For the long weekend Thursday to now, most of the students left the house for vacations to various places including the Cotswolds, Paris, and Leeds. The latter was a strange idea, I thought, given that Leeds is an industrial area. Apparently the students had an industrial time there. Things were pretty boring except for a house they visited that was on the National Trust as well as an extensive armory museum. And it was quite dangerous at night. And there was lots of teen pregnancy. And there were lots of pregnant teens who were drinking alcohol. Strangely enough, they said that the shopping was fantastic and that there is a Louis Vuitton store in the pedestrian mall.
I have spent a good chunk of my mornings working out- cycling class, running, swimming, and lifting weights. I'm improving in my stamina, building muscle and strength, and I feel great.
I have found myself quite distracted this past week and would like to focus more on the most important things of my time here: the MCAT, volunteering, the triathlon, my book. It's difficult being in London and doing that.
I mentioned before that I met up with an alumna from my uni this past week who is living in London. We had drinks one night after dinner with Dr. P and had a grand time talking about life now and and in the past. I met up again last night with her, her boyfriend, and a coworker of her's for drinks and thoroughly enjoyed their company. I hope to hang out with them again. We visited a few of "The Crown" pub establishments, a "chain" in central London. Very good beer for a good price.
I'm not cooking as much this week as it takes too much time- Marks and Spencers' meals will be my fare this week.
In my class, we will be talking about language in the UK this week- I hope to introduce the students to a bit of cockney slang and some of the regional dialects around the UK. I'm looking forward to the lists they will make of phrases and words that they find different and amusing.
Studying tonight, hopefully, with little interruption.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
raF oS keeW ysuB
I think that I've finally settled in at the house. Things feel familiar. It's nice.
This week has been insanely busy. It all started last Saturday with our evening out-- a few students and I went down the street to a pub and then to a bar for some drinks. There was an interesting mix of personalities that, unfortunately, did not mix very well. We called it an early night around 11:30. The students were fun to hang around for the evening, but it becomes clearer and clearer to me every time I go out on the town that I dislike places that are too loud where I can't hear or be heard and that are packed to the gills. Hate it.
We saw two plays this week. The first was Rope, a very interesting story about a planned murder committed by two students in the 1920's one afternoon. The play follows the events of the evening after the murder. It was really, really well done-- the actors were excellent, the story was great, and it had a satisfying ending. I'd recommend it.
The other play we saw was a one-man show done by Simon Callow(Four Weddings and a Funeral). Charles Dickens wrote a few plays in his lifetime, and Callow did two of Dickens' half-hour plays. Each piece included several characters which Callow had to impersonate. He metamorphosed between characters seamlessly. It was quite nice. It would have been nicer if the group of students and I had arrived earlier at the playhouse. I had barely sat down before Callow walked on stage. In fact, this has been a week of close calls on the tardiness front for me-- it just takes longer to get from place to place than I have judged.
I am also allowed go on art tours with the students and one of their art professors. Two weeks ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery to see some of the works there, and this week we had a tour of the National Gallery, focusing on the Hogarth paintings as well as Gainsborough. I didn't hang around for much after either tour since my back usually starts hurting after standing up for a while. Still, I'm really enjoying the tours.
The students also go on several London history walks throughout the semester. Our first this past week took us around the City of London to discuss Medieval London. We began at the Barbican and worked our way around to Guildhall and over to St. Batholomew's church near Smithfield Meat Market. I'd been to several of the places we went already with my auntie and uncle, but the commentary by the professor was mostly new to me.
Yesterday was a gourmet day, starting with dim sum for lunch (which was very nice) and finishing with dinner at a vegetarian restaurant nearby. The former was treated to me by Dr. P, and we dined his wife and a fellow alumna of my university who is currently living in London. Drinks with the fellow alumna afterward resulted in my realization that my tolerance for alcohol has plummeted since Australia.
The rest of this week will hopefully be devoted to MCAT studying, writing, and training. The latter, by the way, is going really well.
This week has been insanely busy. It all started last Saturday with our evening out-- a few students and I went down the street to a pub and then to a bar for some drinks. There was an interesting mix of personalities that, unfortunately, did not mix very well. We called it an early night around 11:30. The students were fun to hang around for the evening, but it becomes clearer and clearer to me every time I go out on the town that I dislike places that are too loud where I can't hear or be heard and that are packed to the gills. Hate it.
We saw two plays this week. The first was Rope, a very interesting story about a planned murder committed by two students in the 1920's one afternoon. The play follows the events of the evening after the murder. It was really, really well done-- the actors were excellent, the story was great, and it had a satisfying ending. I'd recommend it.
The other play we saw was a one-man show done by Simon Callow(Four Weddings and a Funeral). Charles Dickens wrote a few plays in his lifetime, and Callow did two of Dickens' half-hour plays. Each piece included several characters which Callow had to impersonate. He metamorphosed between characters seamlessly. It was quite nice. It would have been nicer if the group of students and I had arrived earlier at the playhouse. I had barely sat down before Callow walked on stage. In fact, this has been a week of close calls on the tardiness front for me-- it just takes longer to get from place to place than I have judged.
I am also allowed go on art tours with the students and one of their art professors. Two weeks ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery to see some of the works there, and this week we had a tour of the National Gallery, focusing on the Hogarth paintings as well as Gainsborough. I didn't hang around for much after either tour since my back usually starts hurting after standing up for a while. Still, I'm really enjoying the tours.
The students also go on several London history walks throughout the semester. Our first this past week took us around the City of London to discuss Medieval London. We began at the Barbican and worked our way around to Guildhall and over to St. Batholomew's church near Smithfield Meat Market. I'd been to several of the places we went already with my auntie and uncle, but the commentary by the professor was mostly new to me.
Yesterday was a gourmet day, starting with dim sum for lunch (which was very nice) and finishing with dinner at a vegetarian restaurant nearby. The former was treated to me by Dr. P, and we dined his wife and a fellow alumna of my university who is currently living in London. Drinks with the fellow alumna afterward resulted in my realization that my tolerance for alcohol has plummeted since Australia.
The rest of this week will hopefully be devoted to MCAT studying, writing, and training. The latter, by the way, is going really well.
eroM elttiL A
I haven't gotten out much since I last posted except to see some plays and performances and for the occasional meal or drink at the pub down the road.
My class is going ok. This week, I asked them to bring something to class that was British and new or interesting, otherwise it would have been very dull. People brought magazines, food labels, etc. I brought cigarette packages that had the "smoking kills" sign on them along with pictures of heart operations and throat cancers on them. I thought that's something that's pretty different than what we get at home. I know we have the Truth campaign, but we don't have things directly printed on the boxes of cigarettes.
I'm also writing a newsletter for the students every week. I really hope they read them, because I’m putting a good amount of work into them.
Last weekend, I went to a musical performance with two of the other students. One of them had been browsing some classical music concert venues and saw the name "Patricia Routledge". Did you ever watch "Keeping Up Appearances”? It’s a British comedy TV show about Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet). Well, Hyacinth was reading a poem at this concert, so we went. The place we went was Wigmore Hall, and we heard the Nash Ensemble play. It was quite good-- lots of strings, some four-hand piano pieces. And then Camille Saint-Seans' Carnival of Animals with Hyacinth Bucket reading a poem in between the pieces. It was wonderful.
Then, this past Wednesday, we went to see Twelfth Night in the West End. Very, very good performance. There were two other British TV stars that I recognized playing in it-- Victor Meldrew from "One Food in the Grave" and Hugo Horton from "The Vicar of Dibley" (those are the character's names, not the real names which, you know, I am terrible with). Great evening.
My class is going ok. This week, I asked them to bring something to class that was British and new or interesting, otherwise it would have been very dull. People brought magazines, food labels, etc. I brought cigarette packages that had the "smoking kills" sign on them along with pictures of heart operations and throat cancers on them. I thought that's something that's pretty different than what we get at home. I know we have the Truth campaign, but we don't have things directly printed on the boxes of cigarettes.
I'm also writing a newsletter for the students every week. I really hope they read them, because I’m putting a good amount of work into them.
Last weekend, I went to a musical performance with two of the other students. One of them had been browsing some classical music concert venues and saw the name "Patricia Routledge". Did you ever watch "Keeping Up Appearances”? It’s a British comedy TV show about Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet). Well, Hyacinth was reading a poem at this concert, so we went. The place we went was Wigmore Hall, and we heard the Nash Ensemble play. It was quite good-- lots of strings, some four-hand piano pieces. And then Camille Saint-Seans' Carnival of Animals with Hyacinth Bucket reading a poem in between the pieces. It was wonderful.
Then, this past Wednesday, we went to see Twelfth Night in the West End. Very, very good performance. There were two other British TV stars that I recognized playing in it-- Victor Meldrew from "One Food in the Grave" and Hugo Horton from "The Vicar of Dibley" (those are the character's names, not the real names which, you know, I am terrible with). Great evening.
skeeW owT tsriF
My first few weeks in the house were very busy. I've been doing a ton of cooking-- both for myself and for other people. However, sometimes it's almost a form of procrastination. Today, for example, I had some egg whites that I had set aside from something I made earlier in the week. Now, I should have taken the afternoon to study for the MCAT, but instead, I took an hour and made meringues. Not that this will happen on a regular basis. But this time, the egg whites called to me, and I answered.
We are having weekly house dinners this semester, and I was in charge of the first one this past Tuesday. I made French Onion soup with a salad dressed with French vinaigrette and a chocolate Guinness cake. It was a hit. The cake went over really well and was gone by the next morning. The housekeeper here took a piece to the launderette where she gets the house sheets done, and the lady manager now wants to adopt me.
I've joined a gym here and have gotten back into the routine of training for a triathlon. I actually signed up yesterday for my first one. It's the same county in which my grandparents (paternal) were stationed before they went to Europe, so I might make a little visit to the town they stayed in before I do the triathlon. I also plan to sign up for a 10k before I do the triathlon—to get me used to the competition atmosphere since I’ve never done anything like this before.
This week I also went out to see a play with the students-- one of my job perks is that I get to accompany the students whenever they go for performances and art tours around the city. This past week we went to see a play at the National Theatre called Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. It was a mixed orchestral, theatrical, and dance performance that was good, but I've had the worst time getting over my jetlag, so I fell asleep in the middle of it. Oh well... I'm not getting graded on understanding this performance, but the students are!
We are having weekly house dinners this semester, and I was in charge of the first one this past Tuesday. I made French Onion soup with a salad dressed with French vinaigrette and a chocolate Guinness cake. It was a hit. The cake went over really well and was gone by the next morning. The housekeeper here took a piece to the launderette where she gets the house sheets done, and the lady manager now wants to adopt me.
I've joined a gym here and have gotten back into the routine of training for a triathlon. I actually signed up yesterday for my first one. It's the same county in which my grandparents (paternal) were stationed before they went to Europe, so I might make a little visit to the town they stayed in before I do the triathlon. I also plan to sign up for a 10k before I do the triathlon—to get me used to the competition atmosphere since I’ve never done anything like this before.
This week I also went out to see a play with the students-- one of my job perks is that I get to accompany the students whenever they go for performances and art tours around the city. This past week we went to see a play at the National Theatre called Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. It was a mixed orchestral, theatrical, and dance performance that was good, but I've had the worst time getting over my jetlag, so I fell asleep in the middle of it. Oh well... I'm not getting graded on understanding this performance, but the students are!
syaD weF tsriF
The day after I arrived, I woke late and went shopping for groceries in the snow/ice/slush. I almost fell on the downward slope to the supermarket about 5 times. The store was swarmed, and I had tons of groceries to buy. When I left, I had one of those grandma shopping bags on wheels, and I had to pull that thing uphill on ice. That was a challenge. I also had to reorganize the kitchen here because it was pretty disorganized.
The next day, students began to arrive. Almost all of them are sophomores and juniors. Five girls arrived that day. Three of them stuck around throughout the day, and we went to dinner at a pub down the street for dinner.
In the days after that, I helped the students get settled. Almost all of their flights were delayed somehow or another. One girl couldn't get her flight rescheduled here until three days after everyone else. They're a good bunch so far. I think they'll get along. We all went out for dinner the other night at the pub around the corner which has really good Thai food.
I've been doing lots of organizing and writing rosters and planning for them and myself. I'm holding my first class today (I made everyone scones and will serve them with cream, jam, and tea), and I'm excited.
The next day, students began to arrive. Almost all of them are sophomores and juniors. Five girls arrived that day. Three of them stuck around throughout the day, and we went to dinner at a pub down the street for dinner.
In the days after that, I helped the students get settled. Almost all of their flights were delayed somehow or another. One girl couldn't get her flight rescheduled here until three days after everyone else. They're a good bunch so far. I think they'll get along. We all went out for dinner the other night at the pub around the corner which has really good Thai food.
I've been doing lots of organizing and writing rosters and planning for them and myself. I'm holding my first class today (I made everyone scones and will serve them with cream, jam, and tea), and I'm excited.
lavirrA
As I write this, I'm sitting in my room, which is on the top floor of our house and looks over the street which was blanketed in snow last night. It's currently snowing now, very fine feathery flakes, and it's supposed to continue for the rest of the morning and afternoon. They're saying that it's a 40-year snow for London. Which is bad since London and snow mix about as well as the American South and snow do. The city is having to ration the amount of salt they put on the roads because they don't really have enough to go around. Sidewalks are almost never cleared unless they are along a main road. Even then, the city usually just breaks up the snow-trodden-into-ice. Things were clearing up yesterday, but the current snow starts the whole process all over again.
Perhaps I should begin by telling you that I woke up last Thursday, the day I left for the UK, from a call from US Airways saying that my flight to Gatwick had been canceled. Gatwick and Heathrow airports had both been closed due to the winter weather. I immediately called US Airways back and rescheduled a different route for the same evening-- first to Frankfurt then to Heathrow. The flight wasn't great-- US Airways international flights are very uncomfortable and I barely slept. Frankfurt airport is kind of shabby, although I did get to fly Lufthansa to London (which was nice). I arrived 6 hours after I was supposed to arrive, which is better than how the professor here fared. His plane was diverted en route to Glasgow, and although the airline had originally planned to transfer all of its passengers on that flight to London, it required them to sit on the tarmac for 3 hours. If that wasn’t enough, the airline then kicked them off the plane and washed their hands of them. Dr. P had to take a train from Glasgow to London at his own expense. Despite the inconvenience, the snow is gorgeous. My neighborhood is particularly beautiful.
emocleW
Welcome to my blog about my life in London.
I know that the title is annoying at best-- what can you do, though? London's a popular place. So many blog tities and URLs have already been sequestered. To be even remotely creative is difficult.
Although it's been several weeks since I arrived, I'll try my best to relive some of that time with you. I'll draw quite a bit from letters I've written to people, so don't be surprised if you see something familiar.
I know that the title is annoying at best-- what can you do, though? London's a popular place. So many blog tities and URLs have already been sequestered. To be even remotely creative is difficult.
Although it's been several weeks since I arrived, I'll try my best to relive some of that time with you. I'll draw quite a bit from letters I've written to people, so don't be surprised if you see something familiar.
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