Hello all :)
I had a great week with my parents here. My mom arrived last Thursday and my dad arrived on Friday, both very safely. Friday night we met up with the Hazeltons to go see "Wicked"...which was awesome!!!!!!!!! I loved it. I love "Wicked" and I've wanted to see it for two years now, so it was great to be able to see a show that I literally know every note and every word to, and also great to see the Hazeltons again. I also finished Chapter 6 on Friday! So the next installment on PhoenixSong went up on Saturday morning. Really exciting stuff for me as I hadn't posted a new chapter since December. Thanks to all who have left reviews so far. :)
On Saturday, we joined Caelah's group for a trip to Greenwich. We walked around for a while and we went to the Prime Meridian museum/observatory. We took a catamaran boat ride down the Thames to get there, which was really cool. It was nice seeing the area around the river. :) Mom, Dad, and I were really tired after that so we chilled out at my apartment with Whitney and Adam, and then I went down and hung out with with all the kids here for the weekend in the boys' apartment.
I showed the family St. George's on Sunday morning. They all really liked it, too. :) The whole church was really friendly and John Valentine did a sermon on Ephesians about experiencing the fullness of God...Sunday was Pentecost. Caelah had a class thing in the afternoon, and it was raining a lot, so I did lunch with the parents and then we went to the British Museum for a bit, then down to Covent Garden where we had afternoon tea. Mom and Dad were tired after that so they took naps while I did some more writing. We went to a late dinner at a French restaurant near their hotel.
We got out of London on Monday for a trip to Stonehenge and Avebury with the Hazeltons. Mom, Dad, and I took the train to Princes Risborough and then we drove 2 more hours to Stonehenge. It was kind of wet and cold and miserable outside, but we had a lot of fun hanging out and keeping one another warm and speculating about the purposes for the big rocks, since, as our wonderful audio guides informed us, they really have no idea about why Stonehenge exists. It was very enlightening. After a really nice lunch in Marlborough we drove to Avebury, a small town built literally inside of a henge (a circle of stones). It's the largest stone monument in the world in land area. It was really neat to see the various rocks scattered around the community, and see how the town was just literally built up inside of it. Caelah met us back in London for dinner in one of Dad's favorite locations, St. Christopher's Place. There are all kinds of different restaurants there, but we chose one specializing in Spanish Tapas. :)
Mom and I went with my class to Cambridge on Tuesday while Dad stayed in London to do work and prepare for his meeting on Wednesday. Another cold, wet, rainy, miserable day...but we still had fun. The early afternoon walking tour was a bit much, though the town is sooo nice. I preferred the size to Oxford's size. There was a lot more shopping than in Oxford, but less places to eat. Mom and I found a restaurant/student bar with Dima, Jenny, and Greg that specialized in wood fired pizza. They have all kinds of special meal deals...we each got a personal pizza and salad for four pounds! Definitely a student place, and there were a lot of kids studying as they're in exams right now. Tuesday night I went to a comedy show with Max, Lavinia, Becca, and Max's Uncle Eddie. It was hilarious! Mostly standup, political humor. We really enjoyed it.
Wednesday was Mom and Dad's last day in London, and Dad spent the whole day working. Mom and I met up with Caelah for a long lunch before she joined the class again for a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. It took them 10 years to rebuild the Globe from 1987-1997 because they built it in exactly the same way it would have been built in the 1500s...which means they had to carve these huge nails by hand. Each one takes an hour and a half to make, and there are over a thousand of them. We couldn't take pictures because they're rehearsing for "The Merchant of Venice" which opens this Saturday, but we got to see the final blocking process, which was really cool. :) Mom and I got our fill of modern art at the Tate Modern afterwards, which is right next door. It was cool seeing a lot of the art that I got to study in world history in high school and also in some of my history classes at W&L. Mom went back to her hotel after that and I got ready to go back to the Globe that night to see "Othello" with the class. Max, Lavinia, Adam, Whitney, and I didn't quite leave enough time for us to enjoy a meal before the play, so we had to get take out and eat it really fast in front of the theater! The performance was alright, it kind of seemed like a read through, though the second half was better than the first. It was hard to understand what the actors were saying since Shakespearean language is so fancy and word-filled, they weren't miked, and the theater is open air. But, it was still really cool seeing the play the way in a similar setting to how it was originally performed.
We were supposed to have two speakers today, Thursday, but the one this morning on Northern Ireland cancelled because she was sick. I was really bummed cause I was interested in hearing her. Adam has had this semi-obsession with wanting to go see this guy, Jeremy Bentham, who was preserved after he died and whose body is on display at the College of London. So, he roped us (Whitney, Lavinia, Becca, Robin, Lauren, and me) into going and we did. We found Jeremy. It was kind of creepy, but still interesting. Google him and you can see what we saw. ;) After that, I went with Michael, Lavinia, and Mason to indulge Michael's fancy to see this pub called The Holly Bush in Hampstead. His father really wanted him to go there, and it was easily accessible on the Northern Line...though pretty far out. Lucky still in Zone 2 with our Oyster cards. The pub was really old and really nice, kind of tucked away at the top of this hill. We spent a while there and then walked around Hampstead for a bit before taking the tube back down to central London. In about an hour we have our second speaker on the European Union and tonight we're going to see a show called "Whipping It Up" which is apparently a political satire.
Time to do some more writing before class :)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Equus Report
For all those who are interested...
No, I didn't go to see Equus, but half of our group did. Here are some of their thoughts...
First of all, at least for me, it's not worth the money, mostly because they poke fun at religion. It's a good show, but no one would really think to go see it if Daniel Radcliffe weren't in it. Apparently it's very graphic, the whole premise is very disturbing, though still interesting.
The main character worships horses, though he doesn't ever "do" anything with them. Daniel is naked on stage for about five minutes, along with a naked woman...
The girls say that the girl in the show looked a lot taller than him. They think that Daniel is about 5'7" or 5'8". He just looked really tiny compared to the other actors...but he's been working out a lot. He's really scrawny, but really muscular.
Again, this is the other girls reporting, not me.
He's a really good actor in person, though. They say that it proves he's capable of doing more than Harry Potter and they really think that he's going to go a long way. And, for a seventeen year old to have done this show since February every night? That's pretty impressive.
The actor who plays Uncle Vernon in Harry Potter was also in the show. The girls say that he's really good, too. There was a very simple setting, mostly just with boxes. They say that the horses were creepy, especially when they come down from the ceiling, but really good actors...they really sounded and acted like horses. It was apparently a VERY weird show and they aren't so much fans.
And it got a standing ovation. But they think that that might just be standard now.
No, I didn't go to see Equus, but half of our group did. Here are some of their thoughts...
First of all, at least for me, it's not worth the money, mostly because they poke fun at religion. It's a good show, but no one would really think to go see it if Daniel Radcliffe weren't in it. Apparently it's very graphic, the whole premise is very disturbing, though still interesting.
The main character worships horses, though he doesn't ever "do" anything with them. Daniel is naked on stage for about five minutes, along with a naked woman...
The girls say that the girl in the show looked a lot taller than him. They think that Daniel is about 5'7" or 5'8". He just looked really tiny compared to the other actors...but he's been working out a lot. He's really scrawny, but really muscular.
Again, this is the other girls reporting, not me.
He's a really good actor in person, though. They say that it proves he's capable of doing more than Harry Potter and they really think that he's going to go a long way. And, for a seventeen year old to have done this show since February every night? That's pretty impressive.
The actor who plays Uncle Vernon in Harry Potter was also in the show. The girls say that he's really good, too. There was a very simple setting, mostly just with boxes. They say that the horses were creepy, especially when they come down from the ceiling, but really good actors...they really sounded and acted like horses. It was apparently a VERY weird show and they aren't so much fans.
And it got a standing ovation. But they think that that might just be standard now.
The Guardian......or, Abri's Views Are Validated
Making up for the silence of this week...
Mom arrived safely, and Dad is on his way, too. Caelah and I took Mom to a nice little deli near her hotel and ate a late lunch before I had to meet some of the guys to walk to The Guardian. It was really great just eating and talking with them. :) The three of us haven't had a meal just us in a while. At 3, I met up with Max, Michael, Mason, and Greg to be the navigator for The Guardian. I had written down the directions because I really wanted to walk since it was such a nice day out.
This was definitely one of my favorite classes. We didn't get a tour of the newsroom like they said we were going to, sadly, but we did get to talk to a cool guy, Martin Kettle. He writes a lot of their opinion columns. I really liked hearing his opinions because they echoed a lot of my own.
The Guardian, like any respectable paper, believes that fact and opinion should be kept separate. They even go so far as to create a distinct section of their paper, like most papers do for editorials and opinions...but they let their reporters write opinions that are contrary to what the editor feels. I thought that was cool. They think that every person in the newsroom should be able to have their own opinion and not have to subscribe to an overarching one.
Kettle explained more fully why the nature of UK papers as being national papers is important: they report less on local issues because they are reporting for a wide audience, also it's more typical for them to support parties because it's national politics that matters and not local elections. It also makes it easier for the government to regulate the broadcast media, but that means that they have to be more careful in their coverage. I was really happy that Kettle agreed with me that government regulation of media is a bad thing. :)
Kettle also thinks that privacy laws should be tightened. Now, I know that most journalists would say that a regulation on privacy is a bad idea, but I think that in the UK it would be a good thing because it would force certain papers (like The News of the World) to report on important issues and not create scandals to discredit politicians. Here, privacy laws would force real, investigative reporting rather than attempts at journalism by fake reporters trying to trick politicians into confessions.
Oh no, I don't have an opinion at all. :) I really don't like tabloid reporters giving journalists a bad name. I did think it was interesting, though, that Kettle said most UK journalists don't feel that journalism is a serious profession the way that US journalists do, so most of them don't make a big deal out of ethical and legal issues. Made sense to me with what I've seen so far with UK journalism. Kind of sad.
I went to dinner with Max and Lavinia after that. We found a restaurant specializing in Singaporean (is that a word?) food. It was reallllllly good, and I got to show off my chopstick skills. After that I watched the finale of LOST. Umm...yeah....ABC is pretty much destroying my life between LOST and Grey's. Even the finale of October Road was a little messed up. Perhaps when I watch season 3 of House, Fox will redeem my faith in television shows.
That said, I can't wait until fall when the shows resume.
Except LOST doesn't resume til 2008.
Sigh. Majorly.
Mom arrived safely, and Dad is on his way, too. Caelah and I took Mom to a nice little deli near her hotel and ate a late lunch before I had to meet some of the guys to walk to The Guardian. It was really great just eating and talking with them. :) The three of us haven't had a meal just us in a while. At 3, I met up with Max, Michael, Mason, and Greg to be the navigator for The Guardian. I had written down the directions because I really wanted to walk since it was such a nice day out.
This was definitely one of my favorite classes. We didn't get a tour of the newsroom like they said we were going to, sadly, but we did get to talk to a cool guy, Martin Kettle. He writes a lot of their opinion columns. I really liked hearing his opinions because they echoed a lot of my own.
The Guardian, like any respectable paper, believes that fact and opinion should be kept separate. They even go so far as to create a distinct section of their paper, like most papers do for editorials and opinions...but they let their reporters write opinions that are contrary to what the editor feels. I thought that was cool. They think that every person in the newsroom should be able to have their own opinion and not have to subscribe to an overarching one.
Kettle explained more fully why the nature of UK papers as being national papers is important: they report less on local issues because they are reporting for a wide audience, also it's more typical for them to support parties because it's national politics that matters and not local elections. It also makes it easier for the government to regulate the broadcast media, but that means that they have to be more careful in their coverage. I was really happy that Kettle agreed with me that government regulation of media is a bad thing. :)
Kettle also thinks that privacy laws should be tightened. Now, I know that most journalists would say that a regulation on privacy is a bad idea, but I think that in the UK it would be a good thing because it would force certain papers (like The News of the World) to report on important issues and not create scandals to discredit politicians. Here, privacy laws would force real, investigative reporting rather than attempts at journalism by fake reporters trying to trick politicians into confessions.
Oh no, I don't have an opinion at all. :) I really don't like tabloid reporters giving journalists a bad name. I did think it was interesting, though, that Kettle said most UK journalists don't feel that journalism is a serious profession the way that US journalists do, so most of them don't make a big deal out of ethical and legal issues. Made sense to me with what I've seen so far with UK journalism. Kind of sad.
I went to dinner with Max and Lavinia after that. We found a restaurant specializing in Singaporean (is that a word?) food. It was reallllllly good, and I got to show off my chopstick skills. After that I watched the finale of LOST. Umm...yeah....ABC is pretty much destroying my life between LOST and Grey's. Even the finale of October Road was a little messed up. Perhaps when I watch season 3 of House, Fox will redeem my faith in television shows.
That said, I can't wait until fall when the shows resume.
Except LOST doesn't resume til 2008.
Sigh. Majorly.
Another Postscript
Not to worry, I have not exhibited any signs of the sickness that has been plaguing everyone else :) let's keep praying that I never do
Update :)
Hello all!
Sorry that I haven't been updating over the past couple days. The internet has been spotty in the flat, so I wouldn't have been able to update from the comfort of my living room, haha, but also we really haven't been doing a whole lot worth writing an essay about. Here is a summary:
Sunday I was told that the Sunday evening services were better for college aged people, so I didn't go to church in the morning. I spent most of the day doing laundry, writing, and relaxing, and then I went to St. George's Holborn just a few streets away. It's affiliated with HTB, it's a whole lot closer (8 minute walk), and I wasn't really in the mood for walking a bunch and taking the tube. :) The sermon was excellent, and so was the worship. I knew most of the songs! It was their monthly communion service as well...but they did it a bit differently (different for the people going there as well). They had everyone come up to the front and worship for a bit, then then we all took communion together up there. It was cool. :) The people there were very friendly. There were 30-40 people at the service, I'd say, and about a third of them were college students. After the service, a couple of them came up and asked me who I was and I sat and chatted with the students for about an hour or so. Whitney, Adam, Robin, Lauren, and Michael got back that night...all of them sick. I started to get a little worried.
Monday Since people were sick, we decided that hanging around the flats would probably be a good idea. I worked on my story some more (nearly done with chapter 6) and in the afternoon we called Caelah and she came to hang out with us, too. :) We sat and talked for a really long time, then went to a Japanese take out place that Caelah had found, and came back to catch up on Grey's Anatomy on my computer. ;) Then we sat and talked some more. Whitney and I were up really late and it was really fun to catch up with her, something we really hadn't done since freshman year. We agreed that we're getting a lot more sentimental since we're getting to be seniors, and this next year is going to be really interesting. Lots of thinking...but I love "life talks." Though I do miss having life talks with Rachel. You haven't been replaced, darling.
Tuesday At this point we discovered that almost everybody on the entire trip was sick. Some kind of flu. Only me and a couple others who hadn't gone away over the weekend were immune. I finished my journals in the morning and then we all trekked over to the Houses of Parliament again for another tour and a meeting with Kevan Jones, a Labour MP. He wasn't too spectacular, just kind of gave the answers we were expecting. No fun stories or anything. After that we waited in line for over an hour to see the House of Commons in session. Again, really interesting and cool, but nothing too spectacular. They were discussing health issues. We stayed for about half an hour and by then it was 3:30 so we were really hungry and went in search of food.
That night Robin and I went to St. George's again for their college group. About seven or so other college kids were there, a couple of whom I had met on Sunday night. We talked and ate for about an hour and a half or so, then we sang a couple songs and prayed for a while. It was really cool being able to talk with kids our age about God, life, school, politics, differences between the UK and US, all kinds of stuff. :) And to get to worship and pray with them was awesome as well. After that, Robin and I watched the finale for Grey's. All I have to say is...wow. I won't torture you, Rachel. That's the last Grey's comment, I promise.
I got my summer working schedule for USA Today also. It changes a couple times during the summer, and I sadly have to work on three Sundays (including Father's Day), but it's not too bad. I know it could be worse. :) And I'm still really excited for it.
Wednesday We met with Lord Alton in the morning and had a chat with him, and we met with Charles Pitt, a guy who works for Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, in the afternoon, so we didn't have a whole lot of time inbetween to do anything interesting. People took naps (many of them still sick) and others read books or wrote them ;) (like me). The W&L alumni reception was in the evening, and I got to see Ali Woodend! She is a lovely girl in my pledge class for Pi Phi who was an exchange student from St. Andrews in Scotland my freshman year (obviously, since she's in my pledge class). She is from High Wycombe, which is near where the Hazeltons live, and she works in London so she decided to stop by the reception, since she is an alumna. :) We had a really great time catching up on our lives and on everything going on back in Lexington.
After that, it got a little confusing. W&L receptions mean lots of wine, and not a lot of food, so some people had had a bit too much to drink, but a lot of them wanted to go to a pub to watch the end of the Liverpool v. Milan football (soccer :-P) game. Some others of us wanted to go back to the flats to change and THEN watch the game. We split up into two groups, and then four, and then we just couldn't find each other anymore, so I went to go get pizza (finally some food!) with Max, Robin, Whitney, and Adam. At 10:00. We met up with the rest of the kids around 11 to hang out for a bit, but then we were really tired so it was bedtime.
My parents were supposed to arrive yesterday, but they were delayed for a bit. Mom is on her way right now, and Dad will get here sometime this weekend, hopefully before tomorrow so that he can see Wicked!
So there's the update. Not too many plans for today. When Mom gets in, she and I are going to grab some lunch and hang out. The class is going to see the newsroom at The Guardian this afternoon which should be really interesting. Some kids are going to see shows tonight, but I'll probably hang out with Mom and Caelah. :) Another four day weekend coming up, so we have a lot to plan.
Happily, the weather has been very nice. We've all been in summer clothes. Sadly, it is going to get cold and rainy again before we leave. Oh well. We're going back to the sunny States!
Sorry that I haven't been updating over the past couple days. The internet has been spotty in the flat, so I wouldn't have been able to update from the comfort of my living room, haha, but also we really haven't been doing a whole lot worth writing an essay about. Here is a summary:
Sunday I was told that the Sunday evening services were better for college aged people, so I didn't go to church in the morning. I spent most of the day doing laundry, writing, and relaxing, and then I went to St. George's Holborn just a few streets away. It's affiliated with HTB, it's a whole lot closer (8 minute walk), and I wasn't really in the mood for walking a bunch and taking the tube. :) The sermon was excellent, and so was the worship. I knew most of the songs! It was their monthly communion service as well...but they did it a bit differently (different for the people going there as well). They had everyone come up to the front and worship for a bit, then then we all took communion together up there. It was cool. :) The people there were very friendly. There were 30-40 people at the service, I'd say, and about a third of them were college students. After the service, a couple of them came up and asked me who I was and I sat and chatted with the students for about an hour or so. Whitney, Adam, Robin, Lauren, and Michael got back that night...all of them sick. I started to get a little worried.
Monday Since people were sick, we decided that hanging around the flats would probably be a good idea. I worked on my story some more (nearly done with chapter 6) and in the afternoon we called Caelah and she came to hang out with us, too. :) We sat and talked for a really long time, then went to a Japanese take out place that Caelah had found, and came back to catch up on Grey's Anatomy on my computer. ;) Then we sat and talked some more. Whitney and I were up really late and it was really fun to catch up with her, something we really hadn't done since freshman year. We agreed that we're getting a lot more sentimental since we're getting to be seniors, and this next year is going to be really interesting. Lots of thinking...but I love "life talks." Though I do miss having life talks with Rachel. You haven't been replaced, darling.
Tuesday At this point we discovered that almost everybody on the entire trip was sick. Some kind of flu. Only me and a couple others who hadn't gone away over the weekend were immune. I finished my journals in the morning and then we all trekked over to the Houses of Parliament again for another tour and a meeting with Kevan Jones, a Labour MP. He wasn't too spectacular, just kind of gave the answers we were expecting. No fun stories or anything. After that we waited in line for over an hour to see the House of Commons in session. Again, really interesting and cool, but nothing too spectacular. They were discussing health issues. We stayed for about half an hour and by then it was 3:30 so we were really hungry and went in search of food.
That night Robin and I went to St. George's again for their college group. About seven or so other college kids were there, a couple of whom I had met on Sunday night. We talked and ate for about an hour and a half or so, then we sang a couple songs and prayed for a while. It was really cool being able to talk with kids our age about God, life, school, politics, differences between the UK and US, all kinds of stuff. :) And to get to worship and pray with them was awesome as well. After that, Robin and I watched the finale for Grey's. All I have to say is...wow. I won't torture you, Rachel. That's the last Grey's comment, I promise.
I got my summer working schedule for USA Today also. It changes a couple times during the summer, and I sadly have to work on three Sundays (including Father's Day), but it's not too bad. I know it could be worse. :) And I'm still really excited for it.
Wednesday We met with Lord Alton in the morning and had a chat with him, and we met with Charles Pitt, a guy who works for Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, in the afternoon, so we didn't have a whole lot of time inbetween to do anything interesting. People took naps (many of them still sick) and others read books or wrote them ;) (like me). The W&L alumni reception was in the evening, and I got to see Ali Woodend! She is a lovely girl in my pledge class for Pi Phi who was an exchange student from St. Andrews in Scotland my freshman year (obviously, since she's in my pledge class). She is from High Wycombe, which is near where the Hazeltons live, and she works in London so she decided to stop by the reception, since she is an alumna. :) We had a really great time catching up on our lives and on everything going on back in Lexington.
After that, it got a little confusing. W&L receptions mean lots of wine, and not a lot of food, so some people had had a bit too much to drink, but a lot of them wanted to go to a pub to watch the end of the Liverpool v. Milan football (soccer :-P) game. Some others of us wanted to go back to the flats to change and THEN watch the game. We split up into two groups, and then four, and then we just couldn't find each other anymore, so I went to go get pizza (finally some food!) with Max, Robin, Whitney, and Adam. At 10:00. We met up with the rest of the kids around 11 to hang out for a bit, but then we were really tired so it was bedtime.
My parents were supposed to arrive yesterday, but they were delayed for a bit. Mom is on her way right now, and Dad will get here sometime this weekend, hopefully before tomorrow so that he can see Wicked!
So there's the update. Not too many plans for today. When Mom gets in, she and I are going to grab some lunch and hang out. The class is going to see the newsroom at The Guardian this afternoon which should be really interesting. Some kids are going to see shows tonight, but I'll probably hang out with Mom and Caelah. :) Another four day weekend coming up, so we have a lot to plan.
Happily, the weather has been very nice. We've all been in summer clothes. Sadly, it is going to get cold and rainy again before we leave. Oh well. We're going back to the sunny States!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Worship Central
Well, I'm exhausted, but it was a really great day. I think I may have been the only American there, haha, because they asked who was there from overseas and only a handful of people raised their hands. :) So, I'm really too tired right now to do the subject justice, but I will give a full write up of everything tomorrow, including speakers notes and things like that.
The conference had a main session in the morning, then break for lunch, then workshops, a break, workshops repeated, another break, and then the final session went from 6:30-8:30. I got back to my flat around 9:30 because I had to take the tube back for quite a few stations and do some walking. The workshops that I chose to go to focused on vocal performance and developing one's technique so that one can focus better on leading in worship and less on how one sounds. It was a lot like a University Chorus class, actually, which was kind of fun.
The morning session speaker, Amy Ewing, spoke about the magnificence of Christ and His qualities as revealed through seven miracles in the book of John. The evening session speaker was Tim Hughes (surprise surprise :) not that I was complaining) and he spoke about worship and injustice. Very interesting.
I also got to know a really nice man named John who happened to sit next to me at the morning session and who had also come alone. He's a worship leader at a church near Windsor, but he lived in the States for some years as he works for Microsoft. Since we didn't really know anybody else there, we hung out for the day and had some really great discussions about worship, the church, USA vs UK, churches in both the US and the UK, politics (since I'm here for a politics class anyway, haha), college systems (he went to Cambridge), and fun things like that. It was really a blessing to have someone to talk to throughout the day and to have company during the lunch and other breaks. God knows what He's doing when He brings people places. :)
So, between doing a LOT of singing, talking, notetaking, walking, and listening, I'm really tired. It's only 10:00, but I think I might be headed to bed by 10:30 or 10:45. :-P Lame, I know. But there's no one here to entertain me (haha), we only get four channels on the television, and I don't have enough bandwidth to watch anything on my computer. I definitely don't have enough energy to be creative. :-P Perhaps I'll read a book. Anyway, there's my very brief report about the day. Sunny weather again! And we're supposed to have it tomorrow, too. Lovely.
The conference had a main session in the morning, then break for lunch, then workshops, a break, workshops repeated, another break, and then the final session went from 6:30-8:30. I got back to my flat around 9:30 because I had to take the tube back for quite a few stations and do some walking. The workshops that I chose to go to focused on vocal performance and developing one's technique so that one can focus better on leading in worship and less on how one sounds. It was a lot like a University Chorus class, actually, which was kind of fun.
The morning session speaker, Amy Ewing, spoke about the magnificence of Christ and His qualities as revealed through seven miracles in the book of John. The evening session speaker was Tim Hughes (surprise surprise :) not that I was complaining) and he spoke about worship and injustice. Very interesting.
I also got to know a really nice man named John who happened to sit next to me at the morning session and who had also come alone. He's a worship leader at a church near Windsor, but he lived in the States for some years as he works for Microsoft. Since we didn't really know anybody else there, we hung out for the day and had some really great discussions about worship, the church, USA vs UK, churches in both the US and the UK, politics (since I'm here for a politics class anyway, haha), college systems (he went to Cambridge), and fun things like that. It was really a blessing to have someone to talk to throughout the day and to have company during the lunch and other breaks. God knows what He's doing when He brings people places. :)
So, between doing a LOT of singing, talking, notetaking, walking, and listening, I'm really tired. It's only 10:00, but I think I might be headed to bed by 10:30 or 10:45. :-P Lame, I know. But there's no one here to entertain me (haha), we only get four channels on the television, and I don't have enough bandwidth to watch anything on my computer. I definitely don't have enough energy to be creative. :-P Perhaps I'll read a book. Anyway, there's my very brief report about the day. Sunny weather again! And we're supposed to have it tomorrow, too. Lovely.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Postscript
Brian pointed out that the reason my internet is working now is probably because the weather has been nice. There has been no rain interference. I think he's probably right, so pray for good weather and no rain! :)
Abri's Walking Tour of Beautiful Places
Hello all :)
Pictures added to Album II from Walkabout and of my dorm area:
http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059
My photographic adventure: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012903&l=a1992&id=19000059
Today was a lovely day. So lovely that I got to wear a tank top and flip flops and walk around the city taking pictures and embracing my creative side. I was in heaven. After sleeping in, I sadly woke up to an empty flat. Everyone else is gone this weekend to various locations around Europe, but I've decided to stay to see Caelah and to go to the worship conference tomorrow. Caelah arrived in London around 6 am, but she did not get to her flat until around 1:15 or so. I know because I went there to wait for her. :)
Caelah's flat is only about eight minutes walking distance from mine. I went around noon, figuring that they had to have arrived by then, but no. A plane was late, or something like that. So I ran some errands and then came back an hour later in time to meet her as soon as she arrived. :) And carry some of her stuff upstairs. She had to start her super busy orientation weekend pretty much right away, but we still managed to get four or five hugs in during the ten minutes we were together. As Rachel says, we are the "huggy family."
I spent the afternoon walking around London taking pictures. It was such a beautiful day that I knew I couldn't waste it. I decided to start in Russell Square, a park closer to Caelah's flat than mine that is really pretty. After that I took the tube one stop up to Kings Cross because I just had to find Platform 9 3/4. :) It's so close, but it's kind of confusing. There's a lot of construction around it. I did manage to find it, though, as the pictures will attest. :) After that, I took the tube all the way down to the Tower again because I wanted to get some pictures along the Thames. Along the way a musician hopped on my
I wasn't planning on walking all the way from the Tower Bridge to the Millenium Bridge, but I did. It took me about an hour. It's a pretty long walk, and parts of it are a little sketchy because of construction, but it was really pretty and I enjoyed it. What I did not realize was that the Millenium Bridge is literally right by St. Paul's Cathedral. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it when I turned around on the bridge!
It was around 4:40 by this point. I headed over to the church and took some pictures in the courtyard, and then made it inside for Evensong at 5:00, the evening service at the cathedral every day. It is a combination of Vespers and Compline written by Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a sung service, so it's more of a listening thing than a participation thing, but it was still really meaningful and I enjoyed it a lot. The ten or so men who sang the liturgies blended really well. I was one of forty-five people who got to sit in the front of the church near the choir, where everything was going on. :) So that was really cool. I also got to go into the church for free because I went for a service! Very exciting.
I was really hungry by that point so I came back to the flat, made some dinner, and then did picked up a bit. Talked to the family and Brian for a while, and now I'm going to get a good night's rest before my worship fun tomorrow! Wonderful day, sweet dreams to all...
Pictures added to Album II from Walkabout and of my dorm area:
http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059
My photographic adventure: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012903&l=a1992&id=19000059
Today was a lovely day. So lovely that I got to wear a tank top and flip flops and walk around the city taking pictures and embracing my creative side. I was in heaven. After sleeping in, I sadly woke up to an empty flat. Everyone else is gone this weekend to various locations around Europe, but I've decided to stay to see Caelah and to go to the worship conference tomorrow. Caelah arrived in London around 6 am, but she did not get to her flat until around 1:15 or so. I know because I went there to wait for her. :)
Caelah's flat is only about eight minutes walking distance from mine. I went around noon, figuring that they had to have arrived by then, but no. A plane was late, or something like that. So I ran some errands and then came back an hour later in time to meet her as soon as she arrived. :) And carry some of her stuff upstairs. She had to start her super busy orientation weekend pretty much right away, but we still managed to get four or five hugs in during the ten minutes we were together. As Rachel says, we are the "huggy family."
I spent the afternoon walking around London taking pictures. It was such a beautiful day that I knew I couldn't waste it. I decided to start in Russell Square, a park closer to Caelah's flat than mine that is really pretty. After that I took the tube one stop up to Kings Cross because I just had to find Platform 9 3/4. :) It's so close, but it's kind of confusing. There's a lot of construction around it. I did manage to find it, though, as the pictures will attest. :) After that, I took the tube all the way down to the Tower again because I wanted to get some pictures along the Thames. Along the way a musician hopped on my
I wasn't planning on walking all the way from the Tower Bridge to the Millenium Bridge, but I did. It took me about an hour. It's a pretty long walk, and parts of it are a little sketchy because of construction, but it was really pretty and I enjoyed it. What I did not realize was that the Millenium Bridge is literally right by St. Paul's Cathedral. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it when I turned around on the bridge!
It was around 4:40 by this point. I headed over to the church and took some pictures in the courtyard, and then made it inside for Evensong at 5:00, the evening service at the cathedral every day. It is a combination of Vespers and Compline written by Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a sung service, so it's more of a listening thing than a participation thing, but it was still really meaningful and I enjoyed it a lot. The ten or so men who sang the liturgies blended really well. I was one of forty-five people who got to sit in the front of the church near the choir, where everything was going on. :) So that was really cool. I also got to go into the church for free because I went for a service! Very exciting.
I was really hungry by that point so I came back to the flat, made some dinner, and then did picked up a bit. Talked to the family and Brian for a while, and now I'm going to get a good night's rest before my worship fun tomorrow! Wonderful day, sweet dreams to all...
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Lazy Day
Sorry for the lack of earlier update, but we didn't do much today. Probably because we all went out last night. The whole lot of us (ha British talk) went to a bar called Walkabout because it was their student night. The W&L Theater group was there, too, so we took over a section of the club for our own use. We had a really great time, and I was part of the early returning group that came back at 1 am, heh. The rest of them came back much later. So, we were all a bit tired today.
This morning we had a class with Lembit Opik, one of the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party here in the UK. He has a strange name because his parents are from Estonia, though he was born in Northern Ireland. If you read the Wikipedia article he seems a bit...off-color? and maybe he is, but he was hilarious, and really smart. We talked about third parties and why they're important (he says to be the conscience of a country), why the Lib Dems are clearly the best party for the UK, UK and US politics, how he would like to see the country run, and the truth, politics, politicians, and the media. I wasn't in total agreement with, well, a good deal of what he said, but he was really engaging and it was a good way to spend a morning.
After that we all just kind of bummed around all afternoon. Lavinia and I went to some cell phone shops and found a very decently priced one for me, so if you feel like you'd like to have that number, let me know. Some kids ran errands or did laundry. Most of them are leaving at some point tonight to go to various European destinations (Paris, Brussells, and Edinburgh are the big contenders this weekend), so they spent the day getting ready to go. I'm staying here to play with Caelah (who arrives tomorrow morning at 6!) and to go to the worship conference at Holy Trinity Brompton.
I checked out HTB earlier this evening at a prayer/worship thing. It's a very pretty, old church and I really enjoyed by time there. I think the conference on Saturday is going to be great. After that, I watched LOST online (ohhhh goodness....) and I've been wasting time away on the internet in my flat for the past two hours. Yes! Internet! IN the flat! It randomly started working yesterday afternoon. I have no idea why, and I have no idea what I did or if I did anything at all to make it work, but I'm not complaining. I had been working on chapter 6 of my current fic for a couple hours and the internet was just randomly connected. I was ecstatic. And it hasn't gone out! Let's pray that it doesn't. :)
Okay, I think those are all the pertinent details. Can't wait to see my Caelah!
This morning we had a class with Lembit Opik, one of the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party here in the UK. He has a strange name because his parents are from Estonia, though he was born in Northern Ireland. If you read the Wikipedia article he seems a bit...off-color? and maybe he is, but he was hilarious, and really smart. We talked about third parties and why they're important (he says to be the conscience of a country), why the Lib Dems are clearly the best party for the UK, UK and US politics, how he would like to see the country run, and the truth, politics, politicians, and the media. I wasn't in total agreement with, well, a good deal of what he said, but he was really engaging and it was a good way to spend a morning.
After that we all just kind of bummed around all afternoon. Lavinia and I went to some cell phone shops and found a very decently priced one for me, so if you feel like you'd like to have that number, let me know. Some kids ran errands or did laundry. Most of them are leaving at some point tonight to go to various European destinations (Paris, Brussells, and Edinburgh are the big contenders this weekend), so they spent the day getting ready to go. I'm staying here to play with Caelah (who arrives tomorrow morning at 6!) and to go to the worship conference at Holy Trinity Brompton.
I checked out HTB earlier this evening at a prayer/worship thing. It's a very pretty, old church and I really enjoyed by time there. I think the conference on Saturday is going to be great. After that, I watched LOST online (ohhhh goodness....) and I've been wasting time away on the internet in my flat for the past two hours. Yes! Internet! IN the flat! It randomly started working yesterday afternoon. I have no idea why, and I have no idea what I did or if I did anything at all to make it work, but I'm not complaining. I had been working on chapter 6 of my current fic for a couple hours and the internet was just randomly connected. I was ecstatic. And it hasn't gone out! Let's pray that it doesn't. :)
Okay, I think those are all the pertinent details. Can't wait to see my Caelah!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Parliament and Westminster
First off, more pictures are up! From Stratford, St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Access here: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059
So, clearly, today we went to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We had a tour of the House of Commons, House of Lords, the hallways in-between, and the oldest chapel part also that I forget the name of. But it's been around for a long time. It was cool learning about the political system again from British eyes and seeing how it worked in action. Then we had a class with Lord Geddes who was really interesting to listen to.
After that, Max, Michael, Lavinia, Becca, Robin, and I went to lunch at a Methodist church that has a cafe with really nicely priced, and very tasty, food. It was right across the street from Westminster Abbey, which is also across the street from Parliament, so it was perfectly placed. Westminster Abbey is AMAZING! It's really pretty, and it was fun seeing where all sorts of people are buried (Georg Friedrich Handel, Geoffrey Chaucer, David Livingstone, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward the Confessor...just to name a few...). No pictures allowed inside again. I'm beginning to think this is an awful English trend. Most places in Germany and Spain allowed photographs. I'm really sad. But, it was still really cool to see where every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned, and to see some really old church ruins from the 1000s. Quite intriguing.
I can't wait to see Caelah very soon. :) She comes to London on Friday. Not sure what the plans are for tonight. I'm going to go find some dinner. :) Hope all is well! Enjoy the pictures.
So, clearly, today we went to Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We had a tour of the House of Commons, House of Lords, the hallways in-between, and the oldest chapel part also that I forget the name of. But it's been around for a long time. It was cool learning about the political system again from British eyes and seeing how it worked in action. Then we had a class with Lord Geddes who was really interesting to listen to.
After that, Max, Michael, Lavinia, Becca, Robin, and I went to lunch at a Methodist church that has a cafe with really nicely priced, and very tasty, food. It was right across the street from Westminster Abbey, which is also across the street from Parliament, so it was perfectly placed. Westminster Abbey is AMAZING! It's really pretty, and it was fun seeing where all sorts of people are buried (Georg Friedrich Handel, Geoffrey Chaucer, David Livingstone, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward the Confessor...just to name a few...). No pictures allowed inside again. I'm beginning to think this is an awful English trend. Most places in Germany and Spain allowed photographs. I'm really sad. But, it was still really cool to see where every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned, and to see some really old church ruins from the 1000s. Quite intriguing.
I can't wait to see Caelah very soon. :) She comes to London on Friday. Not sure what the plans are for tonight. I'm going to go find some dinner. :) Hope all is well! Enjoy the pictures.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?
Brief summary of the awesome-ness of today:
Other than that, Churchill is pretty cool. The museum was very interactive and I learned a lot about Churchill. The people at Scotland Yard were really interesting, too. We asked them various questions, mostly focusing on different aspects of gun control, civil rights of prisoners, right to a fair trial vs. giving the media a chance to report on court proceedings, and where to draw the line for the actions of policemen, ie how much power they should have. Good morning debate. Robin, Lauren, and I also enjoyed a very nice English breakfast this morning that kept me pretty full throughout the rest of the day.
And, of course, Trafalgar Square. I was so excited when we looked on the map and saw how close we were to it. For those who don't know, I used it as a scene in a story I wrote in high school once, because of the fountains. A couple of friends and I had decided that it would be a wonderful idea to take a picture in a fountain at a town center nearby after enjoying a lovely dinner to celebrate the end of AP exams junior year of high school. Yeah...we got yelled at...by a rent-a-cop...but he let us take pictures with him, haha. The scene was kind of based on that.
So I got a picture of myself near a sign that said something about how the public isn't supposed to swim in the fountain. I couldn't resist. Oh, and I climbed up one of the blocks upon which the four lions sit around Nelson Column to take a picture. Well, Michael gave me a boost so that I could get up there. It was fun. :) Pictures will be up soon, I promise.
And clearly, any square dedicated to someone with the last name of Nelson is an awesome place. Period.
Oh, we're going to go try to see Equus tomorrow.
- interview with cool people at Scotland Yard, very interesting and engaging
- lunch in St. James Park
- Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum...I never realized he was so cool
- Visit to Trafalgar Square on the way back (who reading this remembers the fountain scene in "How Many Ways"? and/or the RTC fountain fiasco after the AP US History exam junior year that I based it on...there can't be many of you ;) but let me know if you do! cause that's where I was today)
- Les Miserables...seven rows back...oh...my....goodness...
Other than that, Churchill is pretty cool. The museum was very interactive and I learned a lot about Churchill. The people at Scotland Yard were really interesting, too. We asked them various questions, mostly focusing on different aspects of gun control, civil rights of prisoners, right to a fair trial vs. giving the media a chance to report on court proceedings, and where to draw the line for the actions of policemen, ie how much power they should have. Good morning debate. Robin, Lauren, and I also enjoyed a very nice English breakfast this morning that kept me pretty full throughout the rest of the day.
And, of course, Trafalgar Square. I was so excited when we looked on the map and saw how close we were to it. For those who don't know, I used it as a scene in a story I wrote in high school once, because of the fountains. A couple of friends and I had decided that it would be a wonderful idea to take a picture in a fountain at a town center nearby after enjoying a lovely dinner to celebrate the end of AP exams junior year of high school. Yeah...we got yelled at...by a rent-a-cop...but he let us take pictures with him, haha. The scene was kind of based on that.
So I got a picture of myself near a sign that said something about how the public isn't supposed to swim in the fountain. I couldn't resist. Oh, and I climbed up one of the blocks upon which the four lions sit around Nelson Column to take a picture. Well, Michael gave me a boost so that I could get up there. It was fun. :) Pictures will be up soon, I promise.
And clearly, any square dedicated to someone with the last name of Nelson is an awesome place. Period.
Oh, we're going to go try to see Equus tomorrow.
Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.
They will live again in freedom
In the garden of the Lord.
They will walk behind the plough-share,
They will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
And all men will have their reward.
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...
Tomorrow comes!
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.
They will live again in freedom
In the garden of the Lord.
They will walk behind the plough-share,
They will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
And all men will have their reward.
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!
Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...
Tomorrow comes!
Monday, May 14, 2007
Much Ado About Nothing
Hello all!
Sorry about my hiatus. Yesterday was a rainy day, so we didn't do very much. :) Which was just fine. It was nice having a day to rest. Lindsey, Nicola, and I went to church right down the road from their house and it was really great. It was very similar to The Falls Church in pastoral preaching style and in music, I even knew several of the songs! The processional music was the guy-girl echo song "I Will Worship" and I was thinking...dude...we've sung this song at every church I've ever attended, this rocks. The pastor gave a sermon about the Holy Spirit, who he said has three main purposes: revealing Christ/teaching us, encouraging us, and showing us when we mess up, which he described as getting a brick thrown at us to jolt us back into reality. :) Sometimes it takes a brick to get us back to where we need to be.
So that was really cool. Tomorrow night I'm going to try to check out the college group at Holy Trinity Brompton. We spent yesterday afternoon at the cinema since it was raining really hard. I was struck by the fact that only American films were being shown. It really put in perspective how much the US affects the world, and the thought of, should we? I'm sure there are a lot of really good British screenwriters and directors out there, but they don't get as much of a chance because Hollywood is so pervasive...hmm...
After enjoying a lovely traditional English Sunday dinner (chicken, Yorkshire pudding...which I loved..., roast potatoes, various really good vegetables), Lindsey, Nicola, and I caught up on LOST from the past three weeks and watched last week's awesome (and really weird) episode which aired last night in the UK. SkyOne is the name of the channel I think. It's a satellite channel, so it only airs on select televisions (not including the one in my flat) and it shows the the episode at 10:00 on Sunday nights, so four days after it airs in the States. So much information in that episode. I don't really know what to make of it. I won't say more, though, for Rachel's sake. ;) Poor girl is stuck in India without any hope of seeing LOST until June. Don't worry, you can make it. :-P
Today we took Donna to Milton Keynes to get ready for her show, and then continued on to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the birthplace of William Shakespeare. It was pretty cool, though Lindsey, Nicola, and I decided that they're trying a bit too hard to make it cool. Pretty much everything that they could prove had a connection to Shakespeare, they mentioned. We joked in the gift shop that we were holding Shakespeare's quill and Shakespeare's eraser (or rubber :-P) and we went to Shakespeare's pub for lunch. :) We had fun, that's all that matters.
Now I am back on Great Russell Street. I've finished my first two journals and I'm set to turn them in tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we are going to Scotland Yard and the Cabinet War Rooms, so that should be really interesting. Hope all is well!
Oh, and when Mom and Dad are here, we're going to go see Wicked. I'm stoked.
Sorry about my hiatus. Yesterday was a rainy day, so we didn't do very much. :) Which was just fine. It was nice having a day to rest. Lindsey, Nicola, and I went to church right down the road from their house and it was really great. It was very similar to The Falls Church in pastoral preaching style and in music, I even knew several of the songs! The processional music was the guy-girl echo song "I Will Worship" and I was thinking...dude...we've sung this song at every church I've ever attended, this rocks. The pastor gave a sermon about the Holy Spirit, who he said has three main purposes: revealing Christ/teaching us, encouraging us, and showing us when we mess up, which he described as getting a brick thrown at us to jolt us back into reality. :) Sometimes it takes a brick to get us back to where we need to be.
So that was really cool. Tomorrow night I'm going to try to check out the college group at Holy Trinity Brompton. We spent yesterday afternoon at the cinema since it was raining really hard. I was struck by the fact that only American films were being shown. It really put in perspective how much the US affects the world, and the thought of, should we? I'm sure there are a lot of really good British screenwriters and directors out there, but they don't get as much of a chance because Hollywood is so pervasive...hmm...
After enjoying a lovely traditional English Sunday dinner (chicken, Yorkshire pudding...which I loved..., roast potatoes, various really good vegetables), Lindsey, Nicola, and I caught up on LOST from the past three weeks and watched last week's awesome (and really weird) episode which aired last night in the UK. SkyOne is the name of the channel I think. It's a satellite channel, so it only airs on select televisions (not including the one in my flat) and it shows the the episode at 10:00 on Sunday nights, so four days after it airs in the States. So much information in that episode. I don't really know what to make of it. I won't say more, though, for Rachel's sake. ;) Poor girl is stuck in India without any hope of seeing LOST until June. Don't worry, you can make it. :-P
Today we took Donna to Milton Keynes to get ready for her show, and then continued on to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the birthplace of William Shakespeare. It was pretty cool, though Lindsey, Nicola, and I decided that they're trying a bit too hard to make it cool. Pretty much everything that they could prove had a connection to Shakespeare, they mentioned. We joked in the gift shop that we were holding Shakespeare's quill and Shakespeare's eraser (or rubber :-P) and we went to Shakespeare's pub for lunch. :) We had fun, that's all that matters.
Now I am back on Great Russell Street. I've finished my first two journals and I'm set to turn them in tomorrow morning. Tomorrow we are going to Scotland Yard and the Cabinet War Rooms, so that should be really interesting. Hope all is well!
Oh, and when Mom and Dad are here, we're going to go see Wicked. I'm stoked.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Eurovision 2007
Oh goodness...the spectacle I just witnessed...
The jetlag finally hit me today. Just after I posted the entry on Windsor Castle, I promptly passed out in bed and only woke up just before dinner. I proceeded to feel very tired for the rest of the evening, so I didn't go out with Nicola and her friends because I was afraid that I would pass out on a table in the pub if I had anything to drink. My gain.
Jack, Lindsey, and their sister-in-law Donna (married to Jack's brother Johnny) introduced me to probably the most eccentric yet amazing music contest ever, Eurovision 2007. Formerly known as A Song For Europe, the contest has been going on since 1956. The most notable winner ever is probably ABBA, who won in 1974. Looking at the list of winners, I've never heard of any of the others. Over fifty European countries have participated at one time, though this number includes countries such as Morocco, Turkey, and Israel...European? Maybe. This year there were over 42 countries entered, including FYR Macedonia (I didn't realize there was a country Macedonia), Malta (again, didn't know), Ukraine (okay, I knew that one :-P), Belarus, Armenia, and Moldova. And then the typical Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, and United Kingdom.
The interesting thing is that countries tend to vote in blocks, so the Western European nations who started it all rarely get any points. They all go to the Eastern European block (Serbia won). Lindsey called it rubbish. :) But we didn't stop watching. The songs, and especially the singers, were ridiculous. It was like American Idol on crack. Really poorly manufactured crack. And it lasts for three hours on the final night. But, it's only once a year. Oh, the British commentator was hilarious, too. Eventually I was watching just to hear what he would say about the people performing or giving point results.
Other than that, we had a really fun night at the Indian restaurant...I like Indian food a lot, I have decided. :) Donna is really fun. She is a singer/performer...she was part of a production of Chicago in London a while back. She has a very strong Scottish accent which brings out Jack's and Lindsey's a whole lot more than usual, which meant that I had to ask them all to repeat a lot of what they said at dinner. I never realized how many possible UK accents there are. But apparently my conglomerate American accent is cute.
Bedtime for this American girl. :) I've been made fun of all day, but I guess we make fun of our foreign friends when they're in the States, too. I'll go on defending those darned colonists who didn't pay their taxes. ;)
The jetlag finally hit me today. Just after I posted the entry on Windsor Castle, I promptly passed out in bed and only woke up just before dinner. I proceeded to feel very tired for the rest of the evening, so I didn't go out with Nicola and her friends because I was afraid that I would pass out on a table in the pub if I had anything to drink. My gain.
Jack, Lindsey, and their sister-in-law Donna (married to Jack's brother Johnny) introduced me to probably the most eccentric yet amazing music contest ever, Eurovision 2007. Formerly known as A Song For Europe, the contest has been going on since 1956. The most notable winner ever is probably ABBA, who won in 1974. Looking at the list of winners, I've never heard of any of the others. Over fifty European countries have participated at one time, though this number includes countries such as Morocco, Turkey, and Israel...European? Maybe. This year there were over 42 countries entered, including FYR Macedonia (I didn't realize there was a country Macedonia), Malta (again, didn't know), Ukraine (okay, I knew that one :-P), Belarus, Armenia, and Moldova. And then the typical Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, and United Kingdom.
The interesting thing is that countries tend to vote in blocks, so the Western European nations who started it all rarely get any points. They all go to the Eastern European block (Serbia won). Lindsey called it rubbish. :) But we didn't stop watching. The songs, and especially the singers, were ridiculous. It was like American Idol on crack. Really poorly manufactured crack. And it lasts for three hours on the final night. But, it's only once a year. Oh, the British commentator was hilarious, too. Eventually I was watching just to hear what he would say about the people performing or giving point results.
Other than that, we had a really fun night at the Indian restaurant...I like Indian food a lot, I have decided. :) Donna is really fun. She is a singer/performer...she was part of a production of Chicago in London a while back. She has a very strong Scottish accent which brings out Jack's and Lindsey's a whole lot more than usual, which meant that I had to ask them all to repeat a lot of what they said at dinner. I never realized how many possible UK accents there are. But apparently my conglomerate American accent is cute.
Bedtime for this American girl. :) I've been made fun of all day, but I guess we make fun of our foreign friends when they're in the States, too. I'll go on defending those darned colonists who didn't pay their taxes. ;)
Windsor
Before I go into Windsor, here is the link again to that Facebook album: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012634&l=8e80e&id=19000059 I just added pictures from Oxford and Blenheim Palace. Sadly, that album is now full...so I created a "London, Part II" for the Windsor pictures, and whatever comes next. :) That link: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012659&l=62f42&id=19000059
Jack, Lindsey, and I left Princes Risborough around 9:30 to drive to Windsor, about an hour away. I like driving through the English countryside. :) It's really pretty. On the way we got to see part of a cricket match and lots of cars headed into the town for the Royal Horse Show. Pretty cool. I really liked Windsor because it actually looks like a castle. Between Spain and Germany, I've seen lots of castles, but most of them tend to look like really ornate palaces. Windsor looks exactly like how I picture a castle. :)
We got there just in time to watch the changing of the guard, though there were a lot of people watching with us so it was tough to get a good view. After that we went inside the cathedral for a while and saw the tombs for George VI and the Queen Mother, Henry VIII and his last wife whose name I forget, and some of the other monarchs/members of the royal family as well. :) I forget which ones at the moment. It is a very beautiful cathedral, parts of which date back to the early 13th century.
After that we walked through the royal apartments. We saw lots of beautiful drawings, paintings, chinaware, furniture, ceilings, swords, armor, and guns. It was definitely one of the bigger castles/palaces that I've been to. Sadly, again, no pictures of the inside were allowed. We went into the town for some lunch after we toured the castle and then we drove back to the house, just in time for the buckets of rain to start plumetting down again.
Jack has gone to pick up his sister-in-law, Donna, who is also spending the next few days with them. I'm sitting here resting a bit until they get back. We're going to an Indian restaurant tonight, and then afterwards I'm going out with Nicola and her friends to celebrate a friend's 18th birthday, a big deal here because that is when they're allowed to drink. By the way, I asked Lindsey...their dogs are English Golden Retrievers. :)
Jack, Lindsey, and I left Princes Risborough around 9:30 to drive to Windsor, about an hour away. I like driving through the English countryside. :) It's really pretty. On the way we got to see part of a cricket match and lots of cars headed into the town for the Royal Horse Show. Pretty cool. I really liked Windsor because it actually looks like a castle. Between Spain and Germany, I've seen lots of castles, but most of them tend to look like really ornate palaces. Windsor looks exactly like how I picture a castle. :)
We got there just in time to watch the changing of the guard, though there were a lot of people watching with us so it was tough to get a good view. After that we went inside the cathedral for a while and saw the tombs for George VI and the Queen Mother, Henry VIII and his last wife whose name I forget, and some of the other monarchs/members of the royal family as well. :) I forget which ones at the moment. It is a very beautiful cathedral, parts of which date back to the early 13th century.
After that we walked through the royal apartments. We saw lots of beautiful drawings, paintings, chinaware, furniture, ceilings, swords, armor, and guns. It was definitely one of the bigger castles/palaces that I've been to. Sadly, again, no pictures of the inside were allowed. We went into the town for some lunch after we toured the castle and then we drove back to the house, just in time for the buckets of rain to start plumetting down again.
Jack has gone to pick up his sister-in-law, Donna, who is also spending the next few days with them. I'm sitting here resting a bit until they get back. We're going to an Indian restaurant tonight, and then afterwards I'm going out with Nicola and her friends to celebrate a friend's 18th birthday, a big deal here because that is when they're allowed to drink. By the way, I asked Lindsey...their dogs are English Golden Retrievers. :)
Friday, May 11, 2007
Executions, Castles, Harry Potter, and Friends
So by now you have seen the pictures from the Tower. Pretty interesting stuff. Max, Lavinia, Dima, Becca, and I headed down to the tower after lunch, braving the wind and the rain. Jenny and EJ met up with us there as well. We had spent the morning in a class with an editor and a PR representative from The News of the World, a UK tabloid newspaper that's on the more sensationalist side as news goes. They were pretty interesting, though. It was strange to see how nonchalantly they talked about setting up surrepticious interviews with important people who didn't realize they were reporters. Would never fly in the US. Anyway...
Yesterday was actually a good day to visit the Tower because it was raining. Not many other people did. We basically walked through the building that houses the Crown Jewels, whereas people usually have to wait in line to see them. The pictures say most of it. We went on an hour tour in the beginning which was really just our tour guide telling us stories about famous executions and such in the chapel. He also pointed out the main exhibits to us and we checked those out afterwards. We had a lot of fun hypothesizing about what it was like to be there, torture instruments, and personalities. :) It was a good afternoon. Afterwards we wandered through the city in search of a Japanese restaurant described in my London guidebook, only to find that since publication the restaurant had gone out of business. We went to another pub, and got back to the flats in the late evening ready to collapse into warm clothing and spend a chill night indoors getting ready for our day trip today to Oxford and Blenheim Palace.
Oxford is awesome. We left London around 7:30 and got there around 9, though we weren't supposed to until 10, so we got to have a break to get some breakfast. After that we met at the Martyr's Memorial, dedicated in the mid-nineteenth century to the Anglican martyrs during the reign of Queen Mary (aka Bloody Mary). We also got to see the place where three of them, including Thomas Cranmer, were burned at the stake. Oxford is divided into thirty-some independent colleges that each have their own faculty and buildings. The students live, study, and dine at the colleges. The only one we were able to go into was Christ Church, the most famous and the one where several scenes from Harry Potter were filmed. :)
About half of the group had read Harry Potter and the other half hadn't. So half of us were squealing with excitement when we saw the stairs leading up the Great Hall (I mean, wouldn't you?) and when we went into the dining hall. I swear the scene from Chamber of Secrets with Harry, Dobby, and Lucius Malfoy at the very end was filmed in a hallway that I took a picture of there, too. I got to explain to Max why we were so excited about the stairs and why they didn't just film the entire movie at Oxford, too. Good times. He still doesn't understand the obsession, but oh well. Michael and Becca were just as excited as I was.
The grounds around Christ Church and the chapel are beautiful. Took some very lovely photos. I also took some nice ones around the town. After we walked around, we got to meet up with Lord Butler for tea and biscuits (cookies :-P). Lord Butler was a member of the House of Lords before it was downsized, and he served under five prime ministers. He's a pretty important guy. We got to meet with him for an hour and ask him questions. He was very nice and very quintissentially British. We talked to him a lot about what it was like to be a lord, to serve under the prime ministers, and about his role in the Iraq War. He headed up an investigation into why Iraq was invaded when there was not absolute evidence confirming the presence of weapons of mass destruction known as the Butler Report.
After that we went to Blenheim Palace, home of the Dukes of Marlborough, otherwise known as the Churchill family...as in Winston. Too bad he was the second son or he could have been duke. We heard a lot about his family history and saw pictures of his ancestors and relatives, and the room in which he was born. Lots of ornate tapestries, pretty pictures, and nice furniture. We had about an hour afterwards to tour the gardens (beautiful!)...in the rain, of course. At 4:30, I met up with Lindsey in the parking lot!
For those who don't know, Jack, Lindsey, and Nicola Hazelton are a family that my family knew in California...Nic is the same age (basically) as Caelah. I am at their house right now and will be until Monday night. They have set me up in a very nice room opposite Nicola's complete with wireless internet and a very comfy bed. :) They are dog breeders and showers and have six...Remy, Megan, Coram (I think?), Clipper, Teal, and Rhea. I may have spelled some names incorrectly. The dogs are very cute, sweet, energetic, and large.
Today was Nicola's last day of grammar school = high school for Americans. Brits don't graduate, they just leave school. There is no big ceremony or anything. It's rather anti-climactic. But Nicola is part of the performing arts group at the school and they had their final show tonight. They still have to sit exams, but that doesn't start til next week. The show was great, kind of like W&L's Student Showcase. There was a mix of singing and dancing, mostly Broadway shows (though nothing from Wicked or Rent, sadly). There were two songs each from Les Miserables, We Will Rock You, Grease..........and High School Musical. Oh yes. It was fantastic. Nicola sang "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Mis...great voice!!! She sounded awesome. :)
Well, time for me to be off to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow morning to visit Windsor Castle! Hopefully the Queen isn't there so we'll be able to see most of it. I'll post more pictures to Facebook tomorrow and then update the links.
Yesterday was actually a good day to visit the Tower because it was raining. Not many other people did. We basically walked through the building that houses the Crown Jewels, whereas people usually have to wait in line to see them. The pictures say most of it. We went on an hour tour in the beginning which was really just our tour guide telling us stories about famous executions and such in the chapel. He also pointed out the main exhibits to us and we checked those out afterwards. We had a lot of fun hypothesizing about what it was like to be there, torture instruments, and personalities. :) It was a good afternoon. Afterwards we wandered through the city in search of a Japanese restaurant described in my London guidebook, only to find that since publication the restaurant had gone out of business. We went to another pub, and got back to the flats in the late evening ready to collapse into warm clothing and spend a chill night indoors getting ready for our day trip today to Oxford and Blenheim Palace.
Oxford is awesome. We left London around 7:30 and got there around 9, though we weren't supposed to until 10, so we got to have a break to get some breakfast. After that we met at the Martyr's Memorial, dedicated in the mid-nineteenth century to the Anglican martyrs during the reign of Queen Mary (aka Bloody Mary). We also got to see the place where three of them, including Thomas Cranmer, were burned at the stake. Oxford is divided into thirty-some independent colleges that each have their own faculty and buildings. The students live, study, and dine at the colleges. The only one we were able to go into was Christ Church, the most famous and the one where several scenes from Harry Potter were filmed. :)
About half of the group had read Harry Potter and the other half hadn't. So half of us were squealing with excitement when we saw the stairs leading up the Great Hall (I mean, wouldn't you?) and when we went into the dining hall. I swear the scene from Chamber of Secrets with Harry, Dobby, and Lucius Malfoy at the very end was filmed in a hallway that I took a picture of there, too. I got to explain to Max why we were so excited about the stairs and why they didn't just film the entire movie at Oxford, too. Good times. He still doesn't understand the obsession, but oh well. Michael and Becca were just as excited as I was.
The grounds around Christ Church and the chapel are beautiful. Took some very lovely photos. I also took some nice ones around the town. After we walked around, we got to meet up with Lord Butler for tea and biscuits (cookies :-P). Lord Butler was a member of the House of Lords before it was downsized, and he served under five prime ministers. He's a pretty important guy. We got to meet with him for an hour and ask him questions. He was very nice and very quintissentially British. We talked to him a lot about what it was like to be a lord, to serve under the prime ministers, and about his role in the Iraq War. He headed up an investigation into why Iraq was invaded when there was not absolute evidence confirming the presence of weapons of mass destruction known as the Butler Report.
After that we went to Blenheim Palace, home of the Dukes of Marlborough, otherwise known as the Churchill family...as in Winston. Too bad he was the second son or he could have been duke. We heard a lot about his family history and saw pictures of his ancestors and relatives, and the room in which he was born. Lots of ornate tapestries, pretty pictures, and nice furniture. We had about an hour afterwards to tour the gardens (beautiful!)...in the rain, of course. At 4:30, I met up with Lindsey in the parking lot!
For those who don't know, Jack, Lindsey, and Nicola Hazelton are a family that my family knew in California...Nic is the same age (basically) as Caelah. I am at their house right now and will be until Monday night. They have set me up in a very nice room opposite Nicola's complete with wireless internet and a very comfy bed. :) They are dog breeders and showers and have six...Remy, Megan, Coram (I think?), Clipper, Teal, and Rhea. I may have spelled some names incorrectly. The dogs are very cute, sweet, energetic, and large.
Today was Nicola's last day of grammar school = high school for Americans. Brits don't graduate, they just leave school. There is no big ceremony or anything. It's rather anti-climactic. But Nicola is part of the performing arts group at the school and they had their final show tonight. They still have to sit exams, but that doesn't start til next week. The show was great, kind of like W&L's Student Showcase. There was a mix of singing and dancing, mostly Broadway shows (though nothing from Wicked or Rent, sadly). There were two songs each from Les Miserables, We Will Rock You, Grease..........and High School Musical. Oh yes. It was fantastic. Nicola sang "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Mis...great voice!!! She sounded awesome. :)
Well, time for me to be off to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow morning to visit Windsor Castle! Hopefully the Queen isn't there so we'll be able to see most of it. I'll post more pictures to Facebook tomorrow and then update the links.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Rememeber, Remember the 5th of November
No trip to London is complete without a trip to the Tower of London. And that is just where I went today! With Dima, Max, Livinia, and Becca. Sadly, I am out of time at the moment, having used it uploading pictures to Facebook. Luckily, Facebook allows me to set fixed links so that others can see my albums, too! So, today you get pictures. I'll give you some stories soon. Tomorrow we're going to Oxford and Blenheim Palace, and then I'm going to stay with the Hazeltons for the weekend. I'll try to update while I am there!
Check it out: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012634&l=8e80e&id=19000059
PS the title quote comes from a poem about Guy Fawkes, who was part of a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 and who was imprisoned and executed in the Tower of London...there was a big exhibit on him, and he's pretty cool, so Google him or something ;)
Check it out: http://wlu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012634&l=8e80e&id=19000059
PS the title quote comes from a poem about Guy Fawkes, who was part of a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 and who was imprisoned and executed in the Tower of London...there was a big exhibit on him, and he's pretty cool, so Google him or something ;)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Leicester Square
Sad news -- 3:30 in the afternoon is apparently too late to get cheap theater tickets. We looked up Les Miserables, Avenue Q, Equus, Wicked, and The Mousetrap, and all were more expensive than advertised because it was too late in the day and all the cheap ones had gone. Oh well. We are bound and determined to try again. We have decided that we're definitely going to try to see Les Mis, Equus (ha we just want to see Daniel Radcliffe do something besides Harry Potter), and Wicked. "We," in this case, is Michael, Max, Lauren, Robin, and me. We all hung out this afternoon and spent some time exploring the Leicester Square area of Covent Garden. It was great hanging out with them cause they're all generally very chill and conversational people.
Leicester Square is basically a shopping district. There are mall-type stores (we saw a Nine West, Guess, H&M, etc), an outdoor market, and various pubs/restaurants/cafes. Pubs are my new favorite place to hang out. The atmosphere is really nice and cozy, mostly because they're very comfortable and generally quiet, which makes for good conversation and people tend to take their time whereas at bars...that doesn't always happen. :) One cool thing about Leicester Square was that there were a lot of musicians there, mostly fiddlers/violinists, trying to make some money so there was live music almost everywhere you went.
Michael knows London pretty well, or seems to anyway. His family was here last Christmas and it was his idea to head down to Covent Square. The five of us stuck together for about two hours, but then it became hard to keep track with the crowds, plus we really all kind of wanted to look at different things, so Max and Michael went off together and I went with Robin and Lauren, planning to meet up at 6:30. After that, we went to a pub called The White Lion with four other kids from the trip: Greg, Mason, EJ, and Jenny.
Today we experienced typical London weather: rain. Lots of it. My jeans are still a little wet. We're all pretty tired, mostly from walking around all day, but I think also because of the rain. And trying to figure out the tube system. We finally got our Oyster cards which allow us to go pretty much anywhere in London for the entire time that we're here. Very exciting.
So highlights of today were enjoying pubs, getting to know a few people a bit better, seeing all KINDS of cool London sites, and starting to plan for the rest of the trip. Robin, Lauren, and I are going to sit down tonight or tomorrow and plan out where we want to go. We have lots of ideas, so we're going to narrow them down a bit.
Oh, and Robin and I found another girl for church on Sunday. :) EJ is also an Episcopalian-turned-Anglican girl. She's from NY and her church split off last Nov/Dec-ish.
Time to head back to the flat. Good night, y'all!
Leicester Square is basically a shopping district. There are mall-type stores (we saw a Nine West, Guess, H&M, etc), an outdoor market, and various pubs/restaurants/cafes. Pubs are my new favorite place to hang out. The atmosphere is really nice and cozy, mostly because they're very comfortable and generally quiet, which makes for good conversation and people tend to take their time whereas at bars...that doesn't always happen. :) One cool thing about Leicester Square was that there were a lot of musicians there, mostly fiddlers/violinists, trying to make some money so there was live music almost everywhere you went.
Michael knows London pretty well, or seems to anyway. His family was here last Christmas and it was his idea to head down to Covent Square. The five of us stuck together for about two hours, but then it became hard to keep track with the crowds, plus we really all kind of wanted to look at different things, so Max and Michael went off together and I went with Robin and Lauren, planning to meet up at 6:30. After that, we went to a pub called The White Lion with four other kids from the trip: Greg, Mason, EJ, and Jenny.
Today we experienced typical London weather: rain. Lots of it. My jeans are still a little wet. We're all pretty tired, mostly from walking around all day, but I think also because of the rain. And trying to figure out the tube system. We finally got our Oyster cards which allow us to go pretty much anywhere in London for the entire time that we're here. Very exciting.
So highlights of today were enjoying pubs, getting to know a few people a bit better, seeing all KINDS of cool London sites, and starting to plan for the rest of the trip. Robin, Lauren, and I are going to sit down tonight or tomorrow and plan out where we want to go. We have lots of ideas, so we're going to narrow them down a bit.
Oh, and Robin and I found another girl for church on Sunday. :) EJ is also an Episcopalian-turned-Anglican girl. She's from NY and her church split off last Nov/Dec-ish.
Time to head back to the flat. Good night, y'all!
Welcome to London
Hello folks :)
Starting to get on London time. Everyone finally got to the flats after a lot of airport mishaps at Gatwick, but it all worked out eventually. While we were waiting, a couple of us decided to go down a block to hang out at a pub right across the street from the British Museum. After starting to fall asleep since we were sitting down, we decided a visit to the museum was the thing to do to keep ourselves awake. We wandered around there a bit, and then came back to the flats for a meeting at 4:30, and then dinner at a really nice restaurant (paid by W&L).
Some of us decided that grocery shopping would probably be a good idea so we stopped at Sainsbury's on the way back. I was really amused by the way they package food here. It looks all aesthetically designed and pretty. I mean, it's just food...but whatever. It looks pretty in my refridgerator. I found a large bag of pasta for 66 pence, I was pretty proud of myself.
My computer is still barely picking up the wireless signal from my flat, so I've given up on it. I'm just going to take it down to the computer labs and use it there, where it can get the strongest signal. Last night I brought it down and used AIM and the internet with it, while I used one of their computers to access email (for some reason, my computer isn't opening the Groupwise program, nor is it letting me access the website). ABC.com is also sadly inaccessible. I tried to get to the shows page to watch full episodes and it informed me that only Americans are allowed to watch ABC shows online. Looks like I won't hear about LOST or Grey's Anatomy until June.
This morning we had a city tour of London for a couple hours. We spent most of it in the West End, and we were really in the bus the whole time so I didn't get many pictures. The only time we got out was to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which was pretty cool. Our tour guide was great, and very British, right down to his sense of humor. I was thrilled. I was also thrilled to drive by the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square (used once for one of my stories :) so that was very cool), the Thames, the London Eye, the Millenium Bridge (considered once for a story scene), Kensington Gardens, Harrods, St. Paul's Cathedral (umm...can we say awesome?), and a bunch of other places. :)
We just came back to the flats after lunch at the same pub we went to yesterday afternoon. I forgot that Sprite is called lemonade here. :) But the kind guy at the bar (who looked about twenty-five) reminded me. Like in Germany, Brazil, and Spain, lemonade is much sweeter than American Sprite. I couldn't quite finish my pint.
A bunch of the other kids are looking up travel agencies right now and deciding where they want to go over our long weekends. Mine, of course are already planned...going to see the Hazeltons this weekend, next weekend I have the worship conference with Tim Hughes, and over the last weekend I'll be hanging out with Mom and Dad. This afternoon we're planning to explore the Covent Garden area, which is right near Bloomsbury, where we are living. Apparently there is lots of shopping there ;) as well as places to get cheap theater tickets the day of a show. We're going to try to find something for tonight. I think I'm going to go check on what they are up to. More updates to come!
Starting to get on London time. Everyone finally got to the flats after a lot of airport mishaps at Gatwick, but it all worked out eventually. While we were waiting, a couple of us decided to go down a block to hang out at a pub right across the street from the British Museum. After starting to fall asleep since we were sitting down, we decided a visit to the museum was the thing to do to keep ourselves awake. We wandered around there a bit, and then came back to the flats for a meeting at 4:30, and then dinner at a really nice restaurant (paid by W&L).
Some of us decided that grocery shopping would probably be a good idea so we stopped at Sainsbury's on the way back. I was really amused by the way they package food here. It looks all aesthetically designed and pretty. I mean, it's just food...but whatever. It looks pretty in my refridgerator. I found a large bag of pasta for 66 pence, I was pretty proud of myself.
My computer is still barely picking up the wireless signal from my flat, so I've given up on it. I'm just going to take it down to the computer labs and use it there, where it can get the strongest signal. Last night I brought it down and used AIM and the internet with it, while I used one of their computers to access email (for some reason, my computer isn't opening the Groupwise program, nor is it letting me access the website). ABC.com is also sadly inaccessible. I tried to get to the shows page to watch full episodes and it informed me that only Americans are allowed to watch ABC shows online. Looks like I won't hear about LOST or Grey's Anatomy until June.
This morning we had a city tour of London for a couple hours. We spent most of it in the West End, and we were really in the bus the whole time so I didn't get many pictures. The only time we got out was to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which was pretty cool. Our tour guide was great, and very British, right down to his sense of humor. I was thrilled. I was also thrilled to drive by the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square (used once for one of my stories :) so that was very cool), the Thames, the London Eye, the Millenium Bridge (considered once for a story scene), Kensington Gardens, Harrods, St. Paul's Cathedral (umm...can we say awesome?), and a bunch of other places. :)
We just came back to the flats after lunch at the same pub we went to yesterday afternoon. I forgot that Sprite is called lemonade here. :) But the kind guy at the bar (who looked about twenty-five) reminded me. Like in Germany, Brazil, and Spain, lemonade is much sweeter than American Sprite. I couldn't quite finish my pint.
A bunch of the other kids are looking up travel agencies right now and deciding where they want to go over our long weekends. Mine, of course are already planned...going to see the Hazeltons this weekend, next weekend I have the worship conference with Tim Hughes, and over the last weekend I'll be hanging out with Mom and Dad. This afternoon we're planning to explore the Covent Garden area, which is right near Bloomsbury, where we are living. Apparently there is lots of shopping there ;) as well as places to get cheap theater tickets the day of a show. We're going to try to find something for tonight. I think I'm going to go check on what they are up to. More updates to come!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
I'm here!
It's about 7am on Tuesday morning in Virginia...and it's about noon here in London. I'm kind of exhausted, but good. Our plane got in early this morning around 7am, and we got to the flats around 9:30am after going through customs, coordinating our meeting times, and taking a bus to Great Russell Street. So far, only six of us are here...the six who came through Heathrow. The Gatwick crew hasn't arrived yet, nor have any of the people who came early. Luckily, we don't have anything scheduled until 4 this afternoon, so they still have a couple hours to get here and get situated.
The wireless internet was a bit of a chore to set up, but it's working now, though the signal in my flat is very weak. I can't even access email with it. Happily, the internet and AIM both work. Hopefully email will work eventually, but if not I'll just have to go downstairs to the computer lab to check it. The signal is perfectly strong there.
Well, I am going to unpack a bit and head down to check my email. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm here and I'm safe!
The wireless internet was a bit of a chore to set up, but it's working now, though the signal in my flat is very weak. I can't even access email with it. Happily, the internet and AIM both work. Hopefully email will work eventually, but if not I'll just have to go downstairs to the computer lab to check it. The signal is perfectly strong there.
Well, I am going to unpack a bit and head down to check my email. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm here and I'm safe!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Deutschland
So while you are all waiting anxiously for my first post about the United Kingdom, I’ll tide you over with an account of my choir trip to Germany over spring break. This post will be a long one! It was a nine day trip…
We were in Germany from April 13-22. Our group was about 26, I’d say…something like that. About 20ish students and six adults, not including our tour guide or bus driver. Coincidentally, both of them were named Jörg…so we had Jörg Eins (tour guide) and Jörg Zwei (bus driver). We began our trip in Füssen, a small Bavarian town near the border with Austria, right in the middle of the Alps. :) After a few days, we transferred to Frankfurt, and then ended our trip in Leipzig, stopping along the way at various other towns.
Füssen is a beautiful little town in southern Germany. Highlights included the monastery (above picture was taken out of a window there), Wieskirche, Neuschwanstein Castle (Ludwig II’s favorite, and the castle upon which Walt Disney based his own), Eis Cafes every other step (Eis = German for ice cream), and a wonderful beer garden. We also took a day trip from Füssen to Linderhof, Ludwig II’s other famous castle, which is near the town of Oberammergau, where we stopped for lunch. On the way back, we stopped in Garmish, a little town near the highest mountain in Germany, for after
noon cakes (or pretzels, in my case) and dipped down into Austria for a bit. 
Following the Wieskirche, we had lunch below Neuschwanstein Castle and a little time to shop before we had to hike (yes, hike) up for our tour. Apparently Germans like to build their castles on mountains. Very up high. Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II to indulge a few of his simple pleasures: swans, solitude, and his fantasy world, mostly consumed with the plays of Richard Wagner. I thought Jack, one of our baritones, summed it up when he said, “If I lived here, I would forget that poor people existed, too.” Unfortunately, Bavaria holds a copyright on the castle, so we couldn’t take any pictures of the interior. Sorry, folks. However, we did go to a beer garden that night. Jörg Eins taught us some German drinking songs. And we saw a bunny hopping around. Fun times. We also got to sing at Neuschwanstein…our only a capella song, “Daniel, Daniel.” This quickly became a song that we sang. Everywhere. Frequently.
Like in Oberammergau, where the Passion play takes place every ten years. The citizens of Oberammergau were spared from annihilation in the fourteenth century when the Black Plague did not strike their city after they fervently prayed for it to be averted. As a thanks to God, they decided to put on a play about the passion of Christ every ten years. It’s a really big deal. There is a special theater for it, and scenes from the Passion are all over town…painted on walls, windows, everything. It was pretty cool. And we got to sing “Daniel, Daniel” in the Passion theater. Awesome sound!
After Oberammergau, we made our way to Linderhof. Yes, another nice, long hike to one of Ludwig II’s little mountain getaways. Linderhof is cool. It’s pretty small as castles go, but when you consider that Ludwig never married or had kids (he was gay), it makes sense that he wouldn’t need a huge palace. Besides, he had Neuschwanstein. If only for a few months of his life. There are quite a few fountains at Linderhof, and a cave that Ludwig designed for himself after his favorite Wagner play. We stopped in Garmish on the way back to the hotel, and then dipped into Austria for a spell.
Incidentally, by that day it was April 16. There is a six hour time difference between Germany and the East Coast, and we found out about Virginia Tech that evening after we got back to the hotel for dinner. It was about noon in Virginia, so I called my mom and she told me that Jesse was okay, but we didn’t know about some of our other friends. We spent that whole night watching CNN International (the only English channel available in Füssen) and I got on the internet at a café nearby to check on everyone. I am so thankful that everyone I know was alright, at least physically. After that, I really wanted to come home and see Jesse…but I knew that he was okay, and that he was at home with Mom and Dad. It was time to pack for Frankfurt.
On the way to Frankfurt, we stopped in Rothenburg, an old German town that still has its original town walls from the Middle Ages! Very cool. We had a tour of St. Jacob’s church and then some time for lunch and shopping around the town. 
We spent one full day in Frankfurt, complete with a city tour and time to shop before we transferred to Koppern for our next official concert. The repertoire was great again, and this time we dedicated one of our songs, “In Remembrance,” to Virginia Tech. The song is absolutely beautiful and I could barely get through it before what happened, so I did a lot more mouthing the words than actual singing that night, heh. We also performed with the choir Polyhymnia that night, and they were great. Ute, their second soprano, rocked mine and Gaby’s world. Gaby and I were the second sopranos. The only second sopranos. It was good having backup. ;)
The next day, April 19, was our second big travel day on the way to Leipzig, in the former GDR (Soviet) part of Germany. On the way, we stopped in Eisenach, birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach (he spent most of his life in Leipzig, though). Eisenach is home to the Bach museum and Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther hid from the papacy after he was declared a heretic for posting his 95 Theses. He translated the New Testament into German when he was at Wartburg, which was a really big deal because at that time, no one read the Bible in their native language, also known as vernacular language. In fact, no one really read anything in their native tongue unless it was a common, everyday sort of document, like a letter or a commercial translation. Because no one read the Bible, all they really knew was the stained glass pictures in churches and what priests chose to tell them in sermons. This is why reading the Bible is so important to Protestant denominations today. It was awesome being able to stand in the room and look at the desk where Martin Luther had sat. :) We sang “Daniel, Daniel” again in the Singer’s Hall at Wartburg Castle.
While Germany is a very rich and safe country, areas in the former GDR tend to be very run-down because the Soviets did not take very good care of East Germany after WWII. They are still playing catch-up in a lot of ways, but the people there are so very warm and friendly. Especially the churches, in many cases, are falling down because religion was not encouraged under the USSR. We started out the morning on April 20 singing “Daniel, Daniel” in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Incredible. The echo in that room seemed to never end. I’ll never forget that sound! I couldn’t believe that we had made it. After we sang, we took a city tour for the rest of the morning and then spent the rest of the day hanging out in the city. Some of us went to an orchestra concert that night, which was cool, too. Our last day was spent touring Halle (or, as we liked to say it, HOLLA!). Georg Friedrich Handel was born in Halle, though he spent most of his life in England. Again, we had a morning city tour and then spent the afternoon shopping. Rachel, Courtney, Robin, and I were tired so we sat down for a nice long lunch, shopped a little, and counted the hours until it would be appropriate to sit down for coffee and gelato. :)
Our last concert was that night in Holleben, a small German town a ways from Halle. Now, on this last day we were all a bit loopy…or, as Prof. Myers put it, we were punchy. I think we were all just kind of ready to come home, but we weren’t doing very well at the whole focusing concept. Our warm up for the concert was pretty good, and really fun as we had to try out a couple new things. By the end, the energy was being channeled into our geekier choir personalities, leading to us launching into an a capella fest and ignoring Myers trying to cut us off. :) The energy continued throughout the concert, dinner afterwards with the jazz choir “In Tune,” and on the bus where we sang a whole lot of Disney and musical songs, as well as “Shenandoah” and the W&L Hymn and Swing.
Myers proclaimed that we had entered the realm of Choir Dorkdom.
Eka noted that now he would have company.
We were in Germany from April 13-22. Our group was about 26, I’d say…something like that. About 20ish students and six adults, not including our tour guide or bus driver. Coincidentally, both of them were named Jörg…so we had Jörg Eins (tour guide) and Jörg Zwei (bus driver). We began our trip in Füssen, a small Bavarian town near the border with Austria, right in the middle of the Alps. :) After a few days, we transferred to Frankfurt, and then ended our trip in Leipzig, stopping along the way at various other towns.
Füssen is a beautiful little town in southern Germany. Highlights included the monastery (above picture was taken out of a window there), Wieskirche, Neuschwanstein Castle (Ludwig II’s favorite, and the castle upon which Walt Disney based his own), Eis Cafes every other step (Eis = German for ice cream), and a wonderful beer garden. We also took a day trip from Füssen to Linderhof, Ludwig II’s other famous castle, which is near the town of Oberammergau, where we stopped for lunch. On the way back, we stopped in Garmish, a little town near the highest mountain in Germany, for after
noon cakes (or pretzels, in my case) and dipped down into Austria for a bit. 
The Wieskirche was our first singing location. The name means “church in the meadow,” and it certainly was in a random location, yet not so random because it was planned that way. In order to get to the Wieskirche, you have to drive through the forest and partway up a mountain. According to the priest (Bavaria is a predominantly Catholic area), the Wieskirche was designed to allow as much light in as possible, so the upper rim of the church is all windows. No matter what time of day, the sun is always shining in. He also noted that without fail, whomever enters the church always looks up.
See, the Wieskirche was built in the place where a miracle happened. Local lore says that a statue of Jesus (which now stands in the church) cried real tears over the residents of the area. Those who come to the church identify with His suffering and come to bring their sorrows to Him, the one who understands. People look up because they are offering their burden to the one they know can identify with them. In doing so, they are all on an equal level, no matter if they are Catholic or Protestant or whatever. In order to come to understand the gospel, the message of Christ, we have to come to him humbled, recognizing our struggles, and knowing that He alone can bring us peace.
I thought that it was one of the best sermons I had ever heard.
See, the Wieskirche was built in the place where a miracle happened. Local lore says that a statue of Jesus (which now stands in the church) cried real tears over the residents of the area. Those who come to the church identify with His suffering and come to bring their sorrows to Him, the one who understands. People look up because they are offering their burden to the one they know can identify with them. In doing so, they are all on an equal level, no matter if they are Catholic or Protestant or whatever. In order to come to understand the gospel, the message of Christ, we have to come to him humbled, recognizing our struggles, and knowing that He alone can bring us peace.
I thought that it was one of the best sermons I had ever heard.
Following the Wieskirche, we had lunch below Neuschwanstein Castle and a little time to shop before we had to hike (yes, hike) up for our tour. Apparently Germans like to build their castles on mountains. Very up high. Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II to indulge a few of his simple pleasures: swans, solitude, and his fantasy world, mostly consumed with the plays of Richard Wagner. I thought Jack, one of our baritones, summed it up when he said, “If I lived here, I would forget that poor people existed, too.” Unfortunately, Bavaria holds a copyright on the castle, so we couldn’t take any pictures of the interior. Sorry, folks. However, we did go to a beer garden that night. Jörg Eins taught us some German drinking songs. And we saw a bunny hopping around. Fun times. We also got to sing at Neuschwanstein…our only a capella song, “Daniel, Daniel.” This quickly became a song that we sang. Everywhere. Frequently.
Like in Oberammergau, where the Passion play takes place every ten years. The citizens of Oberammergau were spared from annihilation in the fourteenth century when the Black Plague did not strike their city after they fervently prayed for it to be averted. As a thanks to God, they decided to put on a play about the passion of Christ every ten years. It’s a really big deal. There is a special theater for it, and scenes from the Passion are all over town…painted on walls, windows, everything. It was pretty cool. And we got to sing “Daniel, Daniel” in the Passion theater. Awesome sound!
L-R Courtney, Becca, Robin, Eka, Rachel, me, Frank
After Oberammergau, we made our way to Linderhof. Yes, another nice, long hike to one of Ludwig II’s little mountain getaways. Linderhof is cool. It’s pretty small as castles go, but when you consider that Ludwig never married or had kids (he was gay), it makes sense that he wouldn’t need a huge palace. Besides, he had Neuschwanstein. If only for a few months of his life. There are quite a few fountains at Linderhof, and a cave that Ludwig designed for himself after his favorite Wagner play. We stopped in Garmish on the way back to the hotel, and then dipped into Austria for a spell.
Incidentally, by that day it was April 16. There is a six hour time difference between Germany and the East Coast, and we found out about Virginia Tech that evening after we got back to the hotel for dinner. It was about noon in Virginia, so I called my mom and she told me that Jesse was okay, but we didn’t know about some of our other friends. We spent that whole night watching CNN International (the only English channel available in Füssen) and I got on the internet at a café nearby to check on everyone. I am so thankful that everyone I know was alright, at least physically. After that, I really wanted to come home and see Jesse…but I knew that he was okay, and that he was at home with Mom and Dad. It was time to pack for Frankfurt.
On the way to Frankfurt, we stopped in Rothenburg, an old German town that still has its original town walls from the Middle Ages! Very cool. We had a tour of St. Jacob’s church and then some time for lunch and shopping around the town.
Schneeballen, or snowballs, kind of like fried dough...except harder to eat
We spent one full day in Frankfurt, complete with a city tour and time to shop before we transferred to Koppern for our next official concert. The repertoire was great again, and this time we dedicated one of our songs, “In Remembrance,” to Virginia Tech. The song is absolutely beautiful and I could barely get through it before what happened, so I did a lot more mouthing the words than actual singing that night, heh. We also performed with the choir Polyhymnia that night, and they were great. Ute, their second soprano, rocked mine and Gaby’s world. Gaby and I were the second sopranos. The only second sopranos. It was good having backup. ;)
The next day, April 19, was our second big travel day on the way to Leipzig, in the former GDR (Soviet) part of Germany. On the way, we stopped in Eisenach, birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach (he spent most of his life in Leipzig, though). Eisenach is home to the Bach museum and Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther hid from the papacy after he was declared a heretic for posting his 95 Theses. He translated the New Testament into German when he was at Wartburg, which was a really big deal because at that time, no one read the Bible in their native language, also known as vernacular language. In fact, no one really read anything in their native tongue unless it was a common, everyday sort of document, like a letter or a commercial translation. Because no one read the Bible, all they really knew was the stained glass pictures in churches and what priests chose to tell them in sermons. This is why reading the Bible is so important to Protestant denominations today. It was awesome being able to stand in the room and look at the desk where Martin Luther had sat. :) We sang “Daniel, Daniel” again in the Singer’s Hall at Wartburg Castle.
While Germany is a very rich and safe country, areas in the former GDR tend to be very run-down because the Soviets did not take very good care of East Germany after WWII. They are still playing catch-up in a lot of ways, but the people there are so very warm and friendly. Especially the churches, in many cases, are falling down because religion was not encouraged under the USSR. We started out the morning on April 20 singing “Daniel, Daniel” in the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Incredible. The echo in that room seemed to never end. I’ll never forget that sound! I couldn’t believe that we had made it. After we sang, we took a city tour for the rest of the morning and then spent the rest of the day hanging out in the city. Some of us went to an orchestra concert that night, which was cool, too. Our last day was spent touring Halle (or, as we liked to say it, HOLLA!). Georg Friedrich Handel was born in Halle, though he spent most of his life in England. Again, we had a morning city tour and then spent the afternoon shopping. Rachel, Courtney, Robin, and I were tired so we sat down for a nice long lunch, shopped a little, and counted the hours until it would be appropriate to sit down for coffee and gelato. :)
Our last concert was that night in Holleben, a small German town a ways from Halle. Now, on this last day we were all a bit loopy…or, as Prof. Myers put it, we were punchy. I think we were all just kind of ready to come home, but we weren’t doing very well at the whole focusing concept. Our warm up for the concert was pretty good, and really fun as we had to try out a couple new things. By the end, the energy was being channeled into our geekier choir personalities, leading to us launching into an a capella fest and ignoring Myers trying to cut us off. :) The energy continued throughout the concert, dinner afterwards with the jazz choir “In Tune,” and on the bus where we sang a whole lot of Disney and musical songs, as well as “Shenandoah” and the W&L Hymn and Swing.
Myers proclaimed that we had entered the realm of Choir Dorkdom.
Eka noted that now he would have company.
HALLE!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Calling all Anglicans!
So I found out today that the girl who sits behind me in class attends a formerly-Episcopalian-now-Anglican church at home! Her name is Robin and she's dating a Christian friend of mine, so I figured it was probably a fair question to ask if she was a Christian, too. She said that she was and that she was kind of excited to be going to the UK because she's Anglican.
I said, "No way. Like North American Anglican?"
Robin said, "Yeah, we're affiliated with the Anglican communion in Rwanda."
My jaw dropped. God is awesome. For those who don't know, the church my family attends, The Falls Church, was one of the Virginian churches that deaffiliated with the Episcopal Church last December. My parents have been really involved in finding out about being Anglican and the world-wide Anglican communion and all that jazz since it happened, but most people have no idea what I'm talking about. I was so excited to find out that Robin is in the same boat.
Some links on the Anglican realignment for background:
Information from The Falls Church website
Stand Firm, a list of Anglican blogs and news stories (my favorite is Matt Kennedy)
Great article from a W&L student, Emily Hulen, who interviewed my father about happenings in the Anglican church
Another article from Emily, this one about St. Paul's Anglican Church in Lexington
I told Robin about the two churches I found that look really great. We're both excited. :)
I said, "No way. Like North American Anglican?"
Robin said, "Yeah, we're affiliated with the Anglican communion in Rwanda."
My jaw dropped. God is awesome. For those who don't know, the church my family attends, The Falls Church, was one of the Virginian churches that deaffiliated with the Episcopal Church last December. My parents have been really involved in finding out about being Anglican and the world-wide Anglican communion and all that jazz since it happened, but most people have no idea what I'm talking about. I was so excited to find out that Robin is in the same boat.
Some links on the Anglican realignment for background:
Information from The Falls Church website
Stand Firm, a list of Anglican blogs and news stories (my favorite is Matt Kennedy)
Great article from a W&L student, Emily Hulen, who interviewed my father about happenings in the Anglican church
Another article from Emily, this one about St. Paul's Anglican Church in Lexington
I told Robin about the two churches I found that look really great. We're both excited. :)
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Less than a week!
While reading my British politics book this afternoon, I decided it was high time that I set up a blog for my adventures in London. So after the VMI economics and business department decided to kick me out of the Jordan's Point picnic area for a graduation dinner (the nerve), I did just that. Never mind that VMI owns Jordan's Point...I like to use it for reading/studying. It's pretty and there are good areas for sunning, semi-sun and semi-shade, and sitting in the shade. Today, at ninety degrees, was a shade day.
Anyway. Back to London. Next Monday, May 7, I will be leaving sometime in the evening from Dulles Airport to start my British adventure. I am studying abroad for Spring Term with the politics department, Politics 385. There are fifteen other students (10 girls and 6 boys total) as well as Prof. John and his wife. We will be staying in flats owned by Florida State University at their Great Russell Street building, which is also where our classroom is. Whilst in London, we will listen to speakers, travel to Oxford and Cambridge, and see all kinds of cool things in London. We also have to write six short analysis/response journals, but I don't think that will be too difficult.
Last week and this week we have been reading through a book on British politics that was just published this year. Each day, two students give a presentation on a chapter. Being the only journalism major in the class, I was assigned chapter 4 on the British media last week. We also have to write two papers -- one due last week on the British constitution (which I think doesn't exist) and one due this Thursday on the Westminster model and whether or not it is still relevant. There's been a lot of reading and discussion and writing, but starting the morning of May 8 it will be worth it. I can't wait to stand in the shadow of Big Ben, walk along the Thames, pretend that I'm Ginny Weasley...wait...did I just say that? ;)
I'm also super excited to check out churches in London. I know, only me, right? :) I did some research and found out that Tim Hughes (wrote "Beautiful One" and "Here I Am to Worship") is the music leader at Holy Trinity Brompton, which is a couple tube stops away from Great Russell Street. There is a closer church only a few streets away from the flat, St. George's Holborn, which is a sister church of HTB. Naturally, I contacted the college groups at both places and I'm planning to check them both out. I'm kind of stoked. Yay for Anglican churches. Tim Hughes is also one of the Passion guys and was the worship leader of my small group when I went to the Passion 07 conference in January.
So extremely fun times ahead. My sister, Caelah, is coming to join me on May 17...well, she's going with the study abroad program with James Madison University, and she'll be there til July 14, but we'll overlap for a bit! So Mom and Dad are going to join us as well from May 22-28. I'm hoping to see the Hazeltons when I'm over there, and possibly go to a worship conference led by Tim Hughes on May 19. Hey, I'm there, might as well!
I'll miss other family and friends, and especially Brian, a lot while I am gone, but hopefully you all will be able to keep in touch with what I am doing through this blog! I am going to use it instead of sending out regular emails. We have wireless internet in the flats, so it shouldn't be too difficult. :)
Well, I must get back to reading about British politics...have to be prepared before I go!
Anyway. Back to London. Next Monday, May 7, I will be leaving sometime in the evening from Dulles Airport to start my British adventure. I am studying abroad for Spring Term with the politics department, Politics 385. There are fifteen other students (10 girls and 6 boys total) as well as Prof. John and his wife. We will be staying in flats owned by Florida State University at their Great Russell Street building, which is also where our classroom is. Whilst in London, we will listen to speakers, travel to Oxford and Cambridge, and see all kinds of cool things in London. We also have to write six short analysis/response journals, but I don't think that will be too difficult.
Last week and this week we have been reading through a book on British politics that was just published this year. Each day, two students give a presentation on a chapter. Being the only journalism major in the class, I was assigned chapter 4 on the British media last week. We also have to write two papers -- one due last week on the British constitution (which I think doesn't exist) and one due this Thursday on the Westminster model and whether or not it is still relevant. There's been a lot of reading and discussion and writing, but starting the morning of May 8 it will be worth it. I can't wait to stand in the shadow of Big Ben, walk along the Thames, pretend that I'm Ginny Weasley...wait...did I just say that? ;)
I'm also super excited to check out churches in London. I know, only me, right? :) I did some research and found out that Tim Hughes (wrote "Beautiful One" and "Here I Am to Worship") is the music leader at Holy Trinity Brompton, which is a couple tube stops away from Great Russell Street. There is a closer church only a few streets away from the flat, St. George's Holborn, which is a sister church of HTB. Naturally, I contacted the college groups at both places and I'm planning to check them both out. I'm kind of stoked. Yay for Anglican churches. Tim Hughes is also one of the Passion guys and was the worship leader of my small group when I went to the Passion 07 conference in January.
So extremely fun times ahead. My sister, Caelah, is coming to join me on May 17...well, she's going with the study abroad program with James Madison University, and she'll be there til July 14, but we'll overlap for a bit! So Mom and Dad are going to join us as well from May 22-28. I'm hoping to see the Hazeltons when I'm over there, and possibly go to a worship conference led by Tim Hughes on May 19. Hey, I'm there, might as well!
I'll miss other family and friends, and especially Brian, a lot while I am gone, but hopefully you all will be able to keep in touch with what I am doing through this blog! I am going to use it instead of sending out regular emails. We have wireless internet in the flats, so it shouldn't be too difficult. :)
Well, I must get back to reading about British politics...have to be prepared before I go!
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