London Marathon

Today was the 29th London Marathon. It was a beautiful day for the race. The sun was shining and the day was warm, loads of people flooded the city to take part in or watch the event. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go watch. However, I did go to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park by Marble Arch, if you ever get to go you walk through the arch and you're pretty much there, you'll see a circular building with speaker's corner written across it, just walk that way. Listening to the speakers was an interesting experience. People literally get up on their soap boxes (or step stools) and talk about whatever they want; religion, politics, world issues, etc. It seems that many people go just to have a good argument. There was a small crowd of people of all ages surrounding each of the speakers, and while most people wandered from speaker to speaker there were a memorable few who made their presence known. One such memorable person was a man who, with beer in hand, managed to find something to argue about with every speaker, he even laid down on the ground at one point to try to prove a point.
Tomorrow classes begin again, and all the tube lines will be open (there were closures again this weekend for maintence, though not as many as during Easter). Tuesday is another play, "Time and the Conways". Then, on Thursday, I'll be on my way to Scotland!!!

Pictures: Windsor

One of the many swans in the river

Windsor Castle from the road

The river seperating Eton and Windsor
(The white specks are swans)

Windsor Castle from the top of a ferris wheel

End of Week 4

Time goes by so quick here, I can't believe that it's already the end of my first month here. By the end of next week I'll be in Scotland and Ireland for my midterm break! Everyday is a busy day, I'm always doing something or seeing some new part of the city, it really is amazing here. It seems so natural to be here now, I've gotten used to getting around and going to class, but at the same time it still seems like I've only just arrived. I'm still constantly learning something new. A quid (I'm probably spelling that wrong) for example is just another word for a pound. It confused me for awhile when I first heard it, I ended up asking Mike what it meant. It's exciting though when I go somewhere for class or for a play or something else, and I recognize where I am, the city isn't a giant and confusing place of entirely new things anymore (it's a giant, confusing place with a few familiar things). I've come to appreciate the public transportation system here as well. It's amazing, you can take a train or bus just about anywhere and it doesn't cost a fortune. And in a round about way transportation reminds me of something absolutely unfair that I learned, it's common here to get 4-5 weeks vacation time from work, not just the standard American 2 weeks. The lady I was talking to couldn't imagine having so little time off and not being able to travel.
While in London I highly recommend the following:
>Sitting in a park on a nice day
>Going with friends to a pub (Dancing Friday nights at O'Neills)
>Getting theatre tickets ("Three Days of Rain" was incredible)
>Going to a museum, most are free after all
>Taking a train somewhere (The countryside is beautiful as are the small towns you can find)
>Getting to know some of the people (Initially they might not smile at you, but people are really nice, and can often give you directions when you get lost)
>Shopping at Primark
>Trying different foods (simple things, like ice cream, can taste completely different. Chocolate here is to die for, even hot chocolate is way tastier)
>Taking a bus or walking rather than taking the tube (The tube can be faster and easier, but you don't see as much of the city)
>Getting away from super touristy areas (Westminster Abbey, Parliament, etc) Other parts of the city aren't that busy and crowded and people are nicer because they don't have to deal with 100s of tourists

Pictures

Kensington Gardens

Down a path in Kensington Gardens

Chairs out by the pond, Kensington Gardens

Me, Becca, Darby in line for a rollar coaster at Thorpe park

Easter Weekend

Easter is a huge holiday here, its equivalent in the states would probably be Christmas. The schools get two week vacations during Easter and most people travel or spend time together during Easter weekend (Good Friday and Easter Monday are both bank holidays so people don't have to work). Since everyone was gone this last weekend, the underground closed down some of the lines in order to do repair work. They worked on the lines 24 hours a day those four days while I attempted to figure out the bus system in Harrow. I was somewhat successful, but the tube seems a little bit more reliable (I waited entirely too long for a bus that never came). I was incredibly happy when the tube started running again on Tuesday.
Apart from tube delays and closures, the weekend was fun. On Friday my friends and I went to O'Neills a pub, it was really fun, we ran into some people from the semester group and hung out with them the rest of the night. Pubs are a great place to meet up with people and hang out, and at O'Neills there's dancing later in the night. Sunday, we decided to go to Thorpe amusement park (and just because it was Easter Sunday didn't mean that people weren't at the park). Like I said before, Easter is family time, so people went to the park to spend time with their families. The lines for the best rides were huge, but the majority of them were worth the wait, the best 1.4 minutes of your life :) One of the rides, Saw (based off the movies) had a wait of about 2 hours, then while in line, got shut down for repairs. After three hours of waiting, we finally got on the ride. It was nice though to get away from the city and culture for a day of of meaningless thrills.
A nice thing to do in the city, especially when the weather is nice, is going to a park. You get a momentary break from running around in the city and being around people all the time, plus the parks are really pretty. Yesterday after class I went to Kensington gardens with Darby and Becca. It was a nice day and the park was pretty, we just sat down by the pond and enjoyed being away from concrete and cars.
Between classes today, Becca and I went to Westminster Abbey and walked around inside. It was beautiful and just really neat to see. I was really excited for poets corner, it takes up the entire South end of the transept. There were commemorative plaques to all sorts of people, plus graves, likes Chaucer's. My English Lit/Art History soul was singing with pleasure. Tomorrow it'll be doing the same thing when the program goes to Oxford! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's excursion.
I'm still loving that classes take place in the city and museums. Art is so much more interesting when you're learning about it as you stand in front of it. And reading a work like Great Expectations is great when you actually recognize the places that Pip talks about. One of the characters in the book was educated at Harrow school which is just up the road from where I'm staying, I was really happy when I read that part. :)

Falcons, Muffins, and Cupcakes

Something really interesting today- I got to see a falconer. He was up on the roof of the Courtauld Gallery and was using the falcon to catch pigeons around the building. And, something I discovered today, once comfortable with the tube system, stop taking the tube and walk instead. Many of the stops are really close together and when you walk around the streets you find a lot of really neat things. On accident I stumbled across Drury Lane (I didn't meet the muffin man though). Also, because I wasn't in the popular spots (or touristy areas) of the city, there were a lot of really cute and cheap shops. There was this one pastry/coffee shop that I ran across that had really cute and really tasty cupcakes.

ICE & pics from Greenwich day trip last week

Greenwich














The Royal Observatory (where the Prime Meridian is)









It seems like everyday here is spent doing something. Martin said when we first arrived that we should never be bored because there is always something to go do or see, and he was right. Between the program, with excursions, classes, and plays, and then exploring London on what free time you have, there is barely time to sleep some days. The longer I'm here and in the program the more I enjoy it. The classes are fun and almost weekly we are able to go and see a play. This week we saw "Death and the King's Horseman" which was really interesting and good. Last night I was also able to see "Wicked" (not part of the program), but it was amazing, London has a lot of different plays and musicals playing all the time, and they're worth going to outside of class/program time.





Part of the program includes a class every few Wednesdays from Martin called ICE or inter cultural experience. We had our first ICE class today. Martin brought in each of the different London papers (the non free ones) and talked about the media in Britain including television and radio. Newspapers are much more important here, and more interesting (to me at least). Every morning on the tube, people have a newspaper. It's an important way to get information and news, more so than on the TV. I find myself picking up papers (the free ones usually, or ones left on the tube) when in the states I never read the paper. Regardless, the ICE classes are mostly going to focus on the cultural differences between Britain and the US (like the media and the importance of different mediums), and later in the quarter we are going to be able to go to Parliament. The program is really good about getting students to go and see things but also to experience more than just the typical tourist things and see things outside of what is taught in the classroom.

Kew Gardens

Inside a greenhouse at Kew Gardens

Today, we topped off a long week with a tour around Kew Gardens. Last night AHA, both the semester group and the quarter group, went to see/listen to the Apostles. It was the story of Jesus told through music using an orchestra, choir, and 6 soloists playing different parts (Jesus, Judas, Mary, etc.), and Martin was in the choir!! The program is really great for taking students out to do and see things.

Kew Gardens Peacock and someones little boy

Classes the past few days have been amazing. We get out of the class room and see different parts of London. For our British novel class we were able to go to the library and see original manuscripts of different works. I was able to see a copy of Ben Jonson's Volpone and I saw the Lindesfarne Gospel! The week ended though, with another group trip, this time to Kew Gardens (like I said before), it was a cold day for it though. It was still enjoyable to walk around in a natural place while still being in London. Inside the greenhouses were really amazing. Outside there wasn't much in bloom, so there wasn't a whole lot to look at for the casual observer, but the greenhouses had all sorts of flowers and plants, plus the houses themselves were astonishing. Three of the houses were from the Victorian era and were beautiful.

One of the Greenhouses

It's nice though that the weekend is tomorrow, it seems that all week we have been running around for classes and the program, and while it's all been fun and interesting it's also been very tiring.

The same greenhouse (taken from the tree top walk)

If you want to see the streets of London there is a feature on Google maps UK that allows you to see the city at street level. It's really neat and helpful at figuring out where you need to go!

G20

Today was the beginning of the G20 meetings taking place here in London. I'm not very involved in politics, but it is interesting to be living in a London home while this meeting is going on. The news has been covering it for awhile, and it has been enlightening to hear about the economic hardships and what is being done to solve the problems from the POV of a different society. Obama is seen through very hopeful eyes, and even if he doesn't live up to expectations the general consensus seems to be that at least he's not Bush. The loss of jobs and everything that is being seen in the US is also happening here, although it is referred to as the Credit Crunch. I'm really glad to be here in London during this time and to be seeing what's happening in a different way than I would if I was back in the states.

I had the opportunity to go see Parliament, West Minster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace today, and I spent my afternoon in the area. When I first headed out, I had forgotten about the meetings and the protesters. However, while I was there I didn't see protesters but I did see a lot of police. There were armed guards blocking the entrance to Parliament and more guards and a blockade around the Palace. Standing on the edge of the blockade, I was able to see the Mexican president leave Buckingham palace. I also saw a very quick, undramatic changing of the guards (from a distance the guards somewhat resembled bobble-head toys to me, their heads look huge with their hats). There were (and probably still are) a lot of people in the area watching the palace hoping to catch a glimpse of more politicians. I wasn't able to see a lot of the sites that I wanted to though, but the great thing about the program is that I'll have more time another day to go and explore more.

Gargoyale at Westminster Abbey

Guard walking back to the palace, also some of the police outside of Buckingham Palace

One thing that I recommend, is that when you have time to kill, just walk around London with no real destination in mind (or be like me and Becca and try to figure out the bus system and get lost instead), you end up finding really neat places that you never would have seen otherwise, and you begin to get more comfortable with the city and finding your way around. Besides, there is always an underground station nearby and as long as you know where you need to go you can find your way back!

Plaque from a really pretty little church I found while wandering around the city. It has been around since cica 1100 but restored in 1670 after the Great Fire.