it's been so long!

I feel like so much has happened since I last posted, but it's only been a few days. Time passes much more slowly here than anywhere else; I suppose that's for the best. It's also strange to me how quickly I've gotten back into this blogging thing... I'm constantly thinking of things I want to write about. It's both overwhelming and inspiring.

Anyways, I should get down to it. 

On Monday and Tuesday I had my theatre class, and it's really quite provocative. We covered more in those eight hours than I can even remember. We went to a "performance" on Monday evening that was, in my opinion, closer to a circus than a theatre production, though I was a big fan of the technical aspects. Tuesday night I went with Steph (who lives three floors below me) to see a more "normal" show, which was really great. (I'm a huge tool for thinking about this, and everyone has told me so, but it was the best-timed show, stage-manager-wise, that I've ever seen. I was very impressed.) Of course, the acting was also superb, the whole thing was very witty, and it was extremely timely, considering it's about the pressures of investment banking and the short-selling of bonds, etc.

After the show we wanted to join everyone in Piccadilly Circus, so we attempted to walk over; after successfully hitting Leicester Square, however, we missed a turn and ended up in Trafalgar Square, which is not on the way. We did make it over eventually, and ended up getting a nice tour of the center of the city along the way. (see photos at the end of this entry.) London is a great walking city- everything is so flat that you could walk forever and not get tired. Plus, I love my new sneakers. They're doing so well!

Tuesday, of course, was also the presidential inauguration; we left class early to watch the BBC coverage with the rest of the program and have free pizza. Even I found the whole ceremony to be very moving, especially the end of Obama's speech. It was the first time since I've been here that I've actually been proud to be an American. (ohhh I did NOT intend to make a reference to that song, but there's no other phrasing to use.) Usually I try to keep my very American accent to myself while I pretend that I'm British or something... but I think things will feel less uncomfortable now that it's clear America wants to change. At least, I hope so. 

All of London seems to be very caught up in the change-over, which I find very interesting. I've noticed, actually, that the British seem to be very focused on their place in the world; a huge topic of discussion is England's relationship to the rest of Europe and their relationship to the States. Major decisions and alliances are based upon who wants to truly join with the EU or who supports America. To me, it's such a huge contrast to the States, where the focus seems to be on the relations among Americans... we make decisions and alliances based more on how we feel about race relations, class relations, and other structures within the country, not outside of it. But perhaps that's off-topic; all I meant to say is that it's nice to be able to say President Obama.

^one room of BU students watching the inauguration on one little TV; you can almost tell that it's Obama!

Today we switched over to our core class, and it was quite an interesting one. We're really starting to hit the conversation of how newspapers are adapting to the internet, which is... interesting to witness. We had a guest speaker, an older man who has apparently played a huge role in the British newspaper scene. He seemed totally convinced that newspapers would be around forever and stay dominant forever, etc. etc., but I couldn't trust his judgement when he seemed to have no conception of what we kids are doing on the internets these days, if you know what I mean. Our professor is far more in tune with us, I think, but he's having us prepare for tomorrow's class by thinking about why we use the internet and what we use it for. Maybe it's just my background, but I really think that for our generation, the internet isn't something that we use with a mission. It's something that we're always connected to and always aware of, not just a tool that we sometimes check the news on. Having a conversation where the outcome is supposed to be "a greater awareness and knowledge about the usefulness of the internet" just seems silly to me... but again, maybe that's just me. I suppose having such convictions about it will help me write my 2,000 word paper "about the uses of the internet" later on. 

On the home front, Chelsea and Natasha are both out of the room (well, not all of Natasha's things) so Julie and I are doing some reorganizing and cleaning. We have such a huge amount of space for the two of us, probably about three times the space of any double here. As sad as it was to see the two of them leave, it's kind of exciting to have such a large space to live (and entertain) in. 

Well, more later... I should probably do some of my assigned reading. Sorry to talk on and on so much, but I haven't found a better outlet for all of my thoughts yet. 

Night photos from the last few days: