Meso-Spontania

My brother gave me some advice for Spring Break: plan, but be open to spontaneity. My Monday typified that advice perfectly.

I had planned my day pretty carefully. I was going to spend the morning and afternoon in Greenwich, and then go the see The Woman in Black in the evening. Unfortunately, when I checked to TFL (Transport for London) website, there were “serious delays” on some of the Tube lines I would be taking, so I changed my plans.

Because of the “serious delays” on the Tube (they turned out to be no more than five minutes or so, but too late, I was on to plan B) I decided to go to a closer museum. The Cartoon Museum is by the same Tube stop I use to get to school, so I headed there.

Now it’s good news/bad news time. Bad News: the Cartoon Museum is closed Mondays. Good News: it is within sight (sorta) of the British Museum! Engaging plan C! So dear readers, as much as I would love to tour you around Greenwich or Cartoon Land, it is off to Ancient Mesopotamia for us!

Since the British Museum is FRIGGIN’ HUGE and impossible to do all in one day, I decided to concentrate on the exhibits for Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome.

This is the outside of the museum. Not all of it mind, merely all that would fit in frame.

The Great Court has this huge circular structure (it’s actually the reading room) in the middle of it. I like this picture because I got some nice shadows from the glass roof.

This is another picture of the Great Court, showing the open space.

Egypt may have been a mistake. I had forgotten that every school child ever has a lesson on Ancient Egypt where they visit a museum. I was swimming against the tides of at least one primary and on secondary school. Despite the crowds, the exhibits where fascinating. Here are some of the artifacts.

The very first artifact I saw was the Rosetta Stone. It is a lot bigger in person.

“If you ever find yourself near Rameses, get down on your knees.” No, I didn’t kneel, but I did grab a picture of this huge bust of Rameses while quietly humming Joseph to myself.

Colossal Scarab. Sorta speaks for itself, don’t it? This is one of the largest images of the scarab beetle known. For scale, the green sleeved hand in the pic belongs to a little girl around the age of 7 or so.

These are some mosaics from Halicarnassus. I still can’t believe people walked on these pieces of art. In case you were wondering, no, that man is not posing. I don’t even know who he is; it is just impossible to take a picture in a stairwell without people walking through frame.

These are some paintings from the walls of the tomb –chapel of Nebamun, a rich accountant from around 1350 BCE (we don’t say BC anymore, it isn’t hip, and AD is now CE). These paintings show an idealized version of Egyptian life, rather that the realities of life for the poor and middle classes.

This is the sarcophagus of Artemidorus from about 100-120 CE. I was fascinated by this because of the portrait. It was not uncommon in this period to have portraits painted of the deceased, but most of the time the paintings got separated from the mummies over the years. Arte is unique because we can compare his portrait to images generated from modern facial reconstruction techniques, such as CAT scans of the skull. Turns out, Arte’s portraitist probably flattered him a little; giving him more delicate, slim features, but the portrait was almost certainly done from life.

Some pictures are just more impressive big. This is a wall of reliefs from the interior of a funerary chapel of a Mairotic Queen. Fun tidbit about Mairotic rulers: whenever a queen ruled, her title was “Kandake.” Of course, Westerners got this all wrong, and said that the Ethiopians (wrong) were always ruled by women called “Candace” (very wrong). (Fun Fact: Spell checker wants me to change Kandake to Candace.)

After the relief I turned right, and instantly the noise level dropped as I entered the galleries for Ancient Mesopotamia (which, granted, is a bit redundant, since there is no “modern” Mesopotamia). There were some lovely things to see; here are a few of them.

Apparently, Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, was a major bibliophile (Cuneiphile? I MADE A CUNEIFORM PUN!)  Anywhozle, he created a huge library in his palace with thousands of tablets that included works divination, astrology, medicine, mathematics, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh. The palace was destroyed, and many tablets damaged, but here are some of them.

This is a lyre, made of silver, which was discovered in the Great Death Pit, a famous burial site. The pegs and strings are replicas, but the original pegs are on display in front of the lyre.

A room full of red and brown urns? You know what that means: Greco-Roman Artifacts exhibit.

I’m a girl. I stop and look at jewelry. Besides, this is no ordinary crown or tiara, but a diadem, a name which makes it sound infinitely cooler and more romantic. In the center of the band is a tiny little Eros, and he is surrounded by rosettes, palmettes and forget-me-nots.

This is a belt which is, believe it or not, made of silver. Also, it is hard to tell from the pictures, but this belt has a circumference not much bigger than that of the diadem. This thing is tiny. Other than the size, I was intrigued by the belt buckle, which is designed as four intertwined snakes.

I was surprised to learn that blown glass was such an old commodity, but this vase is from 200-300 CE. It is a little hard to see, but the vase is actually decorated with pinched ribs.

These are Greek auloi, or pipes made of wood, metal or bone, that were played with reeds, like an oboe. These pipes were usually played in pairs, that is, two reed in your mouth at the same time (as a clarinetist, I don’t even want to think about how you would work that).

After the Greco-Roman galleries, I had a little time to kill before a tour I wanted to take. Here are some of the pictures from my wanderings.

This is a statue of Thalia, the muse of comedy. This statue struck me because of how wonderfully it was preserved; she was carved in 2^nd century CE.

This is a huge, beautiful clock that was built in 1589. The picture really doesn’t do it justice, it is at least 3 feet tall, and it is sitting up on a pedestal. I was fortunate enough to be next to it when the hour struck, and I got to hear it play “Vater Unser”, by Martin Luther.

One of my classes is reading a book about longitude, John Harrison, and chronometers, so clocks have been on my mind lately. This is a rolling ball clock, so called because the tray that the bottom of the clock has a little steel ball that rolls back and forth along the runners, triggering a release when it reaches each end, so the tray tips, and the ball rolls back. This type of clock is very unreliable, but darn cool to watch.

This is a display of alarm clocks through the ages, which I thought was just kinda cool. My favorite is the big white one, far right on the bottom, which is also an automatic tea-maker.

The tour I was waiting for was an Eye-Opener highlights tour of the money exhibit. Here are some of the pics from that collection.

They actually let you hold some of the coins here. This is a picture of me holding a teensy silver coin from Judea. The image is of a Jew, sitting down depressedly at the feet of an armed guard. The actual lettering of the coin reads more like “IVDAEA”.

This is a map, of sorts, that charts the rise and progression of coinage throughout the world. To me, the most interesting part of this chart is the top right. You see that spade-looking thing? Well, that is an early Chinese coin, which was developed independently of coinage in the rest of the world. Following down the line of Chinese coins, you can see it approach the more familiar shape of round with a square hole, which represents the square earth and domed heavens in Chinese mythology (I love random facts).

I know this is not the best picture, but I wanted to post it anyway, because these are pieces of eight (go ahead, make a pirate joke). Apparently, this was the first ever international currency.

More Chinese money! The Chinese were the first ever people to use paper money, and consequently the first people to experience inflation as a result of overprinting (oh, human nature, you fickle fiend you). This note was worth one thousand “cash coins”, the little coin with the 7 underneath it.

After I finished with the museum, I headed back to the flat to eat dinner and get ready for Woman in Black. I had ordered my tickets from lastminute.com, and they had sent me an email telling me about a 48 hour ticket sale going on. Of course, I looked over the shows being offered. Imagine my thrill when I saw I could get a ticket to see Macbeth at the Greenwich Theatre for the next night. See! Not going to Greenwich had paid out after all!

But, for now, let’s focus on Woman in Black. It was phenomenal. The show is a thriller, and not the kind of show I would seek out on my own usually (I scare easy), but I kept hearing great things about it, so I screwed my courage to the sticking place and went. The story is brilliant. It is only a two-man show, but the actors were amazing, and it was so easy to get caught up in the story. Lucky for skittish me, there was a big crowd of secondary school kids in the audience, so every time I squealed in fright (sadly often) there were the screams of some preteen girls to drown me out. Despite being scared, I LOVED the show.

That’s all for now. Up next: Greenwich! (For real this time.)

Randoms

Sooooo, I apologize. I haven't posted in forever, and I'm sorry. I do have a nice long post planned, I just have to write it (an ode to Sherlock and Doc Watson *girly sigh*). Also,my Spring break is coming up, and I plan to spend it exploring the city, hopefully with daily updates! (*Gasp!* *Swoon!*) And I have a cold, so a little slack and pity wouldn't be remiss.

Therefore, this is going to be a quick little post, full of random bits, to tide you over until the juicy stuff comes. Mostly, these are just miniature observations that aren't coherent enough for one big post. Here goes.

Improv Abroad
As part of my practicum class, I get to sit in on a Drama class. Last Monday, my teacher let me lead warm-ups, so I taught the British kids how to play Admiral's Tea Party, a very energetic, competitive game something akin to Simon Says. I loved it, and I will probably get to lead more tomorrow! (Not everyone will understand how big a deal this is to me. Admiral's Tea Party was our absolute favorite game at highschool, and we joke that it will take over the world. Sarah Faust already taught it to some kids in Australia.)

Daffodils
I was on the Tube, and I noticed several people wearing little daffodils on their coats (not real ones, silk ones). Finally, I asked a gentleman about it (I know, I broke the no talking rule) and he told me that they were for Marie Curie Month (March) and that people who had lost someone to cancer or knew someone struggling with cancer wore a daffodil in their honor all month. I think this is a beautiful tradition, and I thanked the gentleman for sharing it with me. I think he liked that I asked.

Narwhal Tally
For whatever reason, I keep seeing narwhal tusks everywhere (remember the one in Warwick Castle in my second post?). I have decided to keep a tally of all the tusks I have seen. So far: 6.

Canadian Tally
Partly inspired by my narwhal tally, I am also keeping a tally of how many times little British school children ask me "Are you Canadian?" No. No I am not. Canadian inquiries so far: 8.

Elevator Doors
The doors to the elevators (sorry, lifts) at the Tube station Elephant and Castle make noises like toy ray guns when they open or close. This amuses me immensely.

Brits Kick Ass at Cake
'Nuf said.

Ground Turkey
Can't find it anywhere. Ground chicken is also hard to find, and when found, very expensive. I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, but my nachos taste different . . .

Conserve?
British grocery stores just puzzle me in general. I wanted jam, and the closest thing was "Strawberry Conserve." Actually very tasty, but of a consistency closer to what a southerner would call "preserves" than jelly or jam.

Orange Bits
The orange juice carton says "No Bits" instead of "No Pulp." This makes incredible sense linguistically (I mean, pulp is just bits of orange) but still one of those things that makes you stop and say "Wow. I am in another country."

Doorknobs in the Middle of Doors
I didn't know that was real! I thought it was made up for Hobbiton! But they're all over the place in London.

Well, that's all for now. Hope it was mildly entertaining.

A Short Train Ride

I saw Captain Holly Short on the Tube today. More explicitly, I saw a young woman who strikingly resembles a fictional character from the Artemis Fowl novels, beloved books of my youth (and, let’s face it, present). I start my post with this anecdote to introduce an idea: keep your eyes open on the London Underground, and you never know who or what you might see. Here are some of my interpretations about London society, distilled from observations I have made on the Tube.

 Ignore Unspoken Rules at Your Own Peril

People make jokes about how the Brits love queuing, but there is some truth to it. There are all sorts of unspoken, generally accepted rules, especially about riding on the Underground. For example: on the Tube, you don’t talk. You stand there, you listen to your iPod, you read your paper, but you DON’T TALK. There are exceptions to the rule, such as when there are very few people in the car or it is late at night, but generally you keep yourself to yourself, even if you are traveling in a group. Another unspoken rule is no pushing. This may be hard to believe if you have seen the ridiculously packed trains during rush hour, but even with all the crowding, everyone is immensely polite. And sensible, if they see that they can’t fit on the train, they will wait for the next one and won’t try and force their way on.

Oh the People You’ll See

If you like people watching, hang out in public transportation. Everyone rides the Tube, all ages and social classes (well, maybe not the Queen…), so you see all sorts of people. Some are easy to distinguish, like University students. They usually have a backpack, are reading a textbook, or are at least hanging out with at least 2 other people with backpacks and textbooks. There are HEAPS of business people, in their suits and sensible shoes. Outside of types, there are fun, one time sightings. I was on a train where a girl with a guitar hopped on, played a song, and then asked for donations to help her get to Croatia. I am almost certain that I saw a model once. It was around London Fashion Week, so it wasn’t unlikely, and she certainly looked like a model (6 feet tall, thin as a rail, with those long straight bangs that only fashion people seem to wear).

Trendy Tubing

I have a theory that you can tell exactly how much a trend has penetrated the market by simply riding the Tube. iPods: almost universal. Kindles have a generous following, and I have seen a smattering of iPads. As far as phones, the leading Smartphone is unquestionably the Blackberry. Fashion trends are also fun to watch for. Fun fact: everyone in London wears black shoes. I thought my advisor at Elon was kidding about this, but she WASN’T. Some rebels mix it up, but the majority is overwhelmingly shod in black. Men’s ties are fun to look for. Surprisingly, the two colors I seem to see most are purple and pink, with maybe a bit of red and blue thrown in; I can’t wait to see the spring colors make an appearance. Lastly, there are the bags. Women all seem to have the big handbags that can carry their entire life and an extra change of clothes and the men seem to favor the leather satchel. I’ve mentioned that students like the backpacks, but others use them as well, including the business people.

International Fun

They say London is an International City, but it can take a while for that idea to hit home. It happened for me today during my trip to Greenwich for a class field trip. As I was sitting, minding my own business, I happened to overhear the conversations of the students nearby (we were on an overground train, so the no talking rule didn’t apply apparently). Their words weren’t what struck me, it was their accents. Between four students, there was an Indian accent, a French accent, an Irish accent, and a British accent. Ironically enough, they were talking about a fellow student who apparently “didn’t have an accent.” It was amazing to hear all these voices carrying on the same conversation, and it really made me realize how special a city London really is. And on that philosophical note, I shall leave you.

Riddling the Tube

Hey everyone. So I was riding the tube today, and I noticed that one of the ad panels was a poem, part of the Poems on the Tube project. However, this poem was a riddle, by Gerard Benson. I really liked it, so I thought I would share it with you lot. There is no officially released "correct" answer yet, so feel free to propose and theories you may have; I know I have my own idea as to what it might be.

I was the cause of great troubles, yet, resting amongst leaves, I did nothing wrong.
After much waiting I was taken in hand, passed from one to another.
Broken I moved beyond sharp barriers and was cradled in wetness, mashed to pulp.
Soon I entered a dark tunnel where bathed in acids I altered my being.
But what I entered I also altered, bringing light where there had been darkness.
I brought strife where there had been peace, pain where there had been comfort.
My journey ended in the place of corruption but by then I had changed the world.

Answers and Questions

I am afraid I must begin this post with a chastisement of sorts. Despite my wonderful efforts at creating a game for all of you, no one played. At least, if you tried to guess the characters, you didn’t post your answers in comments, and therefore I have no clue as to who won. Despite that, I am now going to take the time and give the answers for the game.

1.   Pumba

      This was an easy one. The species was a Warthog, and the reference was to the eternally classic Disney movie Lion King.

2.   Kevin

      This pic was of the skeleton of a giant, extinct flightless bird. In calling it Kevin, I was referencing the Pixar movie UP. Since Kevin’s species is never fully named, I would have accepted answers such as “Monster of Paradise Falls” or “Venezuelan Giant Bird” or some such thing.

3.   Richard Parker

      The species is, quite obviously, a tiger. The reference was for the novel Life of Pi, wherein a boy spends months adrift at sea, forced to share his lifeboat with a fully grown Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker.

4.   Ublaz Mad Eyes

      No, this is not a weasel or a ferret. It is in fact a pine martin. The name Ublaz is a reference to the Redwall book series by Brian Jacques, specifically Pearls of Lutra, in which Ublaz the pine martin is the main baddy. 

5.   Hedwig

      Another gimme; do I really need to say it? Oh well. Snowy owl, Harry Potter.

6.   Angus

      This ferocious looking beast is a Scottish Wildcat. The name Angus refers to the pet of British teen Georgia Nicolson in the Young Adult book Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. The character of Angus actually has a personality very close to that of the cat in the picture.

7.   Pickwick

      Remember how I told you all to read some Jasper Fforde? If you had, you would have gotten this one. Pickwick is a Dodo bird, beloved pet of Thursday Next, heroine of some of Fforde’s novels. Pickwick is possibly my favorite character in the entire series, as Pickers steals every scene she appears in.

8.   Frightful

      In a flash of nostalgia, I took a picture of this peregrine falcon and named it after the bird in My Side of the Mountain, a favorite of mine from when I was younger. 

9.   DH82

      Ok, I’ll admit this one was hard. This is another pet from Fforde’s books, this time the household companion of Thursday’s mother, Wednesday. The species is a thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, all of which are currently extinct in the real world, even if not in the fictional. (BTW, I can spell thylacine without looking it up, but Microsoft word doesn’t recognize it.)

10. Teddy

      This little fella is straight from the pages of Sherlock Holmes. He is a mongoose, and he is mentioned in “The Adventure of the Crooked Man” in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Teddy doesn’t do much, other that puzzle Sherlock (which is quite hard to do) and eat a canary, but he does stick in the memory.

I’m going to spend the rest of this post answering some of the basic questions people have been asking me about my stay in London. These are the questions that I’ve been asked by multiple people, so I figured I would put the answers out for everyone to read.

How’s the weather?
A bit drizzly sometimes, but usually it is just overcast. Scarily similar to NC weather actually.

Seen any shows yet?
Yes! I have seen Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband, and I plan to go see many more very soon.

Where do you live?
My neighborhood is called Little Venice, mostly because of the canals that run through it. It is actually a pretty ritzy part of London. When I meet people at the school I practicum at, they all seemed surprised that we, as students, were lodged in such an expensive part of town. Several big names live in LV, including JK Rowling (!). It also provides a nice opportunity for punning; I passed a newsagent (small corner store) that had “Merchant of Little Venice” on the sign. The building I live in is Clifton Gardens, and it is a nice, white building with a little wall in front. My flat is big: 3 bed, 3 baths. It has to be, there are 8 of us that share it. It is a really nice flat, we have snazzy leather furniture and glass tables that are all brand new because the students before us complained so much that Anglo American updated all the flats.

What are the meals like?
Pretty good actually. I know British cooking is supposed to be stereotypically bad, but it isn’t like I am living in a British house or anything. My meals are all either cooked by me or bought at a little café, pub or restaurant if I eat out. I will say this, the Indian and Thai food is INCREDIBLE. We have a Thai place just down the street, and another restaurant that delivers if you order above £10 (very easy to do if you order as a group).

What’s the deal with money?
Confusing. Far too many coins (there are like 8 or 9 in common circulation compared to America’s 4). My aunt actually gave me great advice on saving money though: when you hear it in pounds, automatically double the price in your head for dollars, even though that is not the exact exchange rate. Therefore, you will think you are spending more money than you are, and stop spending sooner, therefore saving money. Another great thing about the Brits: no sales tax; it makes reckoning the bill from the menu prices so much easier.

If you have any questions you want me to answer, put them in comments and I will answer them in my next post.

A Week in the Life

I haven’t blogged in a week, and I’m sorry about that, but I’ve either been too busy or too tired or, let’s be frank, procrastinating. Silver lining: because I haven’t blogged for a week, I can give you a blow-by-blow of my entire week, sort of a week in the life type deal. And, as a special gift, I promise to include an interactive game! So here goes.

Wednesday, February 9
Elayne, Brit and I got up early and made a practice run to our practicum school, so that we could make sure we knew which connections to take and how long our morning commute would be. 3 hours later I was back at the flat, where I spent the rest of the day doing terribly exciting things, like laundry and homework.

Thursday, February 10
As part of our GST course all about the Thames River, we take fieldtrips on Thursday mornings, and this Thursday we took a 0.8 mile walk along the river. In the rain. Despite the weather, it was still interesting to learn about the historic sites along the banks (we passed the Globe Theatre!) and our guide was very funny. After the walk, a group of us were in desperate need of hot food, so we ended up getting lunch in an old pub (I’m pretty sure it was called the King George or something like that) were I had a delicious bowl of spicy mushroom soup. In the afternoon, we had History, during which the professor dropped this gem “Korea, the Hermit Kingdom, now run by a truculent munchkin.”

Friday, February 11
Didn’t really do much Friday, other than a good deal of sleeping and reading.

Saturday, February 12
Today we spent some time putting together the group report for our walk along the Thames Thursday.

Sunday, February 13
More resting and homework. I sense a pattern.

Monday, February 14
This was the first time we got to visit our practicum schools for real, so we got up extra early (around 5:45 am or so), dressed all professional, and joined the madding crowds on the Tube and train. My school is Elmgreen, a Secondary school, and lemme just get this out: it is gorgeous. Holy crap gorgeous. And brand spakin’ new. Go here for proof. It seemed very similar to an American middle school (the older students were off campus doing career prep work). Kids will be kids, and frankly, it reminded me a bit of why I don’t want to work with Middle School. After we got done al Elmgreen, we headed back to Bloomsbury Square (where we have classes) for our Teaching Fellow seminar, were we all came together and talked about our schools and everything we had seen.

Since Monday was Valentine’s Day, the boys hosted a wine and cheese party over at their flat and invited the whole Elon crowd. It was great to sit and chat with some of the students on the trip who I still don’t know very well. Also, my glass of Chardonnay was the first drink I had in London. I didn’t much care for it, but I may just need to try a different type (or the guys just bought cheap wine). Ethan, one of our TF boys, was a total sweetheart. He surprised all the girl Teaching Fellows with flowers; red tulips for those who had significant others back in the US, and white daisies for the single ladies. Needless to say, he received many hugs in return.

Tuesday, February 15
Another day of classes. In GST, we presented our group projects about the Thames walk. In theatre, we watched Shakespeare in Love. Then came the long midday break, from 12:15 to 3:00. A group of us went to try this a place for lunch called Hummus Bros and instantly fell in love with it. When you order, you get a bowl of hummus, topped with your choice of protein (I got the chicken), and a big warn pita to go with it. It was delicious, reasonably priced, and almost certain of getting a return visit. After lunch, we all went to Starbucks for the comfy couches and free Wifi, were we remained until History class. Sean produced some good lines during that class, but the best I can’t replay for you. He managed to tell the entire story of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand like it was a farcical comedy, á la Oscar Wilde, and not the start of one of the worst wars in world history.

Wednesday, February 16
Speaking of Oscar Wilde, the first thing I did this morning was go to the tkts booth in Leicester Square and get a ticket to tonight’s performance of An Ideal Husband. Then, I spent about 5 hours exploring the Museum of Natural History in London. It was fabulous. As I was viewing the collections my brain, odd bundle of neurons that it is, would keep making random remarks like “Oh look! It’s a little Martin the Warrior!” when I saw a mouse specimen (RIP Brian Jacques, author of Redwall). And thus, the game was born. Here are the rules: I will give you a picture of a specimen and a fictional name, referencing a book or movie where the character appeared. You get points for telling me what book or movie I am referencing (no googling!) To be nice, I will also award points if you can correctly name the species the specimen represents. There are ten pics, so there is a maximum of 20 points. If a pic has a black box over part of it, it is covering the species card. A caveat: I do not guarantee these are easy, but I swear they are the first connections my brain made. So if you think like me, you win!

The first 4 are all main characters in their own right in their own specific books and movies.

1.       Pumba

2.       Kevin

3.       Richard Parker

4.       Ublaz Mad Eyes

The next 4 are all the pets/companions of human main characters.

5.       Hedwig

6.       Angus

7.       Pickwick

8.       Frightful

The last 2 are the hardest. They are the pets/companions of human minor characters.

9.       DH82

10.   Teddy

Post your answers in the comments!

What the F--- is that?!

Yesterday was the first day of classes. Mostly, it was the traditional “Hi, I’m Mr/Ms/Dr/Professor So-and-So, and here’s what we will be doing this semester,” but it was still fun to get to know the teachers. My day looked a bit like this:

9:30 – 10:30 à Traveling Along the Thames
Dr Delpish, the Elon Professor who came with us, teaches this course. Basically, it is a study of how the River Thames has impacted the history and present life of Britons. There is LOTS of walking, as we go on field trips every Thursday, and also are required to do walks on our own time with group members. No definite impressions about the class yet, other than that I must be sure to wear tennis shoes and bring a water bottle.

10:45 – 12:15 à London Theatre
I KNOW I will love this course. Signs from the theatre gods: 1) We will be going to see As You Like It, my absolute favorite Shakespeare play, in the Rose Theatre; 2) We are also going to see Blithe Spirit, a farce I have read but never seen, and which I adore as well; 3) We are going to see at least 6 other shows I don’t know but am still excited about; and last but not least 4) We are starting the course by watching Shakespeare in Love.

12:16 – 2:55 à Lunch Break
We have an incredibly long time between classes, but still don’t really see the point of going back to the flat. Therefore, I nipped into a paper store to buy folders (FUN FACT: British standard paper is not 8 ½”x11”; it is about 1 inch longer, and so I had to buy folders to fit the handouts from class), grabbed a sandwich for lunch (I had forgotten to pack one), and then a whole troupe of us invaded Starbucks to use the free wifi. Actually, the wifi isn’t free, you have to have a Starbucks rewards card and buy a coffee to log on, but the rewards card is really just like buying yourself a gift card that gets benefits, so we all happily signed up and plan to make our Starbucks coffee/wifi break a weekly tradition.

3:00 – 5:00 à British History
Never have I laughed so hard in connection with Nazis and Charles Manson. Our professor is great, even if he does drop the f-bomb more than a German during a Blitzkrieg. He had many golden moments, but my personal favorite may have been “A ventriloquist on the radio? What the f*ck is that?” For a list of the hilarity, go here. Emily was taking notes. He also showed us a clip of War of the Worlds to use it as an analog for comparing the feelings of the human population under the tyranny of the Martians in the movie to the circumstances of the indigenous cultures displaced by the British Empire.

5:00 – 7:00
Rush home and desperately try to get ready and be at swing dancing on time, maybe even a bit early. Fail at goal by 10 minutes.

7:30 – 11:30 à SWING DANCING
My first swing dance in London! I went to the beginner lesson first, to remind myself exactly how Lindy Hop works, and then to the open dance. I got to meet Billy face to face after Facebooking it for a while. I think I held my own fairly well, thanks to my East Coast swing experience. The place was ridiculously crowded, but I got to dance plenty of times (which is always a comfort when you don’t know anybody), and made it home Cinderella style: by midnight with my heels in my purse.