Life in London is the best! Na na na na... Okay, enough old girl's camp songs. That really did have a point, which I'll come to later. Now I sound like my professors, who are always telling me that they will talk about something later. But, um yeah, I digress, let's get back to the matter at hand.
Pretty much, this was a much more mellow week than usual. Tuesday, we got the wonderful opportunity to go the London Temple. I love going to the temple, and this was no different. I always leave grounded, refreshed, and thinking so much more clearly. Wednesday, I had the awesome opportunity of seeing Thoroughly Modern Millie, after hearing the soundtrack for the last year. I have such a new appreciation for it! Super duper cute! Thursday, I went to the first institute class of my life, got drafted for institute choir (and band) and met my aunt's in-laws for the first time since I was five. Friday was more exciting because no one had to go to class, so we went to Harrod's and drank gourmet hot chocolate, browsed around, and then went to Covent Garden to watch street performers and play dress-up at the Theatre Museum. Yeah, I was totally hot in my big yellow clown wig and ballet skirt. Oh baby. Yesterday, I went to Greenwich, home of the international date line, where I was in the Eastern hemisphere....and the Western hemisphere (hence the title) Oh yeah. I'm having lots of fun, although I'm still trying to fight the fact that I'm officially AT SCHOOL. Where I should be STUDYING. Yikes! I registered, though, so if you're curious or anything, e-mail me, because I 'd rather not post my whole schedule here.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
Catch That Bus!
Supposedly, the few days after my Edinburgh trip were going to be relaxing and uneventful. Ha! As if that could ever happen in London...
Did you know that I scare easy? Well, actually, I can't think of a single one of you that doesn't already know that. Every single museum that we have gone to, something has scared the heck out of me. Voices booming from primordial ooze, creepy fake men, you name it. Friday was no exception. We went to the Victoria and Albert (art that is not paintings), where I was frightened by a snarling ceramic camel, and the Natural History Museum, where I was frightened by several dead rabbits and a "falling" "rock". At least the people around me get a good laugh, I guess. On our way back, a whole bunch of police with guns came running down the street yelling for everyone to move, then ran into the Science Museum. Interesting...
In theory, Saturday sounded relaxing. Yeah, no. We went to the Christmas halls at Harrod's, which are not as exciting as they might sound. Lots of expensive ornaments, but no really cool elaborate decorations or anything. They also have pretty much the world's fanciest bathrooms, with complimentary perfume and hand lotion and lots of marble and the like. Afterwards, we tried to go to a restaurant called Wok Wok. So, we walked and walked forever, only to discover that the restaurant is no longer there. Moral of the story? Don't walk-walk to Wok Wok.The Italian food we had instead was just not as exciting. We hoped to ease our disappointment with Magnum bars (like a gourmet Eskimo Pie), but stupid Tesco was out of the chocolate ones. We found one open box in the back, and were so desperate that we totally bought it anyway. Bad idea. The chocolate was flaked off and they were frozen hard. Moral of that story? Desperation leads to ugly, half-frozen measures.
Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, right? WRONG!! I mean, Sunday is an 8 hour day for me with church and travel time anyway, but typically uneventful. This Sunday, we got in a bus chase. As we arrived to switch buses, our bus totally pulled away right before us. Our driver yelled at us to get back on, then proceeded to speed and tail the other bus for three blocks. Mucho exciting! We also went to dinner with my bishop (food from Ghana is waaay good), so we ended up being gone from 8 am to 6:30 pm.
Monday, I managed to get into the swing of class by actually going to class, but not by actually doing homework. Instead, I went to H & M twice (but didn't buy anything), sent a thank you note, ate chocolate, played Imaginiff, analyzed my birthmark, listened to the song Eleanor about twenty-five times...Aren't I such a good student?
Did you know that I scare easy? Well, actually, I can't think of a single one of you that doesn't already know that. Every single museum that we have gone to, something has scared the heck out of me. Voices booming from primordial ooze, creepy fake men, you name it. Friday was no exception. We went to the Victoria and Albert (art that is not paintings), where I was frightened by a snarling ceramic camel, and the Natural History Museum, where I was frightened by several dead rabbits and a "falling" "rock". At least the people around me get a good laugh, I guess. On our way back, a whole bunch of police with guns came running down the street yelling for everyone to move, then ran into the Science Museum. Interesting...
In theory, Saturday sounded relaxing. Yeah, no. We went to the Christmas halls at Harrod's, which are not as exciting as they might sound. Lots of expensive ornaments, but no really cool elaborate decorations or anything. They also have pretty much the world's fanciest bathrooms, with complimentary perfume and hand lotion and lots of marble and the like. Afterwards, we tried to go to a restaurant called Wok Wok. So, we walked and walked forever, only to discover that the restaurant is no longer there. Moral of the story? Don't walk-walk to Wok Wok.The Italian food we had instead was just not as exciting. We hoped to ease our disappointment with Magnum bars (like a gourmet Eskimo Pie), but stupid Tesco was out of the chocolate ones. We found one open box in the back, and were so desperate that we totally bought it anyway. Bad idea. The chocolate was flaked off and they were frozen hard. Moral of that story? Desperation leads to ugly, half-frozen measures.
Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest, right? WRONG!! I mean, Sunday is an 8 hour day for me with church and travel time anyway, but typically uneventful. This Sunday, we got in a bus chase. As we arrived to switch buses, our bus totally pulled away right before us. Our driver yelled at us to get back on, then proceeded to speed and tail the other bus for three blocks. Mucho exciting! We also went to dinner with my bishop (food from Ghana is waaay good), so we ended up being gone from 8 am to 6:30 pm.
Monday, I managed to get into the swing of class by actually going to class, but not by actually doing homework. Instead, I went to H & M twice (but didn't buy anything), sent a thank you note, ate chocolate, played Imaginiff, analyzed my birthmark, listened to the song Eleanor about twenty-five times...Aren't I such a good student?
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Scottish is Hottish!
So, I left really early for Edinburgh on Wednesday morning. Did you know that it's
only a 4 and a half hour train trip from London to Edinburgh? I was in a completely
different car from Tiffany, Kelli, and Lindsey, so I used it as an opportunity to
sleep and do the dumb little puzzles on the in-train magazine. We showed up to
Edinburgh, met Mary Jane and Kalais, and hit the hostel around 1 in the afternoon.
Our hostel, Budget Backpackers, belonged to the theory that everything looks cooler
if it's painted in about 7 different bright colors, and that we can't see the dirt
if the lights are really dim! There was hair on my sheet and a weird brown smudge
on my comforter, but I'm still alive!
The main thing that we did in Edinburgh was hit the Royal Mile, which starts at
Edinburgh Castle (which is way cool), and then goes down a long cobblestone street
full of stores. We went to a tartan-weaving place, where I got to see the Stuart
(or Stewart) plaid. I felt so Scottish! Yeah...my group kept stopping at every
single store. I didn't really want to buy much of anything, so that got a little
bit old. The city, though, was absolutely gorgeous. It's pretty much all made
out of stone, so the whole city looks like it's been carved out of the same rock.
We took some really fun pictures, which I'll post soon. We also stopped at the Museum
of Childhood, which was pretty fun to look at all the toys. Some people in my group
tried to walk into Parliament, which obviosuly wasn't gonna work. At the end of
the Royal Mile, we hiked up Arthur's Seat, which is a big fat hill with a painful
cobblestone path and a great view of the city. We got some dinner and crashed at
the bright, not-so-clean hostel of fun.
In the morning, me and Kalais split off and went to Greyfriars Cemetary, and then
we went to the Edinburgh writers museum. They focused on Stevenson, Burns, and
Scott, and it really made me want to read some of their stuff! I just got back
around 5, because the tube coming home stopped, then magically changed lines in
the middle, so we got a bit lost. If you get on the District line, why would it
change into Hammersmith and City? Why? Why? Some people were a little surprised
that I just went for the day, but I think it was totally perfect.
only a 4 and a half hour train trip from London to Edinburgh? I was in a completely
different car from Tiffany, Kelli, and Lindsey, so I used it as an opportunity to
sleep and do the dumb little puzzles on the in-train magazine. We showed up to
Edinburgh, met Mary Jane and Kalais, and hit the hostel around 1 in the afternoon.
Our hostel, Budget Backpackers, belonged to the theory that everything looks cooler
if it's painted in about 7 different bright colors, and that we can't see the dirt
if the lights are really dim! There was hair on my sheet and a weird brown smudge
on my comforter, but I'm still alive!
The main thing that we did in Edinburgh was hit the Royal Mile, which starts at
Edinburgh Castle (which is way cool), and then goes down a long cobblestone street
full of stores. We went to a tartan-weaving place, where I got to see the Stuart
(or Stewart) plaid. I felt so Scottish! Yeah...my group kept stopping at every
single store. I didn't really want to buy much of anything, so that got a little
bit old. The city, though, was absolutely gorgeous. It's pretty much all made
out of stone, so the whole city looks like it's been carved out of the same rock.
We took some really fun pictures, which I'll post soon. We also stopped at the Museum
of Childhood, which was pretty fun to look at all the toys. Some people in my group
tried to walk into Parliament, which obviosuly wasn't gonna work. At the end of
the Royal Mile, we hiked up Arthur's Seat, which is a big fat hill with a painful
cobblestone path and a great view of the city. We got some dinner and crashed at
the bright, not-so-clean hostel of fun.
In the morning, me and Kalais split off and went to Greyfriars Cemetary, and then
we went to the Edinburgh writers museum. They focused on Stevenson, Burns, and
Scott, and it really made me want to read some of their stuff! I just got back
around 5, because the tube coming home stopped, then magically changed lines in
the middle, so we got a bit lost. If you get on the District line, why would it
change into Hammersmith and City? Why? Why? Some people were a little surprised
that I just went for the day, but I think it was totally perfect.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Where in the World is Winklebury?
You see, that was my initial question when I got my live-in assignment. Eventually, Lindsay and I found it on the map and we headed out there on the train last Friday. The whole experience was fun, relaxing, and a lot like visiting your grandparents. We got spoiled rotten with cakes and candy and chocolate!
Our live-in "mom", Jean Foster, met us at the train station with her almost-4-year-old grandson, Morgan. He was NOT in the best of moods. He just kept yelling "Leave me alone" and growling at us. He was supposed to stay with us all day, but yeah, that was not going to happen. We dropped him off with his mom, and then we went to the mall, which is, yeah, a mall. There's slightly different stores, but other than that, it's all the same. We went home and watched TV and Lindsay fell asleep reading for class. (This was a big theme).
Saturday, we went to a place called Bramshill, which is an old mansion that got turned into a police academy that Bill worked at. According to legend, there are at least 15 ghosts, including a girl that played hide-and-seek on her wedding night and got locked in a trunk and died. What fun. Apparently, Bramshill is the secret hiding place for Parliament if there's a tourist attack. What good is it to tell people the secret?!!?! We also went to a big Tesco! I miss grocery stores so much! You have no idea...Does anyone know what kind of vegetable a swede is? It kind of looked like a big fat radish.
Church on Sunday was nice, it was a very friendly ward. We had all of the grandkids (Samuel, 8, Morgan, and Zachary, who was 20 months)over for dinner, as well as the missionaries They were very energetic, so it was just like nursery! Dinner was different, because there were at least 8 kinds of vegetables on the table.
We went to Winchester, home of Alfred the Great (who I'm supposed to be writing a paper about right now) and the Round Table, that everyone knows is NOT the round table. Go figure. We ate french fries with a fork, which is apparently the polite way. We also went to see Jane Austen's house in Chawton, which was the home of Mr. Darcy's costume from the new Pride and Prejudice. Oh yeah. Heaven, I tell you! It was awesome!
Our live-in "mom", Jean Foster, met us at the train station with her almost-4-year-old grandson, Morgan. He was NOT in the best of moods. He just kept yelling "Leave me alone" and growling at us. He was supposed to stay with us all day, but yeah, that was not going to happen. We dropped him off with his mom, and then we went to the mall, which is, yeah, a mall. There's slightly different stores, but other than that, it's all the same. We went home and watched TV and Lindsay fell asleep reading for class. (This was a big theme).
Saturday, we went to a place called Bramshill, which is an old mansion that got turned into a police academy that Bill worked at. According to legend, there are at least 15 ghosts, including a girl that played hide-and-seek on her wedding night and got locked in a trunk and died. What fun. Apparently, Bramshill is the secret hiding place for Parliament if there's a tourist attack. What good is it to tell people the secret?!!?! We also went to a big Tesco! I miss grocery stores so much! You have no idea...Does anyone know what kind of vegetable a swede is? It kind of looked like a big fat radish.
Church on Sunday was nice, it was a very friendly ward. We had all of the grandkids (Samuel, 8, Morgan, and Zachary, who was 20 months)over for dinner, as well as the missionaries They were very energetic, so it was just like nursery! Dinner was different, because there were at least 8 kinds of vegetables on the table.
We went to Winchester, home of Alfred the Great (who I'm supposed to be writing a paper about right now) and the Round Table, that everyone knows is NOT the round table. Go figure. We ate french fries with a fork, which is apparently the polite way. We also went to see Jane Austen's house in Chawton, which was the home of Mr. Darcy's costume from the new Pride and Prejudice. Oh yeah. Heaven, I tell you! It was awesome!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
As I Like It
What can I say? I've just been having a good couple of days! On Monday, I found out that all of our teachers realized we've been working too hard and they totally overhauled their syllabi to make them easier. That takes such a load of my back! I had hated feeling like I couldn't go see the city because I was doing homework, and now more of the homework involves going and doing things anyways. Genna and I went to the Science Museum to celebrate, where we played Pong, did an Entrapment-style burglar alarm evasion, programmed little fish, and did so many other cool things. Also, I found out that a friend of mine from high school is also here in London!
Tuesday, our teacher cancelled class for us to go to museums, and I got to go to the Tate Gallery. I just love museums, and this one was neat. It's mostly British artists, and some neat paintings. I don't know if you've seen the one of the two girls and the chinese lanterns, but it just glows in person. It's amazing. There's also a really neat one of a tube map, but with people instead.
Yesterday, I found out that AIM actually does work here. Surprise! So, you may see me on occasionally.
Today, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon (AKA Shakespeare's Birthplace) where we saw a ton of old houses, ate fantastic hot chocolate, and saw a production of As You Like It. The first act was a tad slow, but the second act was hilarious. My favorite quote: "Sell now, you are not for all markets", which is a woman masquerading as a man, convincing the woman who has fallen in love with her to forget about her and marry a shepherd instead. Now that I type it, it sounds kind of weird.
Umm...so anyways...for those of you who know her, my freshman year roommate Catherine (not to be confused with my sophomore year roommate Catherine) is getting married. Congratulations! I'm off to live with a member family for a few days, then a day trip to Scotland. Enjoy yourselves!
Tuesday, our teacher cancelled class for us to go to museums, and I got to go to the Tate Gallery. I just love museums, and this one was neat. It's mostly British artists, and some neat paintings. I don't know if you've seen the one of the two girls and the chinese lanterns, but it just glows in person. It's amazing. There's also a really neat one of a tube map, but with people instead.
Yesterday, I found out that AIM actually does work here. Surprise! So, you may see me on occasionally.
Today, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon (AKA Shakespeare's Birthplace) where we saw a ton of old houses, ate fantastic hot chocolate, and saw a production of As You Like It. The first act was a tad slow, but the second act was hilarious. My favorite quote: "Sell now, you are not for all markets", which is a woman masquerading as a man, convincing the woman who has fallen in love with her to forget about her and marry a shepherd instead. Now that I type it, it sounds kind of weird.
Umm...so anyways...for those of you who know her, my freshman year roommate Catherine (not to be confused with my sophomore year roommate Catherine) is getting married. Congratulations! I'm off to live with a member family for a few days, then a day trip to Scotland. Enjoy yourselves!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Hurrah for the Pirate King!
And this is why I needed two posts, friends.
Wednesday morning, we set off bright and early for a little three-day jaunt to Cornwall, which is that southwest tip of England. We started off our trip in Bath, home of the Roman baths and lots of Jane Austen memorabilia. I also got to try on a corset, which sounds like it should be really painful and not a lot of fun, but is actually kind of strangely exciting to have a little waist and a lovely figure, even if you may lose a few ribs in the process. That night, we stayed in Penzance, where I sang the first two lines of every Pirates of Penzance song I know. We stayed in this hostel that was set way to far back from the road for my liking. On the way back, we were talking about how it would be the perfect horror movie setting "Look to your right. It's a black abyss. Look to your left. Hear the river..." when all of a sudden, a bicyclist passed us and we all totally freaked out and started screaming. Rather embarrassing.Also, the hostel gave me a chance to have some new roommates for a change, which is always good.
Thursday, we had the wonderful experience of meeting Harry Safari, a local tour guide in his 60s with a rather interesting sense of humor. This is the cleanest example I can remember:
My friend Susie trips.
Harry: Watch out love, or you'll be needing the kiss of life and I'll be needing to fight these other guys off.
Susie: Umm...ha ha ha.
Harry: Just because you start breathing doesn't mean I'll stop.
Yikes!
I also tried my first Cornish pasty, which rhymes with nasty, not tasty, although the latter is true (TM: Heather Stay) and saw my first big grocery store. Who knew how much you could miss a grocery store! That night, we stayed in a hostel where I shared my shower with at least two spiders, but at least one more that probably bit my finger. Sneaky sneaky.
Did you know that Stonehenge is kind of disappointing? You walk in a circle around a bunch of rocks, and it's right by the freeway, and there is not a lot of information unless you get a headset. We also went to a place called Avebury, where the rocks are surrounded by sheep and a whole lot of sheep droppings.
Last night, I went to a YSA dance with a bunch of people from my group. I didn't know really what to expect, but it was a blast! The music and the people were way better than typical BYU/YSA dances, but it did make me a bit homesick for dancing with roomies and old stake dances.
Well, love you all!
Wednesday morning, we set off bright and early for a little three-day jaunt to Cornwall, which is that southwest tip of England. We started off our trip in Bath, home of the Roman baths and lots of Jane Austen memorabilia. I also got to try on a corset, which sounds like it should be really painful and not a lot of fun, but is actually kind of strangely exciting to have a little waist and a lovely figure, even if you may lose a few ribs in the process. That night, we stayed in Penzance, where I sang the first two lines of every Pirates of Penzance song I know. We stayed in this hostel that was set way to far back from the road for my liking. On the way back, we were talking about how it would be the perfect horror movie setting "Look to your right. It's a black abyss. Look to your left. Hear the river..." when all of a sudden, a bicyclist passed us and we all totally freaked out and started screaming. Rather embarrassing.Also, the hostel gave me a chance to have some new roommates for a change, which is always good.
Thursday, we had the wonderful experience of meeting Harry Safari, a local tour guide in his 60s with a rather interesting sense of humor. This is the cleanest example I can remember:
My friend Susie trips.
Harry: Watch out love, or you'll be needing the kiss of life and I'll be needing to fight these other guys off.
Susie: Umm...ha ha ha.
Harry: Just because you start breathing doesn't mean I'll stop.
Yikes!
I also tried my first Cornish pasty, which rhymes with nasty, not tasty, although the latter is true (TM: Heather Stay) and saw my first big grocery store. Who knew how much you could miss a grocery store! That night, we stayed in a hostel where I shared my shower with at least two spiders, but at least one more that probably bit my finger. Sneaky sneaky.
Did you know that Stonehenge is kind of disappointing? You walk in a circle around a bunch of rocks, and it's right by the freeway, and there is not a lot of information unless you get a headset. We also went to a place called Avebury, where the rocks are surrounded by sheep and a whole lot of sheep droppings.
Last night, I went to a YSA dance with a bunch of people from my group. I didn't know really what to expect, but it was a blast! The music and the people were way better than typical BYU/YSA dances, but it did make me a bit homesick for dancing with roomies and old stake dances.
Well, love you all!
Conference, Burning Pestles, and All That Jazz
So, I totally meant to post this on Tuesday, so I'll just post this now instead so that it's not just one really, really big post.
Last weekend, we had General Conference. Unlike Utah or California, this is a nighttime thing. You watch Relief Society and Sunday morning session from 3 to 7 Saturday afternoon, Priesthood session (if you're a guy) Sunday morning at 10, and then a marathon of the rest of the sessions from 1 to 11 on Sunday. Needless to say, it was a long day but it was totally worth it. No matter what, I always hear exactly what I needed to hear and figure out where I need to be headed. I find that I have appreciated conference so much over the past few years, and I'm learning more and more.
Monday, it was back to the daily grind of classes. Since we had a bunch of deadlines and we were all really stressed, we all thought it would be really fun to go see a play at the Barbican called The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Little did we know that the Tube would totally stop working while we were on it, leaving us 20 minutes late for the first act, which we had to watch from a little screen in the holding room. I'm not quite sure what happened in the first act, but the general idea is that a grocer and his wife are watching this play, and they think it's boring so they take over and cast their apprentice as the lead role "Knight of the Burning Pestle". The second act included such highlights as the grocer giving beer to audience members, a song and dance battle number, a Monty-Python-esque giant, and men in drag. It's a whole lot funnier than I'm typing it, I think.
By Tuesday, all those deadlines caught up to me and I was just super-stressed, so I called my family and it was really good to hear from everybody. How are all of you? I always appreciate mail/e-mail etc. (Hint, hint)
Last weekend, we had General Conference. Unlike Utah or California, this is a nighttime thing. You watch Relief Society and Sunday morning session from 3 to 7 Saturday afternoon, Priesthood session (if you're a guy) Sunday morning at 10, and then a marathon of the rest of the sessions from 1 to 11 on Sunday. Needless to say, it was a long day but it was totally worth it. No matter what, I always hear exactly what I needed to hear and figure out where I need to be headed. I find that I have appreciated conference so much over the past few years, and I'm learning more and more.
Monday, it was back to the daily grind of classes. Since we had a bunch of deadlines and we were all really stressed, we all thought it would be really fun to go see a play at the Barbican called The Knight of the Burning Pestle. Little did we know that the Tube would totally stop working while we were on it, leaving us 20 minutes late for the first act, which we had to watch from a little screen in the holding room. I'm not quite sure what happened in the first act, but the general idea is that a grocer and his wife are watching this play, and they think it's boring so they take over and cast their apprentice as the lead role "Knight of the Burning Pestle". The second act included such highlights as the grocer giving beer to audience members, a song and dance battle number, a Monty-Python-esque giant, and men in drag. It's a whole lot funnier than I'm typing it, I think.
By Tuesday, all those deadlines caught up to me and I was just super-stressed, so I called my family and it was really good to hear from everybody. How are all of you? I always appreciate mail/e-mail etc. (Hint, hint)
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