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:

blogsend

Just discovered that I can put email addresses into a BlogSend form, which means that you'll get an email when I update- then you don't have to check the site all the time, at least. If anyone wants me to stick their email addresses in (Mom?) then just shoot me an email.

Okay then, off to get ready for class and our show at the ICA.

views from around the neighborhood

A few miscellaneous shots from around South Kensington:

Kensington Gardens, etc.

Nice lazy Sunday. Took a long walk up through Kensington Gardens and down Kensington High Street (nearest place with all of the big name brand shops- H&M, Topshop, Whole Foods, Zara, etc. etc. etc.) ending in a stop at Sainsbury's both to pick things up for the sick roommates (soup, cough syrup) and to finally buy some towels. Sauteed some peppers and onions for dinner. Read Look Back in Anger for class on Tuesday. It's now finally 11PM, and we can access the blocked portions of the internet! Hallelujah! Good day, all in all.

Kensington Gardens:

Well, it's finally the weekend!

[note: I already wrote this post once and it got deleted, so I apologize for the brevity the second time around. Long things getting deleted is the most frustrating thing ever, am I wrong?]

Today Julie, Chelsea and I took advantage of our day off to get out and actually do something; we ventured over to Portobello Road for some shopping and a late lunch. It was a lot of fun to get out and go shopping, spending time just hanging out. (I bought scarves and postcards; both predictable and cheap.) Even though we were surrounded by tourists, it was really nice to finally, finally get out.

We then came back to cook dinner, and I successfully made pasta with broccoli and chicken. Next time I'm going to move up the ladder into peppers and onions, I think, even though peppers are a little more expensive. I've informed everyone here that I'm going to keep cooking dinner for them until I perfect my made-up recipes from last summer; when I finally make something that looks good, I'll take some pictures to share. We had a cute little dinner, and then attempted to go out for coffee... but our efforts were thwarted by rain and wind, so we ended up just having coffee/tea/chocolate and biscuits in the flat. We just went online to buy tickets to Roaring Trade (through BU) for this Tuesday, so that should be a good time too.

Backtracking a little bit...

I finally had my theatre class on Friday, and our professor is incredibly intense. (He's a director/professor almost so unpretentious that he's pretentious, if you know what I'm getting at.) It's very interesting to be taking both journalism and theatre; they're two subjects that I'm so easily sucked into because of the romantic way everyone talks about them. Both professors talked on and on about their past careers and adventures and how amazing their experiences have been; it's just so much more... romanticized than say, economics. That's probably why I like my classes so much more than many of my friends here and why I'm always to inspired to do something (anything!) at the end of class. I always leave with this aching urge to really pursue something. Both classes have really fulfilled my need for mental activity that I was discussing before, and it makes my week so much better.

A few more things to add:

1. My theatre professor told me that he cries during "One Day More" whenever he sees Les Mis, and now he might be my favorite person of all time.

2. He also read a portion of Revolutionary Road aloud at the end of class (in the most soothing British accent) and it was beautifully written. It really made me want to get the whole book; has anyone read it?

3. We went back to Imperial College last night for a... quite exciting Friday night, so you should let me know if you're interested in the details.

^the night-time view of the National History Museum as taken from our window.

Well, many exciting things today. I should probably make a list.

1. Classes started today with session one of our core class (we have session one of our elective A tomorrow).  My professor seems really great; he's from New Zealand and worked at the BBC for twenty some-odd years and really knows his stuff. He's lively enough that our four hour (I know, right?) class doesn't seem quite as long. Well, maybe the real kicker was that he gave us a half hour break in the middle to go to Pret for some sandwiches. I love Pret. A lot. Anyways. The class is going to be great because the real focus (beyond the general umbrella of "British News Media, Culture, and Society") is the influence of the internet on the media and how news is spread across the internet, which is almost exactly what I want to do my thesis on next fall. Excellent.

1a. We also got to watch the half-hour PMQ (Prime Minister's Questions) in class from yesterday, and it was brilliant. (Basically, the PM fields questions from the whole House of Commons, mostly from his opposition, for half an hour and let's just say... it gets pretty heated. Very entertaining. Apparently it's on CSPAN back in the states- I highly recommend it.) It's clearly better to any kind of press conference Bush has done, but I'm not convinced it's really the best form of debate; there was more shouting and jeering than actual discourse. 

2. I bough graph paper pads for my classes with perforated smooth 22lb paper and beautiful black covers that fold back perfectly. Someone out there will understand how excited I am, right? (The stationary store with the notepads also has some excellent postcards... so perhaps I'll send some out someday.)

3. Had an interview with my internship rep woman (another excellent five minute interview) in  which she told me things that I already know... but I'm still on for my placement, which is great. A lot of people seem to not have been placed yet, which would have made me so anxious. I'm happy to know what's going on and that I'm working at such a reputable/cool place, even if it is slightly like a certain job I already have.

4. Last night we went back to the pub/club/bar at Imperial College, which is the big university just down the street from us. It's always a good time; super cheap and crowded with people our age. We met their drinking club and watched them puke into their victory bucket (more like epic fail than victory, in my opinion) and then hung around in the pub area. There was supposed to be a big party going on in the club, but we walked in and it was pretty empty. Plus, it smelled/sounded/etc. like an MIT frat... so that was not a good sign. All in all a good night, though. A lot of us from the house are starting to hang out as a big group, so that's nice.

I have my modern theatre seminar tomorrow (yess!) so that's VERY exciting. We get at least four tickets to different shows around the city over the next five weeks, so I can't wait to get more information. There's also a big full-program party in Covent Garden tonight, so that should be interesting.

more of the same

Well, today was more of the same orientation excitement; we sat through five lectures on British culture, politics, economics, etc. One of my professors lectured on the history of London (most illustrating everything with art history) and she seemed to really know her stuff, so I'm quite excited for her class. We also have decided to incorporated the word "knockered"  into our vocabulary (means tired- they used it to describe us throughout the day), because it sounds so great with the accent (knock-ahd). 

Last night we just stayed in and hung out in our (newly discovered) lounge after eating some amazing pre-prepared soup for dinner. It was nice to just sit around and talk with a bunch of people from around the house; we have big (probably too big) plans to do everything. Don't know where we'll end up tonight... Julie apparently has some kind of dinner invitation from a local rabbi for tomorrow night so this week could get pretty interesting. Classes start tomorrow!