Scotland!

So Friday night we left for Scotland. After a close call getting to the airport before check in closed we flew to Glasgow and landed at like 10 or 11. Everything was pretty much closed so we just walked down the main street near our hostel, grabbed some fast food and saw a little bit of Glasgow at night. We went to bed early since we were leaving early the next day to catch a train to Inverness.


The train ride (albeit 3 hours long) was beautiful. It went through the countryside and little villages and hills and past sheep and lots of green. We actually saw a couple of rainbows on the way which was really cool. The trees were changing so even though it took up a large portion of our day it was worth it.


We got to Inverness around 2ish. Its a cute town with some old buildings we grabbed some lunch to go and got a cab to the lake (Loch Ness) and Urquhart Castle. The castle itself was burned by the owners to avoid an attack years ago so all thats left is ruins but it's still a great spot. While we were on the way it had rained a bit there and by the time we were leaving there were two rainbows spanning the entire width of the lake in a full arch. It was perfect, it made it worth the 6 hours on a train.


We got back to Stirling where we were staying for the night to get dinner and hang out. We went to an American resteraunt which had a lot of Tex Mex stuff, but it was the only place still serving food. It was surprisingly good and it was a nice break from the train. Our waiter asked if anyone like baseball and when I said I did he said I better not be a Red Sox fan which was problematic since I categorize myself as anti-Yankee which makes me a Red Sox fan by dis-association. He was a funny scotsman though.


We went to a pub afterwards where this Scottish woman with a really thick accent started talking to us and cursing the English and teaching my friend Nick a lot of curses and slang, she was very drunk and very crazy.

Our second hostel was really nice. It was called the Willy Wallace (william wallace braveheart). We hung out and people watched in the main lounge a bit but then went to bed.


The next day we split up. Bari, Nelle, Stephen and I went straight to Edinburgh which was an hour away and the rest of the group went to Doune Castle which is the Monty Python Castle. We met up with Stephen and Bari's friend Amy who's studying at the University of Edinburgh. She gave us a mini tour of Old Town and we dropped our backpacks at her dorm. On the way we passed the Elephant House which is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter (we went back for dinner later). We then walked up to Edinburgh Castle which was the castle for Mary Queen of Scots and James I/VII. The view from the castle was, again, gorgeous. We left as it was pouring and headed to lunch.

One of Amy's friends had recommended a pub that was actually an Irish Pub but apparently had good food. Stephen, Nelle and I had already decided we had to try Haggis despite the unpleasant thoughts of what it actually was so Nelle and I split a plate of "Haggis Nips and Mash" (Haggis, parsnips and mashed potatoes) and Stephen had his own. It was soooo good. It had this cream sauce that was also very good. Also at the pub was a rugby match on TV and along with it many rugby fans in the pub which was entertaining, especially when the guy behind us would yell at the TV "HIT HIM"

After that we went to the royal mile and got souvenir stuff before meeting up with everyone else. Once we met up we went to a hill/park at the other end of the Royal Mile and walked to the top and got another amazing view of Edinburgh and another rainbow.

We then walked around that area and saw the current Queens palace (Queen of England) but didn't go inside though I'm now thinking about doing the Buckhingham Palace tour. We then walked up back to our hostel after getting our bags. Some people went on a short underground tour of the vaults where there were a bunch of murders and stuff. The rest of us just did dinner and then got a couple of drinks and hung out in the lounge and talked.

We flew back early this morning before our classes. It was over all a really good trip, I'd post pictures here but theres alot to show.

Classes

SOoo

I just finished my 2nd week of classes and it's been interesting.

Culture and Performance: Not my first choice of a class but it turns out to be pretty interesting. The main question of the first class was what is culture and can you have a personal culture? (the eventual question to the second being a no). This past week we looked at sports and how audiences/spectators react. It's a heavily based discussion class which makes it really interesting because its not just a lecture... Next week is Indigenous Australian Theatre which should be interesting out of sheer randomness.

Elements of Theatre History-Irish Theatre: The first day was okay. The teacher I think knows a lot but doesn't know how to teach it. He asks questions about the reading and stuff like that but he mumbles alot and he's not captivating in anyway that you can follow his train of thought or tell what is important and whats just an anecdote about the author. Hopefully it will improve or I may go crazy. It should get more interesting because we're looking at the revolutionary period between 1890 and 1926 so their should hopefully be some more compelling discussions.

That covers Monday and Tuesday. Their my only really heavy academic classes and their not even that heavy.

London Theatre: This class isn't until 4 o'clock on Wed. which is nice because then I have all day to explore or catch up on work. The class itself is cool since all we do is spend an hour discussing what we saw last week and then go see a show that night. First week we saw Brief Encounter which was aaamazing in every aspect. It's based on a movie which is based on a play so I highly recommend the show or the movie. This week was a show called Mine that was about this successful couple who couldn't have a baby so they were fostering a baby whose mother was an alcoholic/drug addict/ prostitute who was going into rehab and then left and essentially lost rights to the baby but the foster mother had issues wth her mother and started questioning who really has rights to this baby. It had good aspects of it but it wasn't overwhelmingly good.

Shakespeare's London: It's crazy. The professor's a little whacky. Some of the quotes from this class so far include:
(While discussing Ptolemy's view of the universe) "And we'll call this one the Super Bowl and play Baseball in it once a year"

"Five is the magic number; does anybody have a banana in the room?"

We're starting with Two Gentlemen of Verona and then looking at Richard II, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and Jew of Malta (not shakespeare) we're also taking trips to stratford upon avon and such. It's a fun class.

So far my friends and I have booked a trip to Scotland for next weekend and soon to be booked should be Spain and Italy for reading week (beginning of November) and Dublin and tons of other stuff.

Thats been about it so far.

This afternoon I think I'm going into central to walk around but who knows...

Classes seem like they're good, went to see Brief Encounter which was amazing (saw it for class). I'll elaborate more on that stuff at another time but for now...

London is sunny?

So right now I have my curtains closed because if they're open its too sunny and makes a huge glare on my computer. Who would have guessed that NY and Boston would be pouring and London would have a beautiful day?

The past week has been awesome and kind of touristy.

Wednesday was the first day without any meetings or anything so Stephen, Bari, and I too the national rail into central London. We met someone else from Goldsmiths on the platform and she showed us an easier way to get to the Westminster area rather than walk there. It only took like 10 minutes to get in which was exciting and it was really easy. We got off at Waterloo and immediately got a view of the London Eye (the giant ferris wheel that gives a birds eye view of London from the top). We followed the signs that pointed towards Westminster Bridge and finally turned a corner and were given the perfect view of Parliament and Big Ben on the other side of the Thames. It was seriously picture perfect. We crossed the bridge and then walked right past Big Ben (which I decided is basically the equivalent of walking right past the Empire State in NY except it's behind a fence). Westminster Abbey is right behind Parliament so we were able to get there no problem. We took the audio tour which took us all around the major tombs and chapels. The amount of history in one place is mind boggling. The highlights for me included the RAF chapel which was where Oliver Cromwell used to be for 2 years after his death before they dug him up hung him and cut off his head (just for posterity), Poets Corner which has so many major authors it's crazy, Britains Oldest Door (wasn't on our tour but was something we passed on the way), and a room that has it's history written on the windows (can't think of its name right now.) After wards we went to get fish and chips by the station and headed back. It was so strange to think that we went in for a couple of hours and came back, but the fact is it's right there! I can do that!

Thursday I went in with my flatmate Alex and her friend Debbie to go to the British Museum which we describe as the place that has everything that they stole from everywhere else. It was pretty cool though, the main things we wanted to see were the mummies and there were plenty of them- some being kind of gruesome. I went down to the other Egypt exhibit downstairs which included the Rosetta stone which was really exciting. I was able to wander and browse most of the museum before we met up after an hour or so. There was a chair from Mozambique taht was made of guns from the Mozambique Civil War which was pretty cool. Afterwards we got coffee and walked along New Oxford Street which has a lot of shopping. We went to Top Shop which had sooo much nice stuff it took us forever to look through things and try things on. There was a bag that I considered buying but I may go back and get a wallet. I did splurge and buy a top that had a Roy Lichtenstein type picture on it but it's something totally different and I really liked it so I'm okay with that.

We made our way back and just hung out for the rest of the night because the next day (Friday) Alex and I were going with our other flat mates (Brittany, Bari, and Jack(/Ashley) to the Globe to see A Midsummer Nights Dream (yea I know be jealous). It was amazing. There wasn't much of a set really but the costumes were soooo cool. The faeries mostly had these funky raggedy dress type things, otherwise the major characters were in Shakespearian garb. To change the scenes the faeries did it set to music with a lot of dancing and jumping setting up flowers and pulling down dark blue curtains.

So that's pretty much been my week so far. Today there's a music/art festival thing that I might go to with Stephen and his room mates. Thats about all.

Alive and Well and Living in London

Hey everyone,

Bari and I got in day before yesterday, went through immigration, got our bags and headed to Goldsmiths. We didn't realize till much later that though it was a little chilly...it was really sunny (as opposed to rainy foggy london stereiotype.)Turns out we're in the same suite which makes it easy as far as getting stuff for our kitchen.

The room is small, but for one person it's fine. I have my own bathroom right in my room which is again small, but it's just me so it's fine. As for our suite: it's a nice place to live but as far as flatmates go--someone in accomodations messed up. Everyone's nice but everyone on our floor (2 suites to a floor) is a girl from America. It's kind of dissapointing but once classes we'll hopefully have more interaction with people from other countries.

Last night I went out with Bari, Erika (one of our flatmates) and her friends. We went to a pub and found one that was pretty empty and quiet but there were a few locals at the bar and one old man that kept dancing (poorly) to a reggae version of Elvis' I Can't Help Falling in Love with You. We then went to the one right next to our dorms that had a lot more people and a bunch from our school.

Today we had the Theatre Department Meeting which actually told us when our classes are and kind of what they are. One of my classes was changed from Modernism and Post Modernity to Performance and Culture. Not quite sure what it's about but no big deal.

Bari got her packages of cooking stuff today so tonight might be our first real meal. Thats about all for today.

More later. The internets kind of in and out so when there's stuff to update about I will.

1 Day 49 Minutes....and counting

Hey everybody!

SOo, it is basically about 32 hours until I start my semester in London (that's including flight time). I've been enjoying reading some of my friends blogs (located in NY, Dartmouth, Boston, and India) and out of excitement and bandwagon syndrome I decided to start my own.

Hopefully I'll keep up with this over the next 3 1/2 months. I have a single room with internet access so I won't even have that as an excuse not to update.

Tonight I'm at Bari's house (in Plainview,LI) and tomorrow we fly out of JFK at 7:40PM. I'll probably update from the airport (on overpriced internet) with more anticipatory emotion.

That's all for now, stay tuned!