Study Abroad, Honors Program & Other Student Experiences

I feel like I just updated, but in reality it was about a week ago.  Time is flying over here.  Now let’s move on to what happened this week.

Classes were busy as usual.  On Wednesday, for my Creative Writing class we went on a literary walk through London.  The point of the exercise was to grab inspiration from what was around you.  We started at the tube stop by Bond Street, which was completely decked out in Skyfall advertisements.  (Get it? BOND Street?)  Anyways from there we moved on through a ritzy fancy place, where I could not have afforded anything.  I mean we saw a two thousand pound pen, crazy right? Who spends that much on a pen?  Then we went through SoHo and finally ended up back at the London Centre.  It was a really interesting way to see the city.  Between my creative writing class and my photography class, I feel as if I’m always seeing things I wouldn’t have seen before.

After class, I grabbed sushi before heading to a local church for mass.

On Thursday, we had a photo walk and strolled through various areas of London before ending up at the National Portrait Gallery.  We saw two different exhibits: The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 and the Man Ray Portraits.  I wasn’t a big fan of the Man Ray, but after those two exhibits, my friend Sheri and I wandered to the Tudor paintings, where I got to see paintings of my favorite royal family.  I saw portraits of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, Catherine of Aragon, and Elizabeth II.  I was probably more excited than I should have been, oh well.  This is why I’m a history major.  After exploring the Gallery, I went with a group of friends to the Covent Gardens Market.

Outside the Market, to celebrate Valentine’s Day they had a giant wire statue of the word love.  And you could pay to put a lock somewhere on the word.  It was a really cute idea, and I made sure to get lots of pictures.  Check it out.

Love.

Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!

After spending a lot of time at the love statue, we moved into the market where we saw everything.  I got to eat a delicious chocolate cupcake, and then bought an organic burger from a street vendor.  I heard a woman singing some amazing opera; saw a man with a ferret on his soldier, and crazy things of that nature.  I’m definitely planning on going back sometime soon.

Covent Gardens Market

Fun times at the Market

Friday was an action packed day.  Becca and I went out to run errands, which involved a stop at Primark where I picked out a pair of the most amazing high heels.  Then that night I got to see my first show for Play Critique.  It was called Rhinoceros and we saw it at the Barbican Theatre.  Also, fun fact the show was in French.  That was interesting.  I don’t really speak French.  The show was really good, and after seeing the show a group of went out to the Champion, which is a local pub down the street.

On Saturday, Becca and I ran errands and explored a little bit.  We walked through Kensington Gardens and just people watched for a little bit.  The park is a busy place on a Saturday afternoon.  After exploring the park for a little while, we walked to Argos (the British version of Wal-Mart) and then headed back to the house.

That night we ordered Lebanese takeout, which I’d never had before. Absolutely. Delicious.  I don’t remember the name of what I ordered but there was lamb, chicken, and bread.  I’d never had lamb until I came to London but it’s absolutely fantastic.

On Sunday, after going for my morning run and grabbing groceries from Tesco a group of us got on the tube and headed to Wimbledon.  For any of you who don’t know what that is, it’s the tennis court that the British are so famous for.  I’m not going to lie; I really don’t understand tennis at all. I’ve watched matches and still the number of sets and games and points confuse me, but I can appreciate the sport in spite of my confusion.

Wimbledon!

We got off the tube at Wimbledon, and ended up walking for a very long time before finding the tennis Wimbledon.  After the long walk we finally found it, and paid for a trip through the museum and a look at Centre court, which is where all the big names play like Murray, Federer, and the Williams sisters.

Centre Court

Wimbledon was really cool.  It inspired me to maybe try and watch tennis match again…..the key word there is maybe.  From there we headed back to Notting Hill and then it was time for move night with Phillip! This week it was Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

This coming week is filled with all sorts of fun adventures, I’ll be back to tell you about it soon! Cheers! (=