Camden Market

Saturdays are market days for us in flat 8, today we went to Camden Market. It is the punk market that has a lot of clothes and souvenirs. I don't like it because it is busy and chaotic, but they have good produce for cheap and that's why I went. I also found some pretty scarves and Ashley and I got yummy Thai food. My good deed of the day was helping Ashley find a styling black coat. But other than that it was cold and crowded. Plus, the Tube system is being renovated in preparation for the Olympics so on the weekend many of the lines are closed which makes the other lines crowded. All that to say, we spent 5 hours in crowds of people; bumping, shuffling, jostling... blah.

Westminster Abbey

We thought we were going to be late today for our fieldtrip to Westminster Abbey; and we were, but most of our group was even later. We went into Westminster as a group, but we didn't get a tour, so we walked around on our own. The cathedral was amazing, the architecture was beautiful and they had arches like I hadn't seen before. I want to find out what kind they are (I need Mrs. Sullivan). Unfortunatly, they wouldn't allow photography either, it is frustrating. I don't know how much more I can take. We saw where a lot of people are buired, like Isaac Newton, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles Darwin, Jane Austin, William Wilberforce, and others. It was neat, but I was disappointed about not being able to take pictures. It was cold and rainy today, so we were all chilly walking around and were glad to get back to our flat. Ashley and I went by the Fryer's Delight to get lunch; I got scampi and chips, delicious.

Italian Food

Our doorbell rang this morning right around the time we were waking up, as a side note, the doorbell is extremely loud and annoying. It was our new flatmate, Jennifer. She went to the inauguration of President Obama so she just arrived to join us in London. We had class in the morning then studied in the afternoon. Juan, our new flatmate Jennifer, Michelle, Alicia, Ashley, and Shannon. Kaelyn had made reservations for us at an Italian restaurant that they go to on Thursday nights, so almost our whole group, including our teachers, went there for dinner. It was fun. The place is owned by Italians and it was a cute place. They were friendly and the food was delicious, Courtney and I split a pizza. It was also fun to see a menu in Italian because it reminded me of Tazzaria. In the middle of our meal, the chefs and our server turned up the music and came out to dance with us. Then as we were leaving, they held the door for us and gave everyone a kiss as we went out. We had a great time and it was fun to enjoy a long meal together as a group. Afterwards, we went to the Hat and Ton and hung out some more.

The National Gallery

We got to go to the National Gallery today for our art class. This time we had more of an introduction and we all met at the gallery and got audio guides. We had a list of images that we had to find, but we got to wander around. There were some amazing paintings there, including pieces by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio, Monet, Seurat, Cezanne, Manet, and Van Gogh. Unfortunately, the Arnolfini Portrait by van Eyck was out of the gallery and we were disappointed. When our teacher told us it wasn’t going to be there, a moan ran through the room; Ashley said the reaction was like someone was killing puppies in from of us. The other thing I was upset about was that they wouldn’t let us take any pictures, even without a flash. That almost ruined the experience for me, I didn’t feel like I could appreciate things without being able to take pictures and take some of it with me. Anyway, here’s a picture of the outside of the building at least and a fountain in Trafalgar Square in front of the National Gallery.

Complicit

We saw our second play for our theatre class tonight at the Old Vic Theatre. It was a cool theatre, bigger than the Tricycle, but still not huge. The seating was terrible though; we had a bar in the middle of our view, the seats were uncomfortable and you couldn't lean back, and there was no leg room, which was especially problematic for Ashley, who is tall. The play was Complicit, it is set in post-911 America and is about a journalist who has to appear before a grand jury because of a book he wrote. It was interesting and raised some interesting questions that I'm still thinking about. I'm not sure yet what I thought about the play, but it was well done. Richard Dreyfuss is the journalist and played the part well. Plus, it was cool to see someone I recognized perform in the theatre. This is a picture of our flat arriving at the theatre.

Inauguration Day

Checking for mail.

In honor of Barack Obama's inauguration and to revel their new figure of Obama, Madame Tussauds wax museum allowed Americans in for free. So we headed down to check it out. It was fun to see and take pictures; nice to do for free, but not something we would have paid for. They have their figures out and about and you just walk around and take pictures with them, it was kind of weird. Teresa, Laura, me, Rebecca, Ashley, Kim, Orlando, Courtney, Michelle, and Charity. Charity and I meeting the queen. It was weird to be in London for Obama's inauguration. There is a lot of propaganda around London and I have been surprised how much they are interested in our president here. There are posters, newspaper articles, and people talking all over. I realize that our president affects them too, but it still seems weird the extent of their interest. Something the pastor of Hillsong said on Sunday stuck with me, “I want to get a megaphone out and say, ‘What happens if you discover that Barak Obama is not Jesus?’” I'm not trying to say anything against President Obama and I pray that he would have wisdom to lead our country during his presidency, but I think it is important to remember that he is still just one man and it is individuals that God is working through who are going to make a difference in the world. Watching the inauguration in our flat.

Hat and Tun

I visited my first English pub tonight, called the "Hat and Tun" (our street is Hatton Garden), to celebrate Kaelyn’s birthday. The whole London semester group was there and her flatmates had brought a chocolate cake. It was a fun and the pub was cozy. I had a cranberry orange rum drink and it was good. This is a pub that a number of the London students have already been to and know the bartender. We met an English guy named James and talked to him for awhile, he knew the bartender as well. It was fun to interact with an English person, and of course, he had a cute accent. Me, James, and Ashley.

The British Museum

We had our first museum field trip for our art tours class today. I was excited, but ended up being disappointed. Our teacher didn't really give us much information before we went, she basically just showed us slides of some of the stuff we would see, then told us she wanted us to look at the Egyptian section and the Parthenon exhibit and find something on our own that we liked. We didn't go as a group, so everyone was on their own to go and find the things. Most people headed over after school, so we were hungry already and didn't want to stay long. I was there longer than the group I went with, but even so it was only about 45 minutes to an hour. That said, the British Museum is amazing, our teacher said they have around 7 acres, so it is huge. The Egyptian stuff was interesting and they had a number of mummies, papyrus scrolls, and other artifacts. There were some little ceramic and bronze figures that were brightly colored and interesting. We also found a little section that talked about California, which was exciting. This two headed snake is from the Mexican exhibit, it is a turquoise mosaic. It was pretty crazy. This was a really interesting exhibit, it was called, "Enlightenment: Discovering the World in the Eighteenth Century". The gallery was set up like a library with walls of old books, and it smelled like old books too. Then they had sculptures from various times that they were exploring in the Eighteenth century and cases with items from the Eighteenth century. It had a really cool feel to it, like you were going back in time. We got to see the Rosetta Stone, it was bigger than I thought it would be and was cool to see something that is so important to our understanding of Ancient Egypt. This was my favorite part of the day, it is a Lykian tomb called the Nereid Monument, but they had it all put together and it was amazing to see it that way. It reinforces the contact ancient cultures had, it is heavily influenced by the Greeks, indeed I thought it was a Greek temple until I read the plaque. I had to sit down when I first walked into the room. The exhibit from the Parthenon was also interesting, I did not realize how much they had there, but it was a huge room with frieze on both sides. They also had sculpture from the east and west pediments, this picture is of the east pediment. I can't image what it would be like to see the whole temple put together, it must have been impressive indeed. That's just a brief glimpse of the riches of the British Museum, I'm defiantly planning to go back soon with Rick Steves.

Hillsong

“So we run; altogether with hearts aflame, our desire to bring You fame; our God, all glory to Your name, Jesus”

Saturday Tradition

The sun came out today!! It was the first time since Sunday that we have had sunshine, besides about 5 minutes yesterday. It was sunny almost all day, unfortunately by the time my flatmates got ready to go out, it was cloudy again. But we enjoyed the sun coming through the windows and when we took our walk it was warmer than it has been so it was a nice day. We took a walk similar to our walk last Saturday. We went by St. Paul's and there is an ATM machine there and I used an ATM machine for the first time. Then we continued across the London Bridge and went to the Borough Market. There were some fruits and veggies and half price bread again. We got split up at the fruit and vegetable stand and I thought I would have to go back home by myself because there are so many people at the market, finding anyone from my group would be next to impossible. That was a bit scary, but I wasn't too worried because I knew there was a Tube stop close by and once there, getting home would be easy. It is interesting how much more you are aware of your surroundings when you are in an unfamiliar place alone. However, about maybe 5 minutes later, I found Charity and Darrin by the bread and then Ashley and Juan showed up to; I was amazed and glad. Ashley, Juan, and I splurged and got desserts that were 4 pounds, pretty outrageously priced, but so delicious. We had been craving desserts, so it was worth it. We walked back to our flat and had some food, then we watched Liar, Liar, which gave us a good laugh.

Midnight Cravings

Our flatmates went to a party at a club tonight, so Ashley and I decided to find the 24 hour American diner to get milkshakes because we were craving them. We found the place, which Darrin had told us about, but the line was super long so we decided not to wait. However, we were still craving milkshakes and now we were craving hamburgers too, perhaps even more. Neither of us had eaten meat since Wednesday night's chicken soup and our diet hasn't had much other protein either. We went by the grocery store and got some minced meat (ground beef), then we came home and made hamburgers. I didn't even want to eat mine with a bun. They were so good! It really hit the spot. It was about 11:15pm, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Mmmm, protein and iron.

The Tower of London

We took a class field trip to the Tower of London today. It was interesting. The weather was overcast today, which added to the mood. For our class, we were broken into groups to research different parts of the tower and present a short presentation about it. My group's section was the Tower Green, which sounds pretty innocent, but it is the site of the scaffold, so it was actually pretty bloody. We had a little introduction, then acted out the execution of Margaret Pole, who refused to put her head on the block so the executioner chased her around and it took 11 blows to kill her. Then I gave my fun facts part of the presentation: After cutting off the head of the victim, the executioner would hold up the head to the crowd so the victim could see their body and the people who came to their execution because a person lives after being beheaded for about 8 seconds until lack of oxygen causes unconsciousness. They would display the heads on steaks on the Tower Bridge and bury the headless bodies at the Tower Green, under our feet. We got to see the changing of the guard because we happened to be there at the right time, that was fun. We had the rest of the presentations, then we split up and got to wander around as much as we wanted to. There were a number of people who actually lived in the tower and had nice accommodations. One of our teachers, Shane Moreman, and Juan trying on the soldiers' helmets. Overall, I thought it was interesting to be there and learn more about the place, but I wasn't impressed with the inside of the buildings. The stairs were the part that seemed the most authentic, they were narrow and dark in most places. Most of the rest of the buildings were like museums inside, which took away from the effect of the place. The ravens are one of the most famous parts of the Tower, the legend is that if the ravens leave, the kingdom and fortress would fall. So they always have at least 6 ravens there, if one for backup. A chapel inside the Tower. The scaffold where they cut off peoples' heads. Tower Bridge. The outside of the Tower of London.