Update on Oct. 22 through Nov. 6
Sunday, Oct. 22: Well, it’s been a long time since I have updated, and to be honest… I really do not remember what I did this day. I know that I wrote my last update, and I’m pretty sure that I just stayed in, working on homework and reading. I bet that’s it actually… I must have read a ton :)
Monday, Oct. 23: I went to European Business class and managed to not sleep through the majority of class. No, just kidding, I did well :) That night was a relatively relaxing night (I think) and I am pretty sure that I just stayed in.
Tuesday, Oct. 24: We went to the Wallace Collection for Art in London class. Each member of the Wallace family, throughout the last several generations, had acquired the collection. The biggest attraction was the plethora of armor, swords, daggers, pistols, bows, axes, maces, and other military and hunting equipment from the last few centuries. It was amazing!! I thought of different people from Princeton who would of loved to see all of those medieval shiny objects :) Another memorable piece of art was this gorgeous painting telling the, I believe, Greek mythological story of the man who made his son wings out of wax. The son got ambitious and flew higher and higher, until he was so high that he was too close to the sun, and the wax began to melt. The painting portrayed the sun with huge, gorgeous wings, fallen upon a rock with angels trying to comfort him in his last moments. I remember that the wings initially caught my attention across the room, and so, of course, I had to go investigate! There was also a famous painting of two little girls playing with Japanese lanterns that Lindsay really liked. Even with those two marvelous paintings, and the armor, I still found myself attracted to the Dutch paintings overlooking the sea with wide, expansive skylines fading off into the distance. Uh ha! A topic for my final essay!! It’s not due until Nov. 20th, but that’s creeping up pretty fast, so I’m going to start doing research soon.
That afternoon I began rereading the United States of Europe paperback we’ve been reading for Global Issues to prepare for the midterm on Thursday, Nov. 26th. The fact that it was my first time having a test with Bob, whom I’d heard from past students has hard tests, made me really nervous!!
That evening we went to The Last Kiss at a cinema near the Stepney Green tube stop. Tickets were a mere 4.50 pounds! Still pricey, but what movie isn’t nowadays? What an amazing movie. I highly recommend it. I thought that it was very natural. The cute scenes were heart-wrenchingly cute, the awkward scenes made you feel awkward for those involved, and the issue was real. Also the ending wasn’t concrete, making it even more real. It was one of those movies that you couldn’t talk about directly following it because your mind just had to process it before you could discuss it, but it was wonderful.
Wednesday, Oct. 25: Considering I had a midterm in Global Issues, I spent the day attempting cram as much information in my head as possible. Although I felt like I hadn’t a ton of concrete information, I soon found out that we had covered a lot of information (four chapters in The United States of Europe by T.R. Reid – interesting read, I recommend it to learn more about the European Union – four day trips – and, therefore, the history of four locations – and supposedly many current events – oops, none of us have really been keeping up with that…). I ended up studying with KP and Lindsay, which helped a ton. Oh yeah, and I had Theatre in London in the morning.
Thursday, Oct. 26: I had my midterm in Global Issues. It went okay. I didn’t know everything, but I think I pretended well :) I left feeling fairly confident about the test. Although it’s been 2 weeks, I still haven’t found out my grade (I didn’t stay after the following week because I didn’t realize what was going on, and we didn’t have class last week due to our Scotland trip). I’m quite interested in knowing what I got. When I know, you’ll know :)
That evening, Brookly made supper for the flat. It was DELICIOUS: spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, and chocolate deliciousness for desert! I think that these are my favorite meals of the semester, with their great food and flat bonding time. I’m sure I’ve already said that once before, but I just need to reiterate the idea!
After supper, Brooks, Mac, and Erin went to Kavanaugh’s while KP, Linds, and I joined Bryan, Mel, Pat and Tim at an improvisation Whose-Line-is-it-Anyway-style comedy show. It was relatively funny, so the 5 lb ticket was worth it. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with that group. I haven’t really spent much time with the boys from Flat 14, so that was a great change.
Friday, Oct. 27: In the morning we had a two hour lecture on Northern Ireland. It was actually at a pretty perfect time considering I flew to Dublin shortly after the lecture! It was nice to learn the issues behind the country’s conflicts. I feel like I hadn’t really known much previously, but having the history behind the conflicts laid out helped a ton.
My flight to Dublin wasn’t my most favorite flight ever, but it wasn’t bad. I got through security about an hour before the flight left, so I spent the entire time reading The Devil Wears Prada (great, fun book!). I was exhausted, but I managed to convince myself to wait to sleep until I got on the plane. Although I was at the right gate, and I didn’t fall asleep, three other people and myself almost missed the flight! We had all missed the announcement that our flight was leaving from a few gates down, but luckily one of the other three asked a security guard to clarify which gate we were supposed to leave from and informed her that it had been moved!!! We made it in time to get into line and laugh at ourselves for not listening to the announcements more carefully.
Once on the plane, I found myself sitting to an Indian woman and her daughter. They were very sweet. The mom asked me if she could use my cell phone, which I gladly let her use. I guess her flight had been cancelled, and she was on her way back to her husband in London, but he didn’t know about the flight cancellation yet. She thanked me repeatedly, pretty much making my day with her happiness at my simple gesture. The rest of the flight wasn’t as wonderful though. Considering I hadn’t had much to eat for breakfast and it was 3:30pm, my stomach and my head weren’t very happy with me, and I got queasy with the turbulence. Although I was so tired, I had to force myself to sleep so that I could get through the flight and just get off! I made it :)
I bought my Freedom Pass (a ticket that gave me access to the buses, the City Tour, and reduced admission into some tourist attractions for three days) and caught a bus into City Centre where I met Andrea. We headed to Temple Bar where we ate at the actual Temple Bar (some nummy soup with nummy bread… mmmm…). Afterwards we headed to a bar for good locally brewed Guiness. This bar was huge! It was at least three floors, if not three. Each had a different feel, whether it was designed for dancing, eating, socializing or simply relaxing. We ended up nursing our Guiness for a good two hours, I think, on big comfy couches. The Guiness was delicious, but I was too busy catching Andrea up on current issues. We headed to another pub to finish the night, but didn’t stay there long because it was crowded, there was no place to sit, and I had my backpack still.
We caught a bus back to her dorm and hung out there the rest of the night, actually going to bed shortly after we got back so we could wake up nice and early the next morning.
Saturday, Oct. 28: We work up in the morning, putzed around (okay, I putzed around), and then headed into City Centre so that I could catch the City Tour. The bus tour was nice, but I really wasn’t in the mood for hardcore tourism. Although it was a jump-on, jump-off tour, I liked my tour guide and stayed on his bus the entire ride. I decided not to get off at the Guiness factory because the line was way too long (and I heard later that it’s mostly videos anyway, so it’s not really worth it). Everything else was pretty, but, again, I wasn’t in a tourist mood. I met Andrea after I picked up some souvenirs, and we went to St. Stephen’s Green, the most gorgeous park I have ever seen. She showed a great little nook she found while she was waiting for me (in which she sat and read), and we walked through along the path with me in complete awe. I loved the trees, the green, the colors, and the water. It was wonderful!! I wish I could have spent all day there!!
Then I showed Andrea Top Shop and promised to bring her to the way bigger and better one in Oxford Circus (London). We ate supper at Jack O’Rourke’s pub (for lunch I had a Dr. Pepper and MINT chocolate digestives; I know, real healthy, but they were really good). At O’Rourke’s I had to try the fish and chips, and I scarfed the whole thing down! I guess I was hungry :) That night we were thinking of meeting up with her Irish friend, but we decided to just stay in, have a girl’s night, and watch episodes of Sex and the City. It was wonderful :)
Sunday, Oct. 29: Our goal for the day was to find Kilmainham Gaol (aka: jail) by finding it with the map I had from the City Tour. We stopped at Penny’s first (much like Kohl’s) where I ended up getting a warm, poofy jacket for only 13 euro (about $17). I also got a thick, wonderful sweater for cheap. I was so pumped to have proper outdoor wear for Scotland!
After shopping, we headed out on our quest. No such luck. We got horribly lost. We knew where we were in terms of City Centre, but had no idea how to get to the jail!!! At one point we found ourselves near one of her Irish acquaintance’s house, and sat on the bank of the river playing with the swans. Okay, we didn’t really play with them, but it was great because they approached us immediately when we sat on the short wall by the bank, obviously hoping we’d give them food. They didn’t like what we had to offer (some milk and cereal bar much like Co-Co Puffs) though.
Once we found our way back to Andrea’s dorm, we ate supper and got ready to meet some of her Irish friends (everyone else was gone traveling for the weekend because they had a bank holiday, and therefore no school, on Monday) at a pub for a ‘fancy dress’ Halloween party. Fancy dress applies to any themed gathering. Anyway, we both went as white trash. I was the normal trashy girl (tight panks, bright bar, white wife beater tank top, outrageous make-up, high pony tail) while Andrea wore a garbage bag and painted her face white. Get it? White trash? We had a great time. We got in without a cover before the line even formed. It was hilarious to see the different costumes that appeared that night! We had a blast and stayed out until late, taking a cab instead of a bus back for convenience :)
Here's a link to some pictures of my trip to Dublin: http://smumn.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007488&id=173300088. There are pictures from Stonehenge as well :)
Monday, Oct. 30: That morning I flew back to London. I had to dish out fare for a taxi to get to the airport because the bus wasn’t showing up and I knew that I’d rather pay the driver than have to pay for a new plane ticket. This flight was a lot better. I slept the entire way, waking up 10 minutes before landing. I got back to the flat, slept for an hour, and went to European Business. I caffeine overloaded to stay awake. It worked okay. The whole day absolutely did not feel like a Monday! That afternoon I went costume shopping with Lindsay and found a headband for my bee costume (in Dublin I found footless tights and a pair of simple dangly earrings I’d been wanting since week one). I took it easy that night and tried to catch up on sleep, which actually was a success!
Tuesday, Oct. 31: I went to Art in London at the Tate Britain. It turned out to be worth the trip, although I’d previously decided against going there on my own when looking at what I wanted to do in London. The museum had a good mixture of art, which was refreshing. I was worried it would all be boring portraits of people who thought that they were important enough to have themselves painted as high and mighty looking :)
When the evening came around, our flat was amuck with Halloween celebrations. Not only was Tim coming down to borrow clothes to be a rock star (wow, did he pull off girls’ clothes freakishly well), but Lindsay, Brookly and I were also throwing our own costumes together. I went as a bee; it was so awesome! I had a yellow and black striped dress (well, a long sweater thing that totally in right now in London to wear as a dress) with black footless tights, a bright pink/yellow/orange headband with make shift black antennas, and a make shift black stinger taped to a black belt around my waist. A big group of us went out to the Sports’ Café in Piccadilly Circus where they were having a Halloween celebration. We had to wait in line for what seemed like forever, and just went Lindsay ad I were going to give up and head home, we made it quickly to the front and got in. There was a dance area, which allowed us to let loose all of our built up tension (“I just wanna dance” – yes, Dane Cook can understand).
Oh, the other costumes that night:
Brookly—Vixen (or something of the sort)
Lindsay—Baseball player (what, Cubs? We all thought she was a Twins’ fan…)
Pat—Freddie Kruger (or some other scary movie killer with a mask)
Nina—Punk (I think…)
Zak—Loser (ha! Just kidding! He had been Tesco man, with Tesco bags covering him, but took them off right before we left :( )
Michelle—Cat (with her hair in buns like ears, black nose/whiskers, and black clothes; simple and classic)
Renee—Leopard (complete with ears and tail)
Becky—Purple Devil (purple IS the new red)
Walt—Dexter (Skyjerven’s character in this semester’s play)
Simon—came, but didn’t dress up in a costume
Schares—Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland)
Jess—Masked Beauty (she may have had something specific, but I don’t remember!)
Gabe—came, but left before we got in and wasn’t dressed up
KP—Halloween spirit (much like school spirit)
The best costumes among us though:
Mel as the Big Bad Wolf and Bryan as Little Red Riding Ho (yes… Bryan had fake blond braids with his thigh length, red poncho as a cape and dress combo, complete with black belt and tight shorts hidden by the poncho—most of the time)
Wednesday, Nov. 1: After theatre class, we went to the British Theatre Museum in Covent Garden for the same class. We weren’t all that interested in it at the time, though, so we quickly went through the exhibits and then left. We were supposed to have a tour, but they stopped doing them the day before because they didn’t have enough money coming in to keep doing them. Actually, the entire museum (small, but helpful) is going to be closing soon because they don’t have enough money to keep it open. I guess the exhibits will either be moved to another museum or be stored where they are now. It’s pretty sad either way, though, that they cannot keep it open. I’m actually going to go back before I leave because there is an essay question on our take home final exam about a certain time period that was very influential for British theatre. Although I could probably answer it just fine without going back, I want to go back anyway :) After we left the museum, I walked around Covent Garden—another thing to check off my list of places to go before I leave London.
That night, our theatre class went to Moon For the Misbegotten. It was a long, but interesting production that starred Kevin Spacey, a famous London actress, and Collin… something… who used to be in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! Once I knew that he had acted in that series, I completely understood why he looked so familiar! (Thanks to my mom and dad :)). I really enjoyed the entire production, but many of the other people with and around us, thought it drug on. I was completely captivated the entire time. It was only when people around me rustled around a lot in their boredom that I noticed the length, but then it quickly sucked me back in.
Before the play even started, though, we noticed that Natalie Portman was sitting in the audience!!! It was super excited! We were in the balcony, and we could see her in the stalls, surrounded by three friends on each side. She was completely adorable. At intermission, KP, Pat, and Mel followed her out to the lobby to see if they could see her up close. It worked! I guess she had on absolutely no make-up, but still looked gorgeous. She was really short and totally adorable. I guess that the next night when the other theatre class went to Rock and Roll, Skjerven was only four seats away from Natalie!! Earlier in the semester, when Neil was working at the venue where he’s interning, he actually talked to Natalie. She didn’t have a very good view, so he moved her to the front of the balcony, where he stayed and watched the show with her. They talked for at least a half hour! Yeah, we’re all about hanging out with stars here in London :)
Thursday, Nov. 2: Simple day: Global Issues class, grocery store, made supper for the flat, and watched Seven with Brookly, Erin, Lindsay, and Mac. For supper, Lindsay helped me make sausage links, French toast with French bread, and some eggs. It was my first time making French toast, but it turned out to be really good! We put cinnamon in the egg and milk mix, which definitely gave it a Christmassy taste! The eggs that we made were simply from the left over egg and milk mix, but it was awesome with the cinnamon! They are something I’d like to make as part of a holiday breakfast :)
Friday, Nov. 3: In the morning, I went to a special lecture for Global Issues on the devolution of Scotland from Britain. It was perfect to prepare us for our trip to Scotland the following weekend! The rest of the day I ran around London doing errands: I got bus tickets to Germany for Andrew, Simon and myself to visit Tamara, went to Camden Town to get a shorter bar put in my lip piercing, and stopped by Café Nero (my next drink is free!), and read for Global Issues. It was great to get those things out of the way. I felt so productive! Not to mention that I couldn’t play with my piercing as much because it was more out of the way, and that felt soooo much better.
Saturday, Nov. 4: Brookly, KP, Erin and I took a day trip to Stonehenge. It was great to see a historical “must see” sight like that. I took a TON of photos. Erin and I took an adorable picture together; it looked kind of like a couple picture :) There’s not much else to say about Stonehenge… but I have now seen it!
Here's the link to Stonehenge pictures: http://smumn.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007488&id=173300088. There are also pictures in the beginning from my trip to visit Andrea in Dublin.
When we got back, KP and I had supper, and then headed out to see the most spectacular fireworks show in London for Guy Fox Day at Alexander Palace in Wood Green. Although we missed the fireworks specifically at the Palace, we were able to look across a good chunk of London, on the hill the Palace was on, and see many different firework presentations all over the city! It was gorgeous!!! In the Palace, there was a big celebration going on: ale garden, beer garden, food (massive burgers and hot dogs!), jazz band, carnival (complete with carrousel and small rollercoaster), ice rink, etc. It was a great time! The best part, though, was sitting and talking with Kris. We hadn’t done that since the play ended, and it was wonderful to just talk. I cannot help but LOVE that girl :)
Sunday, Nov. 5: In the morning, KP and I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for church. If you go to a service, you get to see part of the Cathedral for free, and we were definitely up for that! The Cathedral was gorgeous, and the music resonated beautifully. They had an all male chorus, covering all of the parts (they old men and young boys). It was also interesting to see how the Church of England ran their services. (Surprise, surprise, they were not so different from Catholic or Lutheran services.)
That afternoon, I worked on my field study paper on British American Business Inc., and that evening, Lindsay and I went to a fringe production in Camden Town called Frozen. It was a great production! We loved it! It was crazy though; it was in a black box theatre above a pub!! Here’s an excerpt from my review for class (before I shortened it) to describe to you the plot: The production opens with an awkward entrance by both Tom and Laura into Tom’s hole in the wall apartment. The first minute is complete silence, depending on the actors’ body language to get across the plot, until finally Laura asks if she can stay over. Tom simply replies “No,” before exiting behind a curtain in the back of the cozy black box stage. The story of the night’s recent happenings begins to unfold in pieces: Laura’s drunken fiancé, Danny, had found out that Laura had cheated on him with a man at the bar. When Danny learned this, he tried to hit the man and was soon kicked out of the bar by the bouncer. Outside the bar, Danny is outraged, yelling at Laura and making a scene that soon draws the attention of Tom, a complete stranger. Tom steps between them, only to get hit by Danny, and takes Laura out of the situation, back to his apartment. Laura confesses to Tom that this was not the only time that she cheated on Danny. Tom cannot comprehend why Laura would let herself hurt Danny like that, continually asking her to explain. But she dodges the question, asking Tom why he can allow himself to live as he does, working in a toy store and living in a ratty apartment, obviously spending a lot of time alone. They get into a heated argument until Tom abruptly grabs her, falls on top of her on the bed, calling her a “dirty little girl.” Then the phone sitting on the floor next to the bed rings, snapping Tom out of his episode. Laura wants to leave, but outside it is snowing too hard. Although this would have been a good moment to learn more about what exactly sparked Tom’s violent reaction, the dialogue slowly comes back to Laura. She reveals why she cheated on Danny so many times, listing numerous reasons, including that things weren’t as they used to be; Danny didn’t know how to love her anymore, becoming a workaholic who also partied hard; and the only thing that seemed to fill the cold, empty space, even if just for a moment, was sleeping with other men, an action that soon became a kind of game and addition. Although we never learn much more about Tom, he helps her realize that Danny finding out that she was cheating is not the end of the world; reassuring her that Danny is not the only one who will ever want her. The production ends with Laura calling Danny to tell him that she is sorry for what she’s done, and she hopes that he finds someone else who can treat him the way he deserves to be treated. After she says good-bye to Danny, she looks out the window and says, “It stopped snowing. It’s beautiful. Everything looks new.” After this pivotal line, Laura says good-bye to Tom, leaving the apartment filled with optimism. Yet Tom is not so optimistic; the phone rings again and he only stares at it, unable to answer it for yet again.
A lot, I know, but I love the show, and I want to be able to remember it! The show was only 45 minutes long too, so it was cool to see how they developed characters in such a short time. After the show, we came right home, I wrote my review (which I got 15/15 on!), and was in bed by 11pm.
Monday, Nov. 6: I woke up at 8:30am and began working on my field study essay (due that night at 6pm). I was actually awake!! It was amazing! I had energy, and I was ready to go! I wrote the first half of my paper, after a little push from Mac do ‘just do it; it’s a one credit class.’ Then I took a glorious shower and finished my essay with an hour left before European Business!! I got to go to the grocery store to get my weekly food, and still return in time for a quick bite before class. It was a very productive morning!! During class, I managed to stay focused—you seriously will never understand the willpower that takes! Paul is a great man, and he knows a ton, but he can be slightly hard to follow and his voice is quite soothing. Bad combination!
Tonight KP and Lindsay made supper. It was a new concoction I’ve never had: cous cous, sautéed peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes, beans, fruit salad, and brownie bits. Mmm…
Monday, Oct. 23: I went to European Business class and managed to not sleep through the majority of class. No, just kidding, I did well :) That night was a relatively relaxing night (I think) and I am pretty sure that I just stayed in.
Tuesday, Oct. 24: We went to the Wallace Collection for Art in London class. Each member of the Wallace family, throughout the last several generations, had acquired the collection. The biggest attraction was the plethora of armor, swords, daggers, pistols, bows, axes, maces, and other military and hunting equipment from the last few centuries. It was amazing!! I thought of different people from Princeton who would of loved to see all of those medieval shiny objects :) Another memorable piece of art was this gorgeous painting telling the, I believe, Greek mythological story of the man who made his son wings out of wax. The son got ambitious and flew higher and higher, until he was so high that he was too close to the sun, and the wax began to melt. The painting portrayed the sun with huge, gorgeous wings, fallen upon a rock with angels trying to comfort him in his last moments. I remember that the wings initially caught my attention across the room, and so, of course, I had to go investigate! There was also a famous painting of two little girls playing with Japanese lanterns that Lindsay really liked. Even with those two marvelous paintings, and the armor, I still found myself attracted to the Dutch paintings overlooking the sea with wide, expansive skylines fading off into the distance. Uh ha! A topic for my final essay!! It’s not due until Nov. 20th, but that’s creeping up pretty fast, so I’m going to start doing research soon.
That afternoon I began rereading the United States of Europe paperback we’ve been reading for Global Issues to prepare for the midterm on Thursday, Nov. 26th. The fact that it was my first time having a test with Bob, whom I’d heard from past students has hard tests, made me really nervous!!
That evening we went to The Last Kiss at a cinema near the Stepney Green tube stop. Tickets were a mere 4.50 pounds! Still pricey, but what movie isn’t nowadays? What an amazing movie. I highly recommend it. I thought that it was very natural. The cute scenes were heart-wrenchingly cute, the awkward scenes made you feel awkward for those involved, and the issue was real. Also the ending wasn’t concrete, making it even more real. It was one of those movies that you couldn’t talk about directly following it because your mind just had to process it before you could discuss it, but it was wonderful.
Wednesday, Oct. 25: Considering I had a midterm in Global Issues, I spent the day attempting cram as much information in my head as possible. Although I felt like I hadn’t a ton of concrete information, I soon found out that we had covered a lot of information (four chapters in The United States of Europe by T.R. Reid – interesting read, I recommend it to learn more about the European Union – four day trips – and, therefore, the history of four locations – and supposedly many current events – oops, none of us have really been keeping up with that…). I ended up studying with KP and Lindsay, which helped a ton. Oh yeah, and I had Theatre in London in the morning.
Thursday, Oct. 26: I had my midterm in Global Issues. It went okay. I didn’t know everything, but I think I pretended well :) I left feeling fairly confident about the test. Although it’s been 2 weeks, I still haven’t found out my grade (I didn’t stay after the following week because I didn’t realize what was going on, and we didn’t have class last week due to our Scotland trip). I’m quite interested in knowing what I got. When I know, you’ll know :)
That evening, Brookly made supper for the flat. It was DELICIOUS: spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, and chocolate deliciousness for desert! I think that these are my favorite meals of the semester, with their great food and flat bonding time. I’m sure I’ve already said that once before, but I just need to reiterate the idea!
After supper, Brooks, Mac, and Erin went to Kavanaugh’s while KP, Linds, and I joined Bryan, Mel, Pat and Tim at an improvisation Whose-Line-is-it-Anyway-style comedy show. It was relatively funny, so the 5 lb ticket was worth it. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with that group. I haven’t really spent much time with the boys from Flat 14, so that was a great change.
Friday, Oct. 27: In the morning we had a two hour lecture on Northern Ireland. It was actually at a pretty perfect time considering I flew to Dublin shortly after the lecture! It was nice to learn the issues behind the country’s conflicts. I feel like I hadn’t really known much previously, but having the history behind the conflicts laid out helped a ton.
My flight to Dublin wasn’t my most favorite flight ever, but it wasn’t bad. I got through security about an hour before the flight left, so I spent the entire time reading The Devil Wears Prada (great, fun book!). I was exhausted, but I managed to convince myself to wait to sleep until I got on the plane. Although I was at the right gate, and I didn’t fall asleep, three other people and myself almost missed the flight! We had all missed the announcement that our flight was leaving from a few gates down, but luckily one of the other three asked a security guard to clarify which gate we were supposed to leave from and informed her that it had been moved!!! We made it in time to get into line and laugh at ourselves for not listening to the announcements more carefully.
Once on the plane, I found myself sitting to an Indian woman and her daughter. They were very sweet. The mom asked me if she could use my cell phone, which I gladly let her use. I guess her flight had been cancelled, and she was on her way back to her husband in London, but he didn’t know about the flight cancellation yet. She thanked me repeatedly, pretty much making my day with her happiness at my simple gesture. The rest of the flight wasn’t as wonderful though. Considering I hadn’t had much to eat for breakfast and it was 3:30pm, my stomach and my head weren’t very happy with me, and I got queasy with the turbulence. Although I was so tired, I had to force myself to sleep so that I could get through the flight and just get off! I made it :)
I bought my Freedom Pass (a ticket that gave me access to the buses, the City Tour, and reduced admission into some tourist attractions for three days) and caught a bus into City Centre where I met Andrea. We headed to Temple Bar where we ate at the actual Temple Bar (some nummy soup with nummy bread… mmmm…). Afterwards we headed to a bar for good locally brewed Guiness. This bar was huge! It was at least three floors, if not three. Each had a different feel, whether it was designed for dancing, eating, socializing or simply relaxing. We ended up nursing our Guiness for a good two hours, I think, on big comfy couches. The Guiness was delicious, but I was too busy catching Andrea up on current issues. We headed to another pub to finish the night, but didn’t stay there long because it was crowded, there was no place to sit, and I had my backpack still.
We caught a bus back to her dorm and hung out there the rest of the night, actually going to bed shortly after we got back so we could wake up nice and early the next morning.
Saturday, Oct. 28: We work up in the morning, putzed around (okay, I putzed around), and then headed into City Centre so that I could catch the City Tour. The bus tour was nice, but I really wasn’t in the mood for hardcore tourism. Although it was a jump-on, jump-off tour, I liked my tour guide and stayed on his bus the entire ride. I decided not to get off at the Guiness factory because the line was way too long (and I heard later that it’s mostly videos anyway, so it’s not really worth it). Everything else was pretty, but, again, I wasn’t in a tourist mood. I met Andrea after I picked up some souvenirs, and we went to St. Stephen’s Green, the most gorgeous park I have ever seen. She showed a great little nook she found while she was waiting for me (in which she sat and read), and we walked through along the path with me in complete awe. I loved the trees, the green, the colors, and the water. It was wonderful!! I wish I could have spent all day there!!
Then I showed Andrea Top Shop and promised to bring her to the way bigger and better one in Oxford Circus (London). We ate supper at Jack O’Rourke’s pub (for lunch I had a Dr. Pepper and MINT chocolate digestives; I know, real healthy, but they were really good). At O’Rourke’s I had to try the fish and chips, and I scarfed the whole thing down! I guess I was hungry :) That night we were thinking of meeting up with her Irish friend, but we decided to just stay in, have a girl’s night, and watch episodes of Sex and the City. It was wonderful :)
Sunday, Oct. 29: Our goal for the day was to find Kilmainham Gaol (aka: jail) by finding it with the map I had from the City Tour. We stopped at Penny’s first (much like Kohl’s) where I ended up getting a warm, poofy jacket for only 13 euro (about $17). I also got a thick, wonderful sweater for cheap. I was so pumped to have proper outdoor wear for Scotland!
After shopping, we headed out on our quest. No such luck. We got horribly lost. We knew where we were in terms of City Centre, but had no idea how to get to the jail!!! At one point we found ourselves near one of her Irish acquaintance’s house, and sat on the bank of the river playing with the swans. Okay, we didn’t really play with them, but it was great because they approached us immediately when we sat on the short wall by the bank, obviously hoping we’d give them food. They didn’t like what we had to offer (some milk and cereal bar much like Co-Co Puffs) though.
Once we found our way back to Andrea’s dorm, we ate supper and got ready to meet some of her Irish friends (everyone else was gone traveling for the weekend because they had a bank holiday, and therefore no school, on Monday) at a pub for a ‘fancy dress’ Halloween party. Fancy dress applies to any themed gathering. Anyway, we both went as white trash. I was the normal trashy girl (tight panks, bright bar, white wife beater tank top, outrageous make-up, high pony tail) while Andrea wore a garbage bag and painted her face white. Get it? White trash? We had a great time. We got in without a cover before the line even formed. It was hilarious to see the different costumes that appeared that night! We had a blast and stayed out until late, taking a cab instead of a bus back for convenience :)
Here's a link to some pictures of my trip to Dublin: http://smumn.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007488&id=173300088. There are pictures from Stonehenge as well :)
Monday, Oct. 30: That morning I flew back to London. I had to dish out fare for a taxi to get to the airport because the bus wasn’t showing up and I knew that I’d rather pay the driver than have to pay for a new plane ticket. This flight was a lot better. I slept the entire way, waking up 10 minutes before landing. I got back to the flat, slept for an hour, and went to European Business. I caffeine overloaded to stay awake. It worked okay. The whole day absolutely did not feel like a Monday! That afternoon I went costume shopping with Lindsay and found a headband for my bee costume (in Dublin I found footless tights and a pair of simple dangly earrings I’d been wanting since week one). I took it easy that night and tried to catch up on sleep, which actually was a success!
Tuesday, Oct. 31: I went to Art in London at the Tate Britain. It turned out to be worth the trip, although I’d previously decided against going there on my own when looking at what I wanted to do in London. The museum had a good mixture of art, which was refreshing. I was worried it would all be boring portraits of people who thought that they were important enough to have themselves painted as high and mighty looking :)
When the evening came around, our flat was amuck with Halloween celebrations. Not only was Tim coming down to borrow clothes to be a rock star (wow, did he pull off girls’ clothes freakishly well), but Lindsay, Brookly and I were also throwing our own costumes together. I went as a bee; it was so awesome! I had a yellow and black striped dress (well, a long sweater thing that totally in right now in London to wear as a dress) with black footless tights, a bright pink/yellow/orange headband with make shift black antennas, and a make shift black stinger taped to a black belt around my waist. A big group of us went out to the Sports’ Café in Piccadilly Circus where they were having a Halloween celebration. We had to wait in line for what seemed like forever, and just went Lindsay ad I were going to give up and head home, we made it quickly to the front and got in. There was a dance area, which allowed us to let loose all of our built up tension (“I just wanna dance” – yes, Dane Cook can understand).
Oh, the other costumes that night:
Brookly—Vixen (or something of the sort)
Lindsay—Baseball player (what, Cubs? We all thought she was a Twins’ fan…)
Pat—Freddie Kruger (or some other scary movie killer with a mask)
Nina—Punk (I think…)
Zak—Loser (ha! Just kidding! He had been Tesco man, with Tesco bags covering him, but took them off right before we left :( )
Michelle—Cat (with her hair in buns like ears, black nose/whiskers, and black clothes; simple and classic)
Renee—Leopard (complete with ears and tail)
Becky—Purple Devil (purple IS the new red)
Walt—Dexter (Skyjerven’s character in this semester’s play)
Simon—came, but didn’t dress up in a costume
Schares—Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland)
Jess—Masked Beauty (she may have had something specific, but I don’t remember!)
Gabe—came, but left before we got in and wasn’t dressed up
KP—Halloween spirit (much like school spirit)
The best costumes among us though:
Mel as the Big Bad Wolf and Bryan as Little Red Riding Ho (yes… Bryan had fake blond braids with his thigh length, red poncho as a cape and dress combo, complete with black belt and tight shorts hidden by the poncho—most of the time)
Wednesday, Nov. 1: After theatre class, we went to the British Theatre Museum in Covent Garden for the same class. We weren’t all that interested in it at the time, though, so we quickly went through the exhibits and then left. We were supposed to have a tour, but they stopped doing them the day before because they didn’t have enough money coming in to keep doing them. Actually, the entire museum (small, but helpful) is going to be closing soon because they don’t have enough money to keep it open. I guess the exhibits will either be moved to another museum or be stored where they are now. It’s pretty sad either way, though, that they cannot keep it open. I’m actually going to go back before I leave because there is an essay question on our take home final exam about a certain time period that was very influential for British theatre. Although I could probably answer it just fine without going back, I want to go back anyway :) After we left the museum, I walked around Covent Garden—another thing to check off my list of places to go before I leave London.
That night, our theatre class went to Moon For the Misbegotten. It was a long, but interesting production that starred Kevin Spacey, a famous London actress, and Collin… something… who used to be in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! Once I knew that he had acted in that series, I completely understood why he looked so familiar! (Thanks to my mom and dad :)). I really enjoyed the entire production, but many of the other people with and around us, thought it drug on. I was completely captivated the entire time. It was only when people around me rustled around a lot in their boredom that I noticed the length, but then it quickly sucked me back in.
Before the play even started, though, we noticed that Natalie Portman was sitting in the audience!!! It was super excited! We were in the balcony, and we could see her in the stalls, surrounded by three friends on each side. She was completely adorable. At intermission, KP, Pat, and Mel followed her out to the lobby to see if they could see her up close. It worked! I guess she had on absolutely no make-up, but still looked gorgeous. She was really short and totally adorable. I guess that the next night when the other theatre class went to Rock and Roll, Skjerven was only four seats away from Natalie!! Earlier in the semester, when Neil was working at the venue where he’s interning, he actually talked to Natalie. She didn’t have a very good view, so he moved her to the front of the balcony, where he stayed and watched the show with her. They talked for at least a half hour! Yeah, we’re all about hanging out with stars here in London :)
Thursday, Nov. 2: Simple day: Global Issues class, grocery store, made supper for the flat, and watched Seven with Brookly, Erin, Lindsay, and Mac. For supper, Lindsay helped me make sausage links, French toast with French bread, and some eggs. It was my first time making French toast, but it turned out to be really good! We put cinnamon in the egg and milk mix, which definitely gave it a Christmassy taste! The eggs that we made were simply from the left over egg and milk mix, but it was awesome with the cinnamon! They are something I’d like to make as part of a holiday breakfast :)
Friday, Nov. 3: In the morning, I went to a special lecture for Global Issues on the devolution of Scotland from Britain. It was perfect to prepare us for our trip to Scotland the following weekend! The rest of the day I ran around London doing errands: I got bus tickets to Germany for Andrew, Simon and myself to visit Tamara, went to Camden Town to get a shorter bar put in my lip piercing, and stopped by Café Nero (my next drink is free!), and read for Global Issues. It was great to get those things out of the way. I felt so productive! Not to mention that I couldn’t play with my piercing as much because it was more out of the way, and that felt soooo much better.
Saturday, Nov. 4: Brookly, KP, Erin and I took a day trip to Stonehenge. It was great to see a historical “must see” sight like that. I took a TON of photos. Erin and I took an adorable picture together; it looked kind of like a couple picture :) There’s not much else to say about Stonehenge… but I have now seen it!
Here's the link to Stonehenge pictures: http://smumn.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007488&id=173300088. There are also pictures in the beginning from my trip to visit Andrea in Dublin.
When we got back, KP and I had supper, and then headed out to see the most spectacular fireworks show in London for Guy Fox Day at Alexander Palace in Wood Green. Although we missed the fireworks specifically at the Palace, we were able to look across a good chunk of London, on the hill the Palace was on, and see many different firework presentations all over the city! It was gorgeous!!! In the Palace, there was a big celebration going on: ale garden, beer garden, food (massive burgers and hot dogs!), jazz band, carnival (complete with carrousel and small rollercoaster), ice rink, etc. It was a great time! The best part, though, was sitting and talking with Kris. We hadn’t done that since the play ended, and it was wonderful to just talk. I cannot help but LOVE that girl :)
Sunday, Nov. 5: In the morning, KP and I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for church. If you go to a service, you get to see part of the Cathedral for free, and we were definitely up for that! The Cathedral was gorgeous, and the music resonated beautifully. They had an all male chorus, covering all of the parts (they old men and young boys). It was also interesting to see how the Church of England ran their services. (Surprise, surprise, they were not so different from Catholic or Lutheran services.)
That afternoon, I worked on my field study paper on British American Business Inc., and that evening, Lindsay and I went to a fringe production in Camden Town called Frozen. It was a great production! We loved it! It was crazy though; it was in a black box theatre above a pub!! Here’s an excerpt from my review for class (before I shortened it) to describe to you the plot: The production opens with an awkward entrance by both Tom and Laura into Tom’s hole in the wall apartment. The first minute is complete silence, depending on the actors’ body language to get across the plot, until finally Laura asks if she can stay over. Tom simply replies “No,” before exiting behind a curtain in the back of the cozy black box stage. The story of the night’s recent happenings begins to unfold in pieces: Laura’s drunken fiancé, Danny, had found out that Laura had cheated on him with a man at the bar. When Danny learned this, he tried to hit the man and was soon kicked out of the bar by the bouncer. Outside the bar, Danny is outraged, yelling at Laura and making a scene that soon draws the attention of Tom, a complete stranger. Tom steps between them, only to get hit by Danny, and takes Laura out of the situation, back to his apartment. Laura confesses to Tom that this was not the only time that she cheated on Danny. Tom cannot comprehend why Laura would let herself hurt Danny like that, continually asking her to explain. But she dodges the question, asking Tom why he can allow himself to live as he does, working in a toy store and living in a ratty apartment, obviously spending a lot of time alone. They get into a heated argument until Tom abruptly grabs her, falls on top of her on the bed, calling her a “dirty little girl.” Then the phone sitting on the floor next to the bed rings, snapping Tom out of his episode. Laura wants to leave, but outside it is snowing too hard. Although this would have been a good moment to learn more about what exactly sparked Tom’s violent reaction, the dialogue slowly comes back to Laura. She reveals why she cheated on Danny so many times, listing numerous reasons, including that things weren’t as they used to be; Danny didn’t know how to love her anymore, becoming a workaholic who also partied hard; and the only thing that seemed to fill the cold, empty space, even if just for a moment, was sleeping with other men, an action that soon became a kind of game and addition. Although we never learn much more about Tom, he helps her realize that Danny finding out that she was cheating is not the end of the world; reassuring her that Danny is not the only one who will ever want her. The production ends with Laura calling Danny to tell him that she is sorry for what she’s done, and she hopes that he finds someone else who can treat him the way he deserves to be treated. After she says good-bye to Danny, she looks out the window and says, “It stopped snowing. It’s beautiful. Everything looks new.” After this pivotal line, Laura says good-bye to Tom, leaving the apartment filled with optimism. Yet Tom is not so optimistic; the phone rings again and he only stares at it, unable to answer it for yet again.
A lot, I know, but I love the show, and I want to be able to remember it! The show was only 45 minutes long too, so it was cool to see how they developed characters in such a short time. After the show, we came right home, I wrote my review (which I got 15/15 on!), and was in bed by 11pm.
Monday, Nov. 6: I woke up at 8:30am and began working on my field study essay (due that night at 6pm). I was actually awake!! It was amazing! I had energy, and I was ready to go! I wrote the first half of my paper, after a little push from Mac do ‘just do it; it’s a one credit class.’ Then I took a glorious shower and finished my essay with an hour left before European Business!! I got to go to the grocery store to get my weekly food, and still return in time for a quick bite before class. It was a very productive morning!! During class, I managed to stay focused—you seriously will never understand the willpower that takes! Paul is a great man, and he knows a ton, but he can be slightly hard to follow and his voice is quite soothing. Bad combination!
Tonight KP and Lindsay made supper. It was a new concoction I’ve never had: cous cous, sautéed peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes, beans, fruit salad, and brownie bits. Mmm…
posted by Abby | 11:35 AM
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