Broadstairs Beach
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Another Weekend in Londonia…
This weekend I stayed
in London with my friend Crystal. Thankfully,
our hostel experience was a lot better than the last time (Elephant and Castle…
super sketch). On Friday, after a chilly walking tour of the East End, we went
to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is essentially a history museum. I really enjoyed the fashion exhibit. There are samples of clothing on display from
almost every decade since the 1700s. Also, I apologize for the grainy pictures. Unfortunately, all of these are from my iPod camera, which is pretty wretched. Deal with it.
The entrance to the V&A
After wandering through
the museum, we headed into Harrod’s. In
case you live under a rock, Harrod’s is a famous, prestigious department store
that is known for its high end merchandise.
We were greeted at the door by an enormous security guy who told us we
had to carry our backpacks in our hands, not on our backs. The place is massive! And because it was a Friday night, it was
packed with shoppers and, of course, tourists.
We spent most of our time in the Christmas-themed food section of the
store. I wish I could say I bought
something, but everything was really expensive – even the chocolate. There was a special plate of Christmas chocolates
on display for £248.00. I wanted to
examine the label to see if the chocolates contained any gold, but I was afraid
to touch it! I've heard stories about
the dress code at Harrod’s, but thankfully we were allowed in even with our
jeans and trainers. I felt kinda
uncomfortable walking through there, but it was an interesting experience, to
say the least.
Harrod's: Home of the most expensive everything
The next stop was
Covent Garden. We wandered through the
Christmas lights display and stopped at the Shake Shack to grab dinner. Everything was very beautiful. The only thing that could have made it
better? Snow. :)
Inside the Covent Garden shopping area
We were near Yumchaa,
so we couldn’t really pass up the opportunity to have some tea before turning
in for the night. Honestly, the tea at
this place is incredible. I had a tea
called Notting Hill, which was apricot and strawberry flavoured. Can you say perfection? Mmmm.
The next day had a typical
hostel breakfast: bread and generic corn flakes and watery orange juice. We met up with Amber, my friend from high
school, and explored London together. It
was so great to see her! She is studying
in Dublin for the term and had come down to London for the Doctor Who 50th
Anniversary celebration. I’m glad we had
the chance to spend the day together.
She is such a sweetheart.
From the Christmas
market at South Bank Centre to the lights at Hyde Park, I’d say we had a
successful day filled with Christmas spirit!
That was probably the last weekend (maybe the last day, even) that we will ever spend in London. Unless we are able to
go back before the 14th, which is unlikely.
London on a clear day - which is pretty rare
Christmas Market at South Bank Centre
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland!
Today has been really
slow and unproductive for me. I've done
literally nothing. Well, I take that
back. I turned in three (3) essays! And did laundry. And cleaned my room. And stalked my mom’s Facebook because I miss
her so stinking much. Other than that, I've been relatively inefficient. To be fair, I've spent the past week working hard on those three essays I just finished.
I've got three essays
left of my academic term at CCCU and I couldn't be more depressed about this fact. It reminds me that I’m leaving in three weeks…
booooooo.
When I went to campus
to turn in my essays, I overheard a conversation in the café between a female
tutor and a student. The student needed
help with a research article and the tutor was trying to explain it. The tutor was looking the article over and
said something like “Is this written by an American? Americans have this way of using the most
complicated words… like, what is this?
This is not a word. I think she’s
made it up.” (looks at the front cover of the article) “Ah, yes. She’s from Yale. You might need a dictionary
to read this one.” Pretty much made my
day.
THIS WEEK IS GONNA BE
AWESOME. We are headed to Rome on Friday and will be there until Sunday. Please pray for safe travels! I’m
quite nervous about sight-seeing in Rome because of the infamous pickpockets
there.
On Thursday we will be having our Thanksgiving feast and party at CCCU. To get into the spirit, I've made a brief list of who and what I'm thankful for. Enjoy :D
New friends and fun times in Canterbury!
Skype because, honestly, I'd be a homesick wreck without it...
Family (not all of them are pictured, but I love them all very much!)
These awesome women of God :)
This beautiful friendship that just keeps getting better. I love this woman<3
My jobs. Despite how much I say I hate them, I actually love them. I just need to be reminded of that.
Canterbury and the amazing experience it has been to live here for three months.
These cool people
LONDON!!
These precious women who have become like sisters to me on this trip
And, of course, traveling and seeing more of the world than I've ever dreamed possible!
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Globe Theatre and the Tower of London – and a pensive reflection which you may feel free to skip over
Shocking truth: the
Globe Theatre as it currently stands is not actually the original Globe, nor is
it on the site of the original Globe. I
had no idea that the Globe was completely burned down to the ground. Guess I need to brush up on my British
history. In June 1613, a fire triggered by
a cannon shot (which was used as a special effect in one of the productions) burned
the entire theatre to the ground. Thankfully,
everyone escaped and no one was hurt too terribly. Because the entire theatre was made of wood,
it burned down in just an hour! Talk
about a fire hazard. Anyway, I’m done
with my history lesson.
My camera has been
acting funny and I can’t seem to upload pictures onto my laptop. So here are some pictures that I've stolen
from friends.
I would love to see a
play at the Globe. Unfortunately, their
season doesn't start until the spring. I
was fascinated to hear our guide talk about the playhouse in such detail. The theatre was a lively place full of drunk,
loud, and wild people. I remember
learning about the Globe in high school, but being there in person really
helped me to imagine the smelly and rowdy groundlings crowding together near
the stage and the wealthy people of the town sitting in their box seats,
looking down disdainfully at the groundlings.
Our guide told us about the interactions between the audience and the
players. If a certain actor was
performing poorly, the audience let him know of their disapproval by throwing
things at him, calling him names, or talking over him. Likewise, if an audience member was being
particularly rowdy, an actor would direct his lines towards this person to
regain this person’s attention. Today at
the Globe, the actors try to recreate the same atmosphere and encourage audience
interaction. In fact, the audience
seating is always lit up, like a stage, so the actors can see everyone’s
faces. This is how it would have been in
the seventeenth century. Sometimes the
actors perform with an all-male cast, as women were not allowed on stage in
Shakespeare’s time. Our guide assured us
that, in order to make things fair, the Globe will sometimes use an all-female
cast for certain plays. ;)
After our tour of the
Globe, we had some free time for lunch.
I have been packing my lunch from home to save money. Never in my life have I eaten so many
PB&J sandwiches. Not even in
elementary school. The things I do in
the name of frugality…
The Tower of London was
our second and final stop for the day. I
must be really ignorant because I thought that the Tower of London was
literally just one tower. Wrong. It’s basically a town inside of these
fortified walls. Among other things, the
crown jewels and the royal armour collection are kept there. We saw the torture chamber as well. The rack, the scavenger’s daughter, and the manacles
were kept in a creepy little basement room in one of the towers. Also, we were able to see some pretty cool
carvings from the prisoners that were kept in the towers.
Our guide was HILARIOUS
View of the Tower of London from the street
Where the Crown Jewels are kept!
View of Tower Bridge from inside the Tower (NOT THE SAME AS LONDON BRIDGE)
The weekend held
nothing particularly exciting or special.
I spent a lot of my time writing another essay and hanging up posters around
campus for our American Thanksgiving celebration. I cannot believe that I have been here for
over two months! Somehow time has
slipped away from me. And I still feel
like I am living someone else’s life.
Going home will be a bigger transition than I previously thought. How do I go from a place so rich with
history, so full of inspiration, so packed with memories… back to my dull little
life in Illinois? Not to mention leaving
my friends! :(
(The following is the
part you should skip if you’re not particularly fond of contemplative and
overly-pensive wordiness)
I remember the advice
someone gave me before leaving to go on this trip. I was still really nervous about going so far
from home, and this person told me, “Home will always be the same. Even after
you come back. Your family will still be
there for you when you come back. And so
will your friends. This is why you need
to go.” She didn't say any more, and I
understood she meant a great deal more than that. I don’t think she necessarily meant that home
will never change in the physical
sense, but at the time I couldn't possibly understand what she meant by
it. Now I think I finally get it. It’s not something I can adequately explain. Through this experience, I have learned to
let go of my anxiousness and be spontaneous.
I have learned to push the boundaries of my faith. And I have learned the difference between loneliness
and solitude. Quite frankly, I can
always go home. I am fortunate enough to
have the kind of family that will always be waiting for me and loving on me, no
matter where life takes me. Maybe it has
to do with the fact that “home” is no longer a physical place for me, but a
state of mind. After living abroad, the
whole “home is where the heart is” has this earth-shattering truth to it. I've never really subscribed to it before,
but now I am completely convinced.
(Faint of heart may
resume reading now)
Anyway, next weekend we
are headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I've no idea what there is to see there, but it should be interesting
and free – two adjectives that I’m quite fond of. This week I've been hard at work on another
essay. I love that I have so much free
time to write and rewrite and edit and analyze the crap out of my essays in
true English major fashion. That’s all
going to change when I get back to NCC… le sigh. Well, if you've read this far, wow. You either have a lot of time on your hands
or you are super dedicated. Either way,
I’m flattered.
Have a lovely day!
– K
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~ A Travel Blog by Kristin ~