Week One: London

Wednesday, September 1 2010
 
I am in the room with eight girls and we are on the main floor of #29, the other building of the center (the address is #27) and I think this is a very good thing. Fewer ridiculously rich girls to deal with. However, I wish I had more clothes...but I always wish I had more clothes so there you are.

Yesterday navigating the airport was fine, and I was able to withdraw money from a "cash machine" without any fees being charged. I only removed a hundred pounds, but that's all fine and good. After depositing our stuff Katy took Julie and I on a tour of Kensington Gardens (that palace is beautiful!) and we walked up a street across the way from Palace Court which is full of embassies and consulates (among others: France, Norway, and the Russian Federation). I am currently obsessed with architecture. It is beautiful. It is amazing. I love it.

I had the worst night of sleep ever last night. Part of it was jet lag, I'm sure. But I also had the feeling of illness that I had the whole day at Six Flags. I never threw up, but I felt like I would have felt better if I had...hopefully it's just stress and it will all go away. I miss home a lot and occasionally pine for it. But, then I look up at Buckingham, or realize that I still remember a lot about the tube system and then I feel better.

I HATE MY COMPUTER. Today I turned it on, and it died again, and when it came back on it said it had that battery problem. Oy. I'm just going to ignore it. It's fine as long as it's plugged in. Speaking of which, I need to get an adaptor... and soon.

Today the only thing was an "exploration activity" of London. Katy came with Julie and I when we got our tube passes (I love oyster cards--so much easier than tickets) and saw Buckingham Palace, a quick run through the Victoria & Albert, an attempted walk to Harrods, but we went the wrong way on the street....so we'll see that later, a visit to the National Gallery (wow, wow, wow, wow) and then a bus ride home on the top of a double decker. London traffic is terrifying, and so is being a pedestrian. I thank my lucky stars I don't have to drive anywhere (to the left--even on the tube, people walk left. weird)!

Classes start tomorrow. I'm excited, but I have so very much reading to do.

Thursday September 2 2010

Today I registered for an oyster card, which allows me to use the tube properly. Ahh! Terribly horrible. Finally, I figured out all the correct things to type, etc. and I am now properly registered. But there were several times where I contemplated just ditching the whole thing and jumping the gate each time I want to take the tube...

We also got our ward assignments today. I am serving in the Wadsworth Stake, Wadsworth Common Ward which is about a half hour away by tube and train. It'll cost about 3 extra pounds each week because it's far enough that my oyster card doesn't cover that area of London. But, that's common for the wards. There are two other girls coming with me to that ward. ...should be interesting? I'm a little nervous. Ah well.

I finished Persuasion today, started classes today. Interesting stuff. I'm still the most excited for both of Uncle Dave's classes. Jane Austen shouldn't be as bad as I thought, but Katy still has me nervous on that front. I now have to finish my reading for the WWI class tomorrow. Oh boy. I may die soon. I'm so super stressed. I do like it here. But I'm so so so so so so so so stressed. My goodness.

Friday September 3 2010

Julie and I ventured out on our own today! The Seelys have gone to Liverpool for a football match this weekend so Julie and I got some basic directions from Katy and then headed out to buy laundry detergent, and a converter for me, but it's curved, like one that I found in my room today...after I had already bought the other...so I'm going to see if I can return it for a straight one which is easier to plug into since I haven't opened it yet. Do they do returns in England? Who knows. The point is we felt very confident moving around Palace Court, Moscow Street, Bayswater, and Queensway. I know where three tube stops are, now I just need to get a hand on the underground system.

Tonight, homework. Wa-hoo. Tomorrow, trips to the National Portrait Gallery, the V & A, and possibly the British Library for Julie and I. These also double as some of our first field assignments. Hurrah!

I cannot believe it's Friday. It still feels like the middle of the week. And Sunday is coming up. I'm nervous for my calling. It sounds like they really look up to the students as model members of the church here. Nerve-wracking. Fortunately, I'm perfect.

Saturday September 4 2010

A perfect 1st Saturday in London. Julie and I left early and took the tube to the British Library. Here we looked at the most amazing illuminated manuscripts (Medieval bibles) I've ever seen. I've been studying them for several years in art history, and there they were! Just a few feet away under glass. We also saw some notes from Chaucer, Virginia Woolf's notes for her novel Mrs. Dalloway--which I will read as part of my modernism/WWI class. We saw the original score for Handel's Messiah! Also several works by Mozart and Schubert and Beethoven's tuning fork. We saw a copy of the Magna Carta. We saw the most beautiful Koran I have ever seen. We saw a fantastic Japanese story scroll. We saw tiny little Books of Hours (prayer books from the Middle Ages) with the most incredible detail--and vibrant colors. We even saw Jane Austen's A History of England (written when she was 15) and her actual writing desk. Wow. And all this in just one room of the library. But, the most incredible thing there--are you ready?--brace yourselves. Original Beatles lyrics! Yesterday (with a mention of Scrambled Eggs--I told everyone it was real), Help, Hard Day's Night, Michelle, and Hold Your Hand. Michelle's lyrics were written by Paul McCartney on the back of an envelope. Holy Cow! It was cool.

After the Library we saw some beautiful architecture: the church (now an international hotel--huge!) of St. Pancras. What an unfortunate name. But, a beautiful building. We took the tube again--I have mastered the tube now--to the National Portrait Gallery. We went here for two field assignments in our Austen class so we saw her tiny little watercolor portrait done by her sister Cassandra. Tiny! We also saw Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Charles I, Charles II, Victoria and Albert, and many other monarchs in full coronation glory. There was the most tender statue of Victoria and Albert in their room. We also saw Cromwell and George Washington among others. Just across from the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery is the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields which is having a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons tonight. We are hoping to go--7 pound tickets--with another girl from our room (the bunk above mine), Bethany and they also occasionally do free lunchtime concerts. It should be good.

From there we headed to the British Museum to quickly see the Rosetta Stone, touch the Parthenon (shhhh, don't tell) and then we ran back out. We took a combination of buses and underground home. We are trying to get better at the overground (bus) system. Perhaps we'll take it tonight to Trafalgar Square for the concert. No food provided on Saturday but I had a piece of toast (Mom.) and we may get a cheap bite before the movie. But I'm never hungry and I really really really want to save my money so I'll probably not purchase anything.

~Later~

Julie and I ended up not going to the concert. But, we did go out to a place to eat. We went to Cafe Diana on Bayswater (past Palace Court towards Notting Hill Station) and it was amazingly good. We tried the sandwich that the Tates recommend--Chicken Tikka with salad. Wow. I want to go back there some time. Despite the thousands of photos of Princess Di plastered over the walls. Coincidentally, this cafe was open in 1989 and there is a picture of Princess Di (or was she still Lady Di at that point?) with the owners who gave here flowers for her birthday (when they opened) and her hair is done in such a way and she's wearing an oversized sweater and she is standing and holding her face in such a way that she looks exactly like Mom did in 1991! It was crazy. It was like looking at those home movies where I'm a baby, except her hair has a little more blonde in it. Whoa. It was nuts.

Back to homework. Joy.

Sunday September 5 2010

Holy. Cow. Getting to church here is an experience.

I really like the girls that I will be attending church with: Meegan (from Kansas City, Kansas--not Missouri!) and Olivia (from Draper--who is engaged! crazy.). Also, the ward is small but seems very nice. Wandsworth Commons Ward, which meets in the Wandsworth Commons Stakehouse. Julie's ward also meets in our bulding, but starts at 10:30 (while we start at 10)--the Chadsworth ward (or something like that). Julie's ward starts with Sacrament meeting, but ours starts with Relief Society and ends with Sacrament Meeting. Getting to church was easy enough, it just took a long time. Meegan, Olivia, and I decided that we were going to take the tube out to Victoria Station where we catch a ten minute train out to Wandsworth Commons. Easy right? Wrong. The underground is undergoing massive overhaul this weekend and there is a strike on until Tuesday. The Central Line, Circle Line, and part of the District Line were closed (among others--but these were the three we cared about for getting to church). On top of all that, the tube stop we tried for was closed! So, we decided we would take a bus.

Then another problem came to us. We have oyster cards that allow us to get all around the city and we got a week long one when we first got here. Then we applied online for a month long student discount card that we renew each month and reuse throughout the program. It came in the mail yesterday so I took that oyster instead of my weeklong one, which hasn't expired yet. Stupid. So, I couldn't get through tube stations, take the bus, or the train to get to church! I had to pay out of pocket (the center pays for the oysters) to get to church. Almost 15 pounds. The one positive thing about that nightmare of an experience is that I think I recognized a prompting of the spirit. I was the first of the three of us in my ward ready to go and while I was waiting I thought "I should go get a ten pound note." I already had a little over three pounds to pay for leaving zone one, but I thought it would be nice to have 10 pounds (I don't have any 5 pound notes yet) in case one of the other girls forgot or something. I was able to use this money to buy the tickets I needed to get to and from church. The church is true!!! (good grief, that was almost a missionary sentence...and this is an email home...)

Relief Society was nice and so was Gospel Doctrine, about halfway through that the three of us were called out the get our callings. Meegan for YW, Olivia for Sunday School, and I'm (hold on to your hats) the pianist for all sacrament meetings, in charge of coordinating special musical numbers, primary pianist, and when needed a primary teacher. Wow. I may just die of fright. I have to pick all the hymns...and then actually play them each week. They are truly desperate for pianists here. It's not like Utah where every third Mormon girl is a virtuoso. At least the Center has a piano that I can practice on, and I can pick the hymns so I'll have some preparation.

Just got off the "phone" with mom. Lovely. Now, the task at hand is to get my stupid microphone to work so that we can actually communicate. And get a better internet signal/connection. Darn center and its crazy bandwidth needs. Off to do religion reading before kitchen crew. Religion reading is religious and therefore Sunday appropriate. Wasn't it Elder Holland (...or Elder Hales?...or President Benson?...I don't remember...) who said this time is consecrated for learning in my life? Besides, you try to do a semester in London and actually get outside each day and not end up with a little homework on Sunday.

London Studies and Field trips starts this week. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Plus the first full, official week. It's beginning.