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.

Photo Tours

The past few days have been filled with tours: walking tours, bus tours, the works. On Friday, we took a coach and saw some of the big sites of London, and Saturday we got up early and rolled off to see Warwick Castle and Oxford. Below are some of the pics from the sites, with me explaining each of them. Now, since I was taking pictures with my phone, some of mine didn’t turn out terribly well, so some of the pictures are from other students. I give full credit to Alyssa, Cameron, and David, whose pics I may have borrowed. (Just a quick note: the captions are below the pictures they refer to.)

This is our group with our guide from Friday, Sean (in the purple scarf). Two words: power walker. This guy can book it.

This is Westminster Abbey, of Da Vinci Code infamy (it’s not just me, Sean brought it up, but I have been reading Dan Brown lately). We didn’t get a chance to go in, but it is gorgeous from the outside as well.

Westminster Abbey from another side. Still painfully pretty.

This is St. Margaret’s, which is right next to Westminster Abbey (you may be able to see it in the background of the first picture). We were able to go inside here. This chapel is actually the one Parliament uses for it’s official start of Session prayers and things, and you can see labels on the pews for the different politicians (sorry no pictures).

Inside of St. Margaret’s. This is a stained glass window featuring Queen Elizabeth and her 12 (ahem) boyfriends … The irony of this window is that she outlived every single one of these men. Sean, our guide, called it “stained glass to die for”.

Parliament! Looking all patriotic with the flag and whatnot, not to mention the trademark British sky.

This is a really awesome picture of the clock face on the tower of Big Ben. (Quick Fact: Big Ben is the bell, not the tower). This is not one of my pics; David has an awesome camera, and can therefore take the really artsy shots.

The tower of Big Ben, seen through the London Eye (well, that’s fitting). Emily, another English Teaching Fellow, and I have made a sort of pact: if one of us decides to go up on the wheel, we go together, so if push comes to shove, there will be two quaking acrophobics huddled in the middle of the car. 

This is the oldest wall in London. The base of it (which you can’t see) is actually Roman, and it was built up through the ages. Now, it serves as a piece of the city’s history and a roosting place for the incredibly fat pigeons of London. 

The Tower of London! Final home of treasoners and several English Queens.

Near the Tower of London, Sean, our guide, led us over to this little bricked square by the World War memorial. Of course, we all crowded onto it, to hear what Sean had to say, when he calmly told us that the spot upon which we stood was where treasoners from the Tower of London were executed (Queens got to stay in the grounds). A bit disconcerting, to stand on such bloodsoaked ground, but we all took pictures anyway.

And now, on to Warwick Castle!

Ain’t it purdy?

This is inside the Great Hall at Warwick Castle, adorned for a banquet.

This pic is for the guys. I am actually very happy with it, because, since the pistols were in a glass case, I also caught the reflection of the swords hanging on the wall above them.

Included in the artifacts of Warwick Castle is this Narwhal tusk. The funniest thing about this was the fact that, upon seeing it, a couple of Elon student’s said “Wait, are Narwhal’s real? I thought they were fake animals.” Despite making my day, this comment made me a bit sad about the state of our nation’s youth.

Warwick Castle is a bit Disneyfied, and so they have an attraction called Princess Tower. Of course, every girl on the trip headed their first to satisfy our dreams of being a princess, only to discover that the attraction was for under 12 year olds. Our hearts were broken, but this sign cheered me up a bit.

 This is a tiny hole in the dungeons where they would throw the people who really  got on their nerves. You can’t tell from the picture, but it is only about 1.5’x1.5’.

I did NOT take this picture (remember the London Eye?) but I thought it was a great shot so I borrowed it from Cameron, who was brave enough to climb the tower.


And now, Oxford!

It was a bit crowded. And VERY windy.

This is Christ Church College at Oxford. A few landmarks: you see that big building with the spires in the background right? That is where they filmed the Great Hall scenes for Harry Potter! I will now allow a brief geek-out break. When everyone has collected themselves, notice the bell tower in the upper left hand corner. The bell housed there is Old Tom, and it is tradition that it is rung 101 times at 9:05 to signal the closing of the gates. If you don’t make it in by the last toll, you are locked out, and have to sleep on the lawn; or at least, you used to.

Here are some of the playing grounds at Oxford, no doubt where the practice their famous Rugby. Kevin, I promise to send you your Oxford Rugby shirt soon!

his is a pub by the Thames river, where it runs through Oxford (the Thames, not the pub; as far as I’m aware pubs don’t run).

I saved the best for last. This is the reading room of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The Bodleian is a copyright library, and therefore id offered a copy of every book printed in the English language. Can you say heaven?

This post took FOREVER to write, so don’t expect me to post many more with lots of pictures like this. I may post the occasional snapshot, but it eats up far too much effort and internet time. Toodle-oo! I will post again soon!

Initial Impressions

I know I am a bit late getting up my first blog post, and I apologize. (Blame jet lag, I do.) Since I don’t think I will be able to do a comprehensive story of my first days in London, I will instead provide a list of impressions that have hit me since I left the US.

·         No matter how many seats I have to sprawl on, sleeping on a plane is still uncomfortable. Our flight was way under booked, with the result that there were about 100 empty seats on the plane. Of course, every Elon student instantly claimed 2 or 3 chairs as their own personal property. I chose to take a set of two, because I wanted the window, but despite my extra sprawling room, it was still one of the most uncomfortable sleeps I have ever had. It didn’t help that I was playing an audiobook on my iPod, and every time I would wake up, I would get all confused because the story had kept playing and I had lost track of the plot for 10 chapters.

·         Jokes about crowded London Tube = NOT exaggerating. I have gotten to ride the Tube a couple of times already, and most times it was no more crowded than a normal big city underground. However, at rush hour, it is packed crazy tight. The sardines cliché doesn’t even cover it.

·         I love the pound coin! England has this nifty pound coin that they use instead of £1 notes, and I find them both adorable and useful. It is strange the first time you pay for groceries with coins, but you soon become enamored with the ease of use.

·         I just want normal coffee! I am a bit of a coffee-holic, and I have always lived with a dependable coffee maker. However, our flat does not have a coffee maker, only an electric kettle. This means that I can either buy a coffee pot, or get used to instant coffee. I figured I’d be brave and go for the instant, but this decision left me with the humbling position of standing in the aisle of Tesco’s, looking at all the unfamiliar brand names, trying to determine which was the best coffee for the least cost.

·         Brits Brits everywhere and not a word to understand. Well, I actually can understand most of the accents; I was exaggerating so I could make the reference. I have had great fun listening to all the conversations and recordings and drinking in the lovely accents. I have two especially fun anecdotes to share: 1) In our Health and Safety lecture, the police officer talking to us used a couple bits of rhyming slang, which left us baffled until he explained himself. They were “tea leaves” for “thieves” and “half inched” for “pinched”. 2) When I dialed Vodafone to put £10 on my pay-as-you-go phone, the lady on the recording was extremely cheery. She told me to “not worry if I entered the pin wrong” and “Great job!” after I entered it correctly. Americans, the Brits have got you beat on the whole prerecording thingy, even the lady on the Tube is very polite and actually sounds like a human.

·         Limited internet stresses me out. As an American, I am used to this whole concept of unlimited internet usage, and having a weekly cap on my minutes makes me a bit jittery. I become so worried about how long I am online and how many megabytes I am using, that I end up signing off before I actually do all I meant to do. I suppose I will get better at managing it, but for now it might be my least favorite part of London.

·         The Holmes Homeland.  We had a walking tour of our neighborhood today which ended at Baker Street, and you know what that means: the Holmes fangirl in me went all silly. Our guide quizzed us about who lived on Baker Street (doi) and where he lived. The last question only I and Dr. Delpish knew (really people?) and so now all the group know my intense love of the detective. We actually walked past the museum, which I plan to visit soon. Also, our guide explained that he will actually be leading a Sherlock Holmes walking tour relatively soon, and of course I will be signing up for that the second I can, because I’m hip like that.

·         VINDICATION! Those who know me (or have read my Facebook page) know that one of my favorite authors is Jasper Fforde. However, every time I mention him in America, I get a lot of blank looks. So imagine my joy and surprise when I see an iPad ad in the Tube, demonstrating the bookshelf feature, which proudly displays The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I squealed, got a picture, and thoroughly embarrassed my American friends, but I don’t care, because I have PROOF that Fforde is a popular author, at least in Britain, and that my fascination with him is perfectly normal. And so, I leave y’all today with a mission: find a copy of either The Eyre Affair or The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde, and give him a try, I promise he is worth it.