I Need to be Banned from the Kitchen

Hellooo! Are you ready to hear about my lovely day? Here goes. 

In the morning, I had the flat to myself. I decided to do some laundry and a bit of cooking for the week. Things didn't go quite as I planned, though. In my attempt to make chicken, I somehow turned on the smoke alarm! And let me tell you, the darn thing was LOUD! I walked out of the kitchen into lots and lots of smoke. It was bad. Luckily, I ran around and threw open all the windows and doors. I was almost getting frantic, when Chelsey and Mich walked in the door. They helped me out a lot and, even though the alarm went off for like 30 minutes, eventually one of the boys on the trip walked downstairs and helped us turn it off. Oh sheesh - what an adventure! I need to be banned from the stove. 

After that, I was a bit fearful of cooking lunch, but I did. Then we headed off to sociology for presentations. They all got a bit repetitive, but I think we did ok. At least it's over! 

I came back to the flat after class, cooked dinner, and am now hanging out around the flat. I might try to do some art or maybe I'll just hang out more. Who knows? I hope to have more adventures over the weekend to update you on! 

Last Gallery and Play

Oh how sad! We're getting down to the "lasts" of things. No fun!

Today I woke up, did some cleaning, and then worked on Sociology with Sam. We worked until we had to leave for art class. Today, we visited the Saatchi Gallery. It is such a nice space and we saw an exhibition called "Unveiled." It was all about Middle Eastern art and the pieces had great messages. I really loved the exhibition and class was shorter than usual, so that was plus!

After class, we had time to explore the area around the gallery and near our theatre for the night's play. The area was in Chelsea, which is one of the nicer areas of London. We walked into some shops and ate dinner in this adorable pub with fun wallpaper and purple cushiony benches. The food was really tasty, too! After that, we had some more time, so we did even more shopping/looking. We walked into some fun places, like a chocolate shop and a bookstore.

Eventually, we had to head to the theatre for our last play of the semester, Tusk Tusk. It was such a great show! The theatre space was really small and we were very close to the actors. The play was written by a 19-year-old and she was actually there in the audience! So cool! The plot of the story was kind of basic, but the acting was incredible. We enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a great play to end on. I'm just sad that we don't have any left.

Now, Sam and I just finished our 11 pages of Sociology paper (ah!) and I'm about to head off to bed. I hope you all have great nights and I hope to have some fun adventures to share with you tomorrow.

Romeo, Oh Romeo

Hello all! Sorry that I didn't get to update my blog last night. Zane did something to try to help fix/clean up my computer. It seems like it helped, so yay!

Yesterday I started the day with work and classes. We had a discussion in theatre and were given time to work on our projects in Sociology. After class, I went with Kaitlin, Sam, and Chelsey to The Swan for dinner. Then, we headed out to the Globe to see Romeo and Juliet.

I really, really liked the show! We had standing seats, which was a bit tiring, but not at all horrible. Benvolio and Mercutio were absolutely hilarious and Romeo was very good, too. I have to say, though, that I wasn't a fan of Juliet. That was kind of disappointing, but overall the show was really great. I also liked that the cast was multi-racial. It was just really cool! All in all, the show was good fun, well done, and I'm so glad we went!

You Can't Stop the Beat!!!

Oh my goodness, let me please tell you about my wonderful day! In the morning, Jordan, Sam, Megan, and I went to the Hairspray box office to get tickets for tonight's performance. We successfully got front row seats - yeah! When we got back to the flats, I did work and did stuff on my computer (which currently won't turn on..I seriously have a quota of once a day on the darn thing).

After lunch, a bunch of us went to Parliament to see the House of Commons in session. We waited for a while and then actually saw a protest! These four people, we think, we protesting for climate-related things and they had super glued themselves to a statue in Parliament. Crazy! The problem with the protest, though, was that they wouldn't let us stay in the room while they tried to break up the protest. So, we had to back track and wait some more. Eventually, we got in to the viewing room and watched the House of Commons people talk and argue for about an hour and a half or so. They talked about the swine influenza, prison, and the budget. The best thing we saw was a guy give an excuse for being late and another guy refute him and tell him it was a horrible excuse for lateness. It was great!

After Parliament, the five of us from earlier got something to eat and headed to Hairspray. OH MY GOODNESS! The show was absolutely incredible!! It has been my favorite show I've seen in London. It was funny to hear them try to do American accents but everyone was so talented and did such a great job. At one point in the play, one of the characters came down the aisle and needed to get on stage by crossing in front of all of us. She had us stand up and everything as she pushed past it. It was so great! And, since we were in the front row, we were up close and personal with all the actors. It was so fun making eye contact with them and seeing their facial expressions so clearly. Ah!! We had lots of understudies, but they were amazing too. I was seriously awed! I think the best part, though, was after the show. I had bought a poster at the interval (intermission) and we waited at the stage door after the show to get autographs. I got the autograph of my favorite dancer, Wilbur, Tracy, Penny, Inez, Link, Motormouth Maybel, and maybe some more. They were all so nice, too! The lady that played Penny heard that I was from Maryland and she said I was the first person she's met that's actually been from Maryland. It was so great and I'm so glad we got to be like 13 year old girls, all excited to get autographs. It was just such a great night! The show was amazing and I couldn't stop smiling!!

My Throat's a Bit Sore, but for a Great Cause

Today London hosted the London Marathon. A bunch of us went to support the runners and I think we stood near the 3 miles-to-finish line. It was absolutely amazing! To keep my thoughts straight, I will write a list about the marathon.

1) The basics: 26.2 miles long, about 35,000 runners, usually takes about 3 hours or so to complete.
2) Many runners have their names written on their shirts so you can cheer for them by name.
3) Most popular names for boys: Steve, Dan, and Neil. Girls: Susan and Claire.
4) It was the best when you called a name and people smiled at you or said thanks. Amazing!
5) There were so many people dressed in costumes. We saw lots of tutus and wigs, as well as these crazy costumes: Barbie, rhinos, clowns, a tree, Spongebob, Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Tigger, Bugs/Butterflies, a toilet, men dressed as girls, elephants, Elvis, flowers, and so much more. My personal favorite? Two guys dressed up as Pam Anderson and David Hasselhof in Baywatch - red suits and all. Absolutely hilarious!
6) It was so nice to see how many people came out to support the runners. Some people even came out with candy for the runners. It was so sweet.
7) It was so amazing to see people cheer for the people they knew in the race. There was one lady who ran alongside her son for a bit yelling "Go Sweetie! Yay Michael!" I think she was a Jewish mom and the boy was running for a Jewish organization.
8) So many different charities and organizations were represented. I hope they all got loads of money - they all deserve it.
9) The winner was a guy from Kenya who ran all 26 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Want to know how fast he ran each mile? 4.7 minutes!!! Second place was an Ethiopian and third a Moroccan. The fastest female was from Germany and she finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes. There was also a wheelchair marathon. We saw a couple wheelchair racers. It was inspiring to see how hard they worked.
10) By the end of the hours we spent watching and cheering, our voices were sore and our hands red from clapping. However, in comparison to what these runners were doing, it was nothing.

It was an absolutely beautiful day - perfect for a marathon. I'm so glad we went to support the runners. I had a blast! It makes me want to do a marathon myself, though probably not one 26 miles in length. We'll see...

I Haggled! (Well, Kinda...)

Aloha! Thought I'd switch things up with some new language. I hope you all are having fabulous Saturdays. My day was pretty great, so I'll tell you about it. 

I woke up this morning and did some work. I printed off my paper for theatre (even though I hate it) and started work on a Sociology presentation. In the afternoon, Kinsey, Sam, and I headed to Camden Market. It was SO COOL! The area is kind of punk-rockish with lots of people. The market itself is huge and we had a great time looking at jewelry, clothing, crafts, and books, amongst other things. I bought a couple souvenirs, which was good. 

My favorite purchase of the day was actually a present for me, though. I bought a hat! Not like a baseball cap, but a cutesy hat. I tried it on in the store and the salesman said "As a friend, I'm telling you the hat looks good." He also said he would cut down the price. I told him I still had to think about it, but I decided to go back and retry it on later. Another guy was there and he told me he'd cut down the price even more. Awesome! I decided I would take it for his offered price. I ended up talking a bit to the salespeople, who thought I was Spanish. When I told them I was American, the guy said "I'm giving you a good price because I like American girls." Haha - he was really funny. But anyways, that was a very long story about my haggling skills (though I really didn't haggle) and my new hat. 

Before we left, we got some really tasty Chinese food. All the food at the market looked absolutely incredible. Earlier, we had all gotten huge cookies which were awesome. The Chinese food lady that served Kinsey and I was really funny because she was all sneaky. She whispered to us, saying that she would throw in an extra spring roll for free if we bought the main course. I am proud of myself because I tried the spring roll! Though I still don't like them. 

Anyways, after about 5 hours out and about in Camden, we returned to the flat. For  some reason, we decided to try our hand at breakdancing in the flat. I can't say we were very good, but it was funny nonetheless. After that, we all went back to work. I've been art journaling - super fun. Tonight, Chelsey is going to teach us some fun dances and I am super excited. I'm just in a dancing mood! 

Anywho, I better be off. Time for art. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Shopping!

Hello all! Today was a pretty good day! I woke up this morning and finshed my theatre paper. Woohoo! I'm quite happy. After that, I headed to Carnaby Street with Amanda, Jordan, and Megan. I needed to do some souvenir shopping for people. We had a lot of fun searching around the shops. Jordan and I bought some fun-looking, colorful candy cupcakes. After we finished Carnaby Street, we split groups. Megan and I headed down Oxford Street. I hoped to buy some shoes and/or a dress. No luck, but we had fun looking.

After we were exhausted of shopping, we came back to the flat. Megan and I played a really funny trick on Zane and Chelsey and I was very proud of us. I also finished the book I was reading, which I was happy about. Now, I'm playing on my computer, getting ready to do some work, and eating dinner. Fun stuff!

Playing Sociologists Pt. 2

Hey all! Ready for blog #2 of the day?

I woke up this morning and played on my computer for a bit. I also worked more on my theatre paper and was quite productive! I can't wait to actually finish it.

After that, I headed to school to meet Sam and Kinsey for lunch. I got there a bit early, so I read in the park for a bit. It was a lovely day again! When their class was done, we headed to a pub called The Swan for lunch. After that, we all headed to a park in Waterloo. Sam and I had to do some researching, so we people watched and wrote notes for soc class. After that, Sam and I continued on to Stockwell and Brixton for more research. I was glad it was sunny out, though I felt a bit creepy doing so much people watching.

Now I'm back at the flat, getting ready to do some work, and then going out for pizza. Not a super busy day, but enough to keep me busy. I'll have more adventures to write about this weekend. Yay!

Wednesday

Hello everyone! So, I am writing my blog for yesterday this morning because, while my computer wouldn't turn on last night, it is on this morning! Yay! Let's hope it keeps up this good streak. I'll keep you posted.

Anywho, yesterday was a pretty ok day. I woke up in the morning and did a bit of work. I started my paper and tried to get as much done while my computer was on. In the afternoon, I left to go to art class. We went to five different galleries. We first went to a gallery that had no sign..it was in a big black building with huge black doors. It was so weird. The gallery was fine. It was paintings and sculpture that I liked ok, but didn't love. The next gallery was a bit weirder. The paintings were very bright and showed a lot of green people. I didn't love them, really. After that, we went to a gallery that showed very interesting sculpture. They were made of cement, wood, and paper mache and had absolutely no shape. I didn't like those pieces. The fourth gallery was my favorite. The artist had taken things like cereal boxes and postage stamps and cut them up and re-mosaiced them into new pictures. It was so tedious and so, so cool. The final gallery confused me. The main piece had these old-fashioned, standing microphones plastered to the floor and to these headphones that were making unintelligable noises. Kind of strange.

After art class, we got to go to the Angel tube stop and ride the longest escalator in all of the tube stops. It was kind of neat to do that. Then, we got dinner in the Angel area before the play. I loved the area - it was very cute and friendly. We ate dinner at this friendly pub/bar place called Walkabout (it was Australian themed). After that, we headed to the Almedia theatre to see Parlour Song. It only had three actors in it, one of whom was in the movie Love Actually. They all did a great job and I really enjoyed the play. It was quite funny and pretty short, so it kept our attention.

After that, we came back to the flat. I wanted to do some work, but my computer wouldn't turn on. I ended up doing some cutting of words for my art project and reading instead. Not a problem! I guess you'll get a second blog post tonight if all works well with the computer.

Classes and Gorgeous Weather

This will be very, very short because I am not on my laptop. Mine actually won't turn on at the moment, which is a bit frustrating. So my day in a nutshell: wake up, beautiful and sunny out, went to the store, packed lunch, ate in park by school, had theatre class w/ very cool guest speaker (Shakespeare themed - awesome!), had break, walked to Paperchase to buy paper, had sociology, got to hang out in the park, came back to the flat, cut out words for art, checked email on Megan's computer. That's all. Let's hope my computer is fixed soon. Have a good night!

My Kids were Good Today!

Today was a bittersweet kind of day. I spent my last day at Wilberforce for practicum and my kids were SO GOOD! It was an awesome day, even though I'm sad it was my last. I'll tell you a bit about the day.

So first, it was their first day back from break. I expected the kids to be rowdy and crazy. I really think they were just sleep-deprived because they were so quiet and well-behaved. In the morning, we had assembly, literacy, and break. They started reading a book about the Amazon River and were so smart when predicting stuff in the story. After break was some maths. I worked with a different table today and they were more of the higher achievers. It was neat being at a table that got their work done correctly without my prodding them to do so.

At lunch, I talked with my teacher about my evaluation. She said it was a pleasure having me in class and I assured her that I had a phenomenal time, even though the kids weren't all perfect angels. It seems like she respected my opinions on her class and the students, which I thought was great.

After lunch, we did handwriting and then Emily let me have some time with the kids so they could help me with an art project. (To sum it up, I'm doing an art project called "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words." What I'm doing is having people write words -1000 total- that mean something to them; I'll cut them up, and then I'll make them into some kind of picture.) They were so helpful and wrote some great words. My favorite was the paper that said "PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, love, family." Oh gaming systems...After that was more lessons and then saying goodbye to everyone. So sad!

I went to my last seminar after the last day in schools and gave a presentation on Wilberforce. It has been such a great time working in London schools. I have learned a lot and am going to miss my kids so much!

Sun on a Sunday

The sun has been loving us Londoners this weekend. It shone its beautiful face once again today, which we were quite happy about. Unfortunately, the morning didn't start out so sunny for me. My computer wouldn't turn on and, since I have numerous projects on it, this worried me a lot. Eventually, I gave up trying to turn the thing on and went on to have a nice day.

Kinsey, Sam, and I went out to Hampstead, which is about 20 minutes or so away on a bus. The area is absolutely gorgeous! It's more residential, but very cute and nice. We spent a while getting lost around the area (which was fine because exploring was cool) and eventually making our way to a huge park called Hampstead Heath. It has definitely beat out Hyde Park for my favorite park (that I've seen) in London. There were little ponds of water, lots of birds, beautiful green trees and grass, adorable kids, and great views of the city. We walked up and down hills, just taking everything in. Eventually we made our way to a high hill, where we sat watching people fly kites and looking out over a beautiful view of London. It was very relaxing. I wish I had time to go back and enjoy it even more (I, unfortunately, also had a bit of a headache, so inside I was feeling a bit blah).

After exploring the park, we went to a couple shops in the town of Hampstead. We found our way back on a bus, stopped into Tesco for groceries, and came back to the flat. I once again tried my computer to no avail. I decided to cook dinner to get my mind off the darn computer and then got on Kinsey's computer to get the number to call HP. Just as I got on to the website, my computer decided to jump to life and turn itself on. Hallelujah! I am very happy. Tonight will be a night filled with some work and then I don't know what else. Last night we ended up watching a movie and then talking until 3 without realizing how late it was! It was really nice, though I can't do that again because I go see my year 5 class for the last time tomorrow. I am so excited to see them!

So the Sun Finally Came Out

Yes, the sun did in fact come out today. This was a huge disappointment because, thinking it was going to rain, we cancelled our trip to Bristol. Very disappointing. We will have to reschedule that, but it kind of was sad that the weather people lied to us.

Anywho, I woke up this morning and finally finished the book I was reading. I did a bit of proofreading on some journals and whatnot and submitted those. I also did some laundry and made lunch. After that, I wanted to go somewhere to enjoy the sun. Kinsey, Sam, and I ended up heading to the Covent Garden area. There is a market there, as well as some cool shops. We spend a couple hours meandering, seeing street performers, and shopping. My favorite store was Lush, a place that makes all-natural, vegan cosmetics. We got to test some lotions and stuff. I still smell all nice from that store!

After spending some time in Covent Garden, we headed back to the flats. Kinsey and I tried our hand at making quesadillas on the stove - the result was not too bad! Now, we've all decided to have a working night. I'm not sure if we're up to anything else, but for now it's time for work. I hope you all are enjoying your Saturdays!

Let's Play Sociologists

Hello everyone! Today was a pretty cool day. Again, it was a bit cloudy and rainy, but we're all getting used to that. This morning I woke up to our flat being buzzed by the mail man. After I went to sign for something (I felt so grown up!), I couldn't go back to sleep. I got to read for a while, which was nice. Then, I researched for Sociology.

After lunch, Sam and I played sociologists and went to explore a London borough called Lambeth. We went to see Brixton, Stockwell, and Waterloo and it was neat just observing and looking around. I felt like a reporter with my little notebook, taking notes on everything. Sam and I got some good stuff, though, so I was happy. After 3 hours of exploring, we came back and typed up some reports. It was a lot of Lambeth, that's for sure.

A little while ago, Kinsey, Sam, and I went to see 17 Again. We expected it to be really corny and stupid, but it was actually really good! Very cute and with a good message. I also couldn't help but notice some similarities with High School Musical. Oh Zac Efron... (and P.S., Mom, there is a new Fame movie coming out that has Kherington in it! Just FYI)

Anyways, now we're in for the night and brainstorming what to do for tomorrow. We were going to head off to Bristol, but it's supposed to rain so we scrapped that plan. I guess you'll have to read my blog for tomorrow to find out what we do!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Today was a very rainy day. I was not a huge fan of the rain, but I still had a good day regardless. I woke up, played a bit on the computer, and did some of my art journal. After getting ready, I headed to the school to meet Kinsey for lunch. We went nearby to a Thai place called Banchoo. I had some chicken, rice, and cashew dish with vegetables. Yum!

After lunch, we headed to the British Library. It was so neat! We saw an exhibition with lots of old books and manuscripts. There were handwritten books by the Bronte sisters, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, and many others. We also saw historical documents written by Elizabeth I and other kings and queens. Two copies of the Magna Carta were also there! I also liked seeing different music by composers like Handel and Beethoven, as well as haphazard Beatles lyrics. Some of my favorites, though, were Shakespearean documents. There was a copy of the First Folio and a document that is said to have been written by Shakespeare himself. The whole place was just really, really cool!

After that, we braved the rain once again and headed back to the flat. I got to talk to Dad for a bit, which was a nice surprise! We were excited to change into warm clothes and just hang out around the flat. I have been working on my art journal and am now all caught up. The rest of the evening will be spent indoors, hopefully reading. Reading is best on rainy days. I hope you all are having nice weather back home!

A Little Work, A Lot of Art

Hey all! I'm quite tired from today, even though I feel like I haven't done all that much. In the morning, I finished up a paper (yay!) and worked a bit on my fantasy art exhibition. If I haven't written much about it, its called "Black, White, and Read" (read as pronounced like the color red) and is newspaper themed. I think it'll come out as a cool project, so it has been fun to work on. Anywho, after working on that for a while, I decided I wanted to be done with work. It was a beautiful sunny day out, so Kinsey, Jordan, and I headed out to Green Park. We all read books and enjoyed the sun. Ah - so nice!

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay at the park forever because we had to go to art class. Today in art we went to see an exhibition at Tate Britain. It was called "Altermodern" and was very, very modern. On a whole, I found the exhibiton to be really bizarre. I didn't "get" a lot of the pieces and it kind of frustrated me. Some of the pieces were flat out weird and indecipherable. I did like a couple pieces, though, and I appreciated the aims of the exhibition. It was exhausting going through all the artwork, though. I am beat!

I'm back at the flat now, just vegging and getting ready to make dinner. I'm getting ready to start another long weekend. Sociology class got all messed up for tomorrow so no classes, yay!

Back to Classes

Today officially ended another long weekend. I woke up this morning to head to the Globe Theater for theatre class. I was so excited to go! I thought the exhibit was a bit text heavy, but I learned some cool things. I was so proud that I knew so much of the info because of my Shakespeare class. After exploring a bit on our own, we had a guide take us around the theatre. There were lots of construction workers in the theatre space because they were making props and scenery for Romeo and Juliet, which opens in a couple weeks. We bought tickets for that today!! Our guide was pretty cool and he taught us some fun things. My favorite part of his tour was when he told us some of the dumbest questions they've ever been asked. A couple good ones were "Does Shakespeare ever come visit and see shows here?" and "What is Shakespeare's last name?" So funny! All in all, I'm glad I went. Even though this theatre is just a replica and isn't exactly in its original location, it was so, so neat.

After the tour, I ate lunch with Chelsey and Sam on a ledge by the Thames. It was another gray day, but the temperature was night. Afterwards, we had lots of time before Sociology. We headed back to the classroom and played crosswords and word games until class started. Class today was a bit useless, like always. We talked mostly about our final project in that class. We are researching different London boroughs and analyzing different aspects of diversity in them. Sam and I are researching Lambeth. I hope it's a good borough with lots of diversity!

I'm back at the flat now, getting ready to (hopefully) finish my Education paper. I want to be done with it so badly!! I hope you all have a fabulous night =)

Windsor and Eton!

This morning, Kinsey, Jordan, Chelsey, and I went to Windsor Castle. It was such a fun day! We went to Paddington and caught a train out to Windsor. We got to the castle a little before 11 and, after a long security line and a hold up because of Changing of the Guard, we made it inside the walls. We walked around the outside first and everything was so pretty! The sky was finally blue and everything was in bloom. It was so nice to spend time outdoors! (Oh and side note, we saw a girl with an Elon sweatshirt. It was so weird! We didn’t get to talk to her, but I was surprised to see an Elon hoodie.)

After spending time outside, we waited in line for the royal apartments and Queen Mary’s dollhouse. We saw the dollhouse first and it was absolutely incredible. The house, first of all, was huge and seriously had electricity and running water. Everything was realistically proportioned and so quaint. My favorite rooms were the ones with crowned jewels and the huge dining room. I also liked that the sitting room had thrones in it. It was so much fun to see!

After that, we went through a Henry VIII exhibit. I feel like I am learning so much about this man! We saw lots of drawings and portraits, as well as a sword and knife he used for fighting. I learned that his favorite wife was Jane Seymour because, as the audio guide told us, she was the only to give him a son and “she died before he could grow tired of her.” It made me chuckle.

After the exhibit, we finally got to go to the apartments. We walked in rooms that are used for special functions and up stairs that lots of important people have walked up. The rooms were absolutely gorgeous and incredibly ornate! Each room was so beautiful and huge. We learned a little about the fire in the castle in 1992. We also learned a bit about the castle was remodeled after the fire (my favorite was a floor that was scorched and, to fix it, they just turned the individual wood pieces upside down). All in all, we just were really awed by the grandeur of everything.

After the apartments, we went to take pictures with one of the guards at the castle. He was traditionally decked out in the red coat – so cool. After that, though, we were all a bit hungry so we went to a Japanese food restaurant called Wagamama’s. We had heard, from Jordan, how great it was, so we were all happy to go there for lunch. It was very tasty!

Once we were all full, we headed back to the castle. We stopped into a couple shops and then made our way to St. George’s Chapel. It was really cool because that’s where Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, and Charles I are buried, as well as the current queen’s parents. In the audio tour, we heard that the queen usually visits her parents’ graves on special holidays, like Easter. That means she was in that church yesterday!! How cool is that? After seeing that, I went to Henry’s grave, which is so easy to miss. It is in the ground with nothing special marking its place. It was funny, after I found it, to watch all the people walk over the grave and not realize it was there. In the same room, though, I saw some really neat headwear and swords belonging to current knights. There were two headpieces that were more simplistic than the rest and I asked a lady about them. She said they were for ladies – specifically Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill’s daughter. It was so cool!

After the church, we were pretty done with the castle. We decided to walk a bit around Windsor and nearby Eton, both of which were absolutely adorable. We walked past the Thames and down to Eton College, which was very cute. It is the school where Princes Harry and William were educated. We couldn’t go very far, but the school is so nice and has great views of the castle. It was nice to visit!

After that, we got some ice cream and headed on the train back to Paddington. I’m back at the flat now, doing some work and getting ready to have class tomorrow (how strange!). I hope you all have a great night and good end to your weekend, if you had a nice, long one!

Oh, oh, oh! I almost forgot to write something cool. There was a flag flying over top of the castle today and it was the queen's personal flag. That means she was actually at Windsor today. Ah! We thought that was just the coolest thing. Sadly, no queen spottings or meetings, but just knowing she was there was super cool. Ok, now I'm really done.

Easter Festivities

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all have been having a great holiday weekend. I’ve had a great Easter with my flat. Let me tell you about my lovely day!

This morning I woke up early with every intention to get some work done. I got very side-tracked, though, when I saw that our flat was lacking significant Easter decorations. An Easter Bunny (named Jordan) had left some candy for us and that inspired me to do some decorating of my own. So, instead of doing that super enticing Education paper, I made little paper eggs for each of my flat mates. I decorated them and laid them on our dining room table along with the flowers, bunny, and chocolates from Mamu. Everyone was excited, I think, to come back and have a cleaned off and decorated table. It made me happy!

At around 2:00, we headed to Hyde Park to see a huge crowd of people dressed up as bunnies (or carrots or birds) roller skating around the park. It was so much fun! We only saw them for a couple minutes, but there were quite a lot of people and it was really funny. After that, we walked around the park and took pictures in front of flowers. Everyone was really cute and happy to take some pictures. Caroline York had sent some bunny ears in a package to me and we took plenty of Easter pictures donning the ears. So funny!

After the photos, we kept walking around the park. Even though it was a gray day, it wasn’t rainy, so it was nice to be outside. We watched some squirrels and pigeons for a long time. We saw this man who was feeding the squirrels and one ran up his leg. Scary! I was freaked out for him. After a bit of animal-watching, we headed back to the flats.

When we got back, many of us started cooking for our flat Easter dinner. We decided to have a big dinner with just the 8 of us. It was so great! I busted out my cooking skills with a very difficult…Caesar salad! It was actually a very funny salad. I had to put my lettuce in a pot because we don’t have any big bowls and the pot was too small to fit anything other than lettuce. So really, I made a “create-your-own-salad” dish. Other people made green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, ham, mac and cheese, fruit salad, corn, bread, and brownies. Yum! We were all in good spirits and definitely enjoyed each other’s company.

After dinner, I played this silly computer word game with Chelsey, Kinsey, Jordan, and Bo. We are addicted! It’s awful. Now I should really try to get some work done, but I’m feeling incredibly unmotivated. We’ll see how that goes. I hope you all have a great Easter with friends and family!

P.S. I should also tell you about my great night last night. I watched High School Musical 3 (for the third time since being in London) with my flat. My favorite part was listening to music afterwards, though, and dancing along with Chelsey to “The Boys are Back.” Oh man – did we ever make a great Zac and Corbin! After that, I managed to Skype with Stacey, Caroline, Elise, and Katherine. It was wonderful! I even got to see Mrs. Peckels and one of their cats. Ah! I miss all my suitemates SO MUCH! But it was an absolutely wonderful night.

A Gray Day

Today is a gray and rainy day in London. I miss the sunshine! I set today aside to do some work. I have been somewhat productive, but I don't have much to show for it. Oh well! Around 3:00, Amanda and I went to do some errands. We headed out to Paperchase to get some paper for our art projects. When you go into Paperchase, though, you have to be ready to find a million and one things you have to have. I found a few other fun things to buy, though I had to limit myself to just those. After art shopping, we headed to Piccadilly Circus. When we got out of the tube, we saw a massive protest! People were all in the streets, protesting for freedom in Sri Lanka. It was madness! Luckily, there were police officers everywhere and it was a friendly protest, but it was crazy nonetheless. Anywho, in Piccadilly, Amanda was looking for London prints for her art project. We headed to a lot of different souvenir shops and found her some useful things. At the end of our trip, we stopped into McDonald's for a little ice cream snack. I had a free little Monopoly piece, so I was happy to use it up. After that, we headed back to the flat. I cooked some dinner and am now sitting here knowing that I should work on one of my numerous assignments, but really not wanting to. Hopefully I will be able to Skype with most of my suitemates tonight, too!

Hampton Court Palace

Hey everyone! Today was a pretty great day, even though it was a bit rainy. I woke up early and went to Hampton Court Palace with Kinsey. Hampton Court is a palace where Henry VIII lived for a while and wed his 6th wife. Before I talk more about the palace, I think I should describe our adventure in getting there. As usual, the journey began on the tube. We had to go to the train station to buy a ticket and the ticket man gave us some directions. We ended up needing different directions, though. So we got on this one train to get to some train junction. We got off there to get on another train, only to find out that the only helpful platform was closed. Sad! We then got on a coach to get to another train station, where we caught another train to get to Hampton Court Palace. Whew! What adventures we had. We finally got there, though, and we were so proud of ourselves!

When we got there, we decided to start by walking around the gardens. It was a bit gray and cloudy, but no rain yet. We saw gorgeous flowers and huge fields of daffodils. It was so pretty! We also did a hedge maze and are proud to say that we didn't get too, too lost. Yay! After that, we went to see the Royal Gardens. They, too, were absolutely beautiful. There were lots of colored tulips and these huge trees that look like mushrooms. There were also lots of geese/duck-type birds. It was just a beautiful, beautiful space. And it was refreshing to see green grass!

By the tail end of our garden walk, though, it had started to rain. We decided to head indoors and do some exploring. Without going into exorbitant amounts of detail, I'll briefly re-cap what we did. We saw Henry VIII's apartments, other king's apartments, queen's apartments, the Royal Chapel, a garden exhibition, an exhibition on Henry VIII's women, and an exhibition on Katherine of Aragon, a young Henry VIII, and Cardinal Wolsey, amongst other things. The palace did this very cute thing that kind of celebrated the 500th anniversary of Henry's rule. They decided to give every visitor this wedding invite-type thing that had a schedule of wedding events for the wedding of Henry VIII to Katherine Parr, his last wife. Kinsey and I went to see the pre-wedding event, but there were so many people, it was crazy! Some people got to wear dress robes and stuff and the actors were really funny. However, there were just so many people, it was hard to see and focus.

On a whole, it was a great day. We probably would have spent more time at the palace had the weather been nicer. I loved seeing all the rooms and the palace was just really pretty (though it had a confusing layout). What a great way to spend the day!

Art, Shopping, & Science

I woke up this morning to an alarm that I did not remember setting. My plan was to sleep in as long as I could, but that didn't work out. Oh well! Once I got up, I worked a little on my final art project. I had a decently productive morning, though I still have tons of work to do!

A little bit after lunch, Sam and I decided to head out for a fun-filled day. We started by going to an art exhibition that I needed to review for art class. It was at the Jill George Gallery and we saw an exhibition called Stills by a Norwegian artist called Gro Thorsen. I was expecting it to be photography arranged in a really cool way. Unfortunately, it was not photography and the layout wasn't quite as cool as I had hoped. However, I felt very cultured going to a small art gallery in the middle of Soho. The exhibition wasn't awful, but I hoped there would be more to it.

After art, Sam and I did a little souvenir shopping. He found some good things for his parents who are coming to visit in a couple days. We traveled down like one street in Piccadilly Circus and went to at least four souvenir shops. It still amazes me how many souvenir stores there are!

Last on our list was "something fun." After brainstorming for a bit, we decided on the Science Museum. Even though I'd been, I was more than happy to go back and see all the exhibit we didn't go to. This time around we saw exhibits on household items, plastics, technologies of the 21st century, genetics, and much more. My favorite was this place called the Learning Lab where you could do hands-on experiments on a variety of different topics. I enjoyed seeing all the little kids enjoying science so much. I also was really proud of myself because, on the first try, I correctly wired a burglar alarm and light. Yay me! The little boy ahead of me was so cute - he spent like 5 minutes explaining what to do to Sam and me and asking me if I'd like a go. Too cute!

After the museum, Sam and I headed back to the flat. I just finished dinner and am hoping to have a really productive night so I can have a fun-filled weekend. Wish me luck on being productive!

Some More Art

As usual, I don't have all too much to write about. I woke up this morning to do work. I finished my sociology journal for the week and got a good start on my final art project/exhibition. Not too bad for a morning's work!

At about 1:45, we left for our art class. We started class at a gallery called White Cube. It was a very white room filled with some incredibly creative artwork. The artist did a lot of cut-outs and used really bright colors. I was a huge fan. After that, we went to a smaller gallery to see a video exhibition. I had never really seen video art before, so I was excited to go. I was also impressed by that exhibition. The third gallery we visited was huge. We saw an exhibition called Mythologies and it was very bizarre. I liked it because it was very different, but I did not understand a lot of pieces. My favorite piece, though, was one where the artist posed the question 'what is beauty?' to blind people. She photographed the people she asked and took pictures of what they described as beautiful. It was really moving. All in all, the galleries were really fun and I'm so glad we were exposed to them.

Now I am back in the flat, ready to spend the night being productive. I have another very long weekend (starting tonight), so I have lots of fun things planned. I'm excited!

People in London CAN be Nice

Hey all! I have just a couple updates today - nothing huge.

I woke up this morning and did some chores. I walked up to the store and was amazed that two people smiled at me along the way. It made me so happy to find nice people in London! I did some shopping and the cashier was very nice to me. He said I had nice eyes (it wasn't creepy, don't worry). After the store, I came back and felt very domestic. I cooked some chicken for a couple meals, cut up some strawberries, and cleaned up the kitchen and common room because the cleaning lady came unexpectedly.

After that morning, I packed a lunch and planned to eat it in the park near my school. Sam, Jordan, and Chelsey were there, so I chatted and ate with them. Then, we headed to theatre to talk about Dancing at Lughnasa. After that, I had a break and then Sociology. Sociology, as usual, was fairly repetitive and we didn't learn much. Our teacher was nice, though, and brought us hot cross buns. She also let us have the last 15 minutes of class out in the park.

Now I'm back at the flat, getting ready to do some art things and probably some journaling. Very fun!

My Weekend is Officially Over

Hello all! Here's a little update on my day. I woke up this morning and did some art journaling and computering. I also went with Amanda to do some grocery shopping. It was much needed - I was down to cereal and peanut butter. After that, I made some lunch and just hung out for a bit. Then, 8 of us decided to go to St. James' Park near Buckingham Palace. The original plan was to go to Parliament, but it is in recess so we had to change plans. The park was really, really nice, though! It was a sunny and warm day, so we enjoyed time outside. Everyone layed around, listening to music, reading, or playing with a koosh ball. It was nice and relaxing, for sure. Unfortunately, time at the park was kind of short because most of us had to head to seminar at 5. Seminar today was about Religious Education and Faith Schools. It was actually very interesting to hear about the curriculum and how the programs should be implemented. I learned a lot. After seminar, I headed to dinner with Kinsey and Sam. Then, we made our way to the Old Vic theatre for Dancing at Lughnasa. The play was alright. I'm not a huge fan of the written play itself, but I thought the set was very cool and the actors did well. Now, I'm getting ready to finish my art journal for the week and head off to sleep. Have a great night, everyone!

Sunday

I don't have too much to report today. This morning I woke up later than I normally do, which was surprising. I did a lot of stuff on my computer - emailing and researching and whatnot. I also did work for a tiny bit. I only got a little done, but it was something.

Around 2:00, Amanda, Kinsey, Jordan, Sam, and I went to a Chocolate Festival. It wasn't exactly what we really expected or hoped, but it was fun to check it out nonetheless. Mostly it was vendors selling their chocolate products. A couple people got some chocolate treats, but we didn't spend too much time there. After that, we went to a little park near the London Eye. There were some crazy kids jumping and doing flips off of brick walls. It was really cool, if not a little scary. One guy had a fake arm that another guy pulled off after he did a flip. The audience freaked a little bit, but I felt bad for the poor guy. After that, we saw a row of street performers. We stopped at this one guy who was hilarious! He had audience members tie him up in chains and padlocks and he got out of them all in 2 minutes. His little shindig lasted longer than 2 minutes, though, because he talked and joked and stuff for long before the trick. There were tons of adorable little kids running about, which just added to the fun.

After that, we went to Tesco (the grocery store) and headed back to the flats. Now, I'm sitting here after just having eaten dinner, getting ready to do some work. High School Musical fest ends tonight with the third movie. It should be a fun time! Enjoy the rest of your weekends =)

Insects and Bodies and Dinos..Oh My!

Hey everyone! I started my day today by sleeping in just a bit, which was so nice. I then woke up and tried to do some work, but I wasn't into it. So, I decided that I wanted to go to a museum. I opted for the Natural History Museum and Bo came along with me. We had a great, great time!

We started in a human bodies and biology exhibit. We learned about babies, learning & memory, and child development things, amongst other stuff. There were lots of optical illusions, which were also quite cool. After that, we went to a Creepy Crawly exhibit and learned about bugs, spiders, and crustaceans. So much fun! I don't remember the order after that, but we learned about eartquakes, ecology, birds, planets, rocks, minerals, and so much more. We ended our trip by seeing the Dinosaurs exhibit. It was SO COOL! I'm usually not a huge fan of dinosaurs, but the way this one was layed out and organized was really neat. Dinosaurs are fascinating, seriously! Oops, technically dinos weren't the end. We also ran quickly through the Mammals exhibit before the museum closed. We saw stuffed mammals and a huge replica of a blue whale. Oh my gosh, I know those darn things are huge, but I was amazed. We also saw the largest recorded elephant trunks. They were huge!

All in all, the museum was super fun and Bo and I really only did about a half or 3/4 of it. There's just so much! Two fun facts from the museum: 1) You can tell a millipede from a centipede because centipedes float and millipedes sink in water, and 2) If a T-Rex were to fall when running, the fall would probably kill it. How fun are those facts?

Tonight should be fun. We are continuing our High School Musical fest (which began two nights ago). We are watching HSM2, which is not the best movie, but it will be fun. I hope everyone is doing well back in the States!

A Great Day

Hey all! I had a very fun Friday today. The day started with Kinsey, Amanda, Sam, and I going to Kensington Palace. We looked at some of the historical exhibits, as well as an exhibit on Princess Diana and another on debutantes. Princess Diana is really fascinating and inspirational and her clothes are beautiful. I loved the lay-out and info in the debutante exhibit, though. They taught you how to waltz and how to properly curtesy and walk nicely. So fun! The palace itself was quite nice and I learned a lot. We also saw the gardens, which were nice even though the flowers weren't all in bloom yet.

After that, we ate packed lunches in Hyde Park and people watched for a good couple hours. It was a sunny day and it was fun to see everyone outside. Unfortunately, it was a bit chilly, so we felt the need to travel indoors after a bit.

We decided to head to the Science Museum and see what we could see there. We ended up seeing an IMAX movie called Fly Me to the Moon. It was a cartoon about these flies who travel with Armstrong to the moon. I thought it was super cute and I actually learned some fun things! After the movie, we only had like 20 minutes, so we went to this interactive genetics exhibit. We all tried this machine that took your picture and showed you how you would look when you got older. It didn't work super well because I ended up looking like an African American woman with tiny teeth. Interesting...

After that, Amanda, Kinsey, and I met up with Jordan and Chelsey at a restaurant called The Sway for dinner. We got a deal where we got dinner and show tickets for 20 pounds - not bad! Dinner was good and we were all very excited to see Spring Awakening again. It moved theatres and it was absolutely amazing! We got upgrades on our seats and ended up in seats 6 rows from the stage. It was so nice seeing the show when I didn't have to pay attention to little details for class. All in all, it was so good and all the songs are currently stuck in my head. Afterwards, we all were a bit stalkerish and waited outside the stage door. Unfortunately, none of us were brave enough to talk to any of the actors, though we saw all of our favorites!

Now I am back blogging and am about to hang out and head to bed. It was a really fun and busy day!

Fruit Kebabs

Today I slept in a bit (or at least tried) and spent some time to myself when everyone was away in class. I did a bit of work and cleaning. Then, I decided to take a little walk up Edgware Road and look for shoes and strawberries. No luck, so I headed back to the flat. Soon, everyone got back and we just hung out a bit. I finished my Sociology journal and then went with Chelsey, Jordan, Sam, and Kinsey to Chelsey's practicum school's little cake and fruit sale. Her class was raising money to buy a couple acres of rainforest. They were so cute! I bought a Nutella-covered fruit kebab and a little cupcake. I supported the rainforst!

After that, I went with Chelsey and Kinsey to the National Portrait Gallery. It was very, very cool to see what some famous scientists and historical figures looked like. My favorite was a portrait of Shakespeare that is said to be the only picture of the poet painted from life. Ah! How cool is that? I saw lots of writers and scientists that I recognized from textbooks and such. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Now, I've just finished dinner and am spending the night just relaxing and maybe doing work. We have all just realized how little time we left in London, so we are packing our weekends full of fun things. This weekend should be great!

Art & Thai

Hey, hey! Just a couple fun things to write about today. I woke up this morning and spent the morning putzing about. I did some work, did some nothing, and tried to do more work. I am seriously just trying to put off this one sociology journal because it makes no sense. Ah - I hate unclear instructions. Anyways, finally it was time to leave for art class. We started art at The Photographer's Gallery and the exhibits were pretty cool. There is like a contest for a special prize (I forgot the name, sorry) and the four finalists were shown in the gallery. Each had very different subjects and visions, but all were impressive. After that, we went on to a second photography gallery. I don't think any of us liked this one as much. It was a bit unimpressive, sadly. The third gallery was the coolest, in my opinion. It was a rooftop gallery and the people in it were getting ready for the opening of an exhibition. The artwork was really neat and colorful, often with bunnies in them representing time. We had been invited to the private viewing, but many of us couldn't stay. However, we did get to meet the artist (Marcus McAllister) and he was so nice and down to Earth. It was really cool hearing about his visions and inspirations.

After art class, I had dinner with Jordan, Jenna, and our faculty advisor, Jimmie. Jimmie does this thing where she takes a group of students out to dinner or lunch to get to know them better. Tonight was our turn and we went to a place called Ben's Thai on our street. It was my first experience with Thai food and I really liked what I got. It was nice chatting and getting to know everyone a bit better.

Now, I am still putting off doing my darn sociology journal, but at least you get a blog out of my procrastination!