Things have been boring. Not too much to report on. Just working on a few papers. Don’t have anything planned for tomorrow either. Thursday evening is the lighting of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. I’ll get pictures up as soon as I get back Thursday!!
When I wake up in the mornings I usually check the weather on my Phone. I was surprised to see this forecast for Spring Church. So I guess London isn’t so bad. It will be like the tropics when my parents come over!
I saw this on the internet just now and though it was a good read. There are very few trash cans along the streets of London for security reasons. It makes it very frustrating when you do have a hand full of rubbish to get rid of. Now there seems to be an answer! Bomb proof bins have been created. Sadly I will probably never see them, but there is a solution!
“London will be the first city to test out new bomb-proof garbage cans, which are also going to multitask as recycling bins with LCDs that stream travel info and news. Security concerns (AKA fear of terrorists dropping bombs in them) have kept rubbish bins out of subway stations and many of the city’s streets since the mid-80′s, causing frustration among citizens, not to mention what amounts to forced littering. The new cans, developed by British company Media Metrica, weigh one ton each, and were tested in the lifeless deserts of New Mexico for five years to ensure they are completely, totally indestructible, can absorb heat from explosives, prevent shrapnel spread, and extinguish “fireballs.” Eh. Put ‘em in New York City — someone will surely figure out how to utterly destroy them in 24 hours or less.”
Sorry if you weren’t able to get on earlier this morning. I just finished up some upgrades on the software I use for this. Hopefully now the comments will work properly!!
Because of this I haven’t typed up anymore of break week. I’ll be working on some more this evening though. Fear not!
With mid-semester approaching I’ve been busy. Add in preparing for my break and I haven’t had a whole lot of free time! But I’m now officially on break and have all the time in the world!
For my art class today we went to the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House along the Thames River. I think this has been my favorite gallery so far. It was small, concise and I got out of there quickly!
Upon exiting the gallery I found the road to be closed. A parade was under way! The city put on a parade of all of the medal winners in the Olympics and Paraolympics. The parade moved west on The Strand and ended with a huge celebration at Trafalgar Square. There were thousands of people there and I was in the middle! I did lay claim to a few small British flags but I just couldn’t get into the spirit, I wonder why?
After that was a trip to the British Museum, again. I don’t believe I ever actually hated a museum but I do hate this one. Afterwards I walked down Tottenham Court Road. Man do they have a lot of electronics stores along there. I was tempted to go into them but I knew I couldn’t.
Tomorrow I’m heading south west to Dover. This is the point at which the UK and France are closest. There is a castle there and the famous white cliffs. I will make a point to post about it tomorrow when I get back as well as post pictures. Once again, stay tuned!!
Recovery was top priority this week. After a weekend of constantly going I needed some down time. And I got it!
However there have been a few ‘exciting’ things this week. Monday I went to the Imperial War Museum. It’s quite a different type of museum. They have a few hands one demonstrations such as the trench fighting and air raid shelter. They were more plastic than an American made car, but did offer a bit of insight into what it was like. They also have a very well done unit on the Holocaust. I recommend that anyone who gets a chance to go through just that, do it! And this is all FREE.
Wednesday evening I spent the evening at the Apple Store. This is becoming a regular occurrence. They have agreed to fix what needs done to my computer, but it will take two weeks. HECK NO! So right now I have improvised with a big chunk of plastic hanging out of the side of my computer. IT WORKS THOUGH!
Today was a walk around the West End of London, mainly Soho for class. There were a few cool tidbits that were pointed out. I’d like to revisit that area to true out some pubs! I also saw Explorer #3 while in London. I’ll post the picture in the Cars album. Explorer #2, a white and gray one, escaped because I was caught without a camera.
Tomorrow I plan to head to the Science Museum. I’ve wanted to go there since day 1. I’m finally going to get to go!! Saturday afternoon I go with CAPA to take a ‘flight’ on the London Eye. So definitely stay tuned Saturday evening for pictures.
Until then folks…
I’ve been here for three weeks and I have hardly mentioned the actual reason I’m here, to learn! While here I’ve been juggling four courses and trying to learn the culture. No easy task! Each class I have meets for three hours once a week. The class structure is varied, sometimes we are in the classroom for the full three hours, other times we meet somewhere around the city for walks around certain areas, tours through museums or strolls through the different galleries.
My first class is Understanding Britain. The class is about just that. Each week is a new topic about British life. There is a lot of discussion that goes on. This past week we had a walk around Central London and saw ruins from when the Romans inhabited this area many, many moons ago. We also walked through the London Museum, which I find to be a total waste of time and impossible to navigate through. Thankfully it’s free to enter.
Next up is International Trade. This class is by no means an economics class in the traditional sense. It’s more about the theory of how international markets affect one another and the ties that they hold. There are thankfully no graphs, no calculations, and open-ended exams. I’ve only had one class so far. Last weeks was canceled. I’ll be heading there in a matter of hours.
20th Century Art, how exciting! The best way to describe this class is an art appreciation class. There are no artists to memorize, no dates to cram just simply express how you feel about the piece(s) that you have chosen, do some research and you’re gold.
Post-war British Pop Culture. I’m not sure what to make of this class. It certainly is odd with a unique professor. We go around to different landmarks around the city to discuss what once was and what now is. We are left to interpret what popular culture is for and write a paper on it.
These courses are manly writing, lots of writing. But I will battle through it and prevail! Hopefully.
Up for this weekend is the Queens Gallery and Royal Mews on Friday for sure. Its my last chance to go there as Buckingham Palace closes down after this weekend. I guess the queen doesn’t like tourists tramping through her house while she’s there. Saturday will involve a visit to the Science Museum, I believe its something similar to the Carnegie Science Center and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
I just wanted to say thanks for all of the messages and email. They’ve really helped in the past couple days.
I don’t have anything to report on today. Its was relatively quiet except for finding a really good, really cheap sandwich shop. I have a feeling I’ll be there quite a bit and giving them a few of my pounds.
By request I will be writing about what my classes and what they all involve. I will hopefully have that up by the weekend. I have a busy day tomorrow, I go to Tate Britain, an art gallery for my art class and a walking tour through Regent’s Park for pop culture. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments section or email me!
UPDATE- Comments are now on, forgot about it.
