It's been so long since I've seen your face...

It's been around 3 weeks since I have posted... sorry I am so far behind! Life has been crazy (as usual) and won't be calming down anytime soon. We just finished midterms this week, which were even more compact than finals usually are so life hasn't been a bowl of ice cream. Our program also stupidly scheduled meetings with our program director this week, as well as a show (War Horse @ the New London Theatre) one of the evenings. But now everything that is school related is complete and I'm just finishing up packing before I leave this afternoon. I wanted to update everything before I left because I know when I get back there is going to be a TON of stuff to write about that all of this will seem petty. And you didn't want to miss the small, unimportant details of my life, right? Let's see... where to begin?

We just finished our Wednesday tours, which are technically a lab for my Rhetoric of London class. Our trip on Feb. 9^th was to the East End. This is London’s poorest area, where immigrants first make their home after arriving at the docklands. Remnants from the Protestant French Huguenots, Irish Catholics, and Eastern European Jews can be seen amongst today’s mosques and restaurants on Brick Lane, now a Muslim Bangladeshi community. The East End is also where Jack the Ripper murdered and mutilated his 6 known victims. We also stopped at the late Dennis Severs’ restored Victorian home. Dennis Severs was born in California, grew up with this romantic ideal of England, moved to London, and purchased a home with the plan of restoring it to its original state. When I mean original, I mean EVERYTHING was the same… no plumbing, no heating, and all original furniture. When he was alive he would dress in the clothing of the Victorian era, ride around in a coach, and offer tours of his home (which would include him excusing himself to pee in the chamber pot behind the screen in the same room as his guests… hey he want the experience to be legitimate!) Although no one lives in the home anymore, his friends still provide tours. And don’t worry, fruit and vegetables are cut up and the chamber pots are filled so all of your senses get the real experience! Our program also treated us to coffee at an adorable shop called Carluccio's. I ordered bicerin... which came with little cups of espresso, chocolate sauce, and cream for us to mix!

Dennis Severs' kitchen

So I'm gonna do a whirlwind tour of the rest of my month! On February 12th, we had our second excursion to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. Both were amazing! I loved the ornate interior decoration and architecture. On the 14th (Chinese New Year) we headed to Chinatown for dim sum and Chinese pastries. 16th - We saw 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre in Leicester Square. It was hilarious... really dry, quirky, physical British humor... and only 4 cast members! 17th - Our class was sponsored by one of the Lords in Parliament to take a tour! It was pretty cool... we had our pictures taken and printed on lanyards and everything. Hella legit! 21st - London's celebration of Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. We had pork buns, played with the little bags that snap, and watched a bunch of Chinese performances of dance, singing, etc... SO crowded. It is the biggest gathering I have seen in London so far. 24th - Imperial War Museum. It had a ton of stuff but we were kinda pressed for time. Some features included "the Blitz Experience" (narrated walk-through display with moving benches from bombs and stuff) , a walk-through trench exhibit, and a really moving Holocaust display. 26th - Our last excursion to Oxford and Blenheim Palace. The uni had unbelievable buildings. We saw the Great Hall and staircase from the Harry Potter films and the shop where the real Alice from Alice in Wonderland bought her sweets. (Lewis Carroll taught at Oxford and Alice's father was a dean at one of the colleges) Blenheim Palace is where Sir Winston Churchill was born. (his uncle inherited it) We saw the room he was born in as well as the place he proposed to his wife Clementine. The land outside of the house... if you can call a palace a house... was absolutely breathtaking. There is a private lake with a path around it and so many intimate areas to wander off and get lost in... Not to mention it was BEAUTIFUL day... (in London that means it was sunny despite still being cold haha)

Windsor Castle

inside a maze at Hampton Court Palace

me, Kristy, Michelle @ the Chinese New Year Celebration

Annie, me, Michelle, Kristy inside Parliament holding our passes

Imperial War Museum

Oxford Uni - Christ Church (one of the colleges)

Hogwarts staircase

Hogwarts Great Hall

shop where Alice bought her sweets

Blenheim Palace

gardens of Blenheim

where Churchill proposed to his wife

overlooking the lake

in the trees

my attempt at being artsy

As you may have noticed I really enjoyed my time in the countryside sun! Well that covered all the big events of the past few weeks. I have to get back to packing cuz I'm headed to the airport in an hour! Greece and Spain, here I come! Cheers!