Epic First Week of Class

Even though I've just barely been here a week, I feel like it's been a month. I'm getting so accustomed to the way things work around here, and am fitting into the daily hustle and bustle of the city really well. It was hard to motivate myself to be energetic and excited about classes this week. After the excitement of the first day wore off I just didn't want to get up at 7:30 every morning and even more than that I didn't want to read anything. I'm really frustrated about the amount of work we have to do and the little time we have to do it. This quarter is about half as long as a regular Cal Poly quarter, and 10 weeks is short enough already. But 6?! This is going to be rough. I realized this week that I was going to be exhausted all the time and have very little time to myself, both of which are going to get old.

Tuesday was the longest day ever. We left for class at 8:30 in the morning and didn't get back until about 11:30 at night. Classes were typical and slightly boring, and by the time we got to our last one I was just trying to stay awake. Immediately after humanities was over we hopped on the tube and headed for the Museum of London. Our professor led us around a few historical areas before we got to the actual museum, which was a 30 minute walk by the way, and some of those sights were pretty cool. I don't remember the names for any of the buildings, but we were in an area called Temple, and we got to see the Inns of Court where a lot of lawyers work, and where a lot of famous cases had taken place. There was also another building that was built in the 1500's in which Shakespeare's acting company performed Twelfth Night (my favorite Shakespearean play). The we went to the Temple Church which is a medieval cathedral that the knights used to use in the middle ages. Professor Makey said that the whole area used to be walled off and was used solely for knights during the crusades and the middle ages. It was cool to think about all the history that had taken place right where I was standing.

After that we went to the museum and walked around in there for a little over an hour. We're learning a lot about the origins of the city of London right now, specifically about the Celts and the Romans, so we focused a lot on the Roman ruins and areas from thousands of years ago. The museum took us through the history of London, and had tons of artifacts (as any museum should). There were interactive displays, and videos and a whole bunch of interesting things to do in there. I was particularly intrigued by the great fire of London in 1666 that started in a bakery and literally tore through the city. It was fascinating hearing about it all. They also had a lot about the plague, which was creepy but interesting. The had everything there. I could have walked around for hours.

After that was over we met Josh and walked another 20 minutes to a famous pub called "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" for dinner. I didn't end up eating there because it was really crowded, but it reminded me of the pubs that the hobbits used to eat and drink at in Lord of the Rings- with low ceilings and wooden tables... it was funny. I tried fish and chips, by the way. It tasted like fried nothing. I really don't like fish, but I tried it anyways and found out that I could handle it if it was smothered in saturated fats. Who knew.

We walked another half an hour or so to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see Macbeth. The walk was kind of funny. Jill and I are so alike. I've started getting really annoyed with going everywhere with everyone all the time. We're like a heard of cattle. We have a pretty big group and some of the kids in our class are too stupid to realize that you can't get all 45 of us across the street with no cars coming by- so if the person in front of them walks, they follow them like sheep and almost get run over by taxis. They also stop everywhere along te way to take pictures of everything they see. I'm starting to understand why a lot of people here hate oblivious Americans. A lot of the other students here are afraid to do anything by themselves and cling on to our professors at all times, and Jill and I have started getting really frustrated with it. We walked about 1/4 of a mile ahead of everybody finding our own way taking 1 or 2 pictures along the way and we had a much better and much less frustrating experience.

"Macbeth" was unbelievable. (See my other post about the shows we've been seeing if you want a waaaaay too detailed account). The only thing that was annoying was that I was a grounding in the yard- which means I stood for the whole performance of 2 1/2 hours. Talk about exhaustion. So we were out all day, carrying backpacks full of books, walking around for hours, and then standing in one place- without moving for 2 1/2 hours. And to top it all off- remember that amazing run I went on the other day? My calves were so sore I couldn't go down the stairs. The past few days I've been going down stairs backwards to take the pressure off of them. And yes, I look foolish doing it, but I don't care. The worst part was the walk back to the tube station after all of that was over. My feet were KILLING me. We were finally home by 11:30 and I think I fell asleep by 11:31.

Wednesday we went to class, watched some world cup games (The U.S. and the U.K. won in the same day), and then headed off to see another play. This one was called "Ditch" and it took place in Old Vic Tunnels underground. At least this time we got to sit down, but in a dark damp, freezing cave. It was a really cool atmosphere, but I had mixed feelings about the show itself (see other post). Afterward we went on a sunset walk and saw the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament all lit up. It was gorgeous, and it made us want to take a day and just go around to all of London's most famous locations and take pictures there.
Thursday was really fun. After class, Me, Max, Jill, Tia, and Ashleigh went to China town for dinner. It's funny how every major city has a China Town... anyways it was nice to sit down for a real dinner at a real restaurant and take our time enjoying each other's company. After we went and saw a play called "The 39 Steps" in the West End of London, which is equivalent to Broadway in New York. Our program paid £45 per ticket for us to see this show! It was a good one to see after a long week. It was a fancy theater and a really popular show. It was hilarious and was a really good time (see other post). After a unanimous decision to neglect our homework, we decided to check out the London night life at a local club called "Zoo Bar." We had so much fun dancing around and meeting new people. There were a lot of other students there that we talked with for a while. We met some people from Canada, a group of recent Harvard graduates, and some pretty awesome guys from Belgium. The scene was crazy and slightly frightening at times, but we had a lot of fun there. I think the hilight for me was when I got into a dance off with a guy from New Zealand. It was hilarious- he pulled out the running man and the worm, and then I had to top that- people were cheering us on and everything. Oh, and I won, in case you were wondering :)

So now I'm procrastinating on homework again until i finish writing this super long novel of a blog. Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my friend Erik who is from Germany for a river boat tour, and I'm really excited about it. But anyways, I'm having a really great time here, and can't wait to explore more of hat London has to offer!

Cheerio, mates!