, and basically we wandered around suburban London for an hour and a half before we finally found the place. Suburban London reminds me a lot of someplace like Ridgefield, CT... nice shops, tree-lined street, relatively non-descript. We only stayed at the party for about half an hour, and though I previously complained about how much energy it takes to get around in London, I was glad to be weaving my way through tube stations and dodging people in central London once we got back. Tomorrow, I'm most likely going to the Notting Hill Carnival with some friends, and then classes start on Tuesday. Very excited for that. Mostly because I'm a nerd.

JMW Turner, Steak

Today, I was off to a late start. I woke up around noon, rolled out of bed, slugged around for a bit, then finally decided I wanted to see Turner's paintings at the Tate Britain. They have the largest Turner collection (I think) in the world, and, being a big fan, I knew I had to go. So, I grabbed Joey and Mali and we set out for the museum.

First, though, there had to be coffee. We stopped at the Starbucks next to our flat and I discovered a telling detail... at Starbucks in the UK, they have mugs that you can use if you choose to have your drink in the shop. I've NEVER seen that in Starbucks in the US... you only have the option of the "to-go" cup. Interesting...

Once at the Tate, we headed straight for the Turner galleries. They were unbelievable. In the summer of 2008, I saw an exhibition of Turner paintings at the Met in NYC, and I fell in love there, so it was pretty amazing to see even MORE of his work. We also went through some of the British historical paintings, and we saw some really awesome paintings, which I included in this post.

At around 4, we got tired and started for home. Once back in our flat, I decided that tonight was definitely a steak night. Using what little implements were included with the flat, I managed to blanche some fresh broccoli and fry up 5 or 6 thinly sliced steaks. Surprisingly, the meal wasn't too shabby. Plus, I had a glass of my new favorite beer, Stella Artois. Tonight, we've committed to hitting up a pub or two, and we're going to investigate a "disco" to see if we can't dance a little.

Orientation, Indian Food, Proms

Today was a very busy day. It began with me waking up at 6am, getting ready, laying in bed for a while, then heading down to Great Russell Street to go to our mandatory orientation. LOTS of information, but I found out that I can go to ALL of the plays and ALL of the field trips for FREE, regardless of if I'm enrolled in the course or not. Wooo! Gotta love Grinnell and its endowment...the Oberlin kids have to pay for tickets and admission and all that.

We had an hour break for lunch, and instead of following the pack to Pret A Manger, Joey, Mali and I broke off to find some Indian food. We found a little place near the FSU study centre and I ordered my first chicken pakora, which was OUTRAGEOUSLY good, and only cost three pounds.

After orientation, we rambled back to the flat to grab a quick bite to eat before going (via tube) to the Royal Albert Hall to see the annual BBC Proms concert. It's called proms because people can buy five pound tickets and stand ("promenade") at the front pit. We had seats, and we enjoyed Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky (sp?) played by a chamber orchestra. It was really a lot of fun, but I'm beginning to realize how energy-draining it is to LIVE everyday in a big city. Just getting around takes a lot of effort, or at least more than getting in your car and driving right where you need to go.

So, tomorrow is our free day. I'm thinking I'll light out for the territories (i.e. go out on my own) and check out either the Tate or the Tate Modern, again, both of which are free to the public. Solid.

British Museum, Fish & Chips, Tottenham Court Road

Today began with me, Malory and Mali waking up at the stroke of noon. I thought I was going to get away with no jet-lag, but alas, it finally caught up with me. After a quick scramble to get ready, we set out for the British Museum, which is literally a block away from the FSU Study Centre. We began by scoping out the Ancient Greece galleries, and I absolutely loved the Parthenon Gallery. It was a quick trip this time, but I'm sure I will be at the museum a lot this semester.

Ever the individualist, I decided to break off from my flat-mates to explore the city by myself. At around 14:30 (that's 2:30pm for all you yanks...) my stomach started rumbling, and, finding myself in London, I decided to splurge and treat myself to fish and chips. I found a little hole in the wall place called Munchkins on Great Russell Street and tucked into my golden, fried fish. Noticing the vinegar bottle on the table, I resisted dousing everything in ketchup (catsup?) and opted for a true Brit meal. The vinegar was a great choice.

After a late lunch, I wandered up Tottenham Court Road, which connects Great Russell Street and Euston Road (Great Portland Street is right off Euston Road). It was a little touristy, but not too bad. I scoped out a few places I want to eat at this semester, including an Indian place and a vegetarian buffet. The lunch specials are only 3 or 4 quid (pounds)! Before heading for home, I stopped at Sainsbury's and picked up some groceries, including British "fry steaks" and a big bottle of Stella Artois. All in all, a pretty sweet day.

Phone, Welcome Tea

Second update of the day...

First and foremost, I got a cheap mobile phone like my flat-mates. I caved, but it's okay because I am going to need to be in touch with them, and god-forbid I get lost or need to call someone. (For Mom and Dad, you can reach me ONLY in a dire situation at 011.44.750.311.2733 and that includes country and city code, like you should only have to dial that number). Anyone in the US can reach me here, but I also have skype (username is torrey.macgregor) and Facebook is usually a good option.

Anyway, today me and my flat-mates went to our "Welcome Tea" with all the professors and the Oberlin kids. It was really good to meet everyone, although it was definitely a bit awkward at first. I got to see my advisor, Professor Barlow, though! Tomorrow we have a day off, so my flat-mates and I are heading to the British Museum (which I found out has FREE admission) for a day of wandering, etc. We've also decided we need to have "our favorite pub", so we're going to start scouting tonight, looking at pubs in our immediate neighborhood. Tonight, we are tentatively checking out The Green Man, which is right across the street from the Great Portland Street tube stop.

Day 1, Part 1

Good morning! Well, not so much for Malory (my roomate) who has come down with a mysterious case of nausea/the barfs. She's been sick all morning, and though she doesn't feel particularly ill, we've sent out Joey and Mali to get some Pepto Bismol for her at the local Sainsbury's.

This morning, I woke up before 8am and realized that the "coffee mate" I bought yesterday was not actually coffee, but that nasty powdered creamer stuff. Thus, I ventured out in the early morning to afore-mentioned Sainsbury's to get real coffee. The morning has been spent reading the September issue of Vogue and various London travel guides. In the flat, there's a Lonely Planet guide, as well as one on day trips from London, which will be useful. Mostly, I'm just trying to acclimate and get a feel for the city from the books, so that I can be a little more informed when I'm wandering around.

This afternoon, the six of us are going to our "welcome tea" at the FSU teaching site in Bloomsbury, right next to the British museum. We'll meet up with our other Grinnell-in-Londoners and meet the Oberlin kids, as well as our professors. Exciting! Hopefully I will be able to pick up all the books I ordered for my classes, too. That's all for now.

Also, I plan to be online (skype, facebook chat) tonight. I probably will be most nights, as I am 5 or 6 hours ahead of my bebes in the States.

My Flat. Not Apartment, Flat.

My flat is awesome. Like, holy cow. Not only is it in one of the nicest parts of London, but it has that antiquated feel that I love so much. I am running on no sleep in at least 24 hours at this point, but I've already managed to take a quick stroll around the neighborhood and it is really cool-looking. I took a few hare-brained photos that I will attempt to post here, but suffice to say it's a cool neighborhood. There's a Sainsbury's market where I bought some bread, pastrami (that I thought was prosciutto...oh well), brie cheese, coffee!!! and a bottle of rose wine. I felt so sneaky checking out with a bottle of wine, but the drinking age IS only 18, remember. I love London already.

My flat-mates are lovely. The last one, Mali, just arrived and is scrubbing the airport off herself in the shower (the first thing I did when I got inside the flat), and the rest of them (Malory, Kayla, Sam and Joey) are out hunting for cheap mobile phones. I declined, mostly because I'm tired and kind of want to hang out alone, but also because I'm not sure I'm going to waste money on a mobile phone. It doesn't seem worth it to me. I have SKYPE!

The journey from Heathrow Airport to Central London was QUITE the adventure. It took me like, an hour and a half by the time I had purchased my tickets, etc. Let's just say I plan on spending the majority of my time in Zones 1 and 2 this semester.

I'm overwhelmed with excitement, exhaustion, emotion... I'm SO happy to be here in this adorable little flat in this wonderful big city.