A weekend in the City of Dreaming Spires

Good day! I just got back from a weekend in Oxford, at the University. It was incredible! My favorite thing about the trip so far. We got down there on Friday and stayed at Balliol College (the University is made up of 39 colleges!). Balliol was founded in 1263! It's amazing for Americans to see things that old, because we don't have any! It was so pretty, all stone buildings, big rounded wooden doors, and little gardens that reminded me of the Secret Garden book. There were trees and flowering bushes, and really green grass. We each got our own room in a little tower.

At night we had a speaker who was an old teaching fellow of Dr. Hatcher. He talked to us about the college and about India, Imperialism, and the book we've been reading in class. It was interesting to get a little different perspective on the book and things than we've gotten in class. It wasn't very long or intense, though. Pat was the only one who really asked questions because he's the only one who knows a lot about Indian studies. It's actually kind of funny, sometimes when we talk about Indians, I have to remind myself we're not talking about native Americans. Haha. Way to be a typical American. It's been interesting to read and hear about people who feel America needs to be warned about the way we're interacting with the world. The book we read, Niall Ferguson's "Empire", is mainly about the rise and fall of the British Empire, its effect on the world, and what lessons can be learned from it. In the introduction, it mentioned America being referred to as "an empire in denial". It's also interesting to hear people talk about Bush and the presidential election, though I don't completely understand the common foreign opinions yet. It looks like Blair is under some scrutiny lately too. I don't watch the news, and I'm often too late to get the free newspaper, so my knowledge is mostly from glimpses of other people's newspapers over their shoulders on the tube. But it is interesting to be exposed to new ideas and views about the US, at least new to me.

Anyway... back to Oxford! After the talk, we went to have dinner at The Crown pub (where Othello was first performed), but the kitchen was closed, so we went to The Beefeater. I had chicken strips (the best I've ever had) and chips (fries). Yummm. Then we got ice cream at a little ice cream parlour. My cone of chocolate was huge, rich, and creamy. I kept licking and licking and it wasn't getting any smaller! Those of us who didn't want to spend the night drinking hung out in Jon's room (he had a big one), and somehow we ended up playing baseball with a crumpled up plastic bag as the ball and our arms as bats. The four corners of the room were the bases, but Jen D. liked to make up her own rules and run to 3rd first, and insist she wasn't out when she was. It was Jen's version of baseball! That turned into a game of horse with the garbage can as the net, and then Jon, Sam and I stayed up talking until 4 am! That's late, especially when breakfast is at 8! We had breakfast in the hall of the Balliol, which looked like a smaller version of the great hall in Harry Potter. It was really cool. Actually, the h.p. great hall, among other things from the movie, was filmed at Oxford! We didn't get to see it, but I saw where Harry's bed was when he was in the infermary in the first movie. Kind of neat. The buildings were all beautiful and looked almost like Hogwarts if you can picture that. And with 39 colleges (though they are each small), you can imagine what it would look like to have that many beautiful old buildings in one place. One of the requirements for the trip was that we take a walking tour of the college, and I'm really glad we did. We definitely didn't see everything, but we were able to go into a few of the colleges, which most visitors usually aren't allowed to do. Each college pretty much had buildings that were connected to form a square if you're looking from an arial view, and they had gardens in the middle. Some had flowers and some were just grass, but they were true quadrangles. I liked it. Each college has a chapel, a dining hall, residential rooms, and a quad, I think. On some of the buildings around Oxford there are little faces that look like gargoyles, and each one has a different facial expression. It's really funny. I don't know how to describe everything we saw on the tour, but it was all big and magnificent looking. It feels like you've stepped into the past, and it feels like an old, well-known college in England should! There are a lot of things about it that make it a place I would love to study at, and it sort of makes me want to look into their graduate programs. But there are also some things that would be very different and difficult. It is intense, I'm sure, to study there, and hard to get in. Most people don't have regular classes, just one hour a week with their tutor who gives them assignments and discusses their work with them. I was told it's a learn-by-writing approach, which sounds like it may also be a teach-yourself approach, which I have trouble with, as you read from my last entry (I've calmed down a bit about that class, f.i.y. Just needed to vent!) But it is definitely fun to picture myself living there! We'll see what happens after graduation (which is only 3 semesters away!!!) Oh, by the way, to attend Oxford as an undergrad and with living expenses and everything, I was told it costs about £17,000 for people outside the European Union, which is about $31,000. The cost of IWU! The tour guide said that Americans are the only ones whose jaws don't drop at the cost, because our private universities are so expensive. I could be going to Oxford! :)

One of the well-known buildings at Oxford is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which has a tall tower that you can climb up for £1.50, and Jen and I did! We went up a veeery narrow, steep stone stairway that was barely wide enough for one person to go up, but some people were also coming down! So we had to climb onto a little ledge with an open slit looking out over the city, and once Jen and I both had to get onto the same one to let people by. So, there we were on a little ledge in a tall stone spiral stairwell, with me pressed up against the wall and hanging onto Jen so she didnt fall backwards down the stairs, both of us squooshed together and looking through the little slit in the stone over Oxford. It was kinda scary and kinda fun. We got to the top and there was a ledge almost all the way around the top of the square tower, with a stone rail so you didn't fall. We could see the whole University and the fields beyond it. It was amazing. We definitely got some pictures, so you can all see what it looked like from up there (and a scary close up of my head with the top of the tower behind me- yikes!). Then we went to the front section of the Oxford Botannical Gardens and got some more beautiful pictures. Along the way we saw two rugby matches going on in a field with some of those old buildings in the background, and a meadow behind us. It was unreal! Sorry for the Harry Potter references, but I felt like I was at a place like Hogwarts, with a bit of a Jane Austen feel to it too. It was majestic, I think that's a good word to describe it.

The other requirement was to go to either the Ashmolean or the Pitt Rivers museum. I went to the Ashmolean, a museum of Art and Archaeology. I didn't make it around to see everything, and I missed some paintings by some great artists we've been learning about in Art class, but I did look at the Asian Art section. We needed to find something we could talk or write about that relates to British Imperialism and/or South Asia, which we've been learning about in Dr. Hatcher's class. I found a stone carving of the Vishnu which is thought to be the first Indian piece to enter a Western museum. And it was brought to England by one of the governors of the East India Company, which we've learned about in class. So it was very relevant to the Empire book. Another cool thing was when Pat and I saw an Indian woman with her two children. They were looking at little brass toy soldiers from India, and she was telling them that that is where their grandfather was from. It was the perfect picture of where the Empire has brought Britain, in terms of the South Asian presence, to see second- and third-generation Indian immigrants in a museum in England, looking at an exhibit of objects from India brought over by English colonizers. The people and the situation, more than the exhibit, ended up demonstrating the things Dr. Hatcher wanted us to learn. So that was neat.

After the museum, we all went to dinner at Shay and Bruce Mason's house. We didn't know them, but Shay went to IWU and they both moved here in July to study at Oxford. They had emailed us inviting us to dinner, so we went, and it was really nice. It was good to be in someone's home, instead of the flat, and Jen, Jon and I had a really good conversation with Bruce. They had two little kids, and their daugher Abigail gave me a picture she drew of an alien named John. It was so cute! It was definitely good to spend time with them and to be with other Americans. I went to bed pretty soon after that, having been going on 3.5 hours of sleep all day.

In the morning, Jen and I went with Jon to a church he thought was Lutheran because he's been looking for one in England, but it turned out that there is just a Lutheran service once a month, and it wasn't today. It was Anglican (actually the church Jen and I climbed to the top of!), and it was interesting to see what that was like. I don't know about their specific beliefs, but the service was very similar to Catholic, and I knew most of the prayers and responses, and sometimes what the reverend was going to say next. The differences I noticed from Catholicism were a communion rail (which I've seen in Lutheran churches, though maybe some Catholic churches have them, I don't know), not believing in the physical presence of Christ in the communion, it being open to "anyone who seeks to follow Christ", and two female reverends, who seemed to be sort of assistants to the male reverend. It felt neat to be in an Anglican church in a beautiful building and aware that I was in Oxford and in England. Sometimes it doesn't particularly feel like I am in another country, but right then it did. One of the women who gave the sermon seemed very educated and knew a lot of detailed background information about the passage we read. That was kind of cool.

So, after a stop at McDonalds (yes, we're still American!), we made our way back to the train station, only to find out that all trains to London were cancelled! They had arrangements for buses instead, so we took a bus to Reading and then got on the train there. I ended up appreciating the detour, because I got to see some beautiful English countryside that was difficult to see from the train. And now we are back in London! It felt strange to be coming "home" to London!

Well, I better stop before your eyes get tired from reading. And my essay is probably not going to write itself, I'm afraid. I just wanted to tell you about my weekend in Oxford because I loved it so much. I don't know if I would say it's my favorite place in the world, but I definitely fell in love with it and it was my favorite thing about this trip so far! Can't wait to show you pictures!
Cheers!
~Jen

Amor Vincit Omnia. (Love conquers all.)

Dance galore

Last night Jen, Allison, Liz H., and I went to see the San Francisco Ballet. It was very good! After we had ordered the tickets, Dr. Hatcher told us we had a visit to a mosque that night, but the 4 of us didn't have to go. I heard it was interesting, but most of the others, after not wanting tickets to the ballet, wished they had gone with us! My favorite part of the ballet (there were 4 separate parts) was the last, where there were about 8 couples on stage, each pair in a different shade of the same costume. It was really cool to watch, and the dancers are very skilled!

The night before, Alison Hatcher took Pat, Jen, and I to a modern dance competition called The Place Prize for Dance. (It was at a place called "The Place"- haha!) Competitors came from all over the world, and on the night we went, the 40 had already been narrowed down to 5. We got to vote on little keypads for our favorite, who would win a large chunk of money, though all 5 would still be in the competition. The dances were..."on the edge" as Alison said. Basically, they were weird. One was a girl in a red jumpsuit moving back and forth in basically the same motion for 20 minutes, with voices mixed in with the music. It must have taken her a lot of concentration and she seemed to be talented, but after 15 minutes, I was just irritated and wanted her to do something else! Maybe if I knew there was some sort of symbolism, but I couldn't figure it out if there was. The other dances were different, though still weird. One was kind of cool- the whole place would go black, and then there'd be a chair on the stage, then black, then a stool, then black, then a person sitting in it, black, two people, black, two people in different poses... I kind of liked that one. There was more to it than that, but it's hard to describe. The only one I can say I really liked was the last one, which had 6 dancers doing a very beautiful dance to African music inspired by the death of a loved one. I didn't completely understand everything in that one either, but at least I got some of it, and it was more aesthetically and mentally pleasing than jumpsuit girl! So, those were my outings this week!

Today was our first quiz... it was horrible. :(
At least I think it was horrible for everyone, instead of just me. It was Dr. Hatcher's religion class (we haven't talked about religion yet, for starters). This class is basically us reading 100 pages a night, then one student leading a class discussion about each chapter. (Not to mention that two weeks after I, and a few others, led the discussions, which was supposed to be a major part of our grade, he decided it wouldnt be for a grade, but instead we'd write a paper about our chapter. Grr.) So when he was telling us what the quiz would be on, we realized it wouldn't be about what we talked about in class. He said we should know key dates and places, so we study study studied these endless dates. Guess what WASN'T on the quiz? A single date! So, after studying the dates, studying the class notes, and trying to get all the important concepts out of the book, I looked at the quiz only to realize that none of what I studied was on there. I think to have a more effective and enjoyable learning experience, there should be less reading and more teaching, instead of leaving us to teach the class, and then testing us on things we weren't taught. So, what was my least favorite class already, today became a target of extreme annoyance and frustration. All the other classes are going well though. We haven't really had any graded assignments yet, so we'll see. I'm going to try to write my first Shakespeare essay tonight, after we go out for Mexican food (and maybe write that paper on the first chapter of the book we finished!) In the words of Winnie the Pooh, "Oh bother!" Hope classes at IWU/NIU/Carthage/etc. are going better than Religion After Empire! :) Miss ya!
~Jen

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt." -Shakespeare (Measure for Measure 1.4.77-79)

a chilly dip in the channel

Hello out there!
Guess who swam in the English Channel yesterday? ‘Twas me! We all went down to Brighton, a town on the southern coast of England (it looked like a British Lake Geneva, for those of you who’ve been there). We saw the Royal Pavilion where King George lived for a while, and then a few of us jumped in the ocean! It was very cold, very salty, and very rocky! Imagine us dashing over the rocks into the cold water (like the crazy Americans we were said to have been), and me being perpetually knocked down by the big waves, while trying to make sure the waves don’t steal my bathing suit! I was only in the Channel for about two crazy minutes, but it was fun, and it’s neat to say I’ve swum in the English Channel.
The rest of Brighton wasn’t particularly interesting or fun. We just sat at a café drinking hot chocolate to warm us up, and then had a seafood dinner, which was very, shall we say, fresh. It was fun, though, to get out of London for a while and take a train ride.
It has been requested that I talk more about what I am doing academically. A lot of our schooling consists of reading about things and then going to see them. We saw the Royal Pavilion yesterday, but I didn’t find it very interesting. It was neat to see Asian inspired architecture in a little English town, though. In my History of London class, we’re getting past the Roman period into the Saxons. We went to an art gallery last week that was built on the site of a Roman amphitheatre from 70 AD. In the basement there is an exhibit with some of the remains of it, and a recreation of it. It was pretty neat. In Theatre we just finished reading Measure for Measure, and then saw it at the Globe Theatre, which was really cool. I’m writing an essay about Justice vs. Mercy in Measure for Measure. Now we’re onto The Changeling and MacBeth. In Religion After Empire, we mostly just read a lot, and then a different student leads a class discussion about each chapter. We haven’t really talked about religion at all yet. We’re learning about how/why the British Empire was created and the effect it had on the world. (Did you know the British call the American Revolution their second civil war?) Our Art class takes us around to different museums and galleries to learn about specific works of art and their significance. The professor is very knowledgeable. Our main assignment is to create a journal full of drawings, postcards, and explanations of what we’ve seen and make it into a mini textbook we could take home and use to teach someone else what we learned in the course. We really don’t have a whole lot of work to do, but we’re always busy, between outings and reading. So, even if it sounds like it’s all fun, we are learning, and the program is using the idea of London being our classroom very effectively.
Tonight is Leslie’s birthday, so I don’t know if we will go out to celebrate or not. I wanted to give her a group picture of us in a frame, but I couldn’t get the printer to work, so I had to draw one. It’s really funny. It’s got 12 little stick figures at a birthday party, and you can tell who everyone is (Jon with his golf club, Liz S. with the pink streaks in her hair, Pat with a book, Leslie with the party hat, etc.) I hope she will overlook the simplicity and poor artistic skill to see the humor and good wishes! I think she will. Well, we’re off to our afternoon class, and then to grocery shop! Sayonara!

more plays, and under the weather

17 Sept.
Happy mid-September! I can’t believe it’s going to be October soon. I’m looking forward to fall. It’s my favourite season. I hope the trees are colourful and the air crisp here, without too much rain. If not, it’ll just give me something else to look forward to about going home. Yesterday I realized I miss Walmart. Weird, I know. But there aren’t big stores like that here, where you can go and get everything at once. Everything is very small and specialized. So when you go to Walmart, Target, or your neighbourhood superstore, think of me!
Last night we all went to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to see Measure for Measure. It was a very good production, with great acting and costumes, and the theatre is really neat. You can probably look it up online. It’s a big circle, mostly made out of wood, but marble pillars and stuff on the stage, and several levels of seats on top of each other, and there’s a big circle opening in the ceiling, so you can see the sky. Kind of like a really tiny football stadium, I guess. It was cool to see it. Something else neat was that the guy who played Barnardine, one of the smallest roles, had the biggest smile at the end. He looked like he was so excited just to be acting and that we enjoyed the show. So that can be a reminder for my acting friends (Krystal and Julia) and for everyone in whatever we do to be joyful and enjoy the moment even if you’re not the star, and that sometimes the smaller parts are what can really make a play, a project, etc. really good. It’s really nice that a bunch of plays are included on the programme. So is a trip to Brighton on Sunday, and a seafood dinner! I don’t really know what else is in Brighton, but I’ll let you know. In a little bit I’m going to see Ae Fond Kiss, a movie that Jen and I are going to write about for our class, because it’s about Indian culture. Then we’re going to look at shops at Covent Garden because we still haven’t, and have dinner, and then meet Allison to see Phantom of the Opera. It’s been playing in London at Her Majesty’s Theatre since I was 2! So it’s pretty popular. The number one musical in London is Lion King, though, and in the world, it’s Mamma Mia. Steve and I are going to see the Lion King, but I don’t know if I’ll see Mamma Mia or not.
This week being here finally started to seem not so perfect, with a stomach ache, way too much reading to do, some roommate conflict, etc. But it’s all working out, and I still like it here a lot. I better go get some stuff done before the movie and play, though. Talk to you later!~Jen
Ok, now it’s later! I went to see Ae Fond Kiss with Jen for our cultural evaluation report. For my own personal entertainment preferences, I didn’t really like it, but for the purposes of the assignment, it was perfect. So, I justify the 11 dollars because ultimately it was for school. After that, we shopped a little, but I was good and didn’t buy anything. We went to McDonald’s for dinner, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat anything greasy after seeing all these advertisements for the movie Super Size Me, about a guy who eats nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days and travels America interviewing fast food experts. (Are they showing it in the states?) The ads have all sorts of random facts, such as "It would take 7 hours straight of walking to burn off a BigMac, fries, and a Coke." So after having just read those at the theatre, there was no way I was eating McDonald’s food. I just spent £4.58 (about 9 dollars) for a salad and a drink! Sheesh! If they don’t want us to eat junk food, they should make the healthy options affordable, don’t you think? Anyway, after that, Jen and I met Allison at Her Majesty’s Theater to see Phantom of the Opera, which has been playing for 18 years. Despite a bad seating arrangement and overpriced snacks (I refused to pay the equivalent of 6 dollars for a tiny cup of ice cream!), it was a very good show. The music, costumes, and sets were amazing. They had really cool effects, like a boat floating in a sea of mist and candles right on stage, and a giant chandelier falling from the ceiling. The cheapest seats were about 28 dollars, most were more, but if you can afford it, I’d recommend the show. I think I won’t see any more movies or plays for a while, though, other than the ones I already have tickets to, because I’m seeing a lot and I don’t want to go broke! I saw a t-shirt with the Visa logo on it the other day, only instead of saying VISA, it said BROKE. Haha.

18 Sept.
Today was not much of a day. I woke up at 8 when Jen got up to go to Bath, but I was tired, so I went back to bed, Then I woke up around 11 with a horrible migraine. After closing the curtain and turning off the a.c. so I could sleep in the dark and quiet, I slept for another 3-4 hours! I woke up feeling better than before, but I’m still a little shaky. I read a sixth of the Empire reading for Tuesday, which was still 20 pages, ate dinner, and just wrote my cultural event evaluation report. So at least the day hasn’t been totally wasted. I think now I am going to the internet café and to find a birthday present for Leslie. Then I’ll try to get some more work done tonight, and tomorrow we go to Brighton! Then it’s back to school!
"Sometimes it rains all over your parade. It’s like you’re reaching for the sun and you’re landing in the shade. But it’s not the end, not the end of the world. It’s just another day, depending on grace." -Matthew West

school, trips, and Batman

September 13
Hi! I’m sitting in my cold room recovering from 42 pages of Empire! How are you? I got some pictures today from Jen’s digital camera and I emailed them to a few of you. If I didn’t send them to you and you’d like them, send me an email at jmele@iwu.edu. I wasn’t sure who’d want them and who’d have enough room in their email account. There are 6 sets of them, each with 3-5 pictures. I don’t remember how much space they take up, sorry. They’re only a select few, and not even of the major stuff we’ve done. I’ve taken lots of good pictures, but I’m one of two people here whose camera is not digital, so you’ll have to wait until December for mine!
Today after Shakespeare class, I went over to the University of London Union for the 3 hour break, to eat my lunch and read for History of London because I still haven’t gotten most of my books in the mail, so I have to borrow them when people aren’t using them. Anyway, it was kind of fun, just to sit on a big window sill, watching people go to their classes and thinking about how I am going to college in London. I spent some time in the gift shop, too, getting some school supplies and a University of London t-shirt. I had to get A-4 sized computer paper, which is what they use here and it is different from our standard paper. There are lots of little things like that throughout the day that are different from home. The toilets flush differently. They have funny handles and you have to push them down fast. The water doesn’t circle clockwise or counter-clockwise, it just sort of goes straight down. The favoured soft drink here is Lilt, a pineapple and grapefruit soda, sort of like an intense version of Squirt. The laundry detergent comes in pellets that you put in a little net bag. I just wash mine in the sink, though. The rain here, I hear, is rarely a huge downpour. It usually rains lightly. And since I’ve been here, whenever it rains, it stops pretty soon afterward.
So that was my afternoon, and this evening I got my food stipend from the Hatchers, went to the Internet café to download (upload?) the pictures, bought my groceries, ate a quick dinner of ravioli and Nesquick cereal (it’s like Coco-puffs), read Empire, and now here I am!Some of you were confused about all the trips we’re going to take, so here’s a less confusing list:
Sept. 17 Greenwich? (optional)
19 Brighton (w/ class)
24-26 Oxford (w/ class)
Oct. 11-16 Newcastle/Sheperd’s Dene/ Hadrian’s Wall (w/ class)
21-24 Ireland (for fun, with 9 of my flatmates)
29-31 Wales- Parc Le Breos riding and holiday centre (for fun w/ 5 of the other girls)
Nov. 5-7 Bristol (w/ class)
12-14 Steve visits J
23-29 Family visits J
Dec. 4 Begin European backpacking trip to France, Switzerland, and Italy! (w/ Jen, Leslie, Sam, and Ryan)
"I’ll be home for Christmas…"
I’m most likely not going to go to Scotland or Spain anymore, because I’m running out of free weekends and would rather not put myself into debt either. Plus, it will be good to have a weekend or two to explore London more and to work on papers for classes.
All else interesting is that I got a phone call at 3:30am today! It was none other than the other half of Jen Squared! (It was the only time she could get to a phone, and I did say to call any time!) It was nice to talk to her, and it reminded me of a time sophomore year of high school when I called her on a payphone from a camp I was at, and then I realized that was 5 years ago! I also realized that after this, I only have 3 semesters left of college! Woah. Well, I think I’ll stop there. If anyone else would like to call or write, email me and I will give you my phone numbers and address, since it’s probably not a good idea to post them on the internet. Or you could just email! I’d love to hear about what’s going on back in the states. All I know is that the Bears lost, because all the parents who called the flat mentioned it! Other than that, I’m a bit cut off from the continent!
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2 days ago) TO LINDSEY!!! (Lindsey is my super-sweet, tennis star, Spanish speaking, alpha omega sister, future roommate in good ol’ Magill, for those of you who don’t know her!)
Sept. 14
If anyone gets a chance, see if you can find a website for London’s "Metro", a free
morning newspaper. Get this, today’s headline is: "Batman stunt exposes royal security
sham. Laughing at the Law: Jason Hatch, dressed as Batman, points at police and a
security officer as he perches on a Buckingham palace ledge." Haha! I heard it was on
American news, so maybe you saw it last night. Apparently he was up there with a
banner for the Fathers 4 Justice campaign. The picture on the front page is hilarious. And
who was his partner in ‘crime’? Robin, of course! Oh, brother. Another exciting
day in London!

Cool churches and the like

Well, hello. Last night I went by myself to an Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a neat experience. It was a service almost entirely sung, by a boys and mens choir. The music was really pretty and so was the cathedral. It reminded me of being in heaven someday and singing with all God's people and angels. :)
After that, Jen and I went to see Before Sunset at a little movie theater in Leicester Square. It was fun. The theater was different and so was the movie. There were a few fireworks outside, I don't know why, but they were pretty. On the tube Jen and I made up names for ourselves based on names of tube stops. She was Kensington Paul, and I was Berkeley Farringdon. We each thought the other's name sounded better reversed! Haha.
This morning Jen, Jon, and I went back to the church on Abbey Road, and at the end we all went outside on the steps with the drums and guitar and everything and sang on the steps for the people passing by. It was really fun. They do it every month or so, I think. People watched as they walked or drove by, and some came over and stayed till the end and we brought out coffee and muffins, and there was a gathering of people outside on Abbey Road. It was a neat experience. A lady named Beverley from South Africa who sang with us took a picture and I asked her to email it to me, so if I get it I'll pass it along! Hopefully I'll be able to send some more pictures too, but I need Jen's flash disk thing. Don't tell him I said this, but sometimes when the pastor is speaking I picture Shrek standing up there, cuz he sounds just like him! :-P
Better not use up all my internet time on one day! Ciao!

Interesting encounters

Yesterday some of the group went to Madame Tussauds, where they have the wax look alikes of lots of famous people. I wasn't there, but Pat took a picture of Patrick Stewart. Then later he went to see a play, and guess who was sitting two rows in front of him? Patrick Stewart! He went over to him and showed him the picture on his digital camera. Patrick said, "Bug off, where'd you get that?" thinking he snuck the picture that night. Pat explained about the wax figure and he thought it was really funny! So, another interesting encounter for the London Program class of 04! A few minutes ago I went with Jon to have lunch at a pub (the New Inn, Mom and Dad- fish and chips, not bad!) and we were sitting there about to eat when a woman at the bar said, "They're playing your song!" We listened, and it was "Kids in America". Haha. She said how appropriate, us Americans in a British pub eating fish and chips and listening to that song. Haha. So, those are my interesting tidbits for today. Jen and I went to see the changing of the guard, but it wasn't today. :( I'm sure we'll catch it another day. It rained a little bit and I got some use out of the really cool umbrella Jen and Keith gave me! Tonight I'll probably read for class and/or go to Hyde Park. I'll write again in a few days! ~Jen

Shopping in London

Good day to all of you back in the States! How’s the weather? It’s been very nice here. The only time it rained was this morning when Jen and I were going to go to the park to take pictures! But today has still been a fun day so far. The two of us went to Leicester Square to look for ½ price theatre tickets, but we didn’t find any we wanted. We got some pizza at a little restaurant for £1 per slice, but if you wanted to eat there at a table, the pizza cost £2.50! How odd. So, we took our pizza and Fanta (I got it just for you, Swanifer!) and ate on a bench in the square. Then we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream because we’ve been craving ice cream and/or chocolate chip cookies. The square had a frozen yogurt place, Ben & Jerry’s, Baskin Robbins, and Haagen Daas (along with 3 Pizza Huts, and 4 movie theatres!). We opted for the Ben & Jerry’s. And what a fine choice it was! Then we headed off to Harrod’s to shop! We found some cute stores on the way, especially our favourite chain here called Accessorize, and we got matching silk scarves, and I got a purse, since my clunky khaki one is not very good for nicer occasions. Anyway, Jen tied my scarf around my neck in a big bow (which I bet none of you have ever seen me wear!) and took my picture in front of Harrod’s. It will be a funny one. I took her picture coming down a fancy escalator! So, Harrod’s was huge, fancy, and expensive, if I had to describe it in 3 words. They have a lot of stuff there, and lots of fancy, incredibly expensive name brands, like Christian Dior, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co. Yeah, a little out of my price range. I did manage to find a few Christmas presents for the fam. (Note to family: you’re not getting any of the aforementioned brands! Sorry!) If not for the Ben & Jerry’s, I would have gotten some Godiva chocolate, but I’ll save that for another day. So, that was my day so far. I was going to see a classical concert with three of the girls, but it was sold out. So, I’m off to the library to post this and try to find a plane ticket from Rome to Heathrow that’s not $500! Then I don’t know what we’ll do. Maybe go to Covent Garden, or just relax here and watch a movie. It’s nice to finally have a day where I don’t have to be anywhere! It’s been go go go since we got here! And I think it mostly will be until we leave!
Classes are good so far, and my first week is finished! There’s not a whole lot to say about them yet, except we visited the National Gallery, the British Museum, and the Museum of London, and I have a lot of reading to do this weekend. Each person is in charge of a day’s reading and leading class discussion about it two times during the semester for Religion After Empire, and guess who has the first one? It’s a pretty long chapter, too. Oh well. We also have to go to two different cultural or religious events having to do with India/south Asia, and write about them, and I plan to go to one event on Sunday, and another in two weeks, so it will be nice if I can have those two assignments out of the way in the first month! For Art, we are supposed to keep a journal and buy postcards and things of the works we see in museums. It is supposed to turn out like a sort of text book that we could use to teach someone else what we learned in the course. Other than that, we have a few big papers and we have 3 quizzes in only one class. And lots of reading. It shouldn’t be too difficult of a semester, as long as I can keep on top of things, with all the events and trips we’re taking. This weekend I’ll be here, next weekend here except a trip to Brighton on Sunday, then Oxford, then here, then here, then a week long trip to Sheperd’s Dene near Hadrian’s Wall, then Ireland, then Wales, then Bristol, then Steve visits, then here, then family visits for Thanksgiving, then finals and then I leave to backpack across Europe (or at least part of it)! So I will only be here for a few weekends. And I might end up going to Scotland or Spain on one or two of them. Busy, busy, busy. Well, off to the library to post this, and to get a new phone card! 112 minutes don’t go very far, do they?
-Jen


"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." –Jawaharlal Nehru

An evening in a cafe

Hi! I’m sitting in the Richoux Café right now, drinking coffee and writing to you on "my" laptop. How European! Well, actually, that’s pretty American too, isn’t it? There is a Starbucks next door! It was too crowded though. Jen’s across from me, responsibly reading Shakespeare, while I sit here avoiding the religion reading I need to finish by morning. At least I already read the Shakespeare! We’re reading Measure for Measure, and we get to see it performed on Thursday! We get to see 6 plays as part of the course! And they’re already paid for! Plus, I’ve seen Singin’ in the Rain with Jen, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with everyone. I hope to see the San Francisco Ballet Co. next week, and also the Lion King. Thank goodness for the half price ticket booth! London is such a great city for theatre (the spell check made me spell it that way! This computer is apparently British!) Today our History of London Professor took us to the Museum of London, which, appropriately, shows the history of London! It was sort of interesting. In 1665 they had the Great Plague that killed over a hundred thousand people in a half year, and then the following year there was the Great Fire! What awful luck! You know, I may not come back with a British accent, but I do notice myself speaking differently. I’m becoming aware of how awfully American I sound, and even though I usually write fairly professionally, I speak pretty improperly. "Like" and "um" are beginning to make me cringe, even though I say them often. Oh, at the museum today, I met some Americans on a programme (my History professor insists that’s how it’s spelled!) based out of Naperville! One guy was from Hinsdale, one from Atlanta, and one from Tennessee. I’ve also seen people from Utah, California, and Florida. It’s kind of neat. And I’ve heard lots of familiar music. Not to mention Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, H&M, Gap, Virgin Records, and Safeway! It’s nice to see familiar things. Still, they aren’t quite the same as at home. Peanut butter here is not the same (thicker and less sugar), the Ramen isn’t the same (Heinz Brand), Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or the closest thing to it) is called Cinnamon Grahams (like Golden Grahams, which they have), Diet Pepsi tastes like regular, and my Oreo box tells me that Oreos are the world’s #1 biscuit! It’s always strange to look at a car and to see empty what I expect to be the driver’s seat! Once there was a baby in a car seat there (maybe it’s legal here), and it looked like the baby was supposed to be driving! It’s still a bit difficult to cross the street, because I don’t know where to look. I’m getting used to the money. Here, have a pound: £! On the keyboards, the @ is where the quotation marks should be, so I always type messed up. The boys were at a pub to eat dinner, and they waited and waited for the waiter, until the bar tender finally asked them if they would order at the counter like everyone else! (I think he said it more nicely than that.) Those are many of the things that are different here. There are lots more, but maybe I’m starting to get used to it. The yield signs say "Give Way." Maybe you’ll notice more when I show you pictures. Well, I think this is enough procrastination for one night. Hope you are enjoying a starry night, which we don’t have here. We do have pretty purple, pink, or red slightly lit skies into the late night, though. It’s neat to see out our big window when I’m in bed. Anyway, have a great September day!Signing Off! Jen

For you Harry Potter fans

I forgot to tell you I went to Platform 9 3/4 yesterday @ Kings Cross Station!
Classes are all good. Our Art class went to the British Museum yesterday and saw the Frieze from the Parthenon in Athens that the Greeks have been trying to get back from the museum for years. And we saw the Rosetta stone that was used to translate heiroglyphs. We are reading Measure for Measure in Shakespeare, and we do some fun excersizes. Today we'll be off in the city for History of London, and tonight I have to read for Dr. Hatcher's class. That's about it, I think. Now to find a plane ticket from Rome to London for Dec. so I can get home!

more fun stuff

Good day! I have to type quickly b/c my groceries are melting under my feet! But I've had a great past couple days. The other night, Jen, Leslie, Ryan, Jon and I went on the London Eye, the big ferris wheel overlooking the city. You're in clear enclosed capsules you can walk around in and see London. It was especially beautiful at night! Then last night all 12 of us went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theater. The theater was beautiful, with vines, trees, and twinkle lights, and the weather was beautiful too. It was a cool night and the sky was red! (Matt said it was so appropriate, because of the evil and also the passion in the play. Insightful. Or a result of the wine he drank!) We've had 3 of our 4 classes so far, and they seem very exciting. Our Shakespeare professor has worked with Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, and Orlando Bloom. Our History of London prof is a little older, with a beard and a pipe. He's funny, and he looks like he belongs in a British library or smoking room with a newspaper. :) They're both very nice. We did fun drawing excersises in Shakespeare that we'll do every day. And we're going to see plays, and the History class will take us on walks in London every Wed. Dr. Hatcher's religion class seems pretty interesting, and I like him too. And Modern Art is in two hours. That's about it, except that I got a package yesterday from Lindsey and InterVarsity with a birthday card and a picture of everyone holding a Happy Birthday Jen sign! It was so sweet! Now Jen and I can look at all (well, most) of our IV friends and miss them even more! Well, now I really should go. Have a wonderful day! ~Jen

Happy Birthday to me! :)

Hello, mates!
Yesterday was my 20th birthday! I went to Portabello Market in Notting Hill with Jon, Jen, and Liz S. and got a few things and looked around. It was kind of neat. Then we went with most of the group to Sports Cafe to watch the big Austria vs. England "footbal" match. They tied. It was really crowded but we had a good table right by the big screen. Pat bought me dinner, which was really nice, and when we got back they all had a birthday cake and flowers for me. It still didn't really feel like my birthday for some reason, but it was really nice. Yay for my flatmates. Today Jon, Jen and I went to a church on Abbey Road. It was pretty neat, and everyone was very welcoming. We knew a lot of the songs from back home (and actually, I've been hearing familiar songs everywhere, it's nice). It's sort of an international church. The pastor is from Scotland, his wife from Czecloslovakia (sp?), many people from Brazil and Asia, and only 4 Brits! They love children there, even though they only have about 4 or 5, and they read a prayer written by a child, and had the kids collect the offerring. They prayed for the United States a few times, for the hurricane victims, the president, and the upcoming election, that the right man for the job will be put there. It was pretty neat that they prayed for us and I think they would have even if we weren't there. It's also interesting how important our election is to people all over the world! We don't even think it's that important sometimes, and may not even vote, but the election will affect the world. Wow. Well, I think that's it for now. Classes start tomorrow! Hopefully I can write more in a few days. Oh, I've got tickets/reservations for Ireland and for Wales! We're working on Barcelona or Scotland. We're also trying to get tickets to a premiership football match, but they're super hard to get. Anyway, thanks for the birthday wishes many of you sent! Hope you're having the nice weather and good times that we are!
Love, Jen

"If one is tired of London, he is tired of life. For there is in London all that life can afford." -I forget who said it, but I'm finding it to be true!

Hi! I don't have much time, but I just wanted to tell you about my cool night last night. Jen D. and I went to get tickets for Singin' in the Rain (which was great!), and we happened to be in the square where Tom Cruise was doing the premier of Collateral Damage! We climbed up on a garbage can to see, and I think I may have gotten a picture. We'll see if it turns out. Well, thought you'd find that funny! Bye for now!

I'm HERE!

Hello! I am at an internet cafe in London with the other girls! On the way down the stairs I stepped out of a man's way and he said "Cheers." Hehe. The flight was good, 6 hours instead of 7. We had a 2 hour adventure in the airport trying to find Dr. Hatcher, but we did. The ride to the flat was crazy because our driver almost hit a bunch of bikers, and we went through some neighborhoods that were not as nice as I expected. We got to our flat and that wasn't really how I pictured it either (including the rooftop garden...). But the flat has grown on me, and after walking around St. John's Wood and then after the tour of the city today, I think we all feel better, and it's more as we pictured. Jen and I share a room that is actually kind of pretty, with a room length dresser and window, and everything's white and kinda fancy. We're connected to our own bathroom, and to a single room Cary, BJ, and Steve can stay in when they visit. We went to Pizza Express for dinner, which ironically is a very nice restaurant. They have fancy pizza, like mine which was artichoke, zucchini, garlic, and mozzerella, with no sauce. There's a Starbucks, which is comforting to see because it's familiar, though it's too expensive to go to often. I'm gonna treat myself soon, though. Today after orientation with Anglo American in a really nice hotel or conference center or something, we took a tour of London and saw Buckingham Palace (Jen and I jumped in the fountain and took pictures!), St. Paul's Cathedral, London Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and lots of other sights. We saw the building that was used for some of Gringott's Bank in Harry Potter, for all you HP fans out there. Oh, and yesterday I walked to Abbey Road, for you Beatles fans. :) Jen, Liz, and I also took the tube to get groceries at Sainsbury's at O2, which was a pretty cool place. And the groceries weren't too expensive, which is a nice break because everything else here is. That's about all I can think of right now, or actually, all I have time to type. Tomorrow we're going to see the college we'll be going to, and in the afternoon a few of us may go to the zoo. Saturday we'll probably go to the Lords Cricket Grounds and to an American sports bar to watch a soccer game, or a Cubs game if there is one. Well, that's all for now!~Jen