The Blog Still Lives

Hey everyone. It has been a week since I've arrived back in Texas. However this does not mean that this blog will stop running. I'm going to continue adding new posts that will talk about London and the AIFS program, and I will soon, hopefully, change out some of the pictures that are currently on the blog to the ones that I've downloaded from my camera. So, make sure that you visit every so often to see new posts and my pictures!

Leaving London and Arriving in Texas

This was a extremely long day. It started out at 5 AM. I got up to get dress and to zip up my suitcase and inspected my room to make sure that I didn't leave anything. My ride to the airport wasn't going to arrive until 6 AM, but I got down stairs with my luggage at 5:15. There was a group of other students that had a ride to Heathrow at 5:30. Most of my friends had left for the airport at 4 AM. I actually woke at that time because of the mixture of the sound of the coach outside of the house and of the thunder from the storm that came through the city around that time.

As I waited for my ride to come I took pictures of Atlantic House before it started to rain again. At that time there was only one other person who was waiting for the same ride. When 6 AM came around there was three more. Everyone but me had had two big suitcases. We waited and waited for our ride to came. Finally twenty minutes past his arrival time our minibus driver came with three other people from Ambassador House. Student Services planned for seven people but they didn't plan for seven people's luggage. I was so happy that I only had one suitcase and a carry-on bag.

Somehow we managed to get all of the luggage and people into the minibus, but that didn't mean that we left for the airport immediately. The driver was talking to the security guard inside the house for ten whole minutes before we began to whistle and say that we needed to go. He finally comes out and we discover that he barely speaks English and that he didn't know how to get out of the area. We had to direct him towards High Street Kensington before he knew where he was going. Even then he began to run red lights.

All of us began to wonder if we were going to make it to the airport alive. But we soon found ouselves waiting in traffic to exit the motorway at the Gatwick exit. The driver asked us when our flights were, and we told him between 10 and 10:30 AM. He responded that we had plenty of time to get to the airport. It was 8 o'clock. We all told him "No" and that we needed to check early at least three hours before we take off. Thankfully, the driver began to make more of an effort to get through the traffic and we finally arrived at the north gate.

Inside the airport we got in line to check in at British Airways and then went through security. I didn't go straight to my gate. I went to do a little shopping. I got a chocolate bar and a British Flag from one shop and I bought two books from the bookstore and then a sandwhich from a EATS for breakfast. I then found my gate and the Yanoff sisters, who were once again flying with me.

The flight was actually quite nice. I had a window seat this time, which I never had before. I think there is actually a little more leg room by the window and you are able to lean up against wall. It was comfy. Though you have to plan when is the best time to go to the bathroom. Always went when the sisters went. I watched two movies, one was V for Vendetta and then Ice Age 2: The Melt Down. My headphones weren't very good and then I fell asleep at the end of both, so I don't know what happens at the end of the movies. The meals weren't as good as when I flew to London, but I still ate it. Overal, however, everything was nice, and we landed in Dallas nine hours later.

Going through passport control was easy and finding my suitcase was easy too. I was almost in the clear when the last guard to see decided that I needed to go through more customs. So I went through the double doors to the side and waited in line for about twenty minutes. As I was waiting I realized that I did have some candy in my suitcase that I completely forgotten about and didn't mention on my Declaration Card, but I don't think that was the problem. (I am still exactly why I was sent through those double doors.) By the time I through the line all that the guard did was look things up on the computer and ask some questions like what I was studying and if I had a connecting flight to Austin. I told him about my classes, that my parents were picking me up, and also that forgot to mention the candy in my bag. But that was the extent of it. He didn't ask to look through my bags and he actually walked me to the door and told me where to go.

Finally free from security and customs I go through the double doors that lead to the main area of the airport. I spotted my mom and dad immediately. I was so excited! After my dad took some pictures of me and Mom, we got into the car and left the airport. We went to Steak n Shake for lunch. I got to eat a great tasting meal (the first in a very long time) and I got to call my grandma to let her know that I made it back home safe and sound. Stomachs full of burgers, fries, onion rings, chili, and milkshakes, we then headed for Austin.

Four hours later we are siting with my sister Evie at my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant Chuy's for yet another wonderful meal and great big drinks. Then an hour and a half later I'm rummaging through my carry-on bag and handing out presents. I wanted to give my brothers their presents but they both left for camp today. I'll just have to wait until next week when they come back. The rest of the evening I lounged on the couch, watched TV, played with the cats and checked my email. But now it's time to hit the sack. My body is telling me that it is 4:30 AM instead of 11:30 PM. I'm going to have fun re-Americanizing myself this next few days.

A Quick Tour of London on My Last Day

I spent my last day in London with Sarah D. and her friend Keya. Keya had arrived in London late Wednesday night. Today Sarah invited me to tag along as they did a a fast tour of the city for Keya. I thought it would be great to see the city for the last time and be with a friend for a day.

We started the day at the Tower Hill Tube station. There we took pictures of the Tower of London and of the London Wall. We then took the Tube to St. Paul's and took picture of the cathedral. We then walked across the Millennium Bridge and went into the Tate Modern so that Keya could see the interior of the converted power station. We went up to the second floor and sat on a balconey that had a great view of the Thames, the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's. Plus the we got a good breeze from the altitude and from the air conditioning from the museum. It was very refreshing after walking in the heat.

From the Tate Modern, we walked down the river to see the Globe Theater that is next door. We then turned down the street. Sarah was going to show us where the Rose Theater stood and where the site of the original Globe Theater. When the plan to recreate the circular theater the wanted to build it on the same spot, however there was a house that is under the National Trust and so it couldn't be torn down. This is why the Globe is only a few blocks away. After this we found a McDonald's for lunch.

Stomachs full we then took the Tube from Tower Bridge to Westminster to show Keya Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, and the Eye of London. The we went to St. James' Park and walked to Buckingham Palace. There took pictures of the palace and of the Victoria Memorial. I also told Keya how the all the flags were framed the streets and how the entire place was a sea of people during the Trooping of the Colours. From Buckingham we walked down Buckingham Palace Road to Victoria Station.

There we went into a Marks and Spencers, which is a department store that has a Food Hall that is found all over London. This particular M&S was only food. Sarah and I split a carton of fresh Pineapple and a Rasberry and Cranberry sparkling water. The Pineapple was so fresh, sweet and it was refreshingly chilled. It was great. After sitting on the floor, up against a fencing that seperates the stores from the train platforms and eating, we did a little bit of souvenier shopping before we took the Tube back to Gloucester Station.

We to the Atlantic House and situated Keya in the computer lab, which were Sarah and I left her while we went to eat our last meal in the cafeteria. We then went back to the computer lab and played around on the web for a while before we went to veg in front of the telly in the commons.

Around 9 PM we left to go to the Gloucester Arms pub to give Keya the traditional pub experience. Sarah and Keya each bought a glass of Pimm's, and was happy with my water. The pub was actually quiet tonight. Of course it was Friday and it was late. I liked it. If wasnt't for the smoking and the fact that I was leaving tomorrow, I would've gone back there for a meal.

From the Gloucester Arms we all went to the Ambassador House where Sarah lived. This was the first time I have ever been inside of Ambassador House. It wasn't that bad. I liked the stairwells better than the Atlantic's. Sarah's room was on the second floor and through a corner door. You woud've never thought that was a room and a public bathroom there, which maybe one of the reasons why Sarah hadn't gotten fresh sheets and her trash taken out for most of the six weeks. Her room was big enough to be a double, however it was single. I thought it was very nice. It was out of the way and you didn't hear much noise, except from the little kids that lived in the house behind the Ambassor.

After seeing the room, we went down to the commons, which really the front room of the town house. We watched TV for a couple house. It was nice to just hang out and do nothing. When there was nothing left on the telly to watch we went back to Sarah's room. Sarah and Keya began start organizing their room so that it would be easier to pack. I just sat there in the doorway talking to them for a while before I had to say good bye and go off and pack myself. It was sad to say bye to Sarah. Other than talking to her via the web, I wonder if I'll ever see her again.

Back in my room I began to pack. I had already began to the packing process earlier today, however I needed to pack all of my souveniers and presents and the remained of my clothes. I packed my suitcase full with the clothes from today, all of my notes from both my classes, by two bags (one of which I realized that I really didn't use except for a few times towards the beginining of the program), and all of my theater programs, tickets, maps that I've collected over the six weeks, and finally my shoes. I had just enough stuff that I had to use the expandable feature of the suitcase, especially if I wanted to fit some of my remaining toiletries that were worth taking back to the States. Done with the suitcase I then turned to my weekend bag. This I've deemed as my souvenier bag. I packed my teapot's box full of toilet paper and plastic bags so that the teapot wouldn't rattle around during the flight. The sugar bowl and cup and saucer were already wrapped in paper but I wrapped them up in one of my shawls so that they would be etra protected. I then began to back everything else into the bag. I was surprised that I actually had a little bit of room left over.

After my room was basically empty of everything, I decided to take a break and get a Mars bar from vending machine and cool down in the computer lab, which is almost completely empty. Everyone is off to the pubs and clubs to celebrate their last night with their friends and in London. It feels sorta weird to be leaving London. I told Sarah that I'm going to miss the Tube. I actually like the Tube. It is so easy to use and it gets around town fast. I wish there was a Tube in Texas. Even though I'm going to miss the city and the Tube I'll be happy to be back home.

The Woman in Black

After I turned in my paper and completed a class evaluation sheet, I headed out to Leicester Square to the TKTS ticker booth to buy a ticket for The Woman in Black play. By the time I got through the line the only ticket that was available was in row E in the Upper Circle, but it was only £7.50.

With my ticket safe in my wallet, I then went off to do a little a bit of shopping for people on my list. Then with presents in one hand and a bag of Jelly Bellies in the other, I went back to the Atlantic House for dinner before I went off to theater.

The Woman in Black is a thriller play that is at the Fortune Theater in Convent Garden and is across the street from the Drury Lane Theater. The play was adapted from the novel "The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story" by Susan Hill. It is scary. It is about a haunting experience that the man Arthur Kipps had when he was a young man when he was sent out to handle the estate and papers of a deceased client.

The play had only two actors, sans who ever plays the Woman in Black, the actor or actress anonymous, that reenact the story of the haunting. It got really creepy at some points. There would be screams from the ghost and then from the audience, which would laugh afterwards to relieve anymore fear they had left over from the screams. However after awhile I couldn't tell whether the screams where coming from the stage or from the audience. It was great. I have to admitt that I was a little scared walking back to the Atlantic House at 10:30 PM. The Tube was fine cause all of the people, however the number of people thin out when I got to Gloucester Road.

My seat wasn't that bad actually. The theater was quite small and intimate. Of course, because of the height and the fact that The Fortune theater is an old theater, it was a bit stuffy and hot. I had to break down and bought an ice cream during the intermission. If I was going to see the show again, however, I think I would like to have a seat either in the front few rows of the Dress Circle or somewhere in the middle of the Stalls. If anyone likes ghost stories, this is a great play to see. I would like to read the book.

School Work Finished!

I'm so happy that I thought it deserved a post. I have finally finished my last paper for my Museums and Galleries class! This paper counts as my final and was on the topic of how I think future generations will view and interpret our contemporary art.

Writing this paper was a little stressful. This past week I've been keeping random notes about certain works of art I've seen during my museum visits. My plan was to go through them and organize them so they would provide the base for my paper. Our professor first said that the paper can be turned in either Thursday or Friday. However, it was just today that two other girls and I found out that the rest of the class had decided yesterday, while we we off on an errand, that the paper was going to be turned in Thursday - tomorrow. We had no idea and now found ourselves with one day less to work on it.

So I decided to forget the idea of seeing another play tonight and to spend all afternoon in the computer lab and write this paper. I wish I had more warning to organize my notes and thoughts, however I think I did quite well under such a time constrant. I must thank my dad for helping me proofread it. After spending several hours at a computer my brain had turned to mush and I couldn't tell if my paper made any sense. Thankfully, it does. I hope that my teacher likes it.

As I think about it now, I really didn't mind being in the computer lab all day. It's the only place in the Atlantic House that has air coniditioning. It is brutally hot over here - it's well into tho 90s! If I had gone through with my idea of buying a theater ticket and then finishing my shopping today I would've died. I even decided that I had to wear a skirt today and flip flops, however even then I was still hot when I went to see the Wallace Collection for class this morning.


Of course, I shouldn't complain too much about the heat here cause on Saturday I will be returning to Texas. But at least in Texas we have air conditioning all over the house! I can't wait!

Harry Potter Walking Tour

This evening I went on a Harry Potter walking tour. I liked it. Instead of going to certain parts of city where they filmed some of the movies this tour visited sites that inspired parts of the stories. Of course, now as I read the desctiption of the walk on the walking tour's website - The Original London Walks - I understand the walk even more. This is what it says:

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THE REAL WORLD OF HARRY POTTER
Wizards, Werewolves & Vampires
Nothing like a night-time stroll to give you ideas

Let's put the cat amongst the pixies: Harry Potter isn't just kids' stuff. There are very real tales - and real locales - behind the stories of Harry and friends. Those tales, those locales inform this walk. Was there really an invisibility cloak? What's the truth behind the Philosophers' Stone? What place inspired Diagon Alley? Where was the legend of Dracula born? Where in a famous movie did a werewolf go on a rampage? There's good gripping London stuff behind a lot of the Harry Potter goings on - everything from characters' names to the origin of monsters. We'll solve a mystery or two: e.g., where is the entrance to The Ministry of Magic and can we get in? In short, this walk is a serious study of a subject more fantastical than fiction. And, yes, there's even some magic.

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Yes, there was magic. There was a lot of swishing of a wand that would send out sparks. It was a little corny, but the guide was so into it that it was cute. So onto the walk. Yes, we did learn about the the idea of the invisibility cloak. There was a man, whose name and profession I have now forgotten, that thought that he had an invisibility cloak that was covered in symbols and such. However, it was all in his head and people really saw him when he was wearing it. He did ask a friend once "Why then does no one talk to me?" Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

We then learned about Nicholas Flamel. Flamel was a real man. He was a French alchemist and a bookseller. He dreamt of a book one night and then the next day a man comes into his shop with the very book. It was The Book of Abraham the Jew, and it was written in an ancient form of Hebrew, which Flamel did not know. Later in life, Flamel met a man who could translate the text, but the man died before he could finish. Left with only the translated bits, Flamel took it upon himself to use what he had so far to finish the translation. And what did this book talk about? The secret of the Philosophers' Stone, which not only brings you enternal life but the ability to make metal into gold. Through Flamel's experiences he became rich and used the money to build hospitals, churches, and housing for the poor.

Now the question is whether or not Flamel gained eternal life. Well, on his death he was supposedly buried his wife and the tomb was sealed. However, over the years people claimed to have seen him and his wife alive around the world. So people began to actually buy stocks in whether or not Flamel was alive. After awhile, the police were tired of the idea of such a silly notion of such a stock and the only way they could prove that the Flamel and his wife were dead was to open the tomb. And when they finally did they found - nothing. It was empty. And what happened to The Book Abraham the Jew? No one knows.

We then walked over to Trafalger Square and found the call box that is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, which is across the way from the entrance of the National Portrait Gallery. No, we didn't try to get in.

We then walked up the street a little and then to a street that leads to Leicester Sqaure. There we saw the hardly noticed door that goes to a very exclusive gentlemens club. It was in here that writer Bram Stoker met a man who came from the region around the area of Transylvania. Through stories from this foreigner, Stoker learned about a man named Vlad the Impaler and his horrid method of putting people, while they are still alive, onto stakes. He was a man that did not like his borders crossed and his peace distrubed. Stoker was inspired and took Vlad's surname of Dracula and decided to turn him into a vampire, and the story of the Dracula the vampire was born.

At the end of our walk we headed up Charing Cross to a little alley, the only one on this street, that must be the inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. There are a lot of little bookshops and antiquities shops, one of which does sell stuffed owls. It was really cool.

Oh, because it was mentioned in the walk description above, the location for the werewolf in the movie American Werewolf in London is at Picadilly Circus.

Over all the walk was fun. I liked learning about little known facts behind the stories such as the story of Dracula and so on. If anyone is interested in the walk, it is normally done on Sunday. But be wary, there will be a lot of kids who especially love the call box that leads to the Ministry of Magic. We were told by the guide that every single kid wants to try to get in it. Sounds very cute.

A Day In Leicester Square

I had a packed day in Leicester Square. Since I hadn't signed up to see Evita with the rest of the program, I decided that I was going to see the Agatha Christie's play "The Mousetrap." This is the longest playing show in London. It premiered in 1952 and has never stopped showing. I got lost finding the theater. I accidently went down the wrong way on Charing Cross, but I soon found it. I decided that I really wanted a good seat for once and so I spent £20 for a front seat in the Upper Circle.

Once I had my ticket I headed back to Leicester Square to do a little bit of shopping for my people back home. I then broke down yet again, because it was so hot, and I bought a rasberry frap from Starbucks. It might be a little expensive but it was sure worth it.

Normally after I finish what I set out to do I head back to the Atlantic house and eat dinner and then later go to my show. But today I decided to stand around and wait for a movie premiere to start. The movie was Stormbreaker, which was filmed in London, and has stars like Alex Pettyfer (a teen hearthrob here), Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Alicia Silverstone, Robbie Coltrane, and so on.

So I stand around for a bit and then they start putting up the barriers, so I get my spot second row from the fence. After an hour or so the crowd grew bigger, especially when they laid out the red carpet. After a while the woman that I was standing next to and I began to talk. After another while I figured out that she was from Manchester and was in London for the day talking to casting agencies. We both wanted to see Ewan McGregor.

Finally, after standing for almost two hours, the stars began to arrive. Since we were standing right in front of the theater, we saw everyone. Billy Nighy was the first to arrive, then there was Alicia Silverstone, and then there was Alex Pettyfer. Of course they all head to the spots where the news cameras were first and then they made their way towards us. By that time two 14 year olds had weezled past us and were making horrible high pitched screams and yelling "Come over here!" all the time, and from behind and from both sides I was being squished. I could barely move, but at least I got some pictures.

It was getting closer to 7:30PM, which was when I really needed to leave for the theater, but I decided to wait a little longer and see if anyone else was coming. And finally, Ewan McGregor showed up. He looks better in person than he does in his pictures. He's very handsome and has great hair. Satisfied, the lady and I slowly made our way out and compared pictures of the clebrities we saw. We didn't do too badly. We then parted ways forever. I decided that I will probably never go to another premiere again, or at least one that involves teen heartthrobes.

I hurried up the street to the St. Martin's Theater to see The Mousetrap. I got to my seat and chugged down an entire bottle of water. I was really looking forward to sitting in a comfy seat and watching a mystery play.

The show was great. I loved the set - which apparently hasn't changed much since the show started in 1952. The actors were very good and were very convincing. I tried my hardest to figure out who was the murderer. I was close, but I didn't get it. But I won't tell you who did it. It's tradition explained at the end of the show to tell the audience that now that we have seen the show we are part of the crime itself, and should never reveal the murderer's identity. Ironically enough, this was done by the murderer. A nice touch. I really liked the show and the seat was great. Well worth the money.

I made my way back to the Atlantic house and took a well needed shower. I then had a very late dinner of Cadbury chocolate and a orange soda from the vending machines down in the commons and then it was on to the computer labs.

Walking Around London

Today I was on my own. So what did I do? I basically went all over the northern part of the city to find houses that belonged to famous writers and poets. I started off with the local area.

Just around the corner there is the apartment building where T.S. Eliot lived and died. His widow still lives in the apartment. When I first arrived in London, on my Kensington walking tour, the tour guide told us that one time the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate, however the Mrs. Eliot didn't come out. Everyone started to get worried, but then she suddenly comes out with an armful of papers that must have belonged to her husband. But what type of papers were they? Were they an unseen manuscrpt of some sort? Who knows.

In the opposite direction there is the street De Vere Gardens. Here is the house that the poet Robert Browning lived and died in.

From this place I walked up to and along High Street Kensington and then up towards Notting Hill. On Sheffield Terrace, which is off of Campden Hill Road, there is the house that Agatha Christie once lived. I couldn't really read the blue plague with her name on it because the house was behind a wall and cause I think my eye sight is changing.

I walked further up the road to the Notting Hill Tube station. I took the Tube to Baker street. However on the way there, at the Edgware Road station, we had to leave one train and go to another one because there was something either wrong with the train itself or the tracks. I could barely understand what the man was saying on the P.A. system, so I just followed the other people to the other train. However, from there we didn't leave the station either. Thankfully it turns out that I had to actually find another train that was heading the direction that I wanted. Even though I was finally on the right train I still had to wait almost ten minutes before it actually started moving. Blah.

Finally at Baker Street I walked down to Gloucester Place where Elizabeth Barret Browning lived, and then I walked all the way to Wimpole Street where she also lived. On Upper Wimpole Street I saw the house where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loved and wrote his famous mysteries.

I then took the Tube to the Russel Street stop and walked to see the Dickens' House Museum. I then took the Tube to Moorgate. On this road is the building were John Keats was born. I thought I had found the building, however it turns out that I didn't. I think I passed by the pub that that now stands on the site and didn't even realized it. I'm really disappointed. I'll have to go back sometime and really search for it.

Since I was in the area I went back to some of the sites that I had seen while on my Jack the Ripper walking tour. I really didn't have a lot of time during the tour to see everything. I'm surprised that I remembered exactly where things were. After that I had lost all of my energy. I walked to the Liverpool station where I broke down and bought a rasberry frapaccino from Starbucks and took the Tube back to Kensington.

I took a cold shower to wash off all of the grime that I picked up as I ventured around the city and then took a nap. For dinner I broke down yet again and had an Ameican style dinner - McDonald's. Since I had a chocolate muffin for lunch with a orange soda and the rasberry frap, I decided to stuff myself full with chicken nuggents and fries. I rarely eat at McDonald's but I certainly loved it tonight.

I'm actually getting homesick for good food. Food in London is actually sort of bland. The only thing that was really savory was the West Cornwall pasty, but that's it. I miss my Tex-Mex, the sugar free ice tea, grape soda (yes! I admit I love grape soda!), chinese food, and of course my mom's cooking. But when July 22nd comes around I'll get all of this back.

Leeds Castle and Canterbury

This morning I, along with a group of people from the program, boarded a coach to go to Leeds Castle and Canterbury.

Leeds Castle is located in Kent and it is beautiful. Most of it stands by a large bit of water and it is very picturesque. I understand why it has been deemed "The Loveliest Castle in the World." We were lead by our tour guide through the grounds where you get to see a large amount of peacocks. Yes, peacocks. There were the gorgous male peacocks and then there were the females ones with their babies who were so cute. Then up to the castle where the tour guide let us loose to go through the insides on our own. Out of the entire interior of the castle, I like the windows the most. Because of the reflections from the water on the outside, many of them, espeically the really old windows, began to glow. It was gorgeous.

Back in the grounds Callie and I walked through the traditional English gardens and found the maze. We were warned by our tour guide that some people have been lost in the maze for a half hour. We only had a half hour left before we had to meet back at the bus. Did we dare go in? Of course. Surprisingly, it only took us five minutes to find the center. Though we did have a little bit of help when two little kids began to follow us cause their dad was in the center telling them which way to go. But I think they ended up following us cause we somehow were going in the right direction. Once you get to the center of the maze, which turns out to be actually quite small, you climb this little tower to look over the entire maze. However, to get out you go down these steps to the grotto under ground. The grotto was actually quite creepy. There were stone inhuman figures and there was a great waterfall that came out of the mouth of a great face. After the maze, we headed back towards the bus, which was about a ten minute walk, stopping every so often to take some pictures.

From Leeds Castle, we went to Canterbury. There our tour guide took us into the town near the entrance to the Canterbury Cathedral that is known for the hundreds of pilgrimages throughout history - for anyone who has read The Canterbury Tales, this is the cathedral. From here our guide gave us an option to either go off and find food or to do some shopping or follow her because she was willing to do a little guided tour of the city. Only os us went on the little tour. The rest went shopping. So disappointing. Anyway, the guide took to us to some areas of the town where the oldest residential tudor architecture can be found along with other sites around the place including where the dunking chair is. This chair is what people used to see whether or not you were a witch. They would put you in the chair and dunk you into the river and if you drowned you were innocent and if you floated you were a witch(and then they killed you).

After the tour we were set free to find lunch and do whatever we wanted for two hours. Callie and I needed food so we found a West Cornwall Pasty Co. If you are ever in England you must eat here soemtime. A pasty is basically any type of meat and veggie and it is wrapped inside a dough pocket and baked. I had the traditional which is beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions. It was delicous. Another reason why I like the place is because the logo is a pirate eating a pasty. These days I like anything with a pirate theme. I would definetely eat at another West Cornwall Pasty Co.

After filling our bellies, we walked around and went into a few shops and bought a thing or two. We then went to the St. Augustine's Abbey ruins. You have to pay to get in. Many would think why would someone pay to see ruins of any abbey, but I actually liked it cause it was something that people don't really pay attention to. Many, when they come to Canterbury, are interested in the cathedral, which I am, but didn't have time to go see. But I think St. Augustine's abbey was just as cool.

After roaming around the ruins and taking pictures, Callie and I headed back to the meeting spot. We had to be there at 3:45 and not be late. Our guide was very stict on this. Basically cause there was a certain time when the coach was going to come back. Cars are only allowed on the outer part of the town, and they really don't like coaches, which have to wait somewhere outside of the town cause there is no area for them to park in. But anyway, we made it to the coach on time and we soon fell alseep on the way back to London.

I ate my usual dinner of a Tesco sandwhich and crisps (photato chips), and I ate in the commons cause, for once, no one was in there. I finally got to see an episode of Dr. Who , though it was a repeat of the second season when the Doctor regenerates and the city of London and the entire world is yet again under attack from aliens. Perhaps the only people who would understand what I'm talking about is my family. My favorite quote from this episdoe: The Doctor's hand grows back after being severed. Alien leader: "Witchcraft." Doctor: "Time Lord."

The Museum of London and Portobello Road

Today Sarah D. and I went to the Museum of the London. This is, obviously, the museum that is all about the history of London. It starts with the time before the Romans came to the island (called London Before London) with fossils, animal bones, and so on. Then it goes into the Roman history and all the way into the 20th century. There were all sorts of cool things to look at. In the Victorian Era section they had Queen Victoria's coronation robe and an outfit from Prince Albert. Queen Victoria was a very small woman, of course when she was crowned queen she was only seventeen years old. She had to be between five foot and five foot, four inches.

Another thing that I really liked was the Victorian Walk. You walk through a recreated street of London with different types of shops like a grocer, a bank, a pharmacy, a toyshop, and so on. It was really cool.

After exploring the entire museum, we then left to go to Portobello Road. We got there a half hour before the street market officially closed. Portobello is slightly different than the other markets that I have been to while I've been in London. Among some of the usual bag and scarf stalls, there are food stalls as well. There were people selling meat, cheese, and a lot of fruit. I must say that some of the stuff did not smell all that good, especially some of the fruit. If you bought anything you would have eat it that day or else it would go bad. But over all Sarah and I had fun, and we did buy a few things.

Les Miserables

Tonight I saw Les Meserables. It was wonderful. The singing and acting was perfect. The man, John Owen-Jones, who played Jean Valjean also played the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera when I saw it in London five years ago. Another note of John Owen-Jones - he is the only man in London to have the role as the Phantom. He did 14,000 performances! Anyway, back to Les Miserables. I loved the way they choreograph the entire performance. The stage is small, just ever so slightly tilted upwards in the back, and the center rotates. The lighting was also another part of the choreography. It sets the mood for the scene. When someone died a bright, white light shown on them representing their innocent life lost.

The one thing that I really didn't like was my seat. I got the ticket through the AIFS session C cultural event sign up, so it was only £15. The seat was located in the Stall (the first floor), but all the way in the back. This meant that the balconey above us was blocking the upper part of the stage. I never really saw anything that happend up in the top of the barricade. I was disspointed. I think that Callie and I are going to see it again on Friday - the day before we all go back to the States. I would really love to see the show one more time - with better seats.

A Museum Trip and a Show at the Globe

Today, after visiting the British Museum for class, Sarah D. and I went to the Imperial War Museum. This place is awesome. The musuem covers World War I and II with exhibits and the Secret War, which is about espionage and so on. The museum is free, however to see any special exhibits there is a fee. Sarah and I paid a £3 student fee to see the Great Escapes exhibit, which is obviously about some of the famous POW prison escapes during the wars. It first talked about the Mythology of escaping - what is true and what it not. For fans of the movie "Chicken Run," they had on display several of the acutal plastine puppets and sets from the movie there. Then the exhibit talked about how POWs planned their escapes and showed things like records and playing cards that hid forged papers and German money that they would use once the were outside the prison camp.

Then after this we got into the specific escapes. First was the Stalag Luft III: The Wooden Horse. In this escape the plan was to hide diggers in a vaulting horse while it was placed in the yard where men would vault over it. While inside the horse two men would start digging the hole and then later the tunnel. Only three men escaped here, basically cause only three men could fit inside the horse.

The next escape is Stalag Luft III: The Great Escape. This escape was made famous by the movie "The Great Escape" with Steve McQueen and James Garner. I found this really fascinating. For anyone who has seen the movie, the escape is pretty accurate. I saw reproductions of the contraption that gave the tunnel diggers air, and the type of little trolly they used to move around the dirt in the tunnel, and a reproduction of a pair of sandbags that men, called Pengiuns, wore inside their pants so that they could secretly spread the dirt from the tunnel around the camp grounds. Another note on this, other than the difference in color - the tunnel dirt is darker - the two dirts smell differnt (Yes, they did have examples of the dirt for you to smell). To mask this smell when they began to mix the dirt around the compound, the men would smoke pipes. Another thing I found really interesting was the artifacts that were found during an excavation of the tunnel "Dick" in 2003. There were tools, rope, shoes with little hidden compartments in the heels, rope, and all sorts of things. It was all very fasinating.

A little side note about the Great Escape - this is for people who are really interested in it (Sam and James this is for you!)- here is a list of items that they used to dig their tunnels. 4000 floor and bed boards, 1400 dried milk tins, 1699 blankets, 30 shovels, 304 meters of electrical wire, 200 meters of rope, and 582 forks.

The final escape that the exhibit talked about was the Colditz Story. The prison is basically a castle in Germany. The prisoners tried to escape via tunnels, disguising themselves as German soldiers, jumping out of windows and so on. The most famous item from Colditz is the Colditz glider. This was a two man glider that two pilots built in a secret room in the prison. However, they never got to fly it cause by the time they had finished it the war was almost over. However, in 1999 the gilder was reconstructed and was flown. It would've worked if they had a chance.

After spending a good amount of time in the Great Escapes exhibit, we then went into The Children's War exhibit. This was all about the Second World War as seen by the children. There were letters from children who were sent to the country to their parents who were still in London, there was children toys and clothes. There was even a recreated two story house, that would've been like the house that would be on the outskirts of London, that you could walk through. It had all the details in the rooms, including a bomb shelter sitting in the living room.

From this exhibit we went to do the Blitz Experience. This has scheduled times of when you could attend - like a show. When you first go in you sit down in a recreated bomb shelter that you would have found, say in someone's backyard or wherever, and you listen to a simulated recording of what it would be like during a bombing - babies crying, people talking, and the actual sounds of the bombs. At one point the shelter shook. We then left the shelter to go into a room that was recreated to look like part of the city after it had just been bombed. It was actually sort of creepy. This whole experience lasted only ten minutes. I wish that it was a little longer and had more stuff to learn from, but it was still good.

Our last stop was The Holocaust Exhibition. This was very interesting. It talked about how the Nazi party grew to power after the first World War and the idea of the Master Race and all the hatred the Nazis had for people who were different from them. I found it ironic that there was a poster that showed a family tree of what the Master Race should be, but it was in the shape of a menorah, the Jewish seven branched candelabra. In the lower level there was an actual cattle train car that had transported so many people to the concentration camps. Then there was a model of what the camps would look like, and there were recordings of survivors who talked about how it was like to enter the camps where the soldiers pretended to be nice to them as they led some people immediately to the gas chambers that were disguised as showers. Finally there were literally hundreds of shoes, glasses, and other personal artifacts and prison issued clothing and special patches that signified what type of person you were (Jeweish, Pole, or a homosexual) on display. I was glad that it was the last stop in our visit. It is shocking how people could do such things to other people.

After the Holocaust exhibit Sarah and I were both physically and mentally tired. We took the Tube back to Kensington. We ate dinner and went our seperate ways. I quickly got ready and I left to go to the Globe Theater. I had signed up through the program to see the Shakespeare's Globe production of "Antony and Cleopatra." The ticket was only £3 (the original price was £5) cause it is a Yard Standing ticket. For these special tickets, you get to stand during the entire performance. I got there early so I could find a spot up against the stage. I found one that was left of the stage with a little bit of a blind spot. It was bad.

The show was good, however it could've been a lot better. I think that actors were too busy with thinking of their lines instead of creating a chemistry between themselves and the audience. Though I must note that some of the actors who had minor roles were better than the ones who had the starring roles. I did have some favorite bits though, only cause most of them were funny, like when Cleopatra attacks the messenger who tells her that Antony has married Ceasar's sister and when Antony, Ceasar, and their men are drinking with Pompey. They are all drunk, though I must say that guy who played Ceasar was the best drunk out of all of them, and then they began to dance. The other part that I really liked was at the very end of the show. Right after they the actors took their bows they began to do a traditional dance. It was like the end of the show farewell. It was really good.

I would like to go back to see another show at the Globe, though maybe pay a bit extra and get an actual seat. After standing for more than two hours for the show on top of being in the Imperial War Museum for three hours, my body aches and says "no more" to anything else. So I just went back to school.

Traveller's Notes On Paris

I have just a few additional notes about Paris that may prove to be useful to any future travellers or for anyone who is just interested.

The first is about the Paris Metro. The stations are easy to find when you're walking around the city. Much like the Tube in London, they have a uniform sign. It's red and it says Metro. Some of them have a pretty Art Nouveau design to them. Tickets. Well, there is the Carnet which is 10 one-way tickets for €10,50 Euros. Which is not bad at all, and if you are there for three days it's just about right. Callie and I split a Carnet, which means we had five tickets each. On Sunday, our final day, we only needed two more one-ways. So all together we used 7 tickets each. The rest of the time we walked and it isn't very hard to walk around Paris. It's one way to learn your way around the city.

Now that we've talked about the tickets, let's talk about the subway lines. There are a lot of lines. It isn't hard to find ourself around the Metro. Though unlike the London Tube, you have to know exactly where you are going. The lines in London have names such as Picadilly, Ciricle, Distric, Northern, and so on. Names that have something to do with the area that they go through. In Paris they use numbers or letters, like the A line, or the 1 line. Not so mnemonic.

In London you have say the Circle line and you either want to go Eastbound or Westbound. In Paris you have to know which end station you want to go. For example, consider going from the Gare de Lyon train station to the Louvre museum. Well, you can take the 1 line, which is in yellow. Before you get on any train, you find this line on the map and you following it all the way to the end of the line and it will say what station it is. When going to the Louvre from Gare de Lyon the end station is La Defense. This means you take the La Defense 1 line train until it stops at Palais Royal Musee du Louvre, which where you get off for the Louvre. Does that make sense? Once you've done it once or twice, you'll get use to it.

The next thing is the language barrier. Don't worry too much about it. During the summer there are a lot of tourists who will know English. In fact, this is a little side note, during the summer is when school is on holiday so a lot of people leave the city for vacation, but then tourists come and replace that number of people and then some. But, there are also some French people who know enough English to help you. At a lot of patisseries or other places to eat near common tourist sites they will know English. If not, to order food you can just point and they'll understand.

At the Metro ticket offices I didn't talk to anyone cause Callie always bought the tickets. Though I must say, if you see that the trains stop even when they are not suppose to and there is someone speaking on the PA, and you notice that everyone else is making their way towards the exit - this means that you must follow them. This happened to us on Saturday when we were trying to get to the Chateou Rouge station. The station was being evacuated by the police! Which a real surprise cause we all noticed that there was a lot of police men and women around the area of the station. I don't know why we had to evacuate, but all I can say is don't just stand around wondering whats going on. Just follow the locals.

The third note that would like to make is about planning. Of course, I'm sure that everyone makes a list of things that they would want to see when they go on the trip. I had meant to make such a list, but because of other things I forgot to. So when we were on the train to Paris I was asked what I would like to see I said "I don't know." It turns out that I really wanted to go inside the Paris Opera house and to visit Oscar Wilde's gave, though because I really didn't tell anyone we never made time to see these things. So please prepare a list ahead of time of places you really want to go. I don't mind that I didn't get to see some of things that I wanted to see. This only means that I'll have to come back to Paris for a second time, and I find nothing wrong with that.

The Traveller Has Returned - Part III

Sunday morning almost the entire group went to the Louvre. Part of the trip packet was a paid entrance. So our tour manager bought all of the tickets for us and let us loose inside the museum. The Louvre has a deep history that you can read on the official website, but here are some facts. The museum was first a 12th century fortress and palace, then over the centuries it grew larger and housed collections from people like Cardinal de Richelieu and Napoleon I.

Callie and I made our way to the Sully Wing. Here to greet us as we climb the stairs was Victory of Samothrace Landing or better known as Winged Victory or just plain Nike. For my fellow TWU students - the Nike that stands in the portico of the Old Main Building is a repical of this statue in the Louvre. Once we took a picture or two of Nike, Callie and I moved onto the left side of the Sully Wing. There we saw Venus de Milo. She was just as beautiful as Nike was. I noticed that both of the statues were larger than I originally thought.

From the Sully Wing, Callie and I then went in search of the famous Mona Lisa. It actually didn't take long cause all we had to do was follow the crowd of people. I didn't get too close because of the crowd, but I did get a very good long look at her. She is quite pretty and enigmatic as some claim her to be, and she really does not have eyebrows. Why is that? Who knows. Another thing about Mona was that the painting is actually quite small. It's only about 30 inches in height and 21 inches in length. You would think that she would be larger, but I think that is because of her popularity in the mass media and all the large posters people buy. I like the idea of Mona being a small painting. It adds to her uniqueness.

After swimming our way out of the crowd that surrounded Mona, Callie and I wandered through the other painting galleries. I actually got to see some paintings that I have studied while at TWU like Ingres' "The Bather, known as the Valpincon Bather" and Delacorix's "July 28. Liberty Guiding the People." I try to see more paintings in the upper level, however the wing was closed. So we decided to roam around the museum a little more and ended up in the gift shop where we bought postcards of our favorite works.

After taking a few pictures of the glass pyramids when leaving the Louvre, which have been made famous recently with the The Da Vinci Code phenomenon, we walked along the Seine making our way to Notre Dame. Along the way we bought some mini Art Nouveau posters. For any fans of the Art Nouveau artist Mucha - Paris is the place to buy such things!

At Notre Dame I took the pictures that I wanted and then we went inside the cathedral once more. We were only inside for few minutes when Mass began. I was surprised that they would allow tourist to walk around the outer part of the church while they hold a service in the middle. Feeling the need for some respect, I didn't take any pcitures once the Mass started.

Outside once more, we bought lunch at a little patisserie next to the church. Instead of having another panini, I opted for two hot dogs in a bagette that had cheese on it. It was yummy, though I wish that they had some ketchup to go with it. After we ate in the shadows of the cathedral we did a little shopping. I bought two postcards of the Paris Opera house (the one where Phantom of the Opera has its setting), and a new scarf. After that we took the Metro back to the hotel.

At 3:30 we all meet in the lobby of the hotel and took a coach to the Gare de Nord train station. The train ride back to London was nice. Though, when I was at the station I noticed that my throat was sore, so during the ride I was slightly incomfortable. When we stepped off the coach that brought us from the Waterloo station in London back to Gloucester Road I had an official sore throat.

In my room I unpacked my bag, changed my clothes and popped a few pills to try to lessen my oncoming cold. I then ran into Sarah D. in the computer lab and we decided that it was time to eat a big dinner. So we went to Pizza Hut. After that, I had a Deliciousness from Tesco. As Sarah S. would put it - tonight was the three week anniversery of discovering the wonderful chocolate dessert. After that, I went to bed. My body had enough fun for one day.

The Traveller Has Returned - Part II

Saturday morning, we all recieved a wake-up call at 7 AM. I of course naturally woke at 6:30 AM - my usual time. Even though I was on French time, which is one hour ahead of London - I still woke at 6:30! I took a long shower, since there was no one else wanting to use it of course. A note about this hotel - they do have hair dryers in the bathroom. However, they look like a vacum cleaner stuck on the wall, but they still work.

Breakfast is downstairs. They serve eggs, bacon, and sausage, a large amount of different types of croissants and sweet rolls, cheese, cereal and fruit. It was basically like the caferteria here, but minus the eggs and meat. When get to the dinning area, they ask for your room number, which they will check off, and then they'll tell what table you can sit at. It was a very nice.

After breakfast we all met downstairs for our bus tour of the city. On the tour we saw all the usual famous sites that Paris has to offer. We saw the Bastille monument representing the Revolution and the Bastille prison that use to stand on that site. We also saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Invalides where Napoleon's tombs is, the Eiffel tower, and much more. Our final destination was Notre Dame where got to go inside and struggle to listen to the tour guide talk about the interior of the cathedral. I didn't mind if I couldn't hear, I was too busy soaking everything in. Our tour offically ended out on the side of the cathedral where in the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" Quasimodo's room was located. It was very interesting.

The group then went to a little souvenier shop to purchase some things and to use the bathroom. Then Christine, Callie, Cyndie, Abby, Tracy, and I found a place called Father and Son for lunch. After the usual panini, Abby and Tracy left us to go shopping while we went to the Sainte Chappelle church. There was a fee to get in, so only Callie went in. She is majoring in arcitecture and she did a big project on this church. When she came out she was so happy and said that she could go home right then and there cause she saw what she wanted to see.

After that Cyndie and Christine decided that they wanted to see the Moulin Rouge. I really didn't want to go cause I wanted to see the Opera House where the Phantom of the Opera was set, but I had no choice cause I didn't want to get lost. Got on the Metro and went to the station Chateau Rouge, which turned out not to be even near the caberet. So we just start walking in the general direction of where they thought it was. It turns out that the place wasn't even on the map that we were given.

After climbing several stairs we found ourselves at the Sacre Couer church and its panoramic view of Paris. It was amazing. We then did a little shopping at a little souvenier stand near the church, then we started looking for the caberet.

I finally got frustrated with getting lost, so I pull out my map book that actually showed where the place was and lead the rest down the hill and to the location. So finally, after three hours, we found the Moulin Rouge. To tie us over till dinner we got pastries from a patisserie around the corner. I bought a thing that was like a cake with heavy cream - it was probably a custard - with strawberries in it. It was very yummy and messy to eat.

From there we took the Metro back to the hotel. Christine and Cyndie got ready for their bike tour and Callie and I got ready for our Eiffel Tower event.

We got to the monument an hour before the meeting time and made a dinner out of a Panini Jambon - which has ham, mozzerella cheese, and tomatoes. Then we split a crepe with the Nutella spread which is a chocolate spread that has Hazelnut flavoring. (I like Cadbury Milk Chocolate spread better). Then we meet our tour manager and the rest of the group. Since there was a little over 25 five of us we got to stand in the group line, which much shorter than the individual ticket holder line.

We took the elevator cars to the the first level. There are actually two levels here. One is where you directly get off and can get in line for the elevator that goes to the very top, the second is a couple steps below where there is a better viewing gallery and a little cafe. Callie and I decided to, and really didn't have any choice really, to get in line for the top. After twenty minutes slowly making our way through the line and taking the elevator, we were now at the top of the Eiffel Tower. At this very moment the sparkling light show began. The tower is fitted with lights that will blink like sparkling crystals every hour once it gets dark and it will last for ten minutes. We walked around the entire place and saw the city of Paris at night. It was amazing.

About an hour and a half after we first went up, we were sitting on a ledge with a patch of grass taking pictures. It was there that a couple from New Jersey asked us to take their picture. They told us they were debating whether or not we spoke English. They were quite happy to know that we were from the States as well. So we took their picture and they took ours. Then we just sat there talking and waiting for the top of the hour to come around when the second light show would start.

In the mean time we learned more about the couple. They were here for their anniversary. But before they came to Paris they were in London to visit the husband's brother who was stationed right outside of the city. We told them about our study abroad program. Then we shared suggestions and knoweldge of both Paris and London. It was so nice to finally talk to someone from America and who spoke English. I was missing this while being in Paris. I can function in Paris, however my French consists of words that won't make complete sentences, leaving me feeling a little vulnerable. But I still survived.

After the light show and more pictures, Callie and I said bye to the couple and we headed to the Metro station and went back to the hotel. Back in my room, I managed to get into my PJs and the moment I got into bed I was out. I didn't even make it to the bathroom to brush my teeth, or to put my satchel or jewelery off the bed. After exploring the city from 8:30 AM to 11:30 PM, I'm not surprised that I was dead to the world.

The Traveller Has Returned - Part I

Hello Everyone. I have returned safe and sound from Paris. It was a whirlwind weekend. Since I have so much to tell, I've decided that I should post about it in parts. It is the only way for you people to be satisfied now instead of waiting for a day or more for the entire thing.

On Friday, we took a coach from Gloucester Road to the Waterloo International station. We passed through security and passport control and boarded a Eurostar train. The ride was so nice! It was quiet and smooth. We went out into the countryside towards the Chunnel. It didn't take long to go through this tunnel that goes under the English Channel. It was only 20 minutes. The train stopped at the Gare du Nord station in Paris where we boarded another coach that would take us to our hotel which was the Mercure Hotel. It is right next to the train station Gare du Lyon.

Callie and I had signed up to be roommates in a double room, however the hotel had run out of doubles. So I ended up with a private room. The moment I entered my room and saw the huge bed (two twins pushed together) and a bathroom all to myself I was excited! It was so nice not to have to share a bathroom with one and a half floors worth of people!

It was around 7:00 when everyone came back down to have a little powow with our tour manager, who was a language professor from the school. She gave us a map and told us that there were plenty of places to eat near the Bastille, which is near our hotel. Christine and Cyndie was given the suggestion to go to a little place that was off of San Michelle near Notre Dame. So we decided to walk towards the Cathedral.

A notes of caution: 1. Unlike England, the French drive on the right side of the road - American style. 2. Don't be shocked if you see a man using the Seine as a bathroom.

When we got nearer the Notre Dame, which is only about a thirty minutes walk from the hotel, I pulled out my camera. It was gorgeous!

We got to the right street, however at that very moment it began to rain. Heavily. With only two umbrellas amongst the four of us. Callie and I each shared with Christine and Cyndie. We finally had to seek shelter under an awning of some nearby place. Despite my attempts to stay dry, I was soaked from my feet to my knees. Once the rain had subsided we continued on our quest for food.

At one point a woman speaking French asked me where some restaurants were. I told her in my broken French that I don't speak French. So she asked me in English. We pointed her and her husband towards the river we had just come from. It wasn't much further and we finally found the restuarant we were seeking.

The place - I don't even know the name - is not where tourists go. The waiters didn't know a lick of English. Christine and Cyndie tried to order two glasses of wine, however they ended up with a whole bottle. The menue was both in French and English, however it wasn't descriptive at all so even though we knew what type of meat was in the dish we didn't know how it was prepared.

Callie and I went safe and had chicken. It turned out that it was a chicken on top of rice and was covered in a tomato base sauce with peppers in it. It reminded me of a dish that my mom made one time. Christine got what turned out to be a steak and chips (french fries). Though poor Cyndie ordered Salmon, which she thought was would be cooked or smoked. No. It was raw - fresh, but raw - and it came with lettuce with no dressing. However, she was the type of person who doesn't mind eating it with several slices of a baguette. We got desserts that were in even better than the dinner. Cyndie had a Peach Melba, which is a half a peach covered with heavy ice cream. Callie had a Apple tart, and Christine and I shared a tart that was topped with apricots - we think.

As we ate our meals, two Frenchmen sat next to use at our table. At one point they asked us, in English, where we were from. Cyndie and I said Texas to which they responded with "George Bush." Callie said Arkansas and they said "Bill Clinton," and finally to Christine's Chicago it was "Al Capone." They did the same with our names. For once someone didn't relate my name to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Instead they said Dorothy Parker, who was a writer. We asked what they're names were. One who sat next to me was Christoph, and the one next to Callie was Stephan - which they asked if we in America had names like Stephan and we said Stephen or Steven (pick the spelling that you like).

Once we had paid our waitress, we headed back to the hotel. On the way we paused in the Shakespeare & Company bookshop. It's a very cute little place that is right on the Seine. They have the Shakespeare books, but they also had other types of literature, including the entire collection of William Blakes poems. If I opened a bookshop, it would be exactly like this one. I loved it.

I finally got back to my room around midnight. As I relaxed in bed I turned on the TV. It was very clear that the only channels, other than CNN, that were in English you had to pay to see. So I settled between Blade III in French and MTV in German and quickly fell asleep.

Paris

Well, I and many of the other AIFS students are leaving tomorrow morning for our Paris weekend trip. We'll be taken by bus from Gloucester Road all the way to Waterloo International station. There we will board the Eurostar train that will go through the Chunnel to Paris.

On the itinerary we're going to have a bus tour of the city and free entrance to the Louvre. Then we'll have time to explore the city on our own. However, we will have to check in at certain points with AIFS tour guide, who will probably be one of the Resident Assistants here.

I can't wait until tomorrow. It's going to be loads of fun. When I come back on Sunday I will let you know of everything I did. Au revoir!

Birthday Continued

What did I do today? Well, I woke up really early this morning, my internal clock is set, unwantingly, somewhere between 6 and 6:30 AM, by the wonderful sound of thunder. It has finally cooled down here, but it's now a little muggy. For class today we went to the National Gallery where we explored some of the Sainsbury Wing and parts of the actual orginial museum. We saw paintings from the Italian Gothic period, to the stages of the Renaissance, then ended with a brief intro to the Impressionists. We primarily looked at the content and how to recognize certain periods of time in the content and style of the paintings. It was fun.

Back at that the Atlantic house, I ate lunch, then hung around the computer lab for a couple hourse making a list of theater shows that I wanted to go to, and then I went up stairs to my room for a nap. An hour before dinner I window shopped on High Street Kensington, and then met my friends for dinner at the caferteria.

Since I couldn't decided on a cheap or free place to go to celebrate my birthday, my friends decided that we were going to watch the football match between Portugal and France and eat birthday cake. I'm finally coming off of a chocolate buzz.

I know that this must seem quite uneventful for a 21st birthday, but I'm going to make it up. I'll be in Paris for a whirlwind weekend and then I believe that we're all going to try to see Pirates of the Caribbean II on Monday. It's going to be fun.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me...Happy birthday to meeeee...Happy birthday to me!!

Karaoke

The Karaoke Party was held in the basement, "Room for Hire," of the pub The Corner Store. To get get there, go to the Covent Garden Tube stop, turn left heading for the Covent Garden Market Piaza, then turn right onto Russell Street. Then at the corner where the Theater Museum stands turn right and the next street The Corner Store is on the right.

The upstairs has table and chairs that were full cause the football match between Germany and Italy was on the telly. Down the stairs to the basements is where we were having our little American party.

At first no one had the courage to sing any songs, however in hour or so in and after a couple drinks people began to put in requests. What type of songs? Well, American obvisously. The crowd sang along with the person with the microphone to "Sweet Home Alabama," Bon Jovi, "Hang On Sloopy," "My Girl," Summer Nights" from Grease, and so on.

My friends had planned on singing a song for my birthday, however when they finally made it up to the DJ, the song had alreay been requested. Oh well. Overall it was fun.

It was the first time that the AIFS cordinators had put on a Karaoke Party, and so they were a little bit nervous about how it was going to go down. But I think, from what I saw, it went well. They'll probably do it again next year.

After we left the party, Jessie, Callie, Sarah D. and I walked to the Leicester Square tube stop, which wasn't too far away actually, and headed back to the dorm.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone! Tonight my school is attempting to throw a karaoke party for us. I'll let you know how it goes!

British Museum

Today my class went to the British Museum. For about an hour and a half, our teacher took us to the Egyptian sculpture collection and then into part of the Greek and Roman collection. It was very interesting. I got to see the reliefs from the Partheon. For anyone from my British Lit. class, you may remember this, these used to be called the Elgin Marbles because a man by the name of Lord Elgin took them from the Parthenon and brought them to London. John Keats wrote two poems when he saw this collection.

We were dismissed earlier than I thought and I would've liked to explore a little more, but my back was hurting again and it was very cowded and hot. So, this is why I am back in the computer lab writing this post. I will go back later and see the other collections that the museum has to offer.

Cultural Events Of All Sorts

Yesterday was the day for all kinds of events. At 4:15, Callie and I stood in line for the 5 o'clock sign up for Session C cultural events. For this set of three weeks I am going to go to: 1. A Karaoke Party to celebrate the 4th of July, 2. Antony and Cleopatra at the Globe Theater, 3. Les Miserable, 4. Leeds Castle and Canterbury daytrip, and finally 5. the Harry Potter walking tour. All, except for the karaoke party, occur next week. This weekend, July 7-9, I will be going on the Paris weekend trip with the AIFS program.

After buying all of our tickets, we quickly ate our dinner and then hurried to Leicester Square. Why? Well, The Pirates of the Caribbean premiere of course. I knew that it was going to be packed. In fact, to actually get a spot at the fence where you can get an autograph from the stars you'd have to be there at 6 AM or even earlier. It was a mad house by the time we arrived. We stood in the massive crowd in front of the large screen TV that showed the red carpet.

I got a picture of Orlando Bloom, but more importantly, I got a picture of Johnny Depp, both on the big screen before they turned it off. Still trying to see the stars in person, we walked to the another part of the square to a corner that no one really came to. Though I must say, being a good sport for all of his fans, I did see a glimps of Orlando Bloom. It was very cool. I would've loved to Johnny Depp in person. Anyone who knows me well enough will understand this!

After a while we decided that there wasn't any remaining chance for us to see the stars, plus we had to meet some of our other friends at the pub The Brewmaster. Today we were celebrating Jessie's birthday. We sat around with our own drinks (mine was water - as always) and talked. Then the group of guy friends of Jessie and Christine's came. It was fun, though I didn't really talk to anybody.

Around 8 PM my back began to hurt. It was a mixture of everything imaginable: the heat, my posture, the way I carry my satchel, sleeping on that bed, riding the Tube so many times I think I have permanent whiplash, having people push you from all directions as they desperately try get to the fences to see any movie star at the premiere and so on. So once the group left the Brewmaster and we were going to head for the next pub, I headed back to Kensington.

In my PJs and doped up with pain meds, I laid in bed from 8 to 10 listening to the entire soundtrack from the musical The Secret Garden. Then I officially got ready for bed and lay back down.

My Session B Grade

I know some of you people are probably itching to know about my grade in my Travel Writing class. This morning I picked up my portfolio from the adivising office. I got a A on the portfolio and I got a B+ overall. YAY! I'm so happy!

Museums and Galleries of London

This morning I went to my first class of my second session (Session C). It is called Museums and Galleries of London. It's going to be fun. Every single day, except on Fridays, we are going to a museum somewhere in London. Tomorrow is the British Museum, Wednesday is the National Gallery, and Thursday is the Victoria and Albert Museum. My new friends Sarah and Callie were in this class last session and so, through them and just sitting in class today, I know that this is going to be a great class.

Greenwich

Today was a very hot day. The temperature has risen back into 80s. Depsite the heat, Callie and I went to Greenwich, which is right outside of London. How do you get there you night ask? Well, take the tube to Westminster, then you switch to the Jubilee line and go all the way to Canary Warf. There you leave the Tube station and you walk to the DLR station at Heron Quays (pronounced keys) and then travel to Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich.

Greenwich is so nice. It's not very touristy in most areas. We went to the market and looked at the usual items there. Then we walked down to the National Maritime Museum. We didn't go into this museum, instead we went to the Royal Observatory which is up the steep hill behind the museum. After eating a Tesco sandwhich for lunch in the walkway between the museum and the Queen's House, we took the little free train up to the Royal Observatory cause it was so hot. This place is free, however when you get your admissions ticket they try really hard to get you to buy the booklets for £3.50. But we were poor college students.

If any place in Greenwich, this is where all the tourists will be. This is the home of the Greenwich Prime Meridian. This is where the Longitude line is 0 degrees. On this line, I found the Latitude line for Dallas. It was very cool. We then explored the little museums about the history of the obervatory and the creation of the Longitude line. If anyone has seen the A&E movie series called "Longitude" or has read the novel "Longitude: The True Story of Lone Genius Who Solved The Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time," which tell the story of John Harrison and his quest to solve the problem of navigating a ship with it's exact position while at sea, then this is a the place to see Harrison's clocks. They are amazing, and they still work.

From the Royal Observatory we walked back down the steep hill. If you lost control of your feet, you would find yourselves rolling all the way down. Back in the little town we spurged with our money to get Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Then it was back to the city.

Before I finish however, I must make a note about the Westminster tube station. It's amazing! It's all grey and there are large beams of metal that are supports for the many different levels. It's very futuristic. This is a perfect place to film a Sci-fi movie, if it hasn't been done already. It can be a space station. Also, because it's all underground it's nice and cool in there. I'm tempted to just hang around the station on hot days because it's so nice. If you get the chance when you're in London visit this tube station.

An Then There Was Two

Our three Musketeers unfortunately shrunk to two today. Sarah has left for her home in New York state. She was only here for three weeks. Callie and I were telling her that she could hide in my closet and we could sneak food from the caferteria for her. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, and off she went in her transport to Heathrow airport.

Alone, Callie and I decided to go to Windsor Castle. We took the tube to Paddington station and for about £7 each we got tickets for Windsor and Eton Central. Once there, it wasn't too hard to find the castle. It was £12 for a student to enter, but it was great. The castle is huge! We got to see many of the rooms, St. George's chapel, a collection of photos of the Queen that spanned her eighty years of life. My favorite thing I saw was Queen Anne's dollhouse. This is the ultimate dollhouse in the world. I swear it was larger than a Volkswagen Bug! And it has everything down to the tiniest details such as a snail in the garden and working plumbing! It was fantastic.

For dinner, we ate at a patisserie/cafe near the Tesco. We ate a roast beef bagette with a salad and chips. It was very yummy.

We also watched the football match between Brazil and France. The restaurant was cheering Brazil on and we were silently cheering on France...and France won. Earlier today England played and lost. Through my bedroom window I could hear the yelling from the pub down the road. I would've hated to be there when England lost. It's very sad.

Two Days - One For Work. The Other For Play

Thursday was all work and no play. After watching The Motorcylce Diaries (if you haven't seen this movie, do so) and staying for the entire three hours of class, and eating lunch, I was then in the computer lab. I was typing up my creative writing project. I decided to go for a story feel, but made up of a series of journal entries. I was in the library until some fellow students and I were kicked out at closing, then I was in the other computer lab with three of my other classmates. We were there until fourty-five minutes passed closing until our favorite (sarcasm) security guard kicked us out despite the fact that we were still working on our portfolios that were due in the morning.

So out in the commons Cyndie, Tracy, Meghan, and I hand wrote all of our projects until four in the morning. We trudged upstairs to our beds and slept for three hours. Then, skipping breakfast, we trudged back downstairs and typed up any remaining work and studied for our exam. With five minutes to spare we got to our classroom.

The test was OK. There were two sections. One section was a close reading where we had to read these two paragraphs from a previously unseen story and then write an essay about word use, imagery, sentence and paragraph structure, the narrative voice and how all of this worked together towards the writer's arguement. The second section was where we got to pick from a list of essay questions and write an essay to answer it drawing examples from at least two short stories that we've previouly read. Overall, it was easy. With only an hour and forty mintues, I wish we had more time. But despite all of that I think I did very well. We get to pick up our portfolio with our grades later from the advisor's office.

After the test was over and done, I went back to my place and took a well deserved shower and I attempted to take a nap, but when I closed my eyes I felt like I was spinning. I think it was because of my lack of sleep and because I had just escaped a whirlwind of work to finish this class.

After lunch, the school's version of fish and chips, Sarah, Callie and I went to Westminster Abbey, and actually got in this time. It costs £6 for students, but it was worth it. It was amazing and gorgeous inside. I got to see Queen Elizabeth I's and Queen Mary's tomb and the tombs for other royals. However, my favorite part of this visit was when I got to the Poet's Corner. My mouth dropped when I saw the tombs or memorials for all of the authors and poets that I've read over the course of my life. Dickens, George Elliot, Tennyson, Burns, Keats, Shelley, Lewis Carol, Browning, Chaucer (his tomb was very small, surprisingly. Maybe he was a small man), and so much more. People from my two British Literature classes, I saw almost all of the names of authors and poets here. It was amazing!

After Wesminster, we walked along the Thames next to the Tower of London, which by the way costs £12 for students or £13 for adults, but if you really want to see the inside open up your wallet, it's worth it. Anyway, after taking a few pictures of Tower Bridge, we headed back to Atlantic for dinner.