Well it’s hard to believe that another week has come and gone again. I still feel, in some ways, like I’ve just arrived here. In others though, I feel like I’ve been here all my life. I really feel like I’m beginning to get the hang of living here and I know as soon as I figure everything out (the tube, the money, the streets, the rain…) it will be time for me to leave and I know I won’t want to. This is so amazing!!! I love it here! Honestly, there is no where I would rather be right now then here.
Thursday was amazing! I don’t think I have ever had so much sensory input in one day before! We had a tour of the National Theatre. It is spectacular! All of the stages and how they individually work is phenomenal! They all work in a slightly different way too. One has a trap door, one has a rotating stage, and in the third the stage and the seating can all be rearranged so that the stage/audience size changes! Amazing! I found it completely fascinating to see how the “backstage” of a professional theatre works. After the tour we saw The Reporter. It was kind of…Meh. I fell asleep for part of it to be completely honest. I wasn’t moved by it, in all honesty it bored me, and I was tired. What can I say? I kind of made up for it that night though because I went with three of the other girls from the program and we saw Les Misérables. It was such a beautiful show! I was in amazement! I knew the story and I knew the music so I was prepared for it, but the staging and the staging was really cool! It did kind of bother me though that they were mixing time periods with their costume choices. That was really quite awkward I thought. Of course, I was the only one who noticed though.
On Friday, we got up early to go out and see the changing of the guard. It is quite the ceremony if you can get there early enough to have a view by the gates. We were way across the street though so I only saw the street procession and their little bit. When we had finished there we caught the tube and we went off to Camden Town and Portobello Road for some shopping! It is this great little bohemian place! We got the most amazing crapes there too! I got some great little things in some antique shops along there (No I’m not telling what it is! Some of them are gifts! Nosey…) and some fresh fruit. On the way back I hit the grocery market and then I came home.
Saturday was interesting. We went on a country “walk.” Everyone lies when they take me on hikes. I’m done believing people when they say something is a walk because yeah, it was pretty much awful! It was muddy and cold and windy and toward the beginning there was this hill. Not too high, but it was one of the most steep hills I’ve ever hiked. My knee killed me all the way up and down. I was not a happy camper. Even though the countryside was beautiful, because of the miserable way we had to get there in my opinion it was really not worth it. Especially after I found out that we could have gotten to all of the beautiful sites on flat ground as well!!!! LAME! When we got back I took it upon myself to wash my clothes in the bathtub. It was a great theory! The washing part went fine, but the drying part… Not so much effective.
Sunday was a better time then last week, but it was still interesting to need translation for all of the meetings. After church all of the BYU students went and chatted with the Branch President and we will be getting some kind of assignment for the next several weeks. It will be exciting! That’s for sure! (More information to come as it is available!) My laundry still wasn’t dry on Sunday so I resigned myself to go find a washer and drier on Monday.
We had classes Monday morning so after that one of the girls in my flat and I went and did our laundry together. It made it more affordable though (still about $9.00). During this time I set up a blog site for the family! Hooray! I’m really quite excited and feeling quite accomplished! The best part about doing my laundry in a real laundry setting is that it was DRY when I was done! Hooray for dry, non-smelly clothing! (Just for the record, nothing ever truly dries out here. It is always raining so it is always wet and humid. Just a note.) That night one of the Bishops from a surrounding area came and talked to us for an hour or so. He was a little kid during WWII and he was sent away during the Blitz bombing. It was really cool hearing him tell about the things he lived through and how it really was around here back then.
Tuesday was pretty amazing! In the morning I got some homework done and then I cleaned up and my flatmate and I went to the Tate Modern. It is a modern art gallery that is spectacular! I loved it! Not all modern art is my style, but some is really cool! They have Picasso, Monet, Pollock, Warhol, and Rodin. It was amazing! Some of the art is so moving! Monet’s water lilies, for example were so fabulous and in real life it is so much better! And Rodin’s The Kiss statue is one of the most moving pieces of art that I think I’ve ever seen. I don’t know of a more beautiful representation of gentle, tender, true love. I fell in love with something I had never known was inside of me before. I think it was a hope of what I can have someday. As a side note, on the way to the gallery I fell down some stairs. It was kind of awkward and wounded only my pride, but be way careful here. It rains and things get slippery, then you fall. On the way to our show that night Cabrina and I stopped and went on a tour of the Rose theatre. What a waste of money! It’s a good thing I only paid 5.50 for it! I would have been quite cross otherwise. I was anyway, so it was definitely good it wasn’t more! We didn’t even really get to see the real foundations though because it is covered with sand and water so to preserve it. Bummer! We went and saw the show Landscape With Weapon. It was really quite good! I was able to see it in a much different light then when I read it. All of the emotion was different. Much better in performance! When I got home, I had to finish my homework and I didn’t get to bed until 3:15 AM! Always an interesting time to go to bed when you have to get up in the morning and be productive.
Today was one of the more amazing days. I had class this morning and I was able to really give some cool insight into the costumes of the time. I always feel good about myself when I can help someone to learn something they find interesting. Then I took care of things around the flat. I tried to take up time as much as I could to see if we got some hot water back this evening, but I finally resigned myself to take a 40 degree shower. Never a good idea. I went out tonight with some of the girls and we first went to curry at this great Indian place then we went and saw Marry Poppins! There are no words to describe how perfect it was! It made me feel like I haven’t felt since I was a kid. There was something so magical about it! It was such a spectacle but it was so beautiful! It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen! I really have never seen a set work the way that one did, the costumes were breathtaking, and the magical parts were seamless! The performance was Practically Perfect in Every Way! Even though I am so curious how they did certain things (pulling the objects from her bag, etc) I don’t think I really want to know. I just want to be able to keep the magic of it forever. It really is just like when you are a kid and Disneyland seems to be the most magical place on the planet and I just never want to loose that. It was amazing! My flatmate quite nearly started our flat on fire tonight! She got home and hung her umbrella to dry above the electrical switch and it started sparking and smoking and everything! YIKES!!!! I was totally scared it was going to electrocute someone! The voltage over here is way higher and it was being really scary so we had the RA kill the breaker to the room and they are sending over an electrician in the morning. Good times with almost dieing! And that is another week in the life of me!
Thursday was amazing! I don’t think I have ever had so much sensory input in one day before! We had a tour of the National Theatre. It is spectacular! All of the stages and how they individually work is phenomenal! They all work in a slightly different way too. One has a trap door, one has a rotating stage, and in the third the stage and the seating can all be rearranged so that the stage/audience size changes! Amazing! I found it completely fascinating to see how the “backstage” of a professional theatre works. After the tour we saw The Reporter. It was kind of…Meh. I fell asleep for part of it to be completely honest. I wasn’t moved by it, in all honesty it bored me, and I was tired. What can I say? I kind of made up for it that night though because I went with three of the other girls from the program and we saw Les Misérables. It was such a beautiful show! I was in amazement! I knew the story and I knew the music so I was prepared for it, but the staging and the staging was really cool! It did kind of bother me though that they were mixing time periods with their costume choices. That was really quite awkward I thought. Of course, I was the only one who noticed though.
On Friday, we got up early to go out and see the changing of the guard. It is quite the ceremony if you can get there early enough to have a view by the gates. We were way across the street though so I only saw the street procession and their little bit. When we had finished there we caught the tube and we went off to Camden Town and Portobello Road for some shopping! It is this great little bohemian place! We got the most amazing crapes there too! I got some great little things in some antique shops along there (No I’m not telling what it is! Some of them are gifts! Nosey…) and some fresh fruit. On the way back I hit the grocery market and then I came home.
Saturday was interesting. We went on a country “walk.” Everyone lies when they take me on hikes. I’m done believing people when they say something is a walk because yeah, it was pretty much awful! It was muddy and cold and windy and toward the beginning there was this hill. Not too high, but it was one of the most steep hills I’ve ever hiked. My knee killed me all the way up and down. I was not a happy camper. Even though the countryside was beautiful, because of the miserable way we had to get there in my opinion it was really not worth it. Especially after I found out that we could have gotten to all of the beautiful sites on flat ground as well!!!! LAME! When we got back I took it upon myself to wash my clothes in the bathtub. It was a great theory! The washing part went fine, but the drying part… Not so much effective.
Sunday was a better time then last week, but it was still interesting to need translation for all of the meetings. After church all of the BYU students went and chatted with the Branch President and we will be getting some kind of assignment for the next several weeks. It will be exciting! That’s for sure! (More information to come as it is available!) My laundry still wasn’t dry on Sunday so I resigned myself to go find a washer and drier on Monday.
We had classes Monday morning so after that one of the girls in my flat and I went and did our laundry together. It made it more affordable though (still about $9.00). During this time I set up a blog site for the family! Hooray! I’m really quite excited and feeling quite accomplished! The best part about doing my laundry in a real laundry setting is that it was DRY when I was done! Hooray for dry, non-smelly clothing! (Just for the record, nothing ever truly dries out here. It is always raining so it is always wet and humid. Just a note.) That night one of the Bishops from a surrounding area came and talked to us for an hour or so. He was a little kid during WWII and he was sent away during the Blitz bombing. It was really cool hearing him tell about the things he lived through and how it really was around here back then.
Tuesday was pretty amazing! In the morning I got some homework done and then I cleaned up and my flatmate and I went to the Tate Modern. It is a modern art gallery that is spectacular! I loved it! Not all modern art is my style, but some is really cool! They have Picasso, Monet, Pollock, Warhol, and Rodin. It was amazing! Some of the art is so moving! Monet’s water lilies, for example were so fabulous and in real life it is so much better! And Rodin’s The Kiss statue is one of the most moving pieces of art that I think I’ve ever seen. I don’t know of a more beautiful representation of gentle, tender, true love. I fell in love with something I had never known was inside of me before. I think it was a hope of what I can have someday. As a side note, on the way to the gallery I fell down some stairs. It was kind of awkward and wounded only my pride, but be way careful here. It rains and things get slippery, then you fall. On the way to our show that night Cabrina and I stopped and went on a tour of the Rose theatre. What a waste of money! It’s a good thing I only paid 5.50 for it! I would have been quite cross otherwise. I was anyway, so it was definitely good it wasn’t more! We didn’t even really get to see the real foundations though because it is covered with sand and water so to preserve it. Bummer! We went and saw the show Landscape With Weapon. It was really quite good! I was able to see it in a much different light then when I read it. All of the emotion was different. Much better in performance! When I got home, I had to finish my homework and I didn’t get to bed until 3:15 AM! Always an interesting time to go to bed when you have to get up in the morning and be productive.
Today was one of the more amazing days. I had class this morning and I was able to really give some cool insight into the costumes of the time. I always feel good about myself when I can help someone to learn something they find interesting. Then I took care of things around the flat. I tried to take up time as much as I could to see if we got some hot water back this evening, but I finally resigned myself to take a 40 degree shower. Never a good idea. I went out tonight with some of the girls and we first went to curry at this great Indian place then we went and saw Marry Poppins! There are no words to describe how perfect it was! It made me feel like I haven’t felt since I was a kid. There was something so magical about it! It was such a spectacle but it was so beautiful! It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen! I really have never seen a set work the way that one did, the costumes were breathtaking, and the magical parts were seamless! The performance was Practically Perfect in Every Way! Even though I am so curious how they did certain things (pulling the objects from her bag, etc) I don’t think I really want to know. I just want to be able to keep the magic of it forever. It really is just like when you are a kid and Disneyland seems to be the most magical place on the planet and I just never want to loose that. It was amazing! My flatmate quite nearly started our flat on fire tonight! She got home and hung her umbrella to dry above the electrical switch and it started sparking and smoking and everything! YIKES!!!! I was totally scared it was going to electrocute someone! The voltage over here is way higher and it was being really scary so we had the RA kill the breaker to the room and they are sending over an electrician in the morning. Good times with almost dieing! And that is another week in the life of me!
Comments
Your letters are so inviting, you make everyone wish they were there with you! We are happy you are having such a great time! I love you!
Love, Mom