Traveling the UK!

We have had a wonderful time so far. We dropped off my stuff after repacking it and smashing almost everything I own and most of the things that Mom brought into two bags that we are storing while we are traveling. We took the train to Oxford and wondered around for a bit before we rented a car and traveled over to Woodstock... the town right out side of Blenheim Palace... and stayed in this wonderful 14th century coaching inn that was cozy, sweet and perfect for the night! Today we are going to head to Blenheim and go through the palace and then through the Cotswold and will end up sometime tonight in Liverpool! Mom is a wonderful driver and we are just enjoying our time together and seeing all of the places that we can!

The "How BYU are you?" Survey

So I stole this from my Provo roommate Jessica's blog... And me and my roomies here in London really enjoyed taking this survey! Take it and tell me how you do!

77 questions.

[X] You have been kissed at least once
[_] Your first kiss was on campus
[X] You've had a boyfriend/girlfriend
[X] You lived in the dorms your freshman year
[_] You went to Homecoming or Preference
[X] You hiked the Y
[_] You've taken a social dance class
[X] You regularly attended FHE for at least a semester
[X] You've participated in Choose to Give
[X] You've been to Liberty Square for a party at least once
[X] You've driven around south of campus for at least 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot
[X] You know the cougar fight song
[X] You've crossed the crosswalk without using the flags or biked through a red light
[_] You've been to Friday Night Live
[_] You've performed or witnessed an act that made it onto Police Beat
[X] You've been on a "date" to the bell tower or duck pond
[_] You've been to the Bean Museum for FHE
[_] You've been to Divine Comedy
[X] You've been to International Cinema
[_] You are engaged
[_] You are married
[_] ...in the temple
[_] You were previously engaged/married
[_] You have kids or are expecting kids
[X] Your birth parents are still married
[X] ...in the temple
[X] You have at least three siblings
[X] You've taken a marriage prep or relations class
[X] You've taken at least one religion class that is not based on the scriptures
[X] You have slept on a couch in a restroom
[X] You have been to the BYU Creamery
[_] You have been in one of the BYU choirs
[_] You've been on a date to Fat Cats
[X] You have read Twilight
[X] ...book 2
[X] ...book 3
[_] ...book 4
[_] ...seen the movie
[_] ...more than once
[_] You've waited in line at the Bookstore for the Harry Potter or Twilight book premiere
[X] You have seen The Singles Ward or Sons of Provo
[X] You have walked out of a movie you found morally reprehensible
[X] You know where the "chastity line" is (??!??!??)
[X] You can finish the phrase "Nothing good happens after ______"
[X] You read the Daily Universe at least 3x a week
[X] ...and it's the only newspaper you read
[X] You've personally known someone who was reported to the Honor Code Office
[_] You've participated in or watched a Mr. BYU contest
[_] You've received personal revelation that he/she is "the one" (or been told this)
[_] ...and told him/her about your revelation (or been told this)
[_] ...and then they rejected you (or rejected them)
[X] You've been to the Nickelcade
[X] You've been to Classic Skating
[X] You've ignored your parents' phone calls for at least 3 days
[_] ...and then they called the University Police
[_] You've been pulled over by the University Police
[_] You watch The Office religiously
[X] You mostly wear jeans and t-shirts or plain fitted shirts
[X] You own at least 3 things from American Eagle or Hollister
[_] Your sacrament meeting is a fashion show/scam session
[_] You've been on a date to the Provo River
You've kissed in a...
[_] ...campus parking lot
[_] ...Provo Canyon or Squaw Peak
[_] ...on temple grounds
[X] ...on a couch as soon as your roommates left the room
[X] You think UVU is not a real university
[X] You hate U of U with a passion


FOR GIRLS (don't answer if you're a guy)
[X] You own knee-length shorts
[X] You regularly wear camisoles/undershirts for modesty reasons
[_] You are a MFHD, RMYL, Elementary Education, or Exercise Science Major
[X] Your major crush ended up dating a MFHD, RMYL, Elementary Education, or Exercise Science major
[_] You have had at least one roommate who is in hair or dental school
[X] You own The Italian Job or The Princess Bride
[X] You wear makeup at least 3x a week
[X] You do something with your hair (other than brush it/ponytail) at least 3x a week
[_] You went or plan on going on a mission
[_] ...because you couldn't get married


FOR GUYS (don't answer if you're a girl)
[_] You shave every (or almost every) morning
[_] You know when your hair is "too long"
[_] You know what the "divide by 2 and add 7" dating rule is
[_] ...and you follow it
[_] You've dated freshmen girls as a RM
[_] ...when you already knew better
[_] You've used the phrase "On my mission..." to a girl
[_] At least 3 girls have baked cookies or meals for you
[_] You went or plan on going on a mission
[_] ...because you wanted to get married


TOTAL: 43

A: 68-77
B: 60-67
C: 53-66
D: 45-52
F: 44 or below.

I just barely got an F (dang it!) Maybe I can do better this upcoming semester!

Two down... One more humanities essay to go!

Finished Shakespeare and Mystery papers and turned them in early! Yahoo for me! And then for a break I watched Love Actually (the edited version) and now I am starting to read for humanities!

I love how I am giving you a moment by moment run down of my life by it is finals week and without Mom and Mindy to cheer me on I am trying to keep my sanity by writing... on a blog... instead of a paper.

Here is my list that I am sending to Mom-- things that she need to bring when she comes. Can you think of anything else? If so message me!

1. my cell phone
   
2. a straighter
3. crayons and a coloring book? (I am still a child at heart!)
   
4. large bag and little bag + whatever little bag you are bringing
5. your camera?
6. any snacks that you want in the airport
7. your airsickness pills
8. your guide books with all of the things marked that you want to see!
9. peanut butter! (Mom I forgot to put this on the previous list so please take note!)
   

Finished Shakespeare: Two more to go!

So I finished my Shakespeare paper at 9:45pm and then proceed to celebrate finishing my paper with a walk down to the local Food and Wine and got a Magnum! This time I tried almond and it was really tasty but not quite as good as the double caramel or the mint but still worth finishing my paper for!

Now I am starting mystery or maybe I will start it tomorrow...
I know decisions decisions. But this one will be done by tomorrow at 11:59pm because that is when it is due! I love due dates they force me to get things done.

Now the real decision is weather or not I should read over my Shakespeare paper again before I send it in...

One More Week, Three More Papers

So right now I am sitting in the classroom trying to be inspired on what I should write my Shakespeare paper on and I am really not being inspired and I lack motivation because once my papers are written that means that the week is almost over and then there is finals and then the program is over! I just want to halt everything!

I have just decided that I am going to finish one of my papers tonight no matter what! Here I go and I will blog again when I am done... I hope that it is sooner rather then later.

Megs

Two Weeks!

Today is one of those days... The one that you look at the calender and realize that I have exactly two more weeks of the program and then it is over. Done. Finished. And experience that I can not repeat in exactness. We are trying to make the most of our time here but with four papers it is at times difficult to be out having fun and in writing at the same time. I will have one of the papers done in about half hour (only need to add the conclusion) so then it will be better but I still need to figure out what I am writing about before I can discuss it with my teachers but I need to discuss it with my teachers to figure out what I am writing... which I have to do soon or it looks like I am slacking- this never ending cycle! I have to get back to writing but just wanted to say that I am still alive and loving my last little bit of London!

Wicked!

Today I went to Wicked and wow was I impressed! The story was nothing like I expected, but I really liked it! It was really excited about the play and I have loved the music for almost three years but I never knew that the story ended the way that it did... Dun Dun Dun. The play was spectacular!

High Tea at Kensington Palace and Thanksgiving in the Centre

On Thanksgiving day we did not have class and instead first went to a local synagogue to learn about the Jewish faith. The synagogue was beautiful! I had never seen inside one although I have learned a lot about them. We were shown the building and also were told a lot about the faith for one of the local Jews. He showed us a beautiful Torah that had been handwritten and was perfect. The synagogue was beautifully placed on the street right next to ours and the whole time we were here I didn't know that it was there, it was hidden behind tall red brick walls but the windows can be seen if you know where to look.

After the visit to the synagogue we went as a program to have tea at The Orangery in Kensington Palace. Yes you read that right, we had tea where Princess Diana and other royalty (aka William and Harry!) had tea when they were living at Kensington and sometimes they still have parties there.

We had a proper English tea that included:
Rose hip tea
Cucumber sandwiches
Scones with clotted cream and jam
and Cake

Talyn, Me, Kelsy and Sabrina at our table having a proper English tea.

Later that night we had a proper American Thanksgiving dinner and part of our room was on Kitchen Krew so we were there an hour early to set up and help out.





Dinner was heavenly and included:
Turkey
Stuffing
Fruit salad
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Veggies and dip
Green bean casserole
Rolls
and pumpkin pie with plenty of whip cream)


The pumpkin pie was a surprise to us because up until that morning Terri and Dave (our amazing centre directors) had not been able to find anything that had pumpkin in it. I guess that they don't have anything here that is remotely close to pumpkin pie. Terri searched out 5 or 6 stores before she found them but they were some of the best that I have ever had. Thanks Terri!

(Pictures courtesy of girls in the program! Thanks girls!)

Paris... The Food!

These are pictures of food that we at on the way to Paris and in Paris! As it has taken me so long to post these I hope that you understand that there is not a long explanation.

Classic Field Trip Lunch.



Our Kit-Kat shakes from McDonalds in Paris! They don't have Kit-Kat shakes in the States!


Natalie and I with our savory crepes!


Our cake-brownies from a patisserie, they are all over Paris and have the most delicious treats.


Sweet dark chocolate crepe.


Apple Tart.


Natalie and Kelsy outside where we got our tarts.


The most amazing waffles that we found along the Champ d'Elysees.


Baguettes, French ones!

I am 22!

As of 12:06 Fallon time I am officially 22 years old! Here in England I am already 22 but I am going by Fallon time so I still have a few hours left and I am spending them washing my clothes and sleeping for the night. I am really exciting!

I am leaving for France on Monday and I am thinking that it is going to be one big birthday party for ME! I am thinking that this is going to be one of the best birthdays ever so I dont know how I am going to top this next year... maybe the moon? Any one want to join?

Yahoo! Something really exciting that happened to me today was that I wrote a humanities paper and took and humanities test and then as my reward for finishing I went with Alex and Jordan to this bakery called Hummingbird where I got a red velvet cupcake that had the most delicious cream cheese frosting! Mom you have to try them when you are here! Come to think of it that is like my birthday cake... I fully expect a birthday pumpkin pie when I get home with all 22 candles on it. (Maddie and Mindy take note!)

42601

Tonight I went to Les Miserables and it was fabulous! If I had a leader like Enjolras I think that I too would join the French Revolution! Their voices and acting was fabulous and I dont know what I was expecting but I was blown out of the water!!! This is one that I want to see again and I am stealing the music from you, Melissa, when I get back!

We arrived at the theater just an hour before and happened to get perfect seats... We were in the dress circle which was perfect as we could see everything that was happening on the stage beautifully. I love this play!

Confession...

So I am sitting in my room in London listening to Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and I was beginning to think that I was pretty cultured and cool and then I realized that I am suppose to be following the themes and the form... we have a problem! All of you probably remember that I am not musically inclined for one main reason, if it is just instrumental I have a hard time telling the music apart. I think that it is really pretty but that is about as far as the following of the themes goes. I do know that the first movement is fast, second is slow, and third is fast but that is about as far as it does... Prof. Benfell was explaining that a symphony follow the same basic pattern of having a theme, bridge, second theme, a development of the themes, then a recapitulation and the coda but I have the hardest time telling the different parts a part. This pattern is followed in each of the four to five movements. But I am trying to understand so I appreciate the live performances when we see them!

Yea for being cultured!

The North Trip aka The Lake District

The North trip was so beautiful and I love going to the church history sights! These are some pictures from the trip and that is about all I can do right now! Lots of love!




A view from our walk in the Lake District. It was so green and beautiful!



On the banks of the lake where our hostel was... This was our view both mornings.



The River Ribble where the first saints in England were baptized in Preston.



The Missionary Tree that is in the River Ribble valley that was planted by the saints in the area for all of the missionaries that have served in the British Isles.



The Cotton Mill that we go to go inside of! It gave me a whole different perspective of the mill life.



A rock that I found on our walk in the lake district.



The Preston Temple.



The Preston Temple.



The Liverpool docks and the monument that the Church was asked to place there. It is a beautiful place.

LIVID... Vent Time!

Livid!

I am so mad! So I made a scheduled for the classes that I need to take and the times and teachers worked out perfectly... I am suppose to register for classes tomorrow morning and so I checked out my classes to make sure that there were still openings and such and see which ones I should add first and I realized that they canceled my History 490 from the teacher that I really wanted and for the time that fit perfectly in my schedule! I am LIVID!!! Now I have to rework my schedule and change a bunch of classes around and take classes from teachers that I dont want and I am so mad!!!!! I just want this whole situation to be gone and done... it is so upsetting!

Now instead of writing one of my papers that are due Saturday I have to figure out my schedule, again.

And I have to go and buy another bottle of laundry detergent because someone in the Centre used like half of my bottle that was suppose to last me all semester so now I have to go and buy another 4 pound bottle before I can do laundry that I havent been able to do in about 2 weeks.

Really frustrated and dont want to go to class... If we have a quiz that will officially make today my worst day ever!

Midterms: A very slow and painful process

Midterms test are mostly over but in the upcoming week I have 3 papers that are due, a book to read, old manuscripts to look at, three required performances to attend, and a required movie to watch so life is still going to be really busy.

I have almost caught up on my journal writing which was my goal for the weekend and it feels so good, like a weight being lifted off, at least partly lifted.

Our room was clean for like 5 min yesterday before we all got home but with unpacking there is no hope... it is a pig pen! 14 girls in one room is too many. I can't wait to get back and have my own room! Too bad I still have to live with people who are really messy... and want to get a cat.

Change is good

I was getting really sick of my blog so I decided to revamp and voila! I have to admit that I have been blog stocking trying to see what I liked and what I didn't and I am quite pleased with myself! I am sorry for everyone that just looks at my blog once a month because I change it at least that much so it looks really different every time but I really cant help it... read more often and then the change wont seem so sudden!

Midterms!

I might not be able to blog this week... it is midterms, a couple of papers and on Thursday I am going to Ireland! I will catch up on Sunday!

Oct 3rd

Almost caught up....

October 3rd was a very busy day! We started with a London Study to the Tower of London which I have to admit I have heard a lot about and yet did not know a lot. For instance I did not know that the Tower of London was more of a town then just a bunch of towers. So I was shocked to find that there was grass and gardens that the prisoners were usually allowed to go down and walk in during the day. And that prisoners were not the only ones that were brought to the tower but royalty before they were crowned were brought there to protect them before they were crowned. The Crown Jewels are within the Tower and I have to say that I "walked" past them multiple times on the conveyor belt that they make you stand on and have to say that they are some of the biggest jewels that I have ever seen in my life and I have pretty much decided that I want to become the Queen so I can wear The Crown! I also really enjoyed learning about those that had stayed in the Tower: Mary Queen of Scots, the two princes and Henry VIII's wives and how much liberty they had in their day to day lives as long as they stayed within the Tower and were in their cells by curfew. The Beefeater that showed us around were very entertaining and had some good stories to tell. And last but not not least, England will not fall! (We saw the crows!)



After the Tower we practically had to run to The Globe to make it in time for our second play as groundlings... The Merry Wives of Windsor! The play was very amusing and I have to say that I was laughing from the very first lines and continued to laugh until the play was well over. The characters and the play itself were hysterical and so well done! Even though I loved A Midsummer Night's Dream I thought that Merry Wives was so much better!

Sept 22 through Oct 1st...

Recap continued...

Monday Sept 22 was our London Study day and we went and toured The Globe, as in Shakespeare's Globe! Well I guess that it was not exactly Shakespeare's Globe because it was burned down but it is the one that was rebuilt in 1997 in the way that they think the Globe looked. We had the chance to walk around inside and hear about how plays would have been done in Shakespeare's time. The stage is interesting and different because it is a thrust stage instead of a proscenium stage and there is not a backdrop or really any stage setting. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say about Shakespeare and about theater in the 16 and 17th centuries. Also there was an Exhibition that told about theaters, plays, life and London during the time of Shakespeare. I love The Globe!!! and of course Shakespeare's work!



On Sept 24th as a program we went to a matinee of A Midsummer Night's Dream! This is one of my favorite plays and is a very entertaining comedy with some very witty wordplay. We were what they call groundlings... those that stood in the yard around the stage. It was a great place to be because you were really a part of what was happening on the stage but it was really exhausting to stand the whole time but luckily the weather was really nice with just a little cloudburst and it wasn't too cold. The stage had extensions to it so that the actors could move around more then just on the square stage. The stage was empty except for some flowers that were set up to symbolize the woods but the costumes and words that Shakespeare wrote are really what set the scene and made the play. The actors and actresses were spectacular! My favorite had to be Helena and how the actress that was playing her did it so well... it didn't seem that she was as pathetic as she is usually shown to be and that was almost refreshing. Anyone that has a chance should go to The Globe and be a groundling for a show!

On Sept 25th there was a annual mystery conference in which one of the lectures was on Victorian thrillers. We attended because we have a class that is based on British mystery novels and one of the authors that we are reading, Anne Perry, was speaking on why she chose the time period that she did and why she wrote mysteries. It was an interesting lecture and it made me almost want to write... mysteries or historical... either would be fascinating to research and put together.

Saturday Sept 27th was one of the highlights of the program so far... The country walk with Brother Chittock! Brother Chittock is a member of my ward that I am attending and is also the one that is in charge of placing the BYU students in their wards within London.... and by providence he happens to know Bishop Connell because his son was taught and baptized by the Bishop when he was a missionary! Our walk in the country started with a train ride into Kent where we meet with Brother Chittock, his brothers, son and grandson who were going to be our guides for the day. The area that we walked was beautiful! We went through towns, fields, and country roads... along which there were blackberries that were ripe and ready to eat! We stopped at a Norman castle that had be built in the 1000's for lunch. It wasn't very big for the amount of people that would have lived there but the walls were really thick and tall and were about the only part of the castle that survived. After lunch we walked along a stream and through lavender and hops fields. We went about 9 miles so by the time we had made it back to the train station we were all really tired and I must admit that I fell fast asleep during the ride back to London.





Our second day trip occurred on October 1st and was to the great college town of Blenheim Palace and OXFORD! Blenheim Place is not really a palace in that it is not a royal residence but is what they call a "country house." Blenheim was built for the hero of the Battle of Blenheim, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Blenheim was also the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The grounds were beautiful but quite confusing... instead of going to the Secret Garden Danielle and I ended up on the opposite side of the property at the Rose Garden.

The next stop was Oxford... we were dropped off at Christ's Church and walked around town until we stumbled upon the tower for Magdalen college. Magdalen college was founded in 1448 and about then the construction on the tower was begun and ever since the tower has been an important part of the sky scape of Oxford. After touring Magdalen college we, Me, Danielle, Jenny, Natalie, Dasily, Ashley, Lindsey and Rebbecca, went down to the river and hired a punting boat and a boy to punt it for us. His name was Humphrey, in the classic English fashion, and he was born and raised in Oxford and was getting ready to attend college. This was his first time punting and he wasn't very good but he was really nice and it was an enjoyable time... I love punting!!! After punting we looked at some of the other colleges, the library and The Eagle and The Child (were J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis went when they went to Oxford). The last thing that we did was go to Evensong at Christ Church College, an Anglican service. It was an wonderful experience to have but half the time I really didn't know what was going on but it was really pretty singing by the choir.

Update from Sept 10 through Sept 18: Trying to catch up!

I am sorry that I have not posted... Life has been crazy with school, field trips and LONDON!

We have been on quite a few trips...

The first was to Stonehenge and Bath on Sept 10th. I have wanted to visit Stonehenge since I saw it on the screen saver on our computer and of course I have wanted to visit Bath ever since I knew that Jane Austen had lived there... There have also been quite a few movies in which Bath has been used like the BBC version of Persuasion. I have decided that Stonehenge is beautiful and I am really interested to find out one day what it was used for and how it was built. When we were in Bath I visited Bath Abbey which has a beautiful example of fan vaulting. Then as a program we visited the Roman Baths and "partook of the waters." The waters was horrible and tasted really strongly of sulfur and minerals but I did taste it but I have no idea how people could come to Bath just to "take the waters." We also visited the Royal Crescent and then went into Number 1 Royal Crescent which is set up how it would have looked in the 1800's and saw The Circus. Both of these buildings were designed by the great John Wood and John Wood the Younger. We also visited Jane Austen's home and learned a lot about how her stay there influenced and appeared in her novels. In all it was a wonderful experience!

The next day, Sept 11th, we went and saw 39 Steps. The movie by Hitchcock, of the same name, is based on the play. This play only had 4 people that played over 50 different characters and man was it entertaining!! I have to suggest that everyone should see this if they happen to be in London!

On Sept 12th we had a tour of The Houses of Parliament aka the building attached to Big Ben! We were able to go inside the House of Commons and the House of Lords and saw a lot of their common rooms. We were shown how the parliamentary system works and how the monarch fit in with everything. The history of the building and their traditions within it were so interesting to become aware of. I am really excited to see the opening of Parliament by the Queen in December!

Sept 17th - 19th was our trip to the West of England!

The first day we got up at about 5 am to eat breakfast, make lunches and be on the coach by 7am. From London we headed to Stourhead house and gardens in Warminster, Wiltshire. Stourhead is an example of Palladian houses and gardens. The gardens, the lake, and the Temple of Apollo are shown in the new Pride and Prejudice at the proposal scene and it was just as beautiful as it was in the movie except it wasn't raining!



The next stop on the trip to the West was Thomas Hardy's cottage in Dorset. Hardy is a English novelist, short story, and poet which set his stories in this setting. The land was beautiful but the house had really, really short doorways and Professor Benfell hit his head quite a few times... you think that he would have learned as he does have his doctorate but it was really funny to observe!

That night we stayed in Penzance, as in the Pirates of Penzance, (don't worry I didn't know the story either!) in our first hostel! The hostel was a YMCA and it actually was not as bad as I was expecting... the sheets were in plastic that had been steamed closed and surprisingly that made me feel better. We arrived at the hostel at about 7pm and then decided to go out and see the town but it was really sad because everything closes in small towns at about 5:45pm so we walked along the levee and I touched the ATLANTIC OCEAN for the first time and I ALMOST slipped on the rocks and fell in... The breakfast in the morning was the classic English breakfast... croissants, baked beans, eggs, fruit and cereal.



Sept 18th in the morning we went to the Land's End Beach and went on a beautiful hike along the coast and thoroughly enjoyed the cliffs and the ocean! Along the path was a ton of blackberry bushes that had the most luscious berries that I have ever tried! This beach is also the place where the telegraph cable is buried that goes from England to the USA and was also a place where England was attacked during WWII because of the cable. The water was a little cold but we still waded and a few in the group went swimming.



The next place that we arrived was at St. Michael's Mount in Penzance. St. Michael's is an island at high tide but is attached to to the land during low tide. St. Michael has a castle and a village just like it did during the 13th century! The Mount is stunning to see from far away surrounded by water with just the silhouette showing. On the walk to up the hill to the castle their is a stone in the pathway that is shaped like a heart and the story goes that their was a giant that was terrorizing the people that lived in the village but was caught by a boy in a hole. Because the giant died within the hole it became his grave and his heart is said to have raised to the path... pretty good story!



From Penzance we headed to Exeter and ended up eating at this really cool restaurant that was along the channel 'quay' (pronounced 'key') with a beautiful channel and boats in the background. Me, Lindsey, and Natalie shared a margarita pizza (don't worry it doesn't have any alcohol in it... just sauce and cheese.) The hostel that we stayed in was out in the middle of no where so we played card games, did homework and chatted in the hostel for a good portion of the night... what do you expect with 40 girls and 1 boy.

The next morning, Sept 19th, we headed to the Exeter Cathedral which was started back in the times of the Norman invasion in 1066 and it continued to have construction until the Victorian times. The Cathedral was massive! In my humanities class we are learning about architecture and it was really interesting to see all of the different types of architecture building on each other and forming the building.



The final stop on our trip was in Lyme Regis. Lyme, as it is commonly called, was where the wealthy in Victorian England would go to holiday and look for fossils. We visited because Lyme is a significant place in Jane Austen's Persuasion. In Lyme we walked along the stony beach and along the levee and pretended to act out the scene from Persuasion when Lydia falls and hits her head but we didn't have a Captain Frederick Wentworth to try and catch us... just a Michael and he can only be in one place at a time. While in Lyme I also decided that I was going to try FISH and CHIPS... the British way. For those of you that do not know I am not a fan of fish and so this was a real adventure for me to participate in. The Fish and Chips came in the classic way... wrapped in paper. I added ketchup, salt and a little bit of vinegar and dug in! The fish actually wasn't that fishy and was the best that Professor Wimmer said he had ever had! I thought that it was quite good but am almost scared to try it again somewhere where the fish is not as fresh. But I will admit that Lyme fish and chips are delicious!

Hannah Montanna in London

Madison dont get to excited this does not mean that I saw her but just that I have been listening to Rock Star for like the last two hours while I have been studying... granted it isnt really studying music but it is still really enjoyable to listen to! Listen to it there for me and sing it as loud as you can!!! Lots of Love, Megs

Sunday in London...

So I am still in London and loving it! Today we went to church in a ward that took us an hour and a half to get to... first by tube then by train and then walking... but the ward was really nice. There were about 50 people there and about 70 persent of them were of African desent although they almost all had British accents. I volenteered to help out in primary because the other girls really didnt want to but once I got there I began to think that it was a bad idea! The kids in there were out of control!!!! There were three girls that were all pretty good but the two boys were moving all over the place and I could hardly get them to stand still! I ended up trying to bring Samual the Lamenite to life but I dont know how well I did because I hadn't read the lesson at all but oh well I think that they might have learned something... I hope.

Riding the train was really fun but on the way home I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep on both the train and the tube. But there were girls there to wake me up and I made all of my stops! Dinner tonight like all of the food here is wonderful and there was a cheerly chocolete cherry cake for dessert but before you begin to worry they only serve dessert on sundays and we have been walking on average about 3 to 4 miles a day just around London doing assignments or trying to get were the fun is!

The rest of the night I did readings and wrote a field note. Not bad for pretty much not doing any real homework this week... (the reason I say real homework is because alot of our assignments are going places and looking at things or going on walks... for more info on the walks check out my class blog at http://meganslondonwalks.blogspot.com/ because I dont want to post it twice). It is getting late... so night and all my love!

Saturday on the Thames!

Today I went and did the walk on the Thames (it is one of the walks that we have to do for class). The walk was a really nice one right along the river but I ended up getting lost quite a few times... (imagine that!) The walk brought me along all of the bridges from tower bridge to hungerford bridge. This Saturday happened to be the Thames festival and so there were a lot of booths set up and a lot of places to eat. We ended up getting three mini pies: meat, chicken and mango, and chicken, cheese and avacado. Michele and I split them so that way we each got a taste and they were actual really good!

Also along the Thames under a bridge was a used book seller... the picture is above... and it has got to be the coolest place that I have seen in a really long time! I ended up finding this really sweet looking copy of Pride and Prejudice and Love's Labor's Lost and bought them for a little under 6 pounds. After the Festival we meet up with a larger group and went to a concert in St. Martins-in-the-Fields where we listened to Vivaldi's Four Seasons and selections from Purcell, Handel, Mozart, and Bach perfored by the Belmont Ensemble of London with Helena Wood as the violin soloist. It has got to be one of the most amazing performances that I have been to! The whole situation was perfect although our seats were in the balcane and we couldnt see the performers but being in the church with the classical music made us all wish that we could be dancing in Pride and Prejudice or be transported back in time. It was a wonderful day!

The British Museum

The British Museum was amazing! It was so large that it took us 2 hours to go through just the Greek, Roman, and Egypt rooms, we didn't even try to make it to the rooms that were devoted to England or we would have been in there all day and we had to leave something to do on other days! The classical exhibits were beautifully done with great explanations and examples. I saw the frieze from the Parthanon and another temple (below) that were transported here from Greece, along with statues from both Rome and Egypt! But the most exciting historical object that I saw today was the Rosetta Stone!!!! It was a lot larger then I thought but it was just as wonderful as I had hoped. Of course I couldn't read it but I enjoyed pretending and gazing! It was a wonderful day, but then everyday is wonderful when one is in London!!!

Shakespeare on the Street

After going to church at the historic Hyde Park Chapel we went on a little walk around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The walk was beautiful but the problem was the shoes that I wore and the rain that was coming down. The combination of the two lead to some really nasty blisters on both of my feet, one of which popped on the walk home so now we are on the watch for infection. This is a picture of the blister that didn't pop but still really is sore. After church we walked home and took the round about way in Hyde Park and saw the outside of Kensington Palace and walked down Embassy way where most of the embassies are, except we didn't see the American Embassy.




After we had been home for a bit a few of us decided to head over to Regents Park where the Regency Festival was going on. To get there we took the Tube which was my first time being on it and I have to say that it is not a bad way to get around. It wasn't that confusing and we didn't have to wait for more then 5 to 7 mins for any of the tubes. We took the Circle line down to Regents Park and were walking over to the festival but were distracted by these two men that were standing on top of a Post office box yelling at this man that was holding a flag. At first we were worried because it looked like they were protesters or looked like they were going to cause problems but then we were told that they were a group of actors that did Shakespeare plays on the street and used props that the people in the audience brought with them. They also had people in the audience that played some of the really small parts that didn't have lines like the actors in the play and the ghost was a man from the audiance that played a toy flute. The videos give you an example of what it was like although you cant really hear it and the pictures below are the actors using the props of the pink flowers to hide behind during the To be or not to be speach by Hamlet as he dug through the trash.

After we went home, ate dinner and had a fireside a few people decided to go out and invited me and Emily on their way out. We said yes and we got on the tube and headed to Westminster. Along the way we got on a tube line that was called The Bond and Hilary, Michael and Laura decided to be Bond, James Bond and the Bond Girls.

Right out of the Tube station is Big Ben! My first glimpse of Real, Real London! I loved it!!! By the time we headed back it was about 11:45 and we caught one of the last tubes home and it was an adventure as we stopped and thought that we were stuck for a while, but in the end we made it home all in one piece! First day of class is tomorrow... Can't wait!