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!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
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.
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!!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
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.
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.
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.
Monday, July 03, 2006
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.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
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.
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.
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