Free time? What's that?

Well I've never been a very consistent journal person/blogger. Maybe it's not in my nature to share every little detail with the world. So I will now list off some interesting things about the week:

1. Meeting Pauline Melville, an author and actress, at the bus stop.

2. Seeing Bronte's handwritten Jane Eyre and Austen's handwritten Persuasion at the British Library.

3. Not getting lost my third time to the British Museum.

4. Eating Veg-Duck at a Thai Buffet to celebrate Joel's 18th Birthday

5. Spending 95% of my time either reading, going to plenary or colloquy, or sleeping

6. Getting a cold.

7. Buying awesome lunch making materials at Tesco with Hannah Hanover.

8. Going to a London Philharmonic Orchestra concert with Joia where they played Sibelius.

9. Doing okay on my first paper.

10. Playing football with about 16 kids in 1-2 years.

11. Eating digestives (cookies) like they are healthy for me.

12. Playing taboo over skype with Emily.

13. Wanting real coffee instead of instant.

Well that's about all I've got. Go London. Brits forever! Yeah.

"The Good" and Other Mind-Bogglers

The past two days have started off with colloquy (after breakfast and about two hours of reading/dozing of course), which is two hours of intense, smaller group discussion. Tuesday we talked about Antigone and Thucydides' The History of the Peloponnesian War. Today we delved into Plato's Republic (oh my goodness) and some of Sappho's work. To say the least, I loved it. Discussion is always so enlightening. I enjoy learning from people my same age, who give such great insights into the texts. I've never before liked history this much before!

I also went to museums both days-- on Tuesday the Victoria and Albert and today the British Museum again. I simply loved the V&A, which is probably fueled for my love of them as people, which is fueled by the movie The Young Victoria (watch it. really.)I ventured out by myself today. Braving the tube alone was pretty fun, must say. I am always wondering if the Brits can tell I'm American just by looking at me. I feel like an impostor a bit. I still managed to get lost even though I've been to the British Museum before. Oh well, I got to see Drury Lane because of it. After wandering around the museum until my assignment was done and my body ached, I left for the Highbury Centre. This evening has been spent reading Epictetus and Virgil's The Aeneid. I found both good reads. It is unfortunate, however, that we don't have enough time to read the entirety of the books. Maybe if I get really ambitious in the future I will finish them all.

I find the best remedy for staying awake while reading is to read standing up. You could even take a little stroll around the room if you so fancy.

Minds Can Explode

Today we began plenary, aka three hours of information being thrown at you. You attempt to scribble down everything you think is important but invariably, you miss half of it and just don't understand the other half that you got on paper. But it was all very interesting...of course. We learned about the Greek Bronze Age, Dark Age, and Classical Age. Luckily, we took a break for tea in the middle. I needed it.

We also got our museum assignments for the week. We have to go to certain rooms or exhibits and look at fascinating artifacts while thinking about difficult questions. Four of us went together to the British Museum. Unfortunately, by the time we actually found our way there, I just wanted to sit down in a coffee shop and rest. But no, the research must go on (forget about the show)! The British Museum is marvelous. Huge. So huge. You could spend weeks in there. Really. We made a small dent. Stella and I frequented the Starbucks across the street before taking a bus back to Highbury.

Essentially, that was my day. I also read 30 pages of Thucydides. Interesting (for the parts I comprehended), but it took my quite a while to read.

I think children may be a little cuter here simply because of the accents. No lie.

Sketchy Chicken Curry and Umbrellas

Well, since Lia so lovingly set up this blog for me, I feel like I should contribute something to the blog world. Only my natural brilliance, naturally. So, London. That's where I am for the next semester. Since people (I think) like to hear about what happens on these sorts of things, I thought I would dedicate this blog to my exploration of this great city.

I left the great city of Oklahoma City at about 9 a.m. Thursday morning. I then flew to Denver, had a three hour layover, then flew to Newark. There we all met and finally, after many delays, flew to London-Heathrow. I apparently slept for most of the way (great ability to have, sleeping on planes or anywhere really) because I woke up and we were beginning our descent.

Eventually we all made it to the Highbury Centre, a charming guest house built in the 1850s. It creaks out the wazoo, but I love it. We aren't allowed to go anywhere barefoot. Fortunately, sock are okay. Whew, for me. Joia and I semi-moved into our room before a small group of us went to the ATM and Tesco (grocery store). Then we came back a galloped excitedly (not really) around the Centre until dinner. After dinner my memory goes funny. I'm pretty sure I fell into bed at 7:30.

And then I proceeded to sleep for 14 hours. Not good. I set my alarm clock wrong so the alarm didn't go off. Joia and I woke up at 9:58. We had a meeting at 10. After momentarily freaking out, we went to the meeting. After all that we went on a walking tour of London. We saw the exteriors of St. Paul's, Westminster, Big Ben, The Eye, Tate Modern, The Globe, Parliament, and The Horseguard's Palace. I just wandered around in wonder, unable to fully accept the fact that I was in London. Am in London. Still am. Still will be for quite a while. After we got back we had dinner and then I read some of our required reading.

I went to bed at 11:15, thinking I was tired. Little did I know that the clock inside my body would not agree so much with that idea. It decided to keep my up till 5 in the morning. Probably didn't help that I ate almonds and watched Persuasion with Joia in that time frame. Oh well. I had to wake up at 7:15 for church. So I think I got about 2 and half hours of sleep. Awesome!

I decided to attend Southwark Cathedral for church. Some of us arrived at 9:25 only to find that the service actually started at 11. So we decided to walk the Queen's Walk along the Thames from London Bridge to Tower Bridge. The walk was lovely in the morning light. The sky even decided to don a blue coat for us. After two replenishing donuts from Krispy Kremes, we attended the service. I very much enjoyed it and the choir sang beautifully. After church we had a spot of coffee or tea with the members of the congregation before setting back off for Highbury. Then lunch. Then coffee (for I couldn't sleep-- too much homework to nap extensively). But I did take a thirty minute nap. After that Joia and I went to a nice park and read for a bit.

So these play-by-plays are probably getting tiring. So on to the last eventful part of the day: dinner. Joia and I went to see if a lovely, little bakery was open. It wasn't. So we went to a little fastfoodish place close by and bought Chicken Curry. Let's just say it was some pretty sketchy curry. It didn't taste bad, but it sure looked gross. Separated grease and curry and chicken...yum.

Well, class officially starts tomorrow so I should answer the beckoning calls of the Hills of Bedfordshire. Let's hope that I will get a tidge more than 2 and half hours tonight.

I think I might be able to live in London. Only been here two days, and I am quite taken with it.