Hello friends! This has been such a busy and exciting week in London!
We started off full speed Monday by having our first midterm exam in the History of Science class. That afternoon, Mr. Rumbelow's History of Science class took us to the John Wesley house and the first ever Methodist church. I just love seeing all the random people sneak up into our group trying to catch a tidbit of all the knowledge Rumbelow has to offer us. Can you spot who doesn't belong?
That night, I spent the evening back at my home stay house because it is the only night of the week we would be home with a free dinner.
The next day was spent with an exciting theatre class, not to mention Valentine's Day! My day was instantly made when I received a rose from a classmate that said, "If I were Peter Pan, you'd be my happy thought." Ian brought in an actor from one of the better productions we had seen as part of the class. This actor had just finished up performing a year in Agatha Christie's Mousetrap and it was so inspiring hearing what his life as a performer had been like. That night, we went to a special classical music concert at the Barbican Center. While I dreaded it initially because of my dislike of most classical music, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert because it was all recognizable, fun music such as Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and the "Sleeping Beauty Waltz."
Wednesday was a hectic day indeed! We unusually had our Art History class, which is normally on Fridays in the afternoon, at 9am! With the lights out in a hot room that early in the morning, it's a wonder no one got in trouble for dozing off. Luckily, we had most of the afternoon off and I spent it in the Westminster Reference Library working on my Art History midterm paper. That night, we saw a play that I was extremely excited about: Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer." We had read this comedic play in British Literature the week before, so everyone was anticipating seeing it live on a large scale at the National Theatre.
The next day, we all loaded the coach at 9am from the Celtic Hotel and set out on a day trip to Charles Darwin's house and museum. Let's just say there were a lot of "interesting" things and ideas in that museum, but we had fun anyway. That afternoon, our coach driver, Paul, gave us a surprise....he took us on a detour to see the location of the 2012 Olympics! All of the arenas are still under heavy construction, and it's quite cool to think that the world's biggest competition will be held there in a few short months. We're in London at a very good time in history. Don't worry, I'm still for Team USA.
Friday morning was spent with all of us frantically searching the city of London trying to find a place to print off our very important Art History midterm papers. As soon as that paper hit Dr. Bracken's desk, the week seemed to be over and I could relax. Friday night was extra special because our group had tickets to a television taping of a British talk-show type show, That Sunday Night Show.
Seeing how a big-time television show was taped and the whole studio process was something I had never seen before. The taping was even more entertaining because the show was absolutely hilarious and even a former Deputy Prime Minister was a guest on the show. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed, so this picture is from the internet to give you an idea of the studio we were in.
Saturday was an exciting day also! We left the Celtic a little later than scheduled, but headed straight to Dover castle! Basically, once we were in the gate, we had free reign to do whatever we wanted to. If you let a group of college students and some really cool professors loose in a castle for a few hours, fun will follow! After leaving the castle, we took a slight stop on the beach of Dover to get the chance to stick our feet (or ankles, legs, and whatever else got wet) into the English Channel! I think my feet art still numb. We then finished the day by heading to Canterbury for a late lunch and to see the Canterbury Cathedral, home to the Anglican Church.
Yes! It's been an extremely busy week, but I would not trade it for anything in the world. I am still loving London, still missing my family and MC family, and still having the time of my life!
Until next post,
Micheal
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