“It’s that you each, to shorten the long journey shall tell two tales on the way to Canterbury..." -- Chaucer

Last Saturday was spent in Canterbury and Dover with Canden. I decided that since Mandy and a few of the other girls would be in Scotland, and Olivia had to work, I should take a little day trip somewhere. Canden, always up for an adventure, agreed to come with me. She'd befriended this guy who went to the University of Kent, which is in Canterbury, and he agreed to take us around the town and then drive us to Dover so we could see the white cliffs.

It turned out to be an awesome day. I got up early and met Canden at Charing Cross station for a 10:00 train to Canterbury. We made there at 11:30 and met Adam on the other side. After the slightly awkward introductions - he and Canden had never really met officially - we walked down into town for fish and chips and then a jaunt through a cute, be it, campy, wax museum that told Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. After that, we ventured into the cathedral. Adam had graduated from university in the cathedral and hadn't been in it since then. It was really neat walking around with him, remembering his graduation day. It was so interesting to finally really hang out with an Englishman. He had so many questions about our culture "Do you guys really love peanut butter as much as I've heard...? What is it about sororities...?" And it was so nice to finally have a guide who could answer our burning questions "...What are those white jaggedy lines on the road...? What's up with those guys who wear track suits and Burberry hats...?" It was a great cross-cultural experience, and plus he was just a really neat guy.

After the cathedral, we got in his little green Peugot and drove 20 minutes to the cliffs of Dover. It was incredible. They really are white. The chalk in the stone is all over the bottoms of my shoes and stained the knees of my pants after I kneeled down. It was very windy and cold. But then, we were walking around on the side of a big cliff. It was too hazy to see France on the horizon, but Adam claims that on a clear night, you can see the lights of Calais and Bologne. I've posted some pictures below.

This is the inside of the cathedral, in the nave. It was so incredible. I always hear about how the gothic style is so verticle, how it has so much light and draws your eye straight up. It's no lie. I could not stop looking at the cieling.


The image below is of one of the stained glass windows. The whole place was full of them, but this one was especially beautiful, the colors were so incredible. I loved the crimson reds and the ultramarine blues. Absolutely amazing, but yet again, my meager attempts at capturing them on film does not even begin to do them justice:



Then here are the cliffs!






















On our walk on the ledge that runs along the rim of the cliffs, we came to a nice resting spot... don't worry there's another ledge about 5 feet below me!







The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful. I spent Sunday night out with Canden and Olivia at a Hurricane Katrina fund-raising night at this bar/restaurant called the Big Chill House. Olivia and Canden met doing relief work there last spring break, so it seemed fitting that we should partake in their event.

This week's been pretty hum-drum. It's hard to believe I've been here for a month already. My internship really improved yesterday. I got to work with about 4 new people (as opposed to my usual group of 3) and I think I've finally really made some friends. I love the three I work with on a regular basis, but they're a lot older and not really interested in socializing with me. I think I may have finally broken into the main office area crowd. Sitting in the corner has really been hard. I haven't been able to meet people because the only time they see me is when I walk into the kitchenette to get more tea. I've started spear-heading some projects as well. Mags, my boss, has put me in charge of organizing an event in April with the new musical director. It's my responsibility to set up the whole event. Not too journalistic, but I get to write the invitations, so at least I get to use my skills there. I would really like to work more closely with the press team. I want to talk to my boss about maybe letting me work under them for a day or two, so I can see how it works to send out press releases and answer inquiries, etc. I'm still working up the courage, but I figure I should just ask, where's the harm? This trip is all about experiencing new things, doing things I've never done before or dreamed of doing. It's about branching out.

Anyway, this has gotten quite long. Promise to post more soon!

b

moving right along

It's so easy to get caught up in this city. The days fly by, and pretty soon the week is over. I've taken up a nice routine: Work all day Monday, class and work on Tuesday, class on Wednesday, class and work on Thursday, exploring on Friday.

I'm really impressed how in the chaos of life, you naturally fall into a sort of rhythm. I've been here for about 4 weeks now, and it's beginning to feel like I've been here all along. At my internship I finally found my niche - my supervisor seems to know that I can actually do things other than data entry. And at school we're finally sort of doing work. It's hard to go to school here. We're only in class for a total of about 4 hours a week. I find it hard to concentrate on getting reading done and writing papers. But so far so good.

I love my Art and Architecture class. My professor is crazy - well, maybe crazy is the wrong word. She's eccentric. She seems to know absolutely everything about every painting, altar piece and sculpture we've seen in the National Gallery - where I could literally spend hours if my feet would hold out. After our gallery visit yesterday she took me and a few girls down the block to an art supply store where we spent 45 minutes looking at paint sets, paper, inks and brushes. It sounds totally boring, but if you're an art nerd like me, it was super fun.

We've been filling our time really well here. Like home, there is always something going on. Some sort of festival or new art gallery exhibition to go see. I love the movement of the city. I love the speed and the sudden stops. Olivia talked in her blog about how the city's movement is full of rushing speed and then lulls of silence and calm. I take solace in the 20 minutes of solitude when I ride the Tube to work and school. There's something very meditative about sitting in forced silence in a crowd of people.

I'm taking a day trip to Canterbury with my friend Canden. I haven't been out of the city since we got here. I'm curious as to what the rest of this country looks like.

more soon
b

you can't stop me now

I feel like I haven't stopped moving since I got here; and today, it finally caught up with me. I haven't felt fully awake all day. I think it's going to be early to bed tonight.

We had another busy weekend. Our friend Ryan came into town. He's studying in Dublin and caught a flight over for the weekend. It was so good to see him again, and it gave us an excuse to go and do more touristy things we'd been wanting to do... not that we really needed an excuse... We went to Harrod's, Hamley's toy store, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, back to Burough Market... I can't even remember the rest. No wonder I'm exhausted.

This week's been nice so far, just as busy. Our student Oyster cards have finally come - which means that I get a discount on tube passes, which will save me a lot of money. I've spent so much already. It's just a very expensive city to live in. But it's nice to know that the money isn't going to be flying out of my wallet as quickly. Our mission recently has been to do anything and everything that's free. Olivia and I scored free tickets to "Love Song" last night with the theater class. We're not in it, but they had extra tickets, so we went along. It is an amazing show with an all star cast (Cillian Murphy, Kristen Johnson, Michael McKean and Neve Campbell) that left me so thoughtful and really inspired.

We officially passed the "vacation" mark. It's been almost two weeks now that we've been here - it's starting to feel less and less like a holiday and more and more like I am here for the long haul. I'm beginning to feel like one of the crowd in the Tube and on the streets. I still feel like I stick out a little, but it's becoming less and less the longer I'm here.

I haven't had time to load my pictures onto my computer recently, but when I do, I'll be sure to add photos to some of my posts.

more soon,
b

who said drama is always a bad thing?

I think it is officially alright to say that this has been a week of drama. But not the bad - I hate my roommates, my boyfriend cheated on me, my parents are suspending my car priviledges and I'm failing chemistry - type drama. But the drama of theaters, actors and stages. Lights, music, props, sets and applause. It's been a week of culture and theater-going.

The last post I made, I said that we were going to try to see Wicked. Well, I realized later that day that Wicked wasn't running that night. So we stayed in instead, and yesterday night we went as a flat to see the show, We Will Rock You. It couldn't be more aptly titled. In short, it rocked. The show is based on the music by Queen, and actually one of the original Queen members appeared at the end of the show to play (we think) during Bohemian Rhapsody. We were all standing, dancing and singing - not just our group - the entire theater. The energy was incredible, the music, fantastically loud and easy to sing along with and the show, a little campy and cheesey, but still marvelously fun all around. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to have a good time seeing a show. The best part of it all was that because we went last minute, we got our tickets for about a 1/3 of the price - we paid 20 pounds for a show where the baseline ticket price is about 30. Not bad. Though, I have to admit, I would probably pay 30 pounds for it.

This morning, it snowed. I would say it was beautiful, but it caused more problems than it's elegance is worth. And I thought DC didn't know how to handle snow - London is rediculous. We were scheduled to visit Greenwich with our class this morning. That was cancelled because the tube was barely running. I emailed my internship asking if I should bother coming in at 1 pm... of course they said everyone was making it in. So I had to trudge my way through the snow a block to the station, then brave the "Severe Delays" on the Bakerloo line. I ended up making it to work in less time than it normally takes me... seriously people.

Tonight was my first operatic experience. Olivia met me at work at 6 and we headed into the London Coliseum for Agrippina. I have to say - very very impressed. I think this was a good first course to the opera feast I'm going to be experiencing over the next few months. It's what is called an 'opera buffa,' basically, it's a comedy. It was actually very funny and witty, we laughed through the whole 4 hours. What I can't figure out is how the singers remember all their lines. Even though the show is in English, it is still surtitled - so they have to get every single line right. And they did. It was amazing. The set was fantastic, the orchestra was really great too. I'm proud to work there.

Anyway, tomorrow starts the weekend. Our friend Ryan is visiting from Dublin where he's doing his semester abroad. So we'll probably take him around during the day and maybe have some fun later tomorrow night.

More soon,
b

so it begins

Now that orientation is over, the real work has begun. Class started today and my internship did yesterday, but suppose I should talk about this past weekend a little before anything about my internship and class.

We spent this past weekend at markets. First, on Saturday morning at Burough Market. More fresh fruit, veggies, cheeses and meats than you could ever imagine. It truly fulfills the definition of cornacopia. In addition to inexpensive, good-looking produce, there was also a lot of hot food you could buy and eat. I had this sausage roll thing (basically sweet sausage in a puff pastery), some cider and a piece of baklava... all fresh and all delicious. It was so fun, we've decided that it is going to become a weekly tradition. Sunday was spent at Camden Market. Holy cow. Tons and tons of clothing stalls. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours and probably didn't see half of it. It was amazing. Serious barrage on the senses.
Photos:

Yesterday was the first day of my internship at the English National Opera. I have a really good feeling about it. The theater is beautiful. It's so ornate, lots of rich blood red velvet and gold with plaster goddess heads on the walls and filagre. It's incredible. I got to take a little tour around the theater and the winding back hallways and got to stand in the orchestra pit and look up. It's going to be really cool. I really love my boss, she's very laid back and I think she's going to make a real effort to give me the best experience I can have. I think I'm going to be doing a bunch of little odd jobs. But yesterday she let me write the text for an invitation to an opera called Satyagraha. It's a Philip Glass opera commemorating his 70th birthdayabout Ghandi. She also had me start working on the invited guest list for the premiere... talk about serious star power. Richerd Gere, Madonna, Paul and Stella McCartney, Ravi Shankar. You name them, they're on the list, guarentee... they probably won't all come, but maybe some will!? And guess who'll be at the premiere too!! ME!

Speaking of famous people: After work I met Olivia and Mandy and our friend Canden who lives in London at the premiere of the new Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore movie, Music and Lyrics. We ended up getting a really good spot and were probably about 50 feet from them. Canden got up front and actually held Hugh Grant's hand. Swoon. It was freezing cold outside, but totally worth the cold and aching feet.

Today was the first day of class, it was only an hour - not worth the commute. I'm taking a class about British imperialism. It should be interesting. The class meets twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays we meet for an hour for lecture, then Thursdays are all going to be field trips. We're going to Greenwich this Thursday to the National Meritime Musuem... sounds good!

We're just waiting on lunch to cook now, then I'm off to work again and then hopefully we'll be going to see Wicked! tonight. We're going to the theater to see if we can get half-priced student tickets for the show tonight! Cross your fingers!

More soon,
b

and there it was

Yesterday was pretty incredible. We started out the day going to where we're going to be having classes. It's in an area called Bloomsbury, which is very old, and very nice. Our school building is an old converted house dating back to the 1700s. It sits on Great Russel Street facing Bloomsbury Square. It has a bright blue door with the nob in the center.

It's quant and feels very English with its winding staircase and a garden square just across the street. There's a cute walk-through market area where we had lunch - I had an incredible kafta lamb pita sandwich. It was mind-blowingly tastey - anyone who visits will be taken there. The end.

I'm starting to get a hold on working my way around the city. I feel pretty comfortable on the Tube now, and am the proud owner of a pocket "A to Z" (pronounced "zed") atlas that has come in so handy I've started referring to it as the bible. I actually let a lady use it today, she stopped me and asked me if I knew where something was - I of course, didn't, and instead offered her my A to Z. She was so excited and actually was able to figure out where she needed to go.

But anyway, we ended up making dinner as a flat last night. One of the girls in my flat's boyfriend is also on the trip. He made chicken parmesan. I made the salad and bought the wine, and we had garlic bread to go with it. It was so fun to have everyone pitch in, and the food was awesome. We were all so hungry after such a long day of running around the city, going grocery shopping, getting a new phone for Olivia, etc. It was just what we all needed - a good family dinner.

After dinner we decided spontaneously to hop the tube down to the Westminster stop to see Parliament and Big Ben, the Millenium bridge, the Eye and St. Paul's all lit up at night. It was the best decision we could have made.

We got off at the Westminster stop and walked out of the station, and literally, BAM there was Big Ben. Right in front of us. Words cannot really explain how breathtaking it was. I felt so dwarfed by its magnitude. The tower was so much bigger than I could have ever imagined. Here's a picture that I took:


We walked around a little bit for photo-ops in front of the London Eye, which is currently sporting red lights for the Comic Relief festival. Here's the girls from the flat, sans Susan
(L to R: Amy, Pam, Lily, Keiko, Mandy and Olivia)

We then crossed the bridge to take more pictures of Parliament:

And then hopped the tube down to St. Paul's and the Millenium Bridge. We crossed the bridge half-way. From there you could see the entire city. It was so peaceful, so quiet. We blew kisses at the Thames and threw our pennies in with our wishes. We then got really cold and decided to come home.
I keep finding it difficult to believe that I'm going to be living in such an interesting, beautiful and seemingly magically different place for the next 3 months. I feel like a visitor, a vacationer who after a week will pack my bags and go back to my own city. It seems so unreal that I will be staying past that week for 14 more and will be able to go back to this bridge as many times as I see fit.

Today so far has been consumed with an internship orientation at school (boring...) and then a trip to Chinatown so Keiko, who is Japanese, could get some necessities (rice, miso... hopefully she'll cook for us!?). The rest of the day will be devoted to catching up with people, perhaps dinner out and then, who knows!

more soon,
b