Last Day of Class

Well, our time here in the U.K. has nearly come to an end. In my class, we've all been expressing our mixed feelings about leaving--missing home and loved ones, but not ready to give up all the great opportunities and experiences available here. Today I took everyone on a rather long hike around downtown London, looking at Shakespeare memorials and doing a bit of visual analysis of them. As we went from statue to statue, we saw some of the iconic markers of London: The Globe Theater, St. Paul's Cathedral, Fleet St., The Strand, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Chinatown (yummy lunch there!), Whitehall, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and the National Theatre. Needless to say, our feet are sore, our minds are full, and our hearts are a mix of emotions. What I *can* conclude though, is that we take home a lot of good memories of our travels here--the museums, the castles, the tours and lectures, the plays (good, bad, and strange--Swan Macbeth?! Urban Streetpeople Midsummer Night's Dream?!), the Scottish countryside walk, the jokes (also good, bad, and strange).

I hope everyone's had as good a time or better than I have had these four weeks! See you back home.

Disaster

Yesterday we didn't have class till 3, which was super exciting! Even though we had the chance to sleep in I only made it till 9:30. So I showered and then laid in my bed reading for most of the day, lame I know. We talked about As You Like It in the the cafeteria for class and then when we were done we had a meeting about all things Edinburgh. Last night we had to meet in the Courtyard at 7 to head over to The Old Vic to see As You Like It, I was super excited because it was my favorite of all the plays we read for class.

We left a little late because some people hadn't come down from their room and eventually we just left them and said they could meet us there. On the walk over Beverly and Breeanna almost got hit by a car, a regular occurence for them mind you. We were all sitting on the 1st balcony, so we had a generally good view of the stage. However I discovered when I got my ticket that I was on the opposite side of the theater from everyone else!!! Thankfully as all the seats began to fill up I discovered Lissy and Nicole were going to be sitting next to me so I wasn't totally alone. We all decided we got the short end of the stick. As the play began I was super excited, however after the first 10 mins I began recalling in my head what Act and Scene we were at because I was begging for it to be over!!

I picked out where Act 2 Scene 7 was, thankfully the intermission was right after that. My favorite part of the night was probably watching Dr. T. pretend to shoot herself in the head because it was so bad, it made me feel better to know I wasn't the only one not enjoying it. When Act 5 Secene 1 came around with Touchstone getting into a fight of wits with William I rejoiced because I knew the play was close to being over!! Essecially I spent most of the play wishing that I could leave or that it would "just end already". Only two things kept me from weeping in my seat, they were Jaques and Touchstone. Those two were actually funny and were the only two who seemed to be decent actors. Needless to say I left the theater with much less love for the play.

Today is a better day, we don't have anything planned for the day. So when I woke up this morning at 8:45 I got up and dressed into sweats so I could go do my laundry before I have to pack for Scotland and Ireland. I was putting up pics on facebook from the trip but I only got a few up before my camera died. Atleast it died here, where I can charge it, instead of in Scotland where I won't have an adaptor for it.

Hope everyone is having a great time enjoying summer.

~Bridget

Whirlwind!

As we reach the end of week 2 of our grand UK adventure, I think a lot of us are feeling tired. The last couple of days, I've heard more people talk about quiet afternoons reading in their room or taking a powernap before the evening's events, rather than 24/7 on-the-go bursts of activity. Perhaps it's no big surprise. Aside from adjusting to the new time zone, culture, foods, and peoples, our class has done the following:

* Visited 4 museums/exhibitions
* Toured the palace/prison of the Tower of London
* Taken a tour of the Globe and Rose theaters
* Toured the Treasures Gallery of the British Library
* Traveled to and explored Stratford-upon-Avon, including Shakespeare's gravesite and optionally, the in-town houses associated w/his life
* Studied and discussed 3 plays
* Seen 3 play performances
* Written 1 3-pg. analytical essay
* Completed 4 extended journal entries
* Taken scads of notes on our site visits
* Participated in joint discussions with the Theatre and Literary London and Dublin classes
* Walked over 15 miles
* Shopped til we dropped (I hear H&M is a particular fav)

And this doesn't even include what we've all done during our London Alive walks, weekends, and free time. Whew! Now we're all preparing our suitcases and books for the next phase: London Away. The Shakespeare class, along with 4 other courses, will be going to Edinburgh, Scotland for the first half of the week. We'll be studying Shakespeare's _Macbeth_ and related Scottish history at the sites of three castles and in the countryside. We'll also be hearing a lecture from Dr. Matthew Hammond, a professor at the University of Edinburgh who specializes in early Scottish history. He'll be filling us in on the *real* King Macbeth, so we can see what kinds of changes Shakespeare and his contemporaries made to the tale. From there, we dismiss for mini-break and then will return to London to share stories and finish up our studies and research together.

So, Alba gu brath*, y'all!

Dr. T.

* "Scotland forever!"

Loving London

I have been meeting the nicest people on this trip both students and Londoners. Two days ago I went with some friends to find dinner down on Lower Marsh. We wanted to go into a sushi bar but it didn't open til 5:30 and it was only 4:45. So we went into this little cafe/sandwich place next door to it to kill some time. It turns out it was a bed and breakfast and the rooms were up above the shop. The chef, Chris, sat down to talk to us when he didn't have customers and this older gentalman, Mickey, sat at a table across from us and joked with us to pass the time. It turns out Chris and Mickey have been friends for several years and Mickey lives in one of the rooms above the shop. We spent over an hour just sitting in there talking about where we were from and what we were doing in London. Mickey liked to pick on our accents, the two other girls have very noticable southern accents and he really liked to make fun of how they said things. Of course we would in turn pick on how they said things. Both men were super sweet and told us we better come back while we are here. We then went over to the sushi bar for dinner and all of a sudden Chris comes walking into the resturant through the door that leads to the toilets!!! The three of us just stared at him for a minute and started laughing when he noticed us. It turns out he owns both the sandwich shop and the sushi place and they are connected through a little hall way that leads to the bathroom!!! He then went back to tell Mickey that we were over there. Mickey came and talked to us as we ate our dinner. They were both super sweet and loved to joke around which was super fun. These are just two of the several nice people I have met here, however they probably made the biggest impact on us, other than the bartender Conner at Stamford Arms, who just loves us! I can't wait to walk back down to that little shop for lunch and just sit there and talk to them for several hours while I have nothing else to do. I am looking forward to meeting super nice people here. Now I must go back to attempting to write a three page paper, I could be here awhile. :(

Nice People

Today I was standing outside of a shop putting eye drops in my eyes and a woman walks by and looks at me and asks if I was ok.  It took me a minute to realize that it looked like I was crying because of the eye drops.  I told her that I was fine and we chatted for a minute about the states and why I was in London.  I find it remarkable that the Brits will stop what they are doing to make sure everything is ok with a perfect stranger.  I've been running into this often here and it really makes me happy to see that as a foreigner in this country I am treated like a local.  This trip was supposed to get us out of our "cultural bubbles" and help us become immersed in a culture unlike our own, and it really has.  I have come to realize that even though people here do things differently and speak in a different way, they are people just like we are.  I recently made friends with the bartender Steph from the Standford Arms Pub and she is as interested in American culture as I am in British culture.  I hope that we can continue to exchange ideas long after I have gone back home.    After I am home I hope to continue on the cycle of kindness that I have been shown here.  It has only been six days and I already have so many lessons to take home and share.  I am truly greatful for this opportunity. 

Greetings from across the pond! It's only day six and I feel like I've seen more than I imagined I would see in this entire month away...places like Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Oxford Street, Abbey Road, Hyde Park...you get the point. It has been an amazing and fulfilling experience in such a short time! I can only imagine what I will say come August 1st. My eyes have been opened to a new and exciting culture and I've been loving every minute of it...maybe not the first hour as I walked up 8 flights of stairs to find a sweltering flat after a day of traveling, but that's not the point because I've loved every minute since! Just wandering the streets and popping into beautiful gardens tucked away between buildings has been one of my favorite things to do during this first week. The Brits sure know how to present a lovely garden...which is perfect for enjoying the great weather, people-watching, and I guess doing schoolwork. I am off to grab lunch now and finish my reading on Jack the Ripper, so I shall close my overly-excited rant here.

Cheers! ;-)

Sara

What a day!

It seems like every night i'm crawling back to my room saying "What a day I had".  There is so much to do and so much to see that whenever I go out I see something new.  I feel really lucky to be presented with such a great opportunity to explore a wonderful city on my own.  I'm really enjoying the history of this city and for a history buff like my self its heaven!  I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to explore my self, a new culture and a new city.  Cheers Mates!