So, as this Thanksgiving season rolls around, I have realized that I have so much to be grateful for. In fact, it would be a really really long list of things to be grateful for, so I will spare you most of that list and give you the "relevant to my life this past week" version. Soo....here we go.
1) Being able to just chill at the center. I've been feeling a little under the weather, but everyone else is tired too, so I've spent a lot of time sitting and talking in the kitchen, on the stairs, in the classroom, on my bed, you name it. It's great.
2) When I don't want to chill out, there's lots to see and do. This week, I saw Phantom of the Opera (exciting staging, wonderful Phantom, disappointing Christine, but what can you do? We got really good seats for half price), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (which I liked, but found it kind of rushed), an auction at Christie's, and the coolest glass and sculpture exhibits ever at the V & A. I've discovered that I really like glasswork.
3) I actually enjoyed Thanksgiving! As many of you know, I am not really all the fond of Thanksgiving. I just spent the morning relaxing, doing a little Christmas shopping and bought myself a really pretty sweater. The food was fantastic! We just had turkey breast instead of a whole big scary turkey, then we had this yummy spicy stuffing, squash casserole, jell-o salad, crescent rolls, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and three kinds of pie. YUMMY!!!!! Everybody helped out in the cooking or setting up or decorating (except me, because I missed the sign-up sheet and slept through decorating), and it was just really fun. I felt very at home. Later, we all wrote cards for servicemen as a kind of "thankful" thing.
That night, we all got roped into a Thanksgiving talent show. Each room (or half of room) had to come up with a talent. My room decided to have the "Digestive-Eating World Cup". A digestive is a type of cookie, for the record. This, I think, was a lot funnier in theory than practice, and I am never going to try to eat 5 at a time again. Ick. Needless to say, we did not win the prize. It went to the guys,who, as usual, impersonated SNL Celebrity Jeopardy, which I don't think counts because they do it ALL. THE. TIME. We also had individual talents, and my friend MJ and I did a flute and violin duet of three of our favorite Christmas songs (Noel Nouvelet, Stars were Gleaming and that Mary, Mary, come see the child round that I forget the name of). We both thought it was last-minute and lousy, but we won the "Mayflower Medallion" for individual talent, so go figure. My favorite was the other winner, which was three of my friends who did an interpretive Irish dance representing how you feel when you're done with dish crew. We ended the night with Garfield's Thanksgiving and Muppet Christmas Carol, and it was just great all in all.
P.S. Jessi, Brandon says, and I quote "Tell Jessi something cool from me. No, wait, ummm, tell her I am proud of her as a home teacher."
Friday, November 25, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
An Ode to Public Transportation
I know I just posted about five minutes ago, but I couldn't let today go without some sort of commemmoration. A little background: I go to church very, very far away from where I live. It can take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours to get there, taking first the tube, then a bus, then another bus, and then the tram. Every single week, something happens that is new and exciting. For example, that first week we tried to take the train, which meant we took a scenic two-mile walk to church from the train station. That next week, when we needed to find an alternate way, our trip director had never even heard of our ward. I should have taken that as a bad omen.
From then on, it's been something different every week. Either it was the time that the bus just stopped running about a mile before the stop we needed, or the time we accidentally got off the bus about five stops too early because we weren't paying attention. One week a group of three male tourists asked to take a picture with us and one week it cost us £1.10 just to walk through a train station (GRRR!). You make think the stories would stop there, but no, they keep coming. One week, the line with out stop on it just never came, so we had to take a very creative route home. Yet another week, we had our bus driver chase down our connecting bus (as I've already told you about). Every so often, my friend Heather does something hilarious like walk into a pole or throw away her ticket. But today, friends, today beat them all.
It started out uneventfully enough, but that was soon to change. As we got off the Tube to catch our first bus, Heather realized that the bus was already at the stop so she darted out into oncoming traffic to try to stop the bus. The ploy worked, but the day just got stranger. After we got off the second bus, I was waiting at the tram station with Tasha while Heather went to the bathroom. Now, I have to give you some background on what I looked like today. It is freezing! So, in addition to a long-sleeve brown sweater and a long tan corduroy skirt, I was wearing my big puffy tan corduroy coat, zipped up and with my hood on. To make matters worse, I was wearing navy blue track pants under my skirt and big clunky black shoes. Yeah, I looked pretty hideous.
So, imagine me, a tan corduroy fashion-challenged Eskimo, waiting at the tram stop. This 30-year-old African man came up to me at Tasha and asked if he could talk to me. I just assumed he wanted directions, so I said sure. Then, he turned to Tasha, and asked HER if he could talk to me. This was when I got an inkling that it was a strange situation. Then, he started talking about how he fancied me and wanted to get to know me better. I was so freaked out! I just kind of told him that I was about to go to church, so sorry, I wasn't interested. He was hurt, and was all like " Fine, you don't even want to know why I wanted to talk to you." So, we walked quickly away and got on the tram, but then when we got off, he was right in front of us. When he turned around and saw us, he just started running away. Weird. What grade do I get for that, Ana?
In addition to this experience, I nearly sat up into a metal bar, Heather walked straight past the ward building, and we ran down the platform at the tube stop just so we would be closer to the exit. Boy, did people look at us funny! Words cannot express how excited I am to come home to uneventful transportation.
From then on, it's been something different every week. Either it was the time that the bus just stopped running about a mile before the stop we needed, or the time we accidentally got off the bus about five stops too early because we weren't paying attention. One week a group of three male tourists asked to take a picture with us and one week it cost us £1.10 just to walk through a train station (GRRR!). You make think the stories would stop there, but no, they keep coming. One week, the line with out stop on it just never came, so we had to take a very creative route home. Yet another week, we had our bus driver chase down our connecting bus (as I've already told you about). Every so often, my friend Heather does something hilarious like walk into a pole or throw away her ticket. But today, friends, today beat them all.
It started out uneventfully enough, but that was soon to change. As we got off the Tube to catch our first bus, Heather realized that the bus was already at the stop so she darted out into oncoming traffic to try to stop the bus. The ploy worked, but the day just got stranger. After we got off the second bus, I was waiting at the tram station with Tasha while Heather went to the bathroom. Now, I have to give you some background on what I looked like today. It is freezing! So, in addition to a long-sleeve brown sweater and a long tan corduroy skirt, I was wearing my big puffy tan corduroy coat, zipped up and with my hood on. To make matters worse, I was wearing navy blue track pants under my skirt and big clunky black shoes. Yeah, I looked pretty hideous.
So, imagine me, a tan corduroy fashion-challenged Eskimo, waiting at the tram stop. This 30-year-old African man came up to me at Tasha and asked if he could talk to me. I just assumed he wanted directions, so I said sure. Then, he turned to Tasha, and asked HER if he could talk to me. This was when I got an inkling that it was a strange situation. Then, he started talking about how he fancied me and wanted to get to know me better. I was so freaked out! I just kind of told him that I was about to go to church, so sorry, I wasn't interested. He was hurt, and was all like " Fine, you don't even want to know why I wanted to talk to you." So, we walked quickly away and got on the tram, but then when we got off, he was right in front of us. When he turned around and saw us, he just started running away. Weird. What grade do I get for that, Ana?
In addition to this experience, I nearly sat up into a metal bar, Heather walked straight past the ward building, and we ran down the platform at the tube stop just so we would be closer to the exit. Boy, did people look at us funny! Words cannot express how excited I am to come home to uneventful transportation.
Free-for-All
Recently, it has just seemed like there is so much for me to do in London without spending very much money at all. I think that is what I will miss the most in Provo. Thursday, we tried to go to the Banqueting House (Charles I was killed nearby), but it was closed for a government function so we went to the Cabinet War Rooms instead. These actually cost money, but it was so worth it to see the place where England ran their WWII homefront operations. Especially if you are a history nut like me, it was really exciting. That night, though, we had so much fun. We went to Covent Garden to see them light up their Christmas tree, and they had performances from Stomp and G4 (this Il-Divo-esque male quartet that I'd seen earlier in the semester in Hyde Park). It was such a blast, and it was the kind of thing that would never be free anywhere else. Friday, we braved the freezing cold South Bank to browse through the used book market (very free/freezing),and then went inside the National Theatre to look at a set design contest and a jewelry exhibit. They were both just unique and fun and made me wish I had a ton of money to buy all that jewelry! Afterwards, we went to a free string quartet concert at St. Martin's in the Field, where I heard the most amazing Shostakovich piece ever. Saturday, I went back to Portobello Road. It feels so weird to go back and compare my impressions from that first day that I went! Also, we saw a matinee of Les Mis (most definitely NOT free, but half-price for students) which was just amazing and strongly recommended to anyone that goes to London.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Because I'm Fantastic, Darling
So, usually I feel like I have lots of exciting news to tell, but today I feel like I need to extend lots of excitement on all of your behalf. So, congratulations on upcoming weddings, new engagements, new boyfriends, moves to Provo, or just exciting dreams. Thanks for keeping me posted! You guys are awesome!
Well, in my inner mind, these past few days were supposed to be relaxing. I need to just stop thinking that, because that really just isn't working for me. Monday, I went to this Islam in Britain conference. I am so fascinated by the Islamic religion. Don't worry, I'm not going to start draping myself in veils or anything, I just enjoy learning about it. Anyways, we went to several lectures and people kept taking pictures of me. I felt like I was famous! I tried my best to look studious and interested and cover the doodles I was making in my notebook, and of course they were taking pictures of the side of my face that was totally broken out. So, should random pictures of me show up somewhere, they are possibly from this conference.
Monday, a girl from my group went home. She had been depressed for a while and finally decided that she was best of leaving London. It just about broke my heart entirely to see her leave, like there was something more that I could have done even though I know there wasn't. I hope that she is doing better now that she's at home. Anyways, we made her a movie as a going-away present, and I think she really enjoyed it even though all of us cringed watching ourselves on camera. We also played Jeopardy, my favorite over-competitive game. I must say though, Jespardy was way better.
Tuesday was my roommate MJ's birthday. The two of us are mutually obsessed with digestives (a chocolate-covered graham cracker like biscuit), so we did the coolest thing with them for her birthday. I wish I could take credit for it, but that all goes to Brandon. We took four rolls of digestives in milk, caramel, mint, and orange (Cath, did you know they came in that many flavors?), and covered them with pictures of other people with the initials of MJ (Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Monterey Jack from Rescue Rangers, "Mr. and Mrs. Jones", and MJ from Spiderman) and wrote about how she was better than all of them. She totally loved it! I love birthdays!
Yesterday, we went to the British Museum, home of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. My entire life, I have thought that the Elgin Marbles were a bunch of little round glass balls on a pedestal under a glass case somewhere. This is not true. They are statues from the Parthenon. Boy, did I feel stupid. I'm sure all of you knew this already, but for some reason, that was totally left out of my education. We also went back to this cool aerial world map I saw in September and hopped the fence to take pictures. I felt like a rebel!
These past few days have also made me really glad for the wonderful girls at the London Centre. Due to various deadlines, rough drafts, people, etc., my moods have gone up and down like crazy these past few days. I feel like whenever I'm stressed or going psycho, someone has been there to catch me. So, massive thanks going out to Kalais, Genna, Mary Jane, Kelli, Rachel, Leslie, and Heather Stay, who have quite frankly been awesome in helping me figure things out. Please don't read this and worry, I really have been doing well. Everyone has bad days now and then. Loveya!
Well, in my inner mind, these past few days were supposed to be relaxing. I need to just stop thinking that, because that really just isn't working for me. Monday, I went to this Islam in Britain conference. I am so fascinated by the Islamic religion. Don't worry, I'm not going to start draping myself in veils or anything, I just enjoy learning about it. Anyways, we went to several lectures and people kept taking pictures of me. I felt like I was famous! I tried my best to look studious and interested and cover the doodles I was making in my notebook, and of course they were taking pictures of the side of my face that was totally broken out. So, should random pictures of me show up somewhere, they are possibly from this conference.
Monday, a girl from my group went home. She had been depressed for a while and finally decided that she was best of leaving London. It just about broke my heart entirely to see her leave, like there was something more that I could have done even though I know there wasn't. I hope that she is doing better now that she's at home. Anyways, we made her a movie as a going-away present, and I think she really enjoyed it even though all of us cringed watching ourselves on camera. We also played Jeopardy, my favorite over-competitive game. I must say though, Jespardy was way better.
Tuesday was my roommate MJ's birthday. The two of us are mutually obsessed with digestives (a chocolate-covered graham cracker like biscuit), so we did the coolest thing with them for her birthday. I wish I could take credit for it, but that all goes to Brandon. We took four rolls of digestives in milk, caramel, mint, and orange (Cath, did you know they came in that many flavors?), and covered them with pictures of other people with the initials of MJ (Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Monterey Jack from Rescue Rangers, "Mr. and Mrs. Jones", and MJ from Spiderman) and wrote about how she was better than all of them. She totally loved it! I love birthdays!
Yesterday, we went to the British Museum, home of the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. My entire life, I have thought that the Elgin Marbles were a bunch of little round glass balls on a pedestal under a glass case somewhere. This is not true. They are statues from the Parthenon. Boy, did I feel stupid. I'm sure all of you knew this already, but for some reason, that was totally left out of my education. We also went back to this cool aerial world map I saw in September and hopped the fence to take pictures. I felt like a rebel!
These past few days have also made me really glad for the wonderful girls at the London Centre. Due to various deadlines, rough drafts, people, etc., my moods have gone up and down like crazy these past few days. I feel like whenever I'm stressed or going psycho, someone has been there to catch me. So, massive thanks going out to Kalais, Genna, Mary Jane, Kelli, Rachel, Leslie, and Heather Stay, who have quite frankly been awesome in helping me figure things out. Please don't read this and worry, I really have been doing well. Everyone has bad days now and then. Loveya!
Sunday, November 13, 2005
On the Shoulders of Giants
Thursday morning, we began the very last of our long bus/hostel trips. This time, it was to York. My initial thoughts: What's in York besides an archbishop and peppermint patties? As I was to find out, there are also Vikings and lots of narrow streets. We tried to go to the minster (big church) first thing off, but they had a funeral so showing around American tourists was pretty low on their list. Instead, we went to the Jorvik Viking Center. Imagine Pirates of the Caribbean as a really low-budget Vikings of the North Sea, and you have a good idea of this museum. They tried to be really authentic, right down to the smell, so I was trying to smell my sweater the whole time to avoid the stench of urine. Yuck. I also learned that my name is a really really long one to spell with Viking character stamps. We spent the rest of the night wandering through York and its cute little tiny streets and going to a lecture by a famous Shakespeare professor (which was the whole reason we took the trip in the first place)
Friday, we picked up, went to the minster (which was actually pretty cool), were given time for lunch, and then left York for good.I must admit, I wasn't too sad to leave hostels with co-ed bathrooms, which really scared me when I was brushing my teeth and a guy came out of the toilet. So, next stop? Liverpool. There's a good reason there are no pictures of Liverpool on my camera. Liverpool is the home of the Beatles, who I've decided were compelled to make up great music because their city is BORING. We wandered around a maritime museum, which was actually set up very well, and another Tate Gallery, which made me homesick for London. We were going to go to a Beatles museum, but I wasn't going to pay 6 pounds (about 11 dollars) for it. We may have seen more of Liverpool, but on our way out of the museum block, we got whistled and sworn at by a bunch of men, so I decided to cut my losses and head back to the hostel, which quite possibly used to be a factory.
I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I've said it before, but there's a reason that hostel and hostile are such closely related words. We were given a grand total of fifteen minutes to see the Preston temple/MTC, which is beautiful like all temples. I have more pictures of fifteen minutes of the Preston temple than I have of sixteen or so hours in Liverpool. Our next scheduled item was a guided church history tour of Preston, which I have to admit I was pretty grumpy about, because it was raining. Luckily, the tour guide started to crack me up from the beginning and he was kind enough to let us stay on the bus until it stopped raining. Soo....this is where the story gets really fun.
Tour Guide: Everybody, look at that Subway on your left. There's a street to the right called the Old Cock Yard.
Inner-Elisabeth-Apathetic-Voice: Woo hoo. It's another old stony street. I guess it looks pretty neat.
Tour Guide: Here was the home of some guy whose name I can't pronounce. Umm...Alexander Knee-boar.
This is the point where I realized he was talking about my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Alexander Neibaur, pioneer linguist and dentist. I kind of freaked out and started whispering "He's a relative!" to all the people around me and forcing people on the other side of the bus to try to take pictures of the Subway for me. Luckily, we got out and walked past it later so I have better pictures of the ancestral home than a big yellow blur. I spent the rest of the day so excited and happy to be walking where my family walked so many years before. What a great experience! That day was just awesome, from the tour to finally going home to London and watching White Christmas. Now, my trip is just London. No more day trips. I am actually really excited about that. Down with buses and hostels!
Friday, we picked up, went to the minster (which was actually pretty cool), were given time for lunch, and then left York for good.I must admit, I wasn't too sad to leave hostels with co-ed bathrooms, which really scared me when I was brushing my teeth and a guy came out of the toilet. So, next stop? Liverpool. There's a good reason there are no pictures of Liverpool on my camera. Liverpool is the home of the Beatles, who I've decided were compelled to make up great music because their city is BORING. We wandered around a maritime museum, which was actually set up very well, and another Tate Gallery, which made me homesick for London. We were going to go to a Beatles museum, but I wasn't going to pay 6 pounds (about 11 dollars) for it. We may have seen more of Liverpool, but on our way out of the museum block, we got whistled and sworn at by a bunch of men, so I decided to cut my losses and head back to the hostel, which quite possibly used to be a factory.
I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I've said it before, but there's a reason that hostel and hostile are such closely related words. We were given a grand total of fifteen minutes to see the Preston temple/MTC, which is beautiful like all temples. I have more pictures of fifteen minutes of the Preston temple than I have of sixteen or so hours in Liverpool. Our next scheduled item was a guided church history tour of Preston, which I have to admit I was pretty grumpy about, because it was raining. Luckily, the tour guide started to crack me up from the beginning and he was kind enough to let us stay on the bus until it stopped raining. Soo....this is where the story gets really fun.
Tour Guide: Everybody, look at that Subway on your left. There's a street to the right called the Old Cock Yard.
Inner-Elisabeth-Apathetic-Voice: Woo hoo. It's another old stony street. I guess it looks pretty neat.
Tour Guide: Here was the home of some guy whose name I can't pronounce. Umm...Alexander Knee-boar.
This is the point where I realized he was talking about my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Alexander Neibaur, pioneer linguist and dentist. I kind of freaked out and started whispering "He's a relative!" to all the people around me and forcing people on the other side of the bus to try to take pictures of the Subway for me. Luckily, we got out and walked past it later so I have better pictures of the ancestral home than a big yellow blur. I spent the rest of the day so excited and happy to be walking where my family walked so many years before. What a great experience! That day was just awesome, from the tour to finally going home to London and watching White Christmas. Now, my trip is just London. No more day trips. I am actually really excited about that. Down with buses and hostels!
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Guy Fawkes Day
In honor of my friend Kelli Skinner, who did a similar post on her own blog, I am writing a special belated Guy Fawkes Day post. Guy Fawkes Day celebrates a man who tried to blow up Parliament, but didn't, so all across England they light bonfires, burn effigies, and explode fireworks. So, this post celebrates things that blow and things that light me up (Thanks Kelli!)
Things that blow:
1) Getting lost in the ghetto on your way to the Guy Fawkes Day party so that you only catch the last burning embers of what WAS a 30-foot replica of Parliament.
2) The exchange rate. I think it's around 1.80 right now, but it means my money just trickles away...
3) The circle line. Worst. Subway. Line. Ever. Sometimes it changes and becomes a different line, sometimes it just never comes, sometimes it stops. Sometimes it does all three.
4) Having to do homework in London.
5) Missing friends and family!
Things that Light me Up!!!
1) Getting unexpected postcards and mail! I promise this is not a hint, it just made my day!
2) 40 awesome students at the Centre and awesome faculty and family.
3) Living in London for three and a half months and getting the opportunity to see all these shows and museums and places I've always dreamed of!
4) My rockin' awesome super-de-duper welcoming ward.
5) My roommate totally just straightened my hair last night, so I look great.
Hope that life is lighting you up, and it doesn't blow! Happy belated Guy Fawkes Day (It was Saturday!)
Things that blow:
1) Getting lost in the ghetto on your way to the Guy Fawkes Day party so that you only catch the last burning embers of what WAS a 30-foot replica of Parliament.
2) The exchange rate. I think it's around 1.80 right now, but it means my money just trickles away...
3) The circle line. Worst. Subway. Line. Ever. Sometimes it changes and becomes a different line, sometimes it just never comes, sometimes it stops. Sometimes it does all three.
4) Having to do homework in London.
5) Missing friends and family!
Things that Light me Up!!!
1) Getting unexpected postcards and mail! I promise this is not a hint, it just made my day!
2) 40 awesome students at the Centre and awesome faculty and family.
3) Living in London for three and a half months and getting the opportunity to see all these shows and museums and places I've always dreamed of!
4) My rockin' awesome super-de-duper welcoming ward.
5) My roommate totally just straightened my hair last night, so I look great.
Hope that life is lighting you up, and it doesn't blow! Happy belated Guy Fawkes Day (It was Saturday!)
Saturday, November 05, 2005
It's Not What It Seems...
I feel like so many things this week have been really unexpected. Not necessarily bad, just surprising. Who knew that dressing up as one of the six wives of King Henry VIII could be so much fun? My five roommates and I wore black, Burger King Crowns, lots of makeup, and little clues and I totally had so much fun. Side note: Clue is a really, really funny movie. Also, who knew that Portsmouth would be fun? Initially, I was not thrilled by the idea of looking at more boats all day, but it rocked! We had really good tour guides and took fun pictures with pirates and imitated our favorite Nelson quote all day. "Nelson's kinda ugly...Don't say that! He saved our lives!" (overheard by two ten-year-olds in Greenwich)I went to this thing called Best of Broadway on Thursday, which was the Royal Philharmonic with some Broadway singers. We had so much fun figuring out which song was which and where it came from! Yesterday, my Parliament experience was a big surprise as well! (Although not maybe in such a good way) We had already been out all day at National Portrait Gallery, Covent Garden Market, and Lillywhite's (best place ever for 7 pound replacement sweaters), so I was looking forward to Parliament all day. Then, we got the most revisionist guide in history. Apparently, the House of Commons does nothing, nobody liked Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots was awesome, and all tyrant kings are from Normandy. I just kept looking at my friends like "What is she smoking?!?!?" Oh well, I guess you don't learn psycho history every day.
I just have to share this experience, because it was something that was so "me", but I didn't do it. To get to the Tate Modern, you have to follow these orange lampposts. My friend Kalais thought this was the coolest thing ever, and she wanted a picture. Genna and I were like, okay, there's one behind you, go pose with it. It was literally about six feet in front of her, but she totally could not see it. I had to walk her to it and point. I was laughing so hard, because I do that all the time!!!
I just have to share this experience, because it was something that was so "me", but I didn't do it. To get to the Tate Modern, you have to follow these orange lampposts. My friend Kalais thought this was the coolest thing ever, and she wanted a picture. Genna and I were like, okay, there's one behind you, go pose with it. It was literally about six feet in front of her, but she totally could not see it. I had to walk her to it and point. I was laughing so hard, because I do that all the time!!!
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