What is London but...RAIN?

Ok. You caught me. I'm sitting here on my little piece of hallway with a scone. And raspberry jam. What can I say - the English are starting to rub off on me, I guess.

Alrighty - well - Wednesdays oh Wednesdays. They are spossed to be the 'hump' days or what not. For me it's just the 'helter-skelter' day. And maybe I shouldn't complain because my schedule is pretty open, and in a sense I'm not complaining. I just had a very rushed lunch today and I like to enjoy my food. :)

Anywho. Let me fill you in on the day. I had to give my presentation on Mr. John Martin the British Artist today. I was nervous, to say the least, because Art History is not something I'm an expert in. Well...also this morning I decided to mix it up a bit and take the bus instead of the tube. Guess what? I think I've solved my traveling problems around the city - almost.

We (Mandi, Kemper, and I) left at about 8:30 for our 9:30 class because we had to meet at the Tate Britain Museum. Well, it was raining right then and there this morning - so luckily I had my very versatile trench/raincoat thing. We did a good job gramner - but I don't know if the coat will survive all the wear and tear - I wear it all the time.

So we got to the stop and we had to walk a minute to get to the Pimlico station which was actually our meeting place - no big deal. Barnaby was there with the rest of the class and we stopped at a tea shop and some people got some coffee, because we had to wait for the museum to open at ten. (Lots of waiting - huh?) We then finally went in and started up with the presentations. They were all ten minutes long and there are fourteen of us - so it was a bit of a trying class. It's hard to listen to lectures for about three straight hours - especially if you're like me and all you want to do is sleep.

Haha. Lately I've been having trouble falling asleep - but once I do - I'm out. Anywho - here is a link to the painting that I did. I want you guys to see it. I think it's beautiful. It's all about the sublime or industrialization or whatever. Who knows but the artist? I just had a reaction to it, perhaps an inspiration and so here you go for yourself: (You make the call) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Martin_001.jpg.

After that we had to get back to the flat and then make lunch and then make it to Shakespeare before two. We got out of class about at 12:40. Well...that doesn't give you much time to get back and make lunch. I suppose you could grab lunch out - but it's expensive and plus - I had some money left from my stipend that I was saving to buy Hamlet this evening from the Globe. Ugh. So I ran to the flat basically and made a beigel cheese thing. I didn't have time for anything else - but I took a snack to Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is shakespeare. You simply do Shakespeare, I suppose. Anywho I asked Jean about my three page rough draft paper that's due next week and I think I'm good. I need to proofread of course, but I think it'll all be good. I'm hoping for an A in that class. Jean luckily let us out early and Kemper and I went to the library to print things. As in print out our boarding passes for this weekend. I'm going to Northern Ireland. I'm excited and nervous and forgetful - I need to remember to recharge my camera! :)

I'll be sure to take pictures. Anyways - after our library expedition I made a portobello mushroom sandwich and then Kemper and I got ready to go the Globe to see Henry IV part II. I will say - the performance was great - but...HOW in the world is standing for three hours in the rain a pleasant experience? Especially when you can see your breath in the wind. Sheesh. My rain jacket did it's job - but I didn't. I forgot my gloves and to layer and to wear fuzzy socks. What good am I? I'll know next time I suppose. It's supposed to rain at Stonehenge.

Did I mention that we're going to Stonehenge this Friday as a group day trip? I'm pretty excited about that one as well. AND tomorrow night is my wine tasting adventure. I'm pretty excited. Haha. Merlin's pants! All I can say is that I'm excited! :) I think we're going to try to go to this interesting sounding restaurant with an eclectic menu called Stockpot. I'll let you know how that one goes as well.

Alright. Well - Shakespeare's ending this evening made me a little sad. I just finished my scone and just now managed to warm my feet up...so I'm going to go make some real hot chocolate with milk and write a letter to a special someone. I miss you guys. Can't wait till Mom and Dad get here - 8 DAYS!!!

Cheers.

Official Parliament Tour

So. Today was not really that busy but at the same time it was OH SO BUSY! (Does that make any sense at all?) Meh. It does in my brain somewhere.

Let's see. Today I started off by getting up (on time thankfully - I stayed up late last night finishing Shakespeare) and I ate some lovely breakfast. Then I went out to get to class on time - it's Tuesday - so I had British Life and Culture.

This morning we were supposed to have a lecture on both the World Wars, and then we were to go off to explore the Imperial War Museum. However, the problem is that we also had a tour of parliament scheduled for this afternoon, and it was cutting our lunch break so short that lunch would be cease to exist.

So...we rearranged the schedule to meet at the war museum next week (so class won't start till ten YES) and then we had a discussion about a movie that we are supposed to watch this Thursday after our politics class. I don't remember the name of the movie we are going to watch but it has to do with the Royal Family and the rise of the New Labour party around 1997. It should be interesting.

In fact, the discussion made me all interested in the Royalty over here. Did you know that the royal family (to a certain extent) is on a list called 'the civil list' and therefore...the taxpayers support their lifestyles? Granted, the Queen for instance, is supposed to uphold her duties that she has a symbol of head of state and et cetera...but still. I do NOT think that would fly in the states.

Anywho - after class I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and I had carrots with it. Carrots are healthy somewhat right? Sheesh. :) After that Kemper and I walked to Parliament to get there on time for our tour at 2:00. We didn't really know where we were going - I mean, we knew where Parliament and Big Ben were, but we didn't know exactly where we needed to meet Dr. King, who had our tickets. However, we figured it out and got ready to go on a really informative tour of parliament.

I took some pictures in Westminster Hall the oldest remaining part of Parliament that has survived from when King Edward (Edward the Confessor) had the original building (parliament used to be the cite of a Royal Palace) built in the 1090s. Just saying - that is really really old. It was a neat part of the building - but it was really really cold. Our tour guide, who was a nice lady - said to imagine how cold it was in January. I can't!! Must be FREEZING!!!

Anywho - I had an interesting time. We went through the area where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet. If you didn't know, because I didn't, the House of Lords is an assembly made up of men who were born into a seat in the house of Parliament - or that's how it used to be. They used to have some five hundred of these 'hereditary' lords, some of them were even bishops and all that jazz - but now there are only 92 odd 'hereditary' ones. Apparently, according to Susie and our tour guide, the British people like tradition and so - they are having trouble with getting rid of things that may - well - be out of date so to speak.

The house of commons is made up of men and women who represent a certain percentage of the population. There are a bunch of those - I don't really remember the number she gave us. Anywho - the area where the Lords meet is so regal looking with gold and red everywhere and the place where the MPs meet is green and rather simple looking. Apparently the design is so simple because the Houses of Parliament suffered from bombings during World War II. In fact, Churchill made the people who were rebuilding it leave an archway in the building as it has a bit of damage from the bombings (needless to say it is now called the Churchill Arch.)

Anyway - that's a lot of perhaps boring information if you don't have the actual images in your head to go to. I was very impressed with the tour and the building itself. I was a little let down with the British's system of doing things. Let me explain - when there is a vote for something in the House of Commons there is a decision bell that they ring (it rings for eight minutes) to let the MPs decide if they want to vote yes or no. In stead of ballots or raising their hands, they literally have to divide into either the 'yes' or 'no' corridor.

Well, they then are marked down for how they voted - and that's put on public record. That's all great and sounds democratic. However, if they vote against their party - they get a nice little invitation from what are known as 'the whips.' Apparently these are people that note how MPs vote with the party guidelines and if they vote against something that a party advocates they then interrogate the MP about why they voted the way they did. Even the tour guide said herself, it's a form of party control. That had me a bit...well...apprehensive.

Anywho - The debates that go on either in the House of Lords or the House of Commons are open to the public, when Parliament is in session. I think Kemper and I are going to try to go watch one one day whilst we're here - seeing that the Parliament is usually in session from October until June. We're golden.

After our parliamentary tour Kemper and I walked about London on a search for comfortable shoes. We are going to Northern Ireland this weekend and I absolutely refused to let her go without any good shoes. So - we finally found some...after we went almost all the way to St. Paul's along the Thames and then through Covent Gardens and then through Soho. Soho - is a whole new world man. Just saying.

Anyway - we finally settled with a pair around seven. I came back to the flat and had a beer whilst Claire and I cooked chicken stir-fry. It was great. Really good food. (I was especially hungry for some reason - but I'm sure I'll have some cookies later. You know me.)

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation of my artist - "Mad Martin." I also have to go see a Shakespeare play - which I am rather excited about. It will be a long day - and it is almost promised to rain on us groundlings tomorrow evening during the course of the play. Thank goodness for the rain jacket. Miss you guys.

PS I GOT YOUR LETTER TODAY. Thanks so much for sending me snail mail. It makes my day when I get to hear from the people who truly care about me. Miss my little familial unit. :)

Cheers. (Enjoy the pictures!)

Learning to master the Library - Sort of?

Alright so today was a day full of scholarly learnings and lectures and such. At least, I think it was.

I woke up at eleven and made myself an egg and cheese beigel. Absolutely delicious! :) Then I went to Sainsburry's and made my weekly contribution and bought the laundry detergent. No worries - my flatmates and I can now resume with our laundry endeavors.

Then Kemper and I went to the...dun dun dun...LIBRARY! I'm telling you what that building has it out for me. No kidding. Today we made it into the building and past the weird turn-style things that aren't really turn-styles. It was all good. We went into the reading room on the fourth floor that has wi-fi. We started our projects.

I did research on my artist from Tate Britain Mr. John Martin. If you're interested in seeing my painting google, "The Day of His Wrath" and stare in amazement at the colours and size of the painting. You know, I didn't know this, but they called my artist, Mad Martin. Sheesh. Good job Becca pick the eccentric one. Of course.

Anywho I searched for a couple of books about him from the library and had the hardest time figuring out their coding system. Apparently (definitely not the dewey decimal system) the Senate House Library is one of the two libraries in the UK that uses the confusing classification system that they use. Sheesh. Anyway I eventually found my book and did my research. Then I wrote my rough draft for my Shakespeare paper which is due in a week and a half. No worries, no worries we're keeping up.

I know it sounds like I'm crazy early but I'm just trying to prepare for this weekend because I'll be gone in Northern Ireland the whole time. :)

Anywho so then Kemper and I went to the Union for a bit and tried to plan our trip to Scotland. We are having trouble booking a hostel...so we'll see if that works out. After that we went to her flat and I read the London Student (which is ULU's newspaper) and then we got ready to go listen to a free lecture. When we were walking back from St. Paul's yesterday we stopped in front of this building called Greshem College and we looked at their free lectures. Well they had one listed for today at six about the use of the media in the post-conflict Northern Ireland.

Well. We found the Museum of London (we walked of course) and we went to the lecture - it was given by a fulbright scholar, so a girl not much older than Kemper and I. We were a little disappointed in her presentation skills, but the question and answer section afterwards was well worth the visit to the lecture. People were definitely fired up about the issues she raised and I felt like a fly on the wall - so I just sat there and took it all in.

And I have this to say - I'll be really careful when I'm in Northern Ireland. I think 'post-conflict' is a misnomer. If 95% of the children are going to segregated schools - the conflict can't really be post. However, we're going to be safe, promise. Anyway I love learning about things and her presentation about the media's role in the 'post-conflict' era was interesting. She raised questions she didn't answer but hey man. I like to ponder. I should mention that she was from Cincinnati, so she was from the US. I felt that she wasn't prepared for the heated discussion following her scattered presentation.

Anywho. After that Kemper and I walked to our little cafe - Candid Cafe - that we found on Saturday. I ordered a mocha again and she ordered this lovely cherry cheesecake and shared a bit of it with me. It was heavenly and we definitely think that it was home-made. Anyway - we sat there on our sketchy comfy dorm like couch and worked through some of Shakespeare - Henry IV part II. This one isn't as hard to get through as the first Henry. I think I'm just getting back into the Shakespeare mode.

We stayed there for a while - till bout nine something, then we walked back in the weird rain. I was wearing my leather jacket so I was prepared. I wasn't warm or cold I was just right - although I was too lazy to take my hands out of my pockets. :)

Then - just a minute ago I made dinner - grilled cheese with carrots. A bit of a late dinner but I was a scholar today with our homework endeavors. I think I'll probably read a little more Shakespeare before bed. I'm feeling energetic.

Let's see - that's it no pictures for today. Although I'm now going to take this moment for a random PDA rant. Well, I guess it's not random it has a basis in the events of today. PDA as in personal display of affection, not your pocket pilot. Anywho, I've noticed that the people over here are very okay with being intimate in public. In the park in nice days couples are usually mounting each other and sticking their tongues down each other throats. I didn't know I was so uncomfortable with that but I guess I am.

I mean - most of these people look like they are in their late twenties and early thirties. What I want to know is - what else do they do? Why do they have all this free time to sit and 'snog' each other openly in parks and such and make me uncomfortable. Don't they have jobs - I mean London is not a cheap city. Sheesh! Get a room! (There was a couple making out in our cafe - we were not please. And thus the event aforementioned fueled this rant. The rant is now over.)

I miss you guys! Cheers!

From Brick Lane to St. Paul's Organ Recital

I really like music and a bargain. That's why it makes sense, in my mind, to combine a Brick Lane excursion day with a St. Paul's Organ Recital. I shall do my best to begin from the beginning.

Today I woke up around nine something and made a quick breakfast. I then went to Kemper's flat and we began our three mile journey to Brick Lane. Brick Lane, if you don't know, is supposed to be a famous street-market in London known for it's different, artistic items.

Brick Lane = major letdown. I can only say that I felt that I was definitely in the middle of a very sketchtastic area made up of eclectic garage sales. It was definitely uncomfortable after a while - although we did manage to find a couple of really neat covered parts of the market that had some neat vendors.

The best part of Brick Lane was the Beigel shop. I got the best lunch there. I ordered a fresh, hot, doughy, bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. OH MAN. It was amazing, so I got a half dozen beigels to take home with me for later in the week. I am thinking that my breakfasts will be completely complete this week. I am pretty excited - so I guess that means that our three mile lap was not a total loss. :) Leave it to me to find the food place. (well it was hard to miss - there was a line stringing outside the door)

Anywho - we returned to the flat and took a quick break before we got ready to get to the tube. Let me backtrack - today the weather in London was MISERABLE. I know all I do on this blog besides talk in circles is complain about the weather. But, today, London's Mother Nature gave me something particular and reasonable to complain about. There was rain all day long. Kemper noted in the beginning (the beginning being back in the beginning of September) that the rain here has a weird consistency a bit like snow.

Well. She's right. When it rains here is spits at you weirdly as if it's puffy, like snow, but then it lands on your nose and freezes the remaining warmth on your face off. It's a bit depressing really. No wonder all the English poets and writers are all depressed. They don't have much sunshine over here although apparently I have been fortunate enough to be enjoying an Indian Summer - according to Jean.

So anyway - we got to the tube and we sped over to St. Paul's stop to be at the Cathedral on time for the four forty-five organ recital. I was so excited. The recitals and Sunday masses (actually anything worship related I believe) is free. So, we went and listened to this amazing organist play the organ in St. Paul's. We were sitting directly under the huge rotunda that can be seen from many places in London's skyline. It was amazing.

I was a little concerned at the beginning because I thought the organist was accidentally messing up the music - but the Cathedral is just so big when he plays too loudly it just sounds a little like feedback because there is so much room for the sound waves to resonate against each other. At least, that's my theory but I'm no physicist.

Anywho - It was great, great, amazing, and lovely. I don't think the words I am using to describe the performance are doing it justice. Maybe actually - I spend more time trying to describe my own emotions and reactions. That's a bit difficult as well. Oh well - just know it was amazing and the Cathedral is more beautiful than you can imagine. Even more beautiful than you can imagine and makes you feel like you're a part of something greater than anything else. I don't know if it's so much as a religious reaction or if I'm just full of awe at the building itself. Who knows.

After that we walked back in the rain. I'm glad I brought a raincoat that's a bit longer than a normal jacket. I was pretty much protected against the weird rain snow. I made it back safely and made a great dinner which consisted of a portobello mushroom sandwich and carrots to eat. Doesn't that sound healthy? Don't worry I've finished a whole pack of oreos today - so it's nice to pretend like I've been healthy. I would have gone running - but there's the rain and I think we walked a sufficient amount today. Haha - can you tell I am regretting haven eaten THAT many cookies?

Oh well. Comfort food.

Then I talked to everybody - Mom, Dad, Jess, Gramner and Johnny.

Just one complaint - HEY FAMILIAL UNIT - please get your computer fixed. I miss you guys a lot. :) I'm glad that we got to talk for a little bit though.

I have a day of homework planned tomorrow and I might go to an interesting sounding free lecture about the troubles in Northern Ireland. I happen to be going to Northern Ireland this coming weekend with Kemper.

Well I miss you guys. I took a couple of pictures at Brick Lane (they don't allow photography in St. Paul's - not sure I'd take a picture anyway - I was too busy experiencing it.)

Cheers.

Making London our own...

Cheers from cold-weathered windy London!

Seriously - cheers- everyone says it all the time. Time for a blog update - my favourite part of the day most days. I'm sitting here in the hallway with my scone and raspberry jam (one morning I'll sacrifice and just eat yogurt) and I'm ready to write for you guys.

Let's start of with the weather. Definitely fall and it's only supposed to get worse from here. I wore my peacoat this evening because well, it was cold. Anywho I will go back to the beginning of the day. Did I mention that Kemper and I sat down and planned out our weekend on Thursday? I know it sounds great - but four day weekends can be a mess. You really don't know what to do with yourself if you don't tell yourself what to do - if that makes sense.

Anyway I slept late this morning (you're allowed to do that on Saturdays...) and I woke up around eleven thirty. I was the only one in the kitchen so I blasted the Beatles off of my computer and cleaned up the sink. (I'm pretty sure there was some awkward dancing and singing.) Then I made myself an egg sandwich and hopped on over to Kemper's flat. She and I had planned to go pick out our artists for our Art and Architecture presentation on Wednesday. We had to go to Tate Britain, one of the many London art museums. So - that was our cultural thing for the day. :)

Of course, we get out of the flat and realize we have no idea where we're going. Neither of us had a map either of course, so we called Mandi and asked for directions. We ended up walking along the Thames because from the directions she gave us we understood that the museum was near Parliament on the path on the North side. Well...today there just happened to be an international rowing regatta going on. So...we had to look at that.

There were definitely people from different countries, and uhm...different levels of skill all over the place. There was this one boat of elves. Not kidding. I took a picture you'll see what I mean. Anyway, we enjoyed watching the mess of boats glide down the river as we searched for our quarry. We finally found the museum and walked in.

We have to pick an artist from the time period spanning the 1500s to the 1900s. I picked John Martin, who is famous for his series of biblical paintings entitled "The Last Judgement" and so on. I meant to take a picture of his paintings. There are two in the museum and they are huge - which is partly why I picked him. I love huge paintings - mostly because I feel that I would never have the patience to paint something huge. Anyway, the colours in the paintings are AMAZING!

We hopped a ride back on the tube from Pimlico station (no idea how to pronounce that one). And when we got back we headed to the Senate House Library (UL's library) and all I can say is that that library has it out for me! Sheesh. I couldn't figure out how to access the online scholarly journals. It was so frustrating. I was going to get enough information on John Martin the English Painter today and then I wouldn't have to worry about that homework anymore. WELL...I will just go back on Monday afternoon and use a couple of the reference books. The library closes at five something on Saturdays.

After that escapade of frustrating unfruitful searching, we came back to the flat. I made some really good vegetable stir fry. I liked it a lot man. (Probably I was just hungry. I don't know. Haha.) Anywho, after that we both (Kemper and I) wanted to go chill at a nice little coffe cafe place. WELL...the thing about London is that things close down really early. Even their student union thing closes down at seven thirty. I wanted some coffee and she wanted some food - so...we had to consult google.

It was about six or something like that. We found this place online called Candid Cafe that is open until ten. WELL it was also within walking distance of the flat. TEN is totally late over here. I can only figure that things close even earlier on the weekend because most of the city is full of commuters? I don't know, but I know it's frustrating because I don't want to sit in my flat all the time. No - especially because the walls are bright white and I don't have my infamous wall of Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, and Beatles posters...

Anywho, so we made our way to the cafe. It was little sketchtastic...but not really. Let me explain - we got there early enough to where there was still light outside, but we had to go to the second floor to get to the cafe. The cafe is literally located on a little cobblestone alley right off of a busy main street. There was a hopping bar not fifteen feet from the sketchy door. Anyway - we walked up the really spindly stairs and we opened this door that led to a darkened hallway. We were both about to turn around when I just decided to open the other door.

I could hear music on the other side and there was a definite warm light glowing through the fuzzy windowpane. Anyway, we opened up and walked into a lovely little cafe. It was decorated with a definite eclectic style and had red walls. The people were really nice and they had an even better Mocha than Grace does near St. Pauls. Anyway we got a nice little chair and a couch to sit down at, and we had a little chair. There were candles all round and weird art things. I haven't felt some comfortable in an establishment here yet. We didn't feel rushed or like we were being stared at or anything and we were definitely in a local place. I didn't hear a single American accent.

Anywho - we spent our evening there trying out annotating different sections of Shakespeare. We have a commentary like thing due in two weeks and we want to get a head start. We also read bits of the guardian and such (quickly and quite obviously my new favourite news publication)...anyway. It was a good time. Yes, we did walk back in the dark, but we were safe. We were two, not one, and we walked quickly.

Now I'm sitting in my flat all warm wondering if it's going to snow whilst I'm here? I can't wait till Mom and Dad get their butts over here there's so much to see. I like when Kemper and I can make London our own by finding little fun cafes like that. Who wants to sit in a dingy cold flat all the time? I feel like London (the city) and I could maybe be getting closer to being friendly with one another. I miss you guys so much.

These are pictures from the past couple of posts - so read the captions! Enjoy!

Cheers!

From your younger sister Jess...

Hello there. It's two something in the morning over here but I'm not quite ready for bed. Instead of doing one huge post tomorrow (tomorrow is Homework day) I thought I'd go ahead and let you guys know about what went down today.

I didn't get up early and it was a nice change. I managed to sleep until around eleven thirty. :) However I was up until about five last night talking to Mom and Dad and Jess and Johnny on skype. Then I had to shower and then I looked up at the clock and decided that I was due in bed.

When I did finally get up though guess what? I HAD A LETTER FROM MY SISTER! Jess - what's up with this "From your young sister Jess?" Am I like, OLD now or something? Sheesh. :) MIss you crazy girl.

Anywho I got up and went over to Kemper's flat. She graciously shared her lovely pasta with me for lunch today and then we went off in search of shopping destinations. Now, let me explain. I have a small amount of money set aside for one nice thing from here. I've already decided that I want to buy a nice bag to replace the black and white newspaper one I have because it's falling apart. :( So Kemper, who is in somewhat of a desperate need for shoes, and I, went to go shop-seeing in a way. We wanted to scope out the field really before we buy something to be sure we get the best thing out there.

Well, we got lost and we couldn't find the stores we wanted to find. We did end up on this nice little alley off of Oxford Street called Christopher's way or something like that. I took some pictures because I thought it was pretty quaint. Anywho - after we finally gave up on all hope of finding our vintage stores, we hopped on the tube and headed back to the flat. I ate some of the pringles that gramner sent me - well Kemper and I shared them. I also had some cheese and crackers - woot.

Haha. I have this weird need to tell you exactly what I eat all the time - except for maybe my incessant intake of cookies...:) Anyway - after that we decided that since we weren't going to spend money anyways we would just go to Harrod's for fun. Well...we got out in the Kensington neighborhood - which is where Harrod's is located and we made our way all the way round the building before we went in.

Oh my goodness. I have never felt quite so many emotions at once whilst in a huge, um, is department store the correct terminology here? That place was like a heaven and a hell all at once. A heaven because there was a tea and chocolate shop and a really cool christmas section and toy section. However, there were all the other lah-ti-dah sections and I felt completely out of place. I mean yes, I think a Burberry peacoat is beautiful, but I don't have £850 to spend on it...

Sheesh. After my eyes adjusted to the dazzling lights and the crazy elevators and the crazy design, Kemper and I found the pet section. Did you know that Harrod's sells three specially breeded dogs. Did you know that all three breeds are worth £1500 at the leats...and £2500 at the most. How lovely...anyone want a French Bulldog? They're cute...Haha. Sheesh. I do plan on going back to get some tea. The tea is actually reasonable...and well...you HAVE to buy tea from Harrods. Anyway it was interesting. I actually took some pictures inside - when I felt like I could get away with it - so I'll post those tomorrow.

Kemper and I finally got out of the building and we walked off in this random direction in Kensington to sort of just look around, because we've never been in that neighborhood. Well Mom and Dad, hope ya'll are ready for some high-end...um...neighbours...Haha. Kemper and I walked down a little street circle and we were looking at all the expensive cars - well most of the expensive cars.

Anywho - we ended up at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is mostly free. We were sad because we thought it might be closed because most of the free museums close over here at five and it was well past five. However, on Fridays the Victoria and Albert Museum is open until ten or something like that (I'm so tired of reading Military time - it's like the THING over here for businesses have their hours in that confusing language of time...). So we trapezed on in there and woa man.

We noticed the museum for it's lovely mixture of gothic and neoclassical architectural elements. Well then we went and looked at a few exhibits for early and mid medieval and renaissance Europe. I'm telling you, all the stained glass windows that they have in there are amazing. For some reason I'm drawn to them more than the statues and paintings. I really have always liked Stained Glass. The ones I stared at for what seemed like forever are from two different Parisian churches. I will upload the pictures that I took of them so you can stare in wonder as well.

Anyway - we didn't stay too long because today was Hillary's (one of my flatmates) birthday. Kemper bought some cake material and so we ended up baking a chocolate cake and then decorating it with chocolate frosting, blue icing, and sprinkles. AND Gramner we heated up some of the caramel that you sent me and drizzled it over the cake. The cake was absolutely gorgeous. The only thing I really helped do was melt the caramel and write "Happy Birthday Hillary" on it - but still. We offered the cake to everyone and we all got pieces. I took some pictures.

It was nice that we did this cake celebration thing. I know that we are all a diverse group of college students in some ways - but it's nice that we can come together. Maybe the best thing to do to solve world peace would be just to bake one huge chocolate cake drizzled with caramel over the top of it. Everyone would have a warm full tummy and we could all be friends right? Well my idealism is one of my better qualities...

So anyway. After that, because Kemper and I hadn't eaten, we went to her flat and made some soft tacos. MAN. It was so nice to have British attempted Tex-Mex. Let me explain, haha. I am not sure that the British know what sour cream is, or even taco meat mix...Haha. The sour cream we got had some weird chives in it and we couldn't find any just plain sour cream. Also - their idea of cheese dip is a joke. I didn't do it this time, but next time I promised Kemper that I would make my mom's famour guacamole recipe. :)

Anyway - I miss taco nights at home. So, getting our tortilla chips and an interesting version of cheese dip for dinner with our soft tacos was amazing. I don't care who you are man, it was amazing.

After that we were supposed to meet the group at a pub for Hillary's birthday pub deal. However, we couldn't ever get a straight answer as to where they were...so...we watched a movie. I would tell you the movie - but - in risk of being judged I think I'll keep it to myself. Plus - Mom and Jess will be jealous.

We originally wanted to go see that free outdoor screening of Pretty Woman - but it's actually been rainy London here today so that was kind of a no. Also, we didn't plan our time all that well and we had to do cake and participate in Birthday Festivities. It was a nice evening all in all. A nice day actually.

Tomorrow we may just go see Chicago the Musical. I'm excited, the tickets aren't too bad and it's something that I would love love love to see in real life. It's open for a while though, so we may end up doing something else. Either way, I'll keep you posted.I'm really tired right now though so I think I'm out.

Cheers!

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich!!!

Alright.

I've mentioned before that Thursday is my Friday right? Well...Thursday is also the day that we get our stipend. AND...Since I realized that I'm going to be here for a little while I figured I might as well learn how to cook. So...I made an intense shopping list and today after my politics class I went for it. Went for it, as in, I went and bought some serious stuff.

Kemper and I are going to have a taco night even though she is a vegetarian. I will make the meat and all that, don't worry I found some seasoning, and I am so excited. We used to eat amazing tacos all the time at home. What is it that I HAVE to eat food all the time? Anyways...So...

Tonight I made a wonderful grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. I wish I had taken a picture of it. But, well, I got too excited and I ate it. It was lovely. ALSO - I got GRAMNER'S package today. I shan't go hungry for the rest of the trip because I am well thought of.

Thank you so much Gramner you absolutely made my day. I will be knitting you wonders. I can't even express in words how amazing you made me feel. I miss our Fridays and our adventures. You make me still feel like I'm a part of your day-to-day activities. I liked the fudgies "oreo fudge things" that you sent me. They were amazing. I shared them already, don't worry - you taught me well. I can't wait till I can come home and cook christmas cookies at your house. Miss you more than you know. Thank you for making me feel like a special princess.

Hmmm...Class was nice today...except that there was a bit of tension in class today when we talked about the religious versus politic element in Huxley's 'Brave New World.' After that intense three hour class Kemper and I were going to part and I was going to go running - however - it was really rainy today. I didn't like it, but I guess I've been pampered because it's been sunny and un-London like lately since I've been here.

Anyway - we went to this place called Munchkins for lunch. It was alright, it was really cheap. I don't think I'll be taking Mom and Dad there, it's across from the British Museum. My roommate Laura says it's good, but she just tried tea there and I tried a hamburger there. It wasn't bad, maybe because it was nice to have some protein, but still. I think the service sucked (along with London's standard of service) but anyways. Oh well.

After that we went to the grocery store and I bought my week's groceries. I was so flustered at the check-out center because I got a week's worth of groceries and it was a lot to fit in that tiny little basket they give you. You don't get baskets there. Anyway, I didn't spend too much and I got a nice different variety of things. I'm learning how to cook, you'll see. :) I'm kind of proud of myself on that aspect - especially my delicious portobello mushroom sandwich this evening.

Anyways...Let's see. After the flutsteredness at the store Kemper and I went to the Union to plan our ideas for the weekend and also for Northern Ireland which is next weekend. It's not too expensive to get to the coast from Belfast, so that is on our agenda. I'm really, really excited. I can't wait to see the scenic-ness of the region. If you want an idea google the Gian'ts Causweay - which is something that I have on our to-do list.

Also, we planned to spend a whole day Saturday doing homework. We're going to finish our Art and Architecture project and we're going to work on our huge project for British Life and Culture (for me that's the Beatles project). Also - we're going to get a jumpstart on our Shakespeare commentaries. So...just for Diddy, yes I'm doing homework somewhere in all this craziness, loveliness of the city life.

Interesting fact, I'll let you know if we actually go through with this, but we are going to try to go to a choral production at St. Paul's on Thursday. I'm really excited, because it's free and I really want to get inside of that Cathedral. Sheesh, I'm not even Catholic, I don't know!!

Who knows what else our plans are this weekend. We have planned all sorts of tentative things. I'll be sure to take my camera everywhere. I miss you guys! I hope everything is going well..and I hope you guys aren't cold and damp ...Ugh like it kind of was today.

I also felt a little bad because I picked a pub to go to tonight called "The Angel" which I will take Mom and Dad to..however..it was so busy tonight that it was uncomfortable. I felt bad because I got a group of us together. I was just excited because they have a lager that I really like and it is pretty cheap...But oh well. You can't please everybody.

Miss you guy!! I'll keep you updated this weekend with pictures! Have a great weekend, I miss you! Cheers! Gramner thank you thank you thank you!

:)

Birthday Presents!!!

So as you know from the title...

Today is Johnny Gately's birthday! I sent him a package two and a half weeks ago? I don't remember the actual date that I sent it, but he got it on the tenth. I'm sad that today is his twentieth birthday and I don't get to be there to celebrate with him. SO I thought I would open this post by talking about his gift!

He and I finally got to skype with the video on. It was great to see him - he's still as cute as ever if not more so. ;) Anyways, he had his box-gift (which was a huge, but surprisingly light box.) He waited patiently all day for us to skype so we could open it. AND...drum roll please...what did he get when he opened it? He got a Led Zeppelin II album and a Stones compilation album. :)

Haha. His facial expression was great - I think I generally surprised him. It was worth the hassle at the post office and the postage and the customs claiming form. It was a mess, but I'm glad that I could send Johnny a little piece of England that I know he'll enjoy. Two of the best British Bands ever - just saying. :) Happy Birthday Johnny Gately!

Ok. Let me get on to telling you what happened today - Wednesday is my busy day! I have art and architecture in the morning and then shakespeare all afternoon. No matter how you look at it, two three hour back to back lessons (with a short interval in between for lunch) is kinda intense.

Today in Art and Architecture we to the Soane Museum and the Sir Richard Wallace Private Collection. Each of the buildings are museums with different private collections. I got to look at some art by Rembrandt today, no big deal. But more importantly than the art by the famous people, in my opinion, was the Soane Museum. The building is just a little eccentric looking from the outside and it's on a residential street.

It;s an architecture wonder. Barnaby described it as "picturesque" which apparently is supposed to awaken elements in your imagination. Well...it was amazing. I think it's something Mom and Dad and I will have to go see it together. It's got so many secret passage ways and surprises in the way of architectural design. Sir Soane was an architect himself and apparently "an eccentric man." I. LOVED. THAT. BUILDING. I don't think we got to spend enough time there.

The Wallace Collection was nice - there were so many paintings and Rembrandt along with Velasquez and the other big dudes were in there. I was duly impressed, but I was also duly tired because we walked for three straight hours again.

After that I came back to the flat after I topped up my oyster card and made a sandwich. I am thinking about buying some portobello mushrooms and grilling those and having those on a sandwich...If I'm going to eat sandwiches all the time I might as well eat fun ones. :)

Anywho - after that it was time for Shakespeare already. SO...I made some tea put it in my mug and went on my way. It was in the seventies today and I was prepared because I finally realized that I can get up in the morning and check the weather so that I'll be armed and know what the temperature is going to be. It was beautifully sunny all day too, so it was kind of hard to focus in Shakespeare.

However - this is about to be really nerdy - I really like Shakespeare. I really appreciate his verse and talent and even his cursed iambic pentameter. We were given our choices for our commentaries that are due in two weeks. Jean wants us to use the pronoun "I" in our papers...I'm excited about that...Most English majors would probably be appalled but I'm a secret creative writer on the side of my English major-ness. ;)

Anyway - I participated in class and I have that feeling that I had in my stomach like I did senior year of High School when we annotated Othello. I just get excited - which is uber nerdy - but hey. Sometimes you just can't help it.

After that Kemper and I were going to go back to Green Park - but I didn't have enough £ on my oyster card. We get our stipend tomorrow, so I asked if we could go to the graveyard park that we sometimes go to. There's this beautiful lab that we think people are training in this park. We see the doggy every time and it makes me miss Simba. Silly old cat that I'm allergic to!

Well, we were reading for a good time when who walks by but Jean! She said, "Well hello. Why exactly are you guys reading in this graveyard?" Both Kemper and I laughed. I answered, "Well I'm from the South in the States and this is one of the parks that is a bit more quiet and in a residential area. Also, there's this dog that we're trying to befriend..." She just smiled at us and laughed a bit and then walked off. She must think we're crazy. No worries - we probably are.

It got really cold, however, so we went to the student union cafe area. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to use their hot chocolate machine. Hmmm...and they close down at like...seven pm! I miss the Burrow - you could be in there at least until two or something. You gotta love the small campus!

Anyways, so we went back and I made dinner. Eggs and sandwich and an apple. (I do try to balance my constant diet of chocolate. Ugh. My comfort food!) I forgot to go check to see if I had my package GRAMNER! I'll go tomorrow - even though I probably already have it today. Wednesdays just get so busy!

I forgot to tell you guys that I have an art and architecture project that I also need to do. We present a painting from a certain time period that's located at the Tate Modern next Wednesday. It's a ten minute presentation and I'm kind of excited. It can be fun learning about things like that - I just need to be sure to pick an eccentric artist...Or at least an interesting one!

Then I got to talk to Johnny on skype and kind of celebrate his 20th birthday in the best way that we can, you know? Even though I'm a full ocean away, I have to try my best to make birthdays important. I am my mother's daughter. :)

I miss you guys!!!

Here are a few - ahhh - very few pictures. I'll take more when I do something fun and interesting. Cheers!

Our new Aunties!!

Hey familial unit!

Sorry I didn't update yesterday but I got a little tired and grumpy at the end of my day (even though it wasn't a bad day) so I decided to wait to update for today! It's Tuesday (it was in the seventies today) and I just got back from running and making a pretty good dinner for someone who can't cook...

Let's see yesterday was Monday, and we were SUPPOSED to go to Hastings. Well I got up all ready to go do that and of course, (and this is like...eight in the morning?) I'm eating my strawberries and cereal and no one else is up. It didn't start to phase me until about eight forty five because we were supposed to leave at nine.

Well I finally weirdly asked Claire (rousing her out of her sleep I felt bad about that one) if we were still going. She looked at me groggily and said I guess not. I was kind of upset because I would have slept later if I'd known we weren't going on a day trip - so I was a little upset to say the least.

AND - I remembered that we'd invited Kemper and Mandi and they live in a flat down the street (well two flats over really) and they would be outside waiting at nine. I went outside to catch them on the stoop (well only Kemper was up there) and I told her. We were both a little grumpy together but we decided to make the best of our day. This way that we were up early we could be productive.

So...Kemper waited for me to finish getting ready and then we went to the Tea and Tattle and I got an espresso to go - it was delicious. Then I mailed Johnny a letter. :) AND THEN ... yes can you believe it ... we went to the Union at ULU to do some homework. If you have a library card you can assess their wifi so we sat in the place and typed up some guidelines for our presentation on the guardian. I must say I highly enjoyed reading that paper.

Anyway - by the time we finished our presentation guidelines it was about lunchtime. Kemper wasn't hungry because she'd gotten some sort of sketchy looking sandwich at the union cafe - so I asked her to come chill with me whilst I made lunch. Surprise Surprise - I had grilled cheese. I finally broke down and bought some crisps (chips) the other day to eat with my lunches. I think it can't be too unhealthy because they come in little snack sized pre-packaged bags so if I only eat one per meal I should be ok. I also had some grapes so I'm getting some balance somewhere...(AHEM but then I had like four cookies - FAIL.)

I told Kemper that I had found a cool park when she was gone on her trip this past weekend. And it's true - I found that park next to Buckingham palace. It's called Green Park, although originally I think I called it St. James Park, but St. James Park is kind of more posh and garden oriented and it was really busy when we finally got to it yesterday.

I say FINALLY because somehow I managed to get us incredibly lost and a walk that should have taken thirty minutes at the most turned into a two hour trek. I don't know what it is. I don't have these problems when I'm walking along by myself - I manage. But somehow, when I have to find a place with other people it gets incredibly complicated.

We ended up walking along Regent Street, which has some incredibly expensive stores including Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger. We window shopped and wished we were rich and then we found Green Park. It was so nice! We layed in the grass like real Londoner's and stared at the incredibly nice blue and sunny sky! The clouds were even fluffy it was so nice.

We chilled like that chatting and reading some free papers that we'd picked up along the way highlighting up and coming music events around the city when Madi texted Kemper about a sushi deal. Apparently there's a restaurant near the flat that has a deal on sushi on Mondays. So I begged and we got to go even though Kemper doesn't really like Sushi and she didn't get anything but water.

They had this conveyer belt thing that brought around all these different looking sushis and I tried a bunch of them. It was great, actually, because I had been talking about sushi all day long. Lovely. :)

After that we went to Sainsbury's for different reasons - I needed some breakfast stuff and Kemper and Mandi needed other assorted groceries. After the grocery shopping Kemper and I picked out our article that we would have to present to the class the next day and then I went back over to my flat.

I talked to Johnny after that and then I went to sleep to prepare for the next day - the only problem was I couldn't sleep. I tried
and I tried but I couldn't get to a good night's sleep for some reason.

Today was a great day in many ways but I was a little depressed.

Let me explain. We started off the day with my favourite class - British LIfe and Culture. Everyone had to give a presentation on a different UK news publication and I found the presentations very enlightening and fun. Just to clue everyone in - the paper that Kemper and I did - was described with a stereotypical reader who is a leftist feminist vegetarian. Needless to say, our presentation wne pretty smoothly.

Actually, let me back track. I walked to class by myself this morning because I was having a hard time waking up. Well, there's nothing like the incessant honking of car horns and groaning of standard car engines to jump you awake. So I managed to wake up on the walk over there, but unfortunately, the lady who is in charge of our building forgot her keys so we were locked out. Kemper was the first one there and I found her leaning against a lamp post with a Cafe Nero coffee.

I was prepared...I had my starbucks mug with lovely beautiful warm white tea inside! So we stood chatting with each other until our prof Susie showed up. I am so excited (this probably sounds silly) but she remembered both of our names. :) Once we got inside she proceeded to tell us that she and Jean (our Shakespeare Prof) really like this year's Hendrix group and that they wouldn't mind being our adoptive Aunties! Haha. I know that sounds silly and maybe they say it to every Hendrix group but it totally warmed my heart.

Anyway - we spent the whole class discussing the media and we also got directions for our play that we had to see today. It was titled "Earthquakes in London" and it was showing at the National Theatre. I was excited when she said that because I knew where the theatre was because I found it on accident the day I went to Church. :)

So...we got out of class and went to make lunch and then we left about one thirty for a two thirty show. We found the theatre no problem (although it was a bit confusing seeing as how the national theatre is comprised of three small different theatres in one huge ugly building...) Anywho my biggest complaint about the theatre was that the show was so depressing. Maybe it is supposed to get me all riled up about the environment (it was all about global warming) but it was also about the relationships of this one family.

All the relationships were fettered with so many problems it was just upsetting to me. Kemper and I had a discussion about the point of art...we were a bit confused. I don't know. It was also three hours long and that's a long time for me to sit still! BUT, the theatre itself was neat. I would have taken my camera but I didn't feel like carrying stuff today so I only took my keys and wallet. If you can try to picture this I will describe it the best I can: there is a runway like fashion stage that snakes across the floor. There are chairs at the runway floor a bit like high stools at a bar that swivel. We were sitting in those chairs and a very much part of the action. There were also two opposite sides of the rooms that had a little inlet of space that acted as two different stages of sorts: so there were three distinct places for the action to occur.

Most of the time there were three different things going on at once, which was nice, because at least I was always occupied. Also, the two walls which did not have the inlet stages had balcony seating, so there were a bunch of different angles to view the action depending on your seat. Apparently the famous director of Slumdog Millionaire (which is a movie that mom and I watched together this summer and it was pretty good) was present at this production of "Earthquakes in London."

It was kind of exciting to be near a 'famous person.' There was also supposedly a famous actress, but you guys know that I can't keep up with that stuff unless it was someone like Julia Roberts. :)

Let's see, onwards with the posting. I went running right after the play because there wasn't really an ending, a nice closing to the upsetting feelings that the play induced in my tummy. SO...I went running round Big Ben and came home. I went about four miles. It felt really nice to get out and just run off my global warming frustrated feelings. :) Whoot. Then I made some dinner - sauteed sausage and vegetables and corn. Then I was supposed to go to a cafe with Kemper to plan our wanderings in Northern Ireland which is coming up pretty quickly (in about two weekends...)

Anywho I sent her a message telling her that I didn't have the energy...but we settled for going on a walk anyways. I was just still unshowered (actually as I am now - stinky) from my run...Haha. We went to Tesco so that she could get some dinner because she hadn't eaten yet. First however she gave me my birthday present.

Haha - no worries my birthday is not for about 22 days (actually Johnny's birthday is tomorrow the 22nd of September!) BUT Kemper is amazing and wanted to be sure that we got to do something neat for my birthday. Originally I wanted to go to a funky rooftop dining restaurant, but all the available ones are too expensive and posh like. SO...Kemper got us tickets to a wine tasting! I'm really excited - it's next Thursday - so we're celebrating early. This is neat and something that I've never done before and it's kind of elegant. I'll dress up. :)

Let's see...I got some really good grapes - they're purple. Let's see what else...I miss you guys so much. I'm learning that one of the basic values that I uphold more than anything is family. You are all so great to have in your own way as part of my family. I realize that more and more each day as I realize that I can be an independent sort of grown up individual. I'm learning a lot about myself...like...maybe I can cook after all. ;)

I ALMOST FORGOT!!! I got a letter today! It contains a lovely brightly colored yellow poem! I love getting mail. :) I will definitely be sending a poem back to none other than Uncle Bubber! Poetry is so fun. :) It made my day. Gramner - I haven't gotten my box yet. :( I'll keep you posted!

Anywho - no pictures this time but I promise that I'll put some more on here soon. Tomorrow I have art and architecture and I'll take my camera to be sure to get some good pictures. :)

Cheers!

Loop the Yarn Shop

I am Becca and I like to knit. This is a fact.

Well I decided early on that this cold weather calls for a knitting creation! I got up this morning at ten and decided to find a yarn shop in which I could purchase some needles and some yarn!

So I found this place called "Loop" that is open Sundays and was within walking distance of the flat. I asked if anyone wanted to accompany me and Claire said she was game. So...

I memorized the directions and we were off to find the yarn shop. Well...we got lost. Or rather, I got us lost. The problem was that the store had recently moved, and thus we went to the old address. However, we did stumble upon the new address of the store by sheer accident. We found a neat backshop of antique stores and strange nick nack shops. We quite literally ran into Loop!

I was taken aback by the beautiful yarns (just like at the yarn mart in Little Rock, however, I really couldn't afford most of them.) I did find some that I could afford so I got two skeins of a silk/cashmere combination. I'm going to knit myself a scarf - which probably means that someone else will end up with it as a gift. :) I can't help myself.

Anyway - after that Claire and I hopped in the tube to make it back home because it had been a long walk. I must have not felt like I'd gotten enough exercise though, because then I decided to go on a run. It was amazing. Yes, I ran all by myself and loved it. It's so neat to actually run in the city by Big Ben and Trafalgar Square like I live here. I guess in a way, I do.

Some tourists (who had a British accent) asked me where Buckingham Palace was whilst I was running. I kindly pointed them in the right direction (finally) because I'd found it the other day by sheer accident!

I think I may have a spider bite on my leg...which could possibly be a bad thing. I'm looking into it so no worries - however, suggestions would be nice. I guess I'll do what they taught me to do at camp and draw a circle around it to see if it gets bigger. Hmmm...

What else? Oh yes I got lost on my running expedition so I ended up running five miles instead of my intended four. I did really well today. I think I have just been craving to run. My endorphins are definitely flowing right now AND I'm doing laundry which is a complete plus!!!

I didn't really do much today - it was a mixture of complete laziness and productivity. I am almost finished with Huxley's book...I spent some time reading today whilst I was cuddled up in my blanket in the flat. Sometimes it's nice to pretend like it's home. I made myself some tea. :)

I miss TV actually. Well Spongebob really, haha. I've been trying to get into this BBC thing and for the most part - I kinda can't. I do like the humour though, it's pretty funny and different.

Let's see...I got lost whilst I was running and ended up in Waterloo Place. I'm not sure what that is even, but I plan on going back because there seemed to be a lot of monuments and statues and important looking buildings. I probably ran by something important and was just like, "Hmmm, that's nice." Who knows.

Not much else to update. I did buy some cookies today (and I've already had four!) I miss you guys a lot. I am in a great mood though, because I feel like my study abroad experience is finally just clicking. I think I am somewhat adjusted now. I love being able to be 'lost' in the city because I'm really not lost. I can locate the flat from any monument or landmark so I'm good! I feel like I've accomplished something. In a way - a city is like a big campus - you just have to know where all the important buildings are! Sort of. Haha.

Ok well I guess I'm going to go find a cool knitting pattern and sit about and knit for a while. Boy. I sure am a bit of an old lady. I'm going to Hastings tomorrow for real so I'll have fun pictures and stories to entertain you with.

Cheers!

The Tower Bridge

Today was lovely. So far, anyway.

Let me start from the beginning...we didn't end up going to Hastings today - we will be going on Monday because more people can go then. I'm still rather excited.

So I finally got to sleep in. i didn't wake up this morning until eleven thirty! YES! Anyway, I got up and I made some instant coffee. I really miss my coffee pot! I asked Claire who had just gotten up if she wanted to go to the Tea and Tattle. Let me explain - the first week we were here Claire and I saw a sign that said, "Tea and Tattle - now open for business."

The only problem was that we couldn't find the store front. Well, yesterday after I finished walking through Chinatown, I saw that the Tea and Tattle was open underneath a bookshop. There was a sign that pointed down a spindly staircase. I have decided to eat out maybe every other week, and then for day trips because I'm trying to not spend oodles of money.

Well, so this morning I was like let's go eat lunch at the Tea and Tattle. Erin, Claire, and I went. The service was great and the people were really nice which is a plus. I really want to take Mom and Dad here to 'dine in' because they bring you tea on very nice fine china. Anyway I ordered a smoked salmon sandwich with cream fraiche. It was amazing! I also got with my peppermint tea which was very comforting, a raspberry scone and a coffee and walnut cake. Don't worry - I walked it all off today for sure.

We also discovered that they are open at eight every weekday. Since our classes do not start until nine thirty, we could maybe afford their coffee some mornings - which will probably be just as good as everything else. Anyway - after that I had originally planned to walk to a yarn shop called "loop" by myself today. They are having a sale and I thought I could get some cheaper yarn and some needles and knit a scarf. That sounds Becca-ish doesn't it?

Well, Erin got a text from Kate saying that the Tower of London had free admission today. I then remembered that it's Open House London weekend so a lot of buildings are open free to the public. BUT of course, you have to read the fine print. I didn't read the fine print. I just decided I wanted to go but when we got back the group had already left. I still thought this was a great opportunity so I headed off to river. I knew I'd seen the tower bridge from the river and so the tower of london must be close by.

I mean. I'm surprising myself by not using my map - you know how spastic I am about that kind of thing. But I had a nice peaceful walk on the Thames path and it was gorgeously sunny. I was hot of course, because I dressed for the weather we had yesterday when I was freezing and I didn't have enough clothes on. Sheesh I can't get it right. So anyway I made it to the Tower Bridge (you know - the one in the new Sherlock Holmes movie?) and I had to wait. It's a drawbridge you see, so they were, drawing the bridge. I took a bunch of pictures because I think it's gorgeous. Since I was by myself I felt stupid taking pictures of myself...so you'll just have to bear with me.

Anyway - I walked across it and saw the Tower of London. I didn't realize that it was like...a castle museum. Anyway, apparently you had to reserve a place to get in free for the Open House London weekend. I did not reserve a place. I would have gone ahead and paid to go in anyway, but I think Dad will definitely want to go see this. And mom too, you can't go wrong. I figure I'll wait on them.

Now. I did decide that I didn't want to use the tube today so I decided I would walk back to the flat and see St. Paul's again. On the way I ran into the Monument. The monument was built after the great fire of London in the 1600s to remember the event. It has 319 stairs. I climbed all of them and took pictures from the top. Now, before I climbed all the stairs I thought I'd go running - but nope. Not going to happen. I'm sitting here a good hour and a half later and my legs are still shaking. Anywho...

It was neat. I took a picture of the stairs - don't worry Gramner I'm still in one piece. After that I saw St. Paul's off in the distance and I decided to go inside. It cost money to tour it, but I stood in the front entry way probably for fifteen minutes just gawking at the hallway. I will go in there at least once for Church. The weird thing was that I walked in this twisty door and the windows said, "This is a House of God and therefore a Gate to Heaven."

After that, I ended up walking home. It was an uneventful walk but I spent the whole afternoon walking. I left at one and got back at five thirty. I'm exhausted. I'm going to sit here and read some more of Aldous Huxley's book for politics for a little bit. Tonight we are celebrating someone's birthday (can't remember whose at the moment) and so I might go out to one of the pubs on the pub list with the group. I had fun last time.

I'll be safe. I miss you guys!!!

Chinatown does not smell that great...

It's true, actually Chinatown smells really bad. :(

Well today I said I was going to do something independent and so I did. I am going to go ahead and update twice today because tomorrow I'm going on a day trip to Hastings. :) (Remember the battle of Hastings? Well anyway, I'm going there and it's a coastal town and it looks really quaint. So I'm pretty excited!)

I woke up rather early for not having to get up. I mean, I woke up at nine thirty and I would have liked to sleep in until maybe ten thirty? Anyway, I grumbled into the kitchen and looked around for some food. I made sausage and eggs this morning and it was absolutely delicious. :) I love breakfast. I'm sure when I go home again I'll hate breakfast. Haha, it's like my staple diet right now.

So I was awake and I decided to check out TimeOut London to see what neat things were going on. Well, I saw that St. John's Anglican Church had a free lunchtime recital. The genre was classical and I just decided to pick that one, because there are plenty of free classical lunch time recitals in London for some reason. And most of them are in Churches.

I got all dressed and ready to go and I went out of the flat with my map and slowly breaking bag...Anyway - I just started walking in the direction of the river. I am beginning to learn where things are more and more. I didn't write down the address or anything but I looked at a picture and I remembered that the church was located on Waterloo street. Somehow- by some miracle of Beccaness - I found the church no problem and was twenty minutes early. I gave myself a nice window to be on time.

I went inside the church and sat down. It was a beautiful church - sort of Catholic like windows as well as some great statues. Anyway - I freaked out a little because I was wearing jeans and I didn't know if for some reason I needed to be wearing something more suitable for Church, but people started showing up in everything from full suits to shabby, erm, 'holey' jeans. So I was fine. I was, however, the youngest in the crows except for an adorable toddler with blue eyes and blonde hair accompanied by her grandmother. She was very well behaved and listened intently to the music for the whole hour.

Anyway - the lady began to sing some French songs. If I wasn't lazy I would get up and walk into my room and search in my bag for the program and tell you the composer's names and such. But really, the important thing was that her voice was absolutely phenomenal. She sounded literally like the voice of heaven personafied. So of course, two things happened, I found myself overcome with emotion from the songs she was singing - especially since I couldn't understand the french and she was acting out the songs in her intense performance. AND I realized how much I miss singing. Not that I could ever sound like that but I want to be a part of a choir somewhere...

Hmmm. Anyway as I sat there in the fourth row congratulating myself on my small victory I was thinking a million things. I was thinking how the people in the crowd would somehow automatically know just by staring at me that I was American. I was also thinking how amazing it was to be able to just go do something all by myself - something I would want to do that I'd have to literally drag my friends to do with me. What other nineteen year old do you know that like to listen to free classical music concerts in churches when they could be a pub. Hey - eleven am is acceptable pub time. Sheesh.

I was also thinking how strange it is to be so far from home and yet find a place that can warm my heart. That church wasn't St. Paul's cathedral - it wasn't the grand church that you study in your architecture class. But it was definitely a community. I could tell from observing that the people there were a mixture of people literally taking their lunch hour off and people who were devout members of the church. Everyone was nice in there and I was somehow a part of it, and yet somehow an observer. It's an interesting perspective to have. After today I am starting to really be adjusted, I suppose, because I'm really feeling like this whole 'study abroad' thing is a great idea. I'm doing my best to really just do some fun things in London...at the same time I'm trying to grow up a little and become a braver person.

Ok. Now that that little sharing of recently acquired knowledge/rant is over - let me move on. I decided after my lovely lunch time concert that I would like to walk to a park to read. I was on the south side of the river Thames and relatively close to Westminster. So I walked in that direction vaguely. I did find a nice looking independent coffee shop that had a sign for student discounts. I went in and got the best mocha I've ever had. The barista must have read my facial expression really well because my mocha had a little extra chocolate in it. :)

Anyway - I hope you guys do know that the Pope Benedict dude is here. I have been reading about London's/the U.K.'s mixed reaction at having him visit for some time now in the Evening Standard. Apparently he flew in yesterday. Well...I just happened to see the pope today - no big deal. It was a shear accident. I didn't think as I was walking with my steaming mocha in my hand - oh I should avoid the Abbey today because probably the whole city is there either protesting or trying to hug the Pope.

MAN! I think he's seriously received some legitimate death threats or something because the police had almost every street over there closed as well as - well ... There were at least fifty-million police. I felt like I was being watched as I tried to figure out how I could get out of the abbey and to Green Park (I did use my map for that one - Green Park is not far from Westminster Abbey and it looked big enough on my map for me to find some quiet in there somewhere...)

So anyway. Yep. I saw the pope today. I wish it had been John Paul II though, I liked him better. I did finally manage to sneak my way around the hub-bub and I found myself accidentally at Buckingham palace. Unfortunately, I missed the changing of the guard AND my camera died - but I'm charging it right now. I did manage to take some pictures which I'll upload tomorrow along with my pictures from the day trip.

Anyway the palace is grand and massive - but I wasn't so awed by the actual building. It's kind of...well...ugly in my opinion. But, it turns out the palace is right next to both Green Park and St. James Park. I think I was sitting in the Green Park section but it was gorgeous. My favourite park besides St. George's gardens which have an interesting peaceful feeling about them. The neat thing about these two parks is the amount of trees! I realized today how much I miss trees as strange as that sounds.

In actual fact, London is a pretty green city and has a bunch of trees. But being in this park I felt like I was at Notre Dame's campus or something. I will have to go back when the leaves turn and take pictures. The trees hang over the paths as if they are enveloping you when you walk. I loved it. I sat on a bench and read fifty pages of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World for class. (Interesting book if you want my opinion so far - very very interesting. I find myself a bit scared of the idea of a utopia really...)

Anywho...I must have been there for a while because I also wrote an entry in my journal and I would have stayed longer but I was cold. I am not doing so well when i get dressed in the morning. I didn't have enough in the ways of layers - and I'm thinking that I should have had on fuzzy socks for sure. Needless to say, I was freezing. So, I got up and started walking. Without looking at my map once I got back to the flat via Piccadilly and Chinatown.

It was a great experience, walking on Piccadilly at rush hour. I want to go back and take a time to actually look at the stores and such. I feel like window shopping on that road would be fun. I found myself in Chinatown - with paper lanterns swinging merrily in the breeze above my head. You know it's chinatown by the lanterns and also by the SMELL. I mean, I like sushi but SHEESH. I do not think I'll be eating sushi in Chinatown...it's a bit sketchy...

After that I came back to the flat and made dinner. I had sausages sauteed in red pepper and green onion with corn on the cob. Don't worry guys - even though I can't cook it was really good. (Or I was just really hungry. :] )

I then talked with my flat mates for a bit and I've been researching and planning things that I want to do whilst I'm in London. Tomorrow we are for sure going on a day trip and I'm really excited. I'm currently charging both my ipod and my camera. I will do my best to take tons of pictures.

I've just been in the flat this evening lounging around. I've been so cold - but luckily I have my blanket and fuzzy socks. I ate a bunch of cookies...GAH! Comfort food gets you every time. I miss you guys enjoy the post.

Leave me comments! (I'll add pictures later.)

Cheers!

Cookie Cake!!!

Hello there!!

This is my post about Thursday - even though I'm writing on Friday. I'll probably post about today later tonight. Who knows.

I don't know if I've mentioned that Thursday is our Friday. So yesterday Kemper and I decided that we would do some serious work on our Newspaper project. We bought another issue of The Guardian after class and made our way to the library. Now - you know I have some serious issues with the Library so let me tell you all the wonderful things that happened there.

I don't know if I've taken a picture of the outside of the library but it's beautiful in a strange way. It kind of makes me feel like I'm going into a German World War II insane asylum or something. But. It's - uh - it's still beautiful.

Anyway, so we go in and go to the fourth floor where you get your cards. Luckily, I have my card printed and everything is fine. Then Kemper and I went looking for a study carroll in which would could loudly discuss the bias of our paper and such. Well there are a bajillion floors and crooks and crannies in that building and we didn't have a floor plan because well - who wants to be nerdy with a floor plan?

Eventually we found a computer and we looked through the catalogue. I checked out some books about the Beatles to read and get a head start on my final. I mean - it is only September - but I am totally psyched about writing a 2500 word essay on the Beatles. So it'll be nice to have something to read besides political British novels and Shakespeare. Anyways - I had to check my books out so that we could go to the North block and check Kemper's books out.

Well. We went up to the desk and this nice lady took my books and my card and everything seemed peachy. But of course, this is me we're talking about so everything was NOT peachy. She looked at me with a smile but also sympathy in her eyes and she said, "There's a hold on your card." I just blinked stupidly at her and said, "Sorry? What?" She replied, "Well you can't check anything out because there's a hold on your card." I looked incredulously at Kemper who by this point was shaking her head.

Anyway - I had to explain that I had just gotten my card printed that day and that there shouldn't be a hold on my card considering I hadn't had the chance to check anything out yet. She looked doubtful but she did finally let me check my books out. I still don't know if I trust the library - they seem out to get me. (Ok, sometimes I get a little melodramatic...:) )

Let's see after that Kemper and I went and found this little fabulous cafe. We were going to sit and discuss the paper and type some stuff up on her computer. Well, it was hidden away behind the Holborn tube station and it was so cute and quaint. We each got a mocha and I got a slice of carrot cake and she got a slice of apple and maple cake. OH MY GOODNESS!! It was absolutely delicious. The cakes were the best I've ever had. It was a great coffee place - the guy who made our drinks even did some weird kind of coffee art. Go figure.

Anywho - we thought that we'd have free wi-fi there - that was the whole point in going but we didn't. Nevertheless, we took out our three copies of the Guardian and read and discussed. It was pretty fun. I think we're pretty much finished with the project all we have to do now is type up what we're going to say. We have to give about a ten minute presentation to the class on Tuesday.

Let's see. Hmmm. Kemper also picked up a copy of the ULU's paper called "London Student." I was reading bits and pieces of that when I decided that we should go to the ULU's little cafe that they have. So we got up and walked over to the cafe. It was nice - sort of like the burrow and they DO have wifi. So we read the paper and talked and chilled there for a while. Then we decided it was time for food. SO...we went to the grocery store and got ingredients to make a cookie cake. And we got icing.

Now - bear in mind that this was our first attempt and so we didn't get enough cookie ingredients so it's really more like a cookie casserole...But it was so much fun to make. I took some pictures of us being silly. :) It reminded me of the awesome cookie cake I got for my birthday last year. They don't really do cookie cakes over here that I can tell haha.

Alrighty then let's see...After that we went out with the huge group to our pub - the College Arms. We were all just chilling and enjoying ourselves. I really like the atmosphere of that pub. Then, I suppose it's almost really kind of a pub crawl we went to a different pub called the Crown. That was awesome because they have an amazing juke-box and we played music and such. I think that last night was the first time I've been to a pub and had such a great time. The group was cool and everyone was just being nice. I'm especially glad that Kemper was with me - we always have something to laugh about.

Anywho - today I'm going to do something different. I'm going to do something independent. No worries I'll update you on what fun things I find as I venture onwards. Miss you guys!!!

Cheers!

"Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere"

So. I've decided that Wednesdays are possibly going to be the death of me. Well, not literally, but they are quite busy. Before I go into the details of my day - just look at the overview. I have a three hour art and architecture class in the AM and then a lunch break. Then I have a three hour shakespeare class in the PM. Then, I get about an hour and a half before I have to go see a play where I stand for three or more hours. SHEESH. (One consolation - I don't have a play EVERY Wednesday, but still. I am so tired right now.)

Let's see. Even though today was endlessly busy I had a good day. This morning marks the first morning that I have taken a tube during morning rush hour. Luckily the line we got on wasn't so crowded but the Piccadilly line was impossible. I did find myself sitting next to a nursing mother with her loud baby. We were supposed to meet our professor Barnaby at Victoria station at Westminster. I remembered my camera today - YES - so I'll upload some great pictures.

I thoroughly enjoyed our Art and Architecture class today. We went on a walking tour of sorts focusing on buildings based in the Neoclassical tradition as well as the buildings based in Gothic styles. Big Ben and Parliament (as well as all of Westminster Abbey) are all Gothic. Strangely enough Barnaby mentioned Ruskin who I had to read for Victorian Literature. He was one of the few essayists I liked because he talked about the originality and art form of Gothic architecture. Being able to see something I truly admire as we walk about is an amazing feeling.

We started at Westminster Abbey, went to the Banquet building which has a lovely history and even a beheading involved in its story. We then went on to Covent Square and looked at a Tuscan style Church. The plan was to make it all the way to St. Paul's Cathedral and compare the different Church styles but we never got there. I took a ton of pictures - so instead of boring you here with each building I'll write a caption for the ones I upload on here.

We did get a twenty minute break by Covent Gardens. Everyone went into Cafe Nero (like a Starbucks - huge coffee chain) but Kemper and I explored the side streets. We were brave and went into a small place cafe place. We each got really cheap pretty good coffee and the people were extremely nice. THAT right there is a plus because people over here don't generally seem to be nice in this huge city. We also decided that whilst everyone else is doing a huge pub crawl - we're going to do a cafe crawl. We are totally on the lookout for London's best cup of coffee. (We may still frequent the pubs though, every now and then.)

We ended our tour at the Royal Courts of Justice which is on Chancery Lane and is a beautiful set of Gothic buildings. I wanted to go inside of it and stare out the windows. Kemper and I didn't know where to go to find a tube station so we walked a ways before we braved a bus. We really don't know how that system works yet. Yes, there's a sign that tells you where the bus goes...but it's hard to figure out which way the bus is going and whether your destination is on the end of it's line and if you have to switch buses and such...

SO. Needless to say we kind of messed up a bit. I mean, we really shouldn't have been on the bus in the first place because we literally got on and then got right back off. We probably could have walked to the station we alighted at simply because traffic was so bad. (Lunch rush hour.) Oh well, we'll figure it out, by George, even if it does take us a couple of bodged tries.

Anywho I made an egg sandwich for lunch with my special bread. :) It was a good time. After lunch I trekked over to the classroom for Shakespeare. Our lecture was intense today and she talked a little bit about our papers or commentaries. I'm not too nervous because commentaries are my thing, but it could be a bit trying. I'm doing my best to do really well in that class.

We then got out of Shakespeare and I came back to the flat. I was starving so I ate some coconut flavored yogurt - which sounds weird but it's really, really, good. And then, Erin and Laura and I went to a clothing shop called New Look. Hillary, one of my other flatmates, told us she had gotten a good deal on some jeans and they were having a special discount for students sale. I decided I wanted to go just to have a look. I'm on the lookout for a new messenger bag because unfortunately I think my black and white one has seen better days. :(

The store turned out to be the quality of a forever twenty-one but a bit more hyped and posh like. It was reasonably priced but there wasn't anything in there that I couldn't live without. So, after that I made tortellini for dinner. I got really frustrated with my dinner attempts this evening because I got my bread stuck in the toaster (sounds ridiculous right - this would happen to me) and I was trying to get my toast out and then my water boiled over from my tortellini so...I ended up burning water on the stove. It caused a lot of commotion and window openings. Sheesh. I felt really stupid.

After that I went over to Kemper's flat to chill before we had to make our famous trek to the Globe to see Henry IV part 1. I sneaked my camera in - so I have some pictures of how amazing the globe theatre actually is. Anywho, I was very impressed with the performance once again. However, this time I was not expecting to be impressed because I had read the play before hand and my impression was vast confusion at keeping the characters straight. I was so concerned with who was fighting who and who was on what side. However, on stage it is much easier to keep up with characters, even when old Billiam gives them different names.

The two princes were amazing - they were foils. I liked Harry Percy best, possibly because he was the character with all the intense verse lines. Also - I noticed tonight - the Globe is magical. You're out in this open aired theatre with a couple of stars above you (London is a bit light polluted...) I loved it. I don't love the standing forever bit though. I am excited to see more productions in there.

Also. Speaking of theatre - I asked Jean today specifically how to get cheap theatre tickets for the National Theatre. She told me that all I had to do was que up the morning of a show at around eight thirty and then I'd end up with a 10 quid front row ticket. Now all that's left to do on my list is to see what I want to go see. I think I might even see if Mandi will go with me to a show this weekend. That's a very affordable price.

I forgot to mention our tube ride to the Globe. It was eventful. I suppose this is the day of tube happenings. I have never been in the tube at rush hour in the evening either before today. We went to Holborn station and there were literally people falling out of the sides of the opening gate. Somehow, Kemper and I managed to squeeze into the line. Kemper was in front of me, and it's a good thing she had a green sweater on. I was really nervous. I felt like I was going to be squeezed into nothingness because there was no breathing room.

However, I finally got close enough to the gate to actually see people swiping their cards. Kemper got a couple of people ahead of me and I was even more nervous I'd get lost. Then I was literally right in the middle of a squabble. There was an older gentleman behind me and a middle-aged man in front of me and I was unfortunately sandwiched in between them. The middle-aged man sort of cut in front of me and the older man bumped me as he tapped the middle-aged man on the shoulder. He said, "Oy Mate!" and I immediately said, "sorry" because I thought I'd accidentally bumped into him.

However. He was obviously not speaking to me. He said again, "Oy MATE!" loudly enough so that the middle-aged man had to turn around. (Mind you, they're having this conversation across my head.) The upset older man says - "We're queing from the back of the line - you can't just cut in the side like that." The other guy replied whilst waving a pink ticket, "I had to buy my ticket..."

Oh yeah, one more thing. We walked by St. Paul's on our way to the Globe. I took some pictures. Thanks Kemper for being really patient with my constant picture taking. Also - I have not charged my camera once. I'm proud of this little thing. (Of course, now I just jinxed it - because I said something about the battery. Haha.)

Well...both of their faces were turning various shades of red and purple. Apparently, according to an account by Kemper later (who was nicely waiting for me on the other side) I looked very concerned. I took that opportunity of intense tension to swipe my card and get out of Dodge.

Anyway. It was a day. I'm so tired right now. I hope that I can talk to you soon Mom. I keep missing you! And someone better figure out a way to get Johnny Gately to comment on this blog thing. I KNOW HE READS IT. A little help familial unit?

Miss you guys.

Cheers.

Grace Coffee

Today was busy.

I had oh so much going on, and yet, I feel like I really didn't do much today. I guess I absolutely NEED to go running. I just NEED to. Sheesh.

Let's see. This morning my little travel clock woke me up right on time. I had cereal with fresh strawberries in it. :) I also made some coffee this morning and got all cuted up. By 'cuted up,' I mean that I checked the weather and dressed appropriately. In other words, I wore a sweater with my boots and a scarf. I'm telling you - it's not cold yet but when it gets cold I'll be really cold. :(

I had British Life and Culture today. We discussed Virginia Woolf's book Ms. Dalloway. I enjoyed the book and the discussion was nice. I really wanted to spend some more time on the World War I poetry that Susie gave us. I like how all my professors over here can just spout out random lines of poems. I know this sounds nerdy - but I want to pick some verses that speak to me especially and memorize them. Haha. How's that sound?

Anyway - class was pretty intense because we had a three hour discussion. We did get to take a break in which I went to the bathroom. Why should I bother telling you about my necessity for the facilities? Well...The bathroom in the building in our classroom was extremely cold. Literally I thought I would turn into an icicle. Then I remembered Dr. King telling us that the Brits like to leave the bathroom windows open all the time to, well, keep things 'fresh.' Too bad fresh over here is freezing. :)

I'm not THAT cold. Today, however, was rainy. I think I broke my umbrella with the gale force winds, but I'll keep using it anyway. It has cherries on it. Tomorrow I have to take the tube in the morning to get to my British Art and Architecture class and I'm nervous because it'll be rush-hour. I'm just starting to build my confidence about the tube, leave it to rush-hour to get me down.

After class Kemper and I went to go get the proper version of Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1. I spent all day reading it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but there are a lot of people fighting and they are sort of hard to sort out. Did I mention where we went to get our copies? We walked all the way to the globe to go to their bookshop. The book's weren't that expensive and it wasn't too rainy. In fact, on our way back we walked by St. Paul's again. (I don't know what's wrong with me but I forgot my camera. :( Sorry about that.)

BUT...remember the quaint little coffee shop we found called Grace? Well...we got some coffee there. It was cheap and absolutely delicious. Apparently they have their coffee beans especially roasted just for their shop in Italy. The mocha I got was so smooth and creamy. Man. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Anyway, I forgot to mention that on our way to the Globe we walked by King's College on Chancery Lane. That building was gorgeous. We found ourselves winding around these windy streets and an interesting staircase that went through this quaint little brick archway. I'll have to go back so you can see it, the architecture was beautiful and the street wasn't all that busy because it had the appearance of the dead-end. Of course, the secret stairs proved that assumption to be wrong. :)

I made a great sandwich for lunch with my special bread and I had fresh grapes. (I don't know what my strange need is to tell you my daily menu - but oh well. Maybe it's for Jess my little cook?) After lunch I laid down in the hallway (I HATE desks) and read Henry IV. I am now making a character list to be sure I've got everyone straight. I've got to be sure I do well in this English class - it's a big deal. I don't want to be ill-prepared.

Let's see...OH YEAH. I went to a show called Punk Rock tonight at the Lyric Theatre with my British Life and Culture class. The show was interesting. It's about how the pressure of the school systems over here (basically getting into university) can be overwhelming. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the actual play itself but I enjoyed the acting for the most part. The play left a huge twisted knot in my stomach and makes me think I'm not a fan.

Kemper and I have been working on our Newspaper project for the British Life and Culture class as well. Each of us bought an issue and on our forty-five minute ride to the Lyric Theatre we each read a section. I ended up reading what is termed the Guardian's "Education" section. I had no idea how big of a deal getting into school was - well Uni. I feel like we have problems in the states but I think it's more complicated over here. Something like 190,000 students didn't get into Uni this year. That's a big deal. The government put a restriction on school's recruiting rules, so...I don't know. I sort of feel guilty for studying over here. I wonder how I personally affect the thousands of upset University-less 18 year olds.

ALSO...I'm still trying to wrap my mind around their school system in general from the beginning to the end. I thought Little Rock was crazy constantly changing the public school system from a junior high to a middle school back to a junior high and zoning and so on. NO. Well...over here it's much more complicated. Don't even get me to explain the difference between a public and private school because there's nothing to explain considering that they are the same thing. Hmmm. Interesting. I'm definitely interested.

Anyway, I feel like Kemper and I were blending in on the tube more so than usual. We were reading a news publication just like everyone else. I was all excited. Then I was devastated because I don't want to end up like everyone else over here. Then I had to laugh because as I was thinking this our train just completely stopped in the dark. That's never happened to me before. At times like these I have to remember that I'm me, and weird things happen to me. Luckily we arrived to the theatre on time. We even popped into cafe nero to chat for a bit before we went to take our seats. I took a couple of pictures - ummm...The quality is not the best.

I'll be updating you guys again tomorrow. For now I'm off to take a shower and enjoy the comfort of my blanket and stuffed animal. What can I say? I'm a big kid at heart. Miss you guys.

Cheers.

The Thames Festival and The Letter!

Hey familial unit!!!

First of all, let me tell you something rather fun. For those of you I correct in grammar all the time - feel free to laugh and know that karma always has her way. (Yes - I am a feminist therefore Karma is a she!) :P I cannot pronounce anything here correctly. The street names, the tea names, the everything. So I learned in the best way possible that the river "Thames" is not pronounced 'Th-Ames'. Nope. Not at all. It's definitely pronounced "Timms." And actually, I think I knew that but my brain can't help but set my mouth up to pronounce 'Th-Ames' every time...Uh. Right.

There's this thing in London called the Thames Festival. The mayor actually puts it on - at least that's what all the little brochures say. They have different stages with different genres of music. Kemper and I accidentally walked into it on Sunday. We were productive a bit earlier in the day at our favourite city hide-away of St. George's gardens. We spent the morning there and then we decided to walk around. We just left the flat and started walking in a vague direction.

Well. I like this whole let's wing it mentality. The only problem is - we both realized a little late - that neither of us had our maps. Of course. Well, I had a small panic attack because I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going. However, we both burst out in laughter because there is the tube. Oh yes, the tube can save you if you get lost. Just jump in grab a line that'll take you to where you live, and you're safe. (But, in the future, I'll take my map with me everywhere I go. I pinky promise. :) )

Anyway - so we were just walking and we found some really beautiful Cathedrals. There is this one church, St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate, which we stumbled upon. It is absolutely beautiful, and we read this informative sign on the door. Apparently this church is popularly known as The Musician's Church. They have beautiful choral presentations every Monday. Kemper and I plan to come listen to the choir later on in September. (I don't have beautiful pictures of the church or most of my wanderings on Sunday because I left my camera at the flat - HUGE mistake - I won't do it again. So, sorry for the lack of photos.)

We kept on walking and found a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the city. It was in commiseration of an old church and there were beautiful roses in every colour everywhere. Kemper and I took pictures of each other stopping to smell the roses in the city that is always in a hurry. Seriously. Everyone here is always either jogging, running, or power walking to their destination.

They're not doing these things for recreation, they just seem to be in a dire hurry. Maybe there's a time warp and they are just used to the fast pace of London. Either way, I find it annoying because I think that most Londoners probably don't know about that garden. It's a peaceful place - I actually layed down on the ground and stared up at the blue sky with yellow and pink roses dangling about. It was BEAUTiful!

Let's see. We found St. Paul's cathedral after we enjoyed our time in that quaint garden. St. Paul's is absolutely astounding. We entered the court-yard and I literally had to stop for fifteen minutes and stare in awe at the building. It's crisply white with gold saints and huge columns. Oh my. I felt so small and yet like I was somehow a part of the grandeur of the building, the feeling is pretty much indescribable.

We walked through the courtyard and out onto the cobblestoned paths surrounding the great doors that are housed beneath huge stained glass. I want to go to church there. There's actually a free lecture that Kemper and I will go check out in a couple of weeks, but I'm pretty sure I want to come for a Sunday. Maybe I'm having nostalgia for my Catholic high school - but the building was amazing.

Around St. Paul's the streets were skinnier and they were also really windy, as if they were still in their original layout from the past. Who knows? Kemper and I found a neat cafe called "Grace" because it's a stone's throw away from the Cathedral. We promised we'd come back because it's so quaint.

We continued walking to the river - and we happened upon the Thames festival. I remember Julia writing about how pretty the fireworks are over the river so I got excited. We walked up and down the festival, listening to a strange jazz band and an even stranger dj. There were a bunch of booths with strange trinkets and I almost bought some yarn and some needles so I could knit. How silly is that? We didn't buy anything but we were getting pretty hungry.

We had to run around and walk all the way back. We finally just jumped in the tube to come back to eat. However, I was all sad because I thought we were done for the day and were going to miss the fireworks. Actually - Mandi texted Kemper and asked if we wanted to watch the fireworks. Even though Kemper and I were exhausted we went back out and I took my camera along this time. (However, I couldn't figure out how to put it on my fireworks mode - haha - so don't judge the pictures too harshly!)

We got on a bus (yes one of the weird red ones - the drivers are literally crazy!) and ended up right next to the river. We got out and joined the que lining the walls against the river. We were somewhere close to the eye and I took a picture. It's kind of hard to make out, but Big Ben is all lit up in the background. :) I will go back sometime and take a picture of Big Ben and Parliament all lit up at night. (Did I mention that we get to tour Parliament soon? I'm pretty pumped.)

Anywho - the fireworks went off!! It was splendid. They were so beautiful over the river. However, one thing that was a bit saddening (I guess because I miss watching the fireworks with my Dad and Jess on the grass at the country club golf course) it was so loud! The sound waves bounced off the surrounding buildings and amplified the sound of the roaring a million fold! (Ok, I'm exaggerating, but it was loud).

I still enjoyed them. And it was a great way to end another day in London.

Now - today - Monday was eventful as well. I GOT MY LETTER!!!! I posted a picture of my letter that you guys sent me. First of all, I bet it's kind of weird for you guys to think that I've ended up with this lovely letter that traveled all the way overseas to me! You have no idea. I saw it on the floor (because they slip the mail through the slot - how cliche) and I screamed. I was on the way to cafe Nero with Claire and Erin and I was literally all, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I think I scared the two of them to death. Well, I picked my letter up and ripped it open and I've read it at least ten times since I've first laid my eyes on the "We miss you" written in Momma's handwriting on the envelope! I went to cafe Nero with Claire and Erin and read the letter on the way over. I got a really neat coffee thing that was delicious. I can't remember exactly what it was called - but I took a picture of the immense amount of whipped cream they put on it. Gramner it makes me think of all the times we used to go to Starbucks after school! (Except that this coffee puts Starbucks to shame, even though Cafe Nero is a chain as well...)

Let's see...Then we went to a new grocery store today. It's a good thing because I was completely out of food. I ate a lot today. I made quesadillas for dinner with fresh veggies and hummus and cheese. Oh man. It made me think of the time Jess and I first made them with hummus. So good. :)

Hold on now, I got ahead of myself. Kemper and I decided that we wanted to plan our weekend trips today. We have Northern Ireland, Scotland, and maybe Paris on the list. The only thing that's set in stone at the moment is Northern Ireland. I'm excited. We got all that sorted out - but we sure took a long time battling numbers and dates. We also want to take a day trip to Oxford sometime in there...

We left this morning in the search of a cafe with free wi-fi. The plan was to get some nice hot tea (it was rainy in London today and colder than it has been up until today) and plan things out. Well, we got to Foyles - which is really neat. It's a cafe and a bookstore together and you have to go up these really spindly stairs to get to the cafe. However, they were really really busy and there weren't any chairs to sit on. SO...Kemper and I went walking in some random direction.

We were in soho - haha. We kept walking past interesting looking lingerie shops and such, but we finally found a pub (of all things) with free wi-fi. So we went in and at the time it wasn't really busy and we found a nice corner to sit in and we ordered a snack. I got some strange potato wedge things that were pretty good. Later after the potatoes I ordered a fosters. We were getting frustrated battling the hostel websites and it was becoming late.

Well...late and a pub usually means business. We started to feel out of place - we had picked an upper scale pub where posh looking middle-aged Londoner's were glaring at us for taking up a whole table with our computer and college looking expressions and clothes. We ditched soho and headed back to Foyles. We found it way less busy and so we finished our deal and are due to go to Northern Ireland soon! I'm so excited!

Anywho - I'll do my best to keep you guys updated and posted and content with pictures. Thanks so much for the letter! I miss you all. I must now go and read Shakespeare as I've been procrastinating.

Enjoy my scare pictures. I'll take more next time. :)