Thinking of you, EN...

I've been trying not to write about anything other than London related news, but this necessitates commenting on. A woman in my law school class at home has had the worst "luck" since coming to law school: two brothers have passed (both at finals time), a fire decimated her parent's home, dealt with some pretty serious personal health issues, and now I just received word that her father passed away. This is all within the span of just over 2 years...less actually. And keep in mind she's trying to go to law school and raise her family at the same time. Please keep her, her son, husband, and everyone else affected by the terrible events that seem to relentlessly plague her family in your prayers. Thanks.

Sound of Music Pictures and Videos

I took some (probably illegal) pictures while I was in the Sound of Music Sing-a-Long on Friday. The pictures have been added to the "Popping in and Out of Chalk Drawings" Album. Links to the videos are below:

Sing along Video 1- We were told to make goat and sheep noises to make the 4 minutes of Alpine Scenery go faster. It was hilarious.

Sing along Video 2- It was a sing a long...so everyone sang along. Literally. I was pretty impressed at how well most everyone stayed on beat even though we couldn't hear the music because we were all singing so loudly. Go ahead...say it...I'm a nerd. :) (NOTE: I can't get the second one to upload. I'll try it again later, and then update the link if I'm successful.)

Sometimes the couch is just so nice

Don't have a whole lot to say: Saturday night's birthday party was fun. We ate Mexican food (yummy) and my cake turned out pretty good. Some people went out, but I wasn't feeling good, so I stayed in and "watched" the KU game on ESPN. ROCK CHALK! Sunday morning I definitely wasn't feeling good, so I pretty much stayed on the couch the whole day. I tried to get some school work done, but when it took me 20 minutes to read a paragraph and didn't understand what it said, I gave up and gave in to bad British TV.

As a result of Sunday, yesterday was a catch up day. Fortunately I was able to do so because I woke up feeling a ton better. I have a final paper coming due fairly soon, and since my next couple weekends are going to be busy, I needed to get started on that. This week is also going to be busy, so I needed to also get a bunch of my homework done so I can have fun with Rhonda when she comes. I also got to go running, and got the finishing touches for my Halloween costume. All in all, a productive, but relatively quiet Monday. Today will likely be the same because the next 5 will not. :)

And oh, in case you're wondering, Britain DOES have the an equivalent to daylight savings time. I don't quite remember what it is called, but we "fell back" last weekend. That means, for this weak, I'm only 5 hours ahead of you (central standard time). Crazy!

Ah! You're in a grave situation now, aren't you!?

I've been kind of absent this week, and for that I apologize. But, I do have some good stories and excuses as to why. The primary of those is that I had a final yesterday for the class I was in that spanned the first half of the semester. I spent a lot of time studying in the library this week which subsequently meant that there was nothing to write about. But, I had some fun the past couple days, so I do have info to fill in.

On Thursday night (yes, the night before my final where I should have been studying. It's okay....I know I passed the class, and I studied a LOT before that night. Anyway...) Andrew and I went on the "Jack the Ripper" walk around London. The walk took us to various spots significant to the famous serial killer and his 5 victims. We purposely went on Thursday because it was dark and misty, and being almost Halloween, we thought it would add to the ambiance of the whole thing. Despite my nerves about the walk, it really wasn't scary at all. It was really cool to see and hear about London-- how it was and how it has changed since then--but not too scary. In fact, I found myself being more of a legal nerd than anything else; there was a witness who found one of the victims lying on the ground with her garments over her upper torso. He, thinking she was passed out drunk, moved the garments back down to cover her lower torso. When our guide told us that, I thought "Oh no! You are ruining the crime scene! Stop!" (Insert ridiculous "you are a nerd" moan here.) They also talked about the autopsy's conducted on the victims and I thought, "hey! I know where that goes and what it looks like!" (For those of you who don't know, I got to witness an autopsy through my job this past summer.) All in all, the walk was good (not great), but definitely worth doing because it only costs £5 (one of the more economical attractions here in London.)

Last night, however, has probably been the most enjoyable night I've had in London. It is again evidence of my musical theater nerdy-ness, but I don't care, it was great. "Tell me what you did
already!" you say? Okay! Val and I went to a sing-a-long showing of the movie "The Sound of Music." (Yes, they showed the words to the songs on the screen, but no, there was no bouncing ball to keep you all together. Surprisingly enough, most of the time, we did okay staying with the soundtrack even though we couldn't hear it over our own voices.) Many places in the US do similar things for "Rocky Horror Picture Show"; people dress up and come to the show, singing all the songs and adding their own commentary to various parts. This is exactly what happened last night. I've never seen so many nuns in one place at one time, and I've been catholic my whole life! There were also people dressed like Maria, and Uncle Max, and one dressed like a goatherd.

Before the show started, a drag queen came out and got the audience excited (like we really needed to be jazzed up...). She also instructed us on different sounds to make throughout the show, and showed us how to use our little baggies of goodies. For example, the opening shots of the movie are all the Austrian countryside. Apparently 4 minutes to be exact. In order to make this time pass, we were all instructed to make goat, or sheep or cow noises. Then when we saw Maria, we were to start waving and say hello. And anytime the words 'The Hills are Alive!' were said throughout the show, we were to stand up and "illustrate" the hills becoming alive using our arms. We hissed every time the baroness came on screen, and barked every time Rolf came an (although I don't quite understand the catalyst behind that action.) We booed the nazi's and "awed" at the children. Included in the goody-bags were little cards with a "?" and a picture of Maria that we held up when we sang "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" We also had invitations to the Captain's ball, and (my favorite of everything we did), were party poppers that we were to use when the Captain and Maria finally kissed for the first time.

People added their own commentary, too. One woman would scream "SEVEN!?!" every time they discussed the number of children, and we all threw our snotty little comments in at appropriate places. (I think I got a laugh from the crowd when I told Maria not to be sad when finding out the Baroness and Captain were getting married b/c the Captain really loved her, and she would get him back!) My favorite audience "add-on" was the scene where the Von Trapp family is hiding in the abbey graveyard and the nazi's come looking for them with flashlights. You can certainly see the beams of 4 or 5 flashlights on screen, and 4 or 5 members of the audience popped up with their flashlights and shined them around the room just like the nazi's would have. And everyone but one went down at the same time the beams died to one on the screen. It was perfect. If anyone ever has the opportunity to do that, I 100% recommend it.

Tonight we're celebrating yet another birthday. This time, I got to bake the cake! (Yeah! My first time baking in London!) We're also having Mexican food. YUM YUM.

Having fun and taking finals

I'll update tomorrow...I promise.

They really do roast chestnuts over an open fire

So, it's October 24...you know what that means...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Well, kind of. But not really if you're in the UK. It's October 24 and CHRISTMAS (yes, my favoritest of holidays that comes every December 25) is already in full swing in London. Stores have had their holiday displays up for a couple of weeks, the government is putting Christmas decorations along the streets, street vendors are selling roasted chestnuts, and coffee shops are playing Christmas music. Even I, lover of all things Christmas, think this is a bit excessive.

Despite my skepticism about all this Christmas jazz, I'm very excited to expereince Christmas in a big city, and in London in particular. Our program coordinator sent the following statement about what's going to happen in London for Christmas:

Towards the end of November Christmas events begin. (Notice she says "events"...not decorations or music). There will be carol singing in Trafalgar Square under the Christmas tree, and numerous church carol services. Ice Rinks will open at Somerset House in the Strand and outside the Natural History Museum if you fancy a spin (skates can be hired). Also the capital’s largest ice rink is now being constructed in Hyde Park which will be part of a Winter Wonderland which will include cafes, bars, a toboggan slide, a carousel and helter-skelter and a Winter Wonderland Wheel which will carry people 200 ft above Hyde Park. There will also be a traditional German Christmas Market.

I'm soooo excited. Expect a lot of pictures. :D

Speaking of pictures, my pics from Leicester/ the Robin Hood festival have been posted...or you can just click here. There were lots of adorable kids there and subsequently I took a lot of pictures of the adorable children. Hopefully I'll get to play with them on photoshop sometime and really make them look how I want them to look. :)

On a completely different note, we have no hot water OR heat in my flat, and haven't had for about 5 days. Fortunately its not that cold...yet...but it's getting to the point where its necessary. I've been able to shower in the other flats in my building (they're other kids from my program), so that's not a huge problem...just a mild annoyance. Someone came to look at our heater yesterday and apparently there was a minor explosion. We've been assured that we should have space heaters and extra blankets by later tonight, but our landlord company isn't that reliable. So, when you're enjoying your nice warm heaters and sweaters and blankets at home, remember me shivering in London.

Last completely random thought....I was in the computer lab the other day printing something off and the girl next to me was writing a paper. Our school building is a building owned by Florida State and a bunch of American schools host their international programs here. I think we're the only grad school program which in itself creates a divide (and immediate distaste) between us and the undergrad students. Anyway, the paper this girl was supposed to be an 4-5 page analysis of one of five plays there were supposed to see by now....and THIS GIRL WAS USING SPARK NOTES TO WRITE HER PAPER! Keep in mind, we're in London, one of the theater capitals of the world. I know that at least 2 (and I suspect all) the plays are playing here right now. You may be thinking "Oh give her a break...plays are expensive." Um, no. That is not an excuse. I know she could have seen at least one of them for £5. The rest probably have cheap student tickets. Plus, you're in London. When you come here, you know things are going to be expensive. As you can tell, I think this is an absolute abomination and is completely unacceptable.

Okay, I'm done with my high horse. :) Cheerio!

A monk is a bald chap who works in a church

So, I'm now back in London for a while and trying to get back into the swing of things here. But before I do, I'll update on this weekend in Leicester. Kristen and I had a lot of fun. First, let me comment on how awesome she was and prepared for my visit: her roommate was headed to Scotland for the weekend, so she asked if I could 1) borrow her bus pass, 2) borrow her meal card, and 3) sleep in her bed. The answer to all these questions was "yes", so I (should have) left Leicester well rested and fed. But we did so much, and the food wasn't all that great, that the best work for the weekend in general was just fun.

Kristen joined the Ultimate Frisbee team at U. of Leicester and on Friday night, I got to participate in practice. It was a lot of fun. I had forgotten how fun team sports can be, and although I'm not head over heals about ultimate, it really was a great time. After practice the plan was to figure out what to do on Saturday. Lucky for us we stumbled upon the OFFICIAL Robin Hood Festival that was taking place in Nottingham this weekend. So, Saturday we made our way there. It was great...it reminded me a lot of the madrigal dinners we used to put on; everyone was in costume/ character. There were little kids running around dressed like Robin Hood, there were a variety of different artists/ guildsmen selling their items, and a lot of really cheesy shows that each had it's own spin on the tale of old Robin Hood. It was also a gorgeous (although slightly chilly)fall day, so it was a picture taking feast. The trees and colors are what I expect New England looks like in the fall (but since I haven't been there in the fall-- or ever really for that matter-- I don't know for sure). BUT, I haven't had a chance to upload my pictures yet, so while I can talk about the colors, I can't share them just yet.

England was in the finals of the Rugby World Cup Saturday night, so we spent the evening enjoying the festivities there. For those of you who haven't been to Europe or who aren't all that familiar with Rugby and how popular it is over here, think of the excitement of the Super Bowl and the Olympics combined and you have your Rugby World Cup Finals. The Brits didn't pull it off-- they lost by a fairly big margin to South Africa-- but it was a lot of fun. A lot of Europeans can't understand why we like football so much better than Rugby- they thing it moves too slow and that the padding is silly. Well, I think the padding = safety. As for the flow of the game, I actually thought the rugby game was fairly slow. Although they don't blow the whistle as much as we do in football, they set up plays over and over again in the middle without a whole lot of action in between. Also, we play EVERY minute (or close to every minute) on the clock while they let the clock run during all the penalties, etc. I think I also thought it a bit slow because there was such little scoring. I would think it fair to say that in most games, there is scoring, or at least the excitement and apprehension of scoring, at least once a quarter; in contrast, most of the rugby action took place in the middle of the field. Now, all of my comments are not meant to say that rugby isn't a fun game to watch-- it most certainly is. However, I think I'll stick to my pigskin. :) (Speaking of...ROCK CHALK..KU is 7-0, ranked 9 in the BCS and 12 in the AP polls!! Who knew!?)

Back to Leicester-- well, there really isn't a whole lot else to say. Sunday was pretty relaxed...we played cards, hung out, met some of her friends and walked around the AMAZING botanical garden that is in Kristen's backyard. That was yet another opportunity for a feast of picture taking, but my camera batteries died, so I only have Kristen's pictures. I got back to London last night around 9 after a bus ride that was vaguely reminiscent of the bus ride into Cork.

Now, like I said, it's back to work here in London. I have a final on Friday that ends one of my classes which has caused me to put in more work today than I have put in all semester (okay, not 100% true, but not that far off either.) I don't have any more travels planned (as of now) until Thanksgiving weekend, but there will certainly be adventures around London. I'll continue to write, so continue to check in. I already have some "discussion" topics in mind. :)