It is wonderful to be wonderful

Sunday, September 12
Last sunday 5 of us were assigned to go to the London North ward. On Sunday we (Mackenzie, Morgan, Lauren, Becca & I) headed off at 8:30 to get to church by 10 (so we thought.) We arrived promptly at 10:40. The ward we relatively small, so we made quite the entrance when the 5 of us tramped in 40 minutes late. But what can I say, go big or go home! To get there we had to take the tube, train, bus, and feet. We got to our tube stop that we were supposed to catch our train at, only to find out that it doesn't run on Sundays. We had to head over to Kings Cross to catch a different train, which we just missed. So 20 minutes later we finally got the train. Long story short, the bus was also late, and we got lost when walking there. It took us about 90 minutes to get home. So we figure going to church every week will be about a 6.5 hour venture. It's a good thing we love the gospel! 
I love the London North Ward! It only has roughly 80 active members, with 30 different nationalities represented. They were so thrilled to have us there. It was brilliant! I am very excited to go back next week. We will also get out callings next week, which I am very excited about. 


Monday, September 13
Monday was just our typical monday. We had class and then we scrounged for leftovers. Really though, I had a salad with spaghetti sauce as dressing. After lunch a few of us headed over to the National Gallery to do homework, and then over to the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) for our Jane Austen homework. Jani and I stopped at Marks & Spencer and then Tesco for a little grocery shopping (which may or may not have consisted of digestives and cereal....mmmmm) and then sprinted home for dinner.  
After dinner Sister Bird asked if Lauren, Meegan and I wanted to go see Wicked because she had extra tickets! We definitely hopped all over that. 
The seats were amazing! We were right up front, and it was such a nice change from our typical student discount tickets on the top row of the balcony where we had to stand up and peer over the edge to see. There wasn't the thrill of peering over a 30 ft balcony, but I felt like I was royalty. In all honestly I loved the London production much more than the production I saw in LA a few years back, and that, was GOOD. Almost all of the actors could easily compete with the original cast of Wicked (ie Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth). So, all in all, it was a good day.

Wilfred Owen

Today, Tuesday, I have just had class and lunch so far. Since coming to London and engaging myself into Humanities and my Great War and Modernism seminars my appreciation for the arts, mainly Gregorian chants, art, and poetry has significantly increased. In my Great War and Modernism seminar we connect the Great War to all the poetry, literature and art that was a product of the first World War, which I love because studying the Great War is most surely my forte. 
Today we were studying the work of two poets who were officers in the war, one of whom was Wilfred Owen. He was on the front lines and was killed 5 days before the end of the war. Before he departed for the front lines, he wrote The Parable of the Old Man, and the Young.

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,

And took the fire with him, and a knife.

And as they sojourned both of them together,

Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,

Behold the preparations, fire and iron,

But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?

Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,

and builded parapets and trenches there,And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.

When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,

Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,

Neither do anything to him. Behold,

A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;

Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,

And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Rockin' the Ruins

Yes, I did say I was getting better about blogging. Slowly, but surely. Maybe I am getting worse, I haven't decided yet. The Wifi here is not the best wifi in the world and so we can't stream, or technically upload pictures. So, be happy, that for all of you lovely readers I am breaking the rules, and you are all looking at illegal photographs.
On Wednesday we had our first "London Field Study". Field Studies are just a big group field trip, of sorts. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral in the morning and then headed to the Museum of London after we picked up some lunch. First, let me just say that whenever we go somewhere it's like a big mob overflows everything, and then on top of that, it turns into a paparazzi photo shoot. For 46 people. We get lots of looks, but it's fun.
This is our little group of friends taking out photo shoot in front of St. Pauls Cathedral.

St. Pauls Cathedral is by far my favorite thing in London thus far. Maybe-- actually, it may be tied with half naked men running through Hyde Park and Digestives. It's a tough tie. We took a tour of St. Pauls and then hiked up to the top (VERY top) of the dome. All 538 steps. Once we got to the top, all out of breath, there was a little tiny sign that said, NO WAY DOWN. I don't know a better way to greet visitors either.  It was such a breathtaking view of the city, I have never seen anything like it. I would gladly walk up all 538 steps everyday. (okay, maybe not everyday, every other day). Did I mention they also filmed part of Harry Potter here? Well, they did. Two words, Dumbledores Staircase. I would download another picture of us at the top, but I am averaging 10 minutes a picture, so pretend there is a picture below, and use your imagination. :)

On our way to the Museum of London I spotted Gresham Street! I stopped and took a picture, so in all reality, this is for mom and Aunt Julie!

Thursday we had class, and I just hung out at home and worked on homework and just kind of hung out. It was very, very nice just to take a nice relaxing day for myself.

Friday was our first day trip! It was an absolute adventure. We all woke up at about 4:50 am and had to be showered and ready by 6. At 6 we had breakfast and had to pack our lunches and be on the bus at 6:45. At precisely 7, we were off to Dover, and all 38 students, out. We had a two hour bus journey to Dover castle. Per usual- we spent the first hour having a photo shoot, and then we got our tour started! We first went to the WW2 "secret" tunnels (why they are called "secret" is a mystery. It's hard to miss 4 massive doors and windows sticking out the middle of The White Cliffs of Dover) and then had our own time to explore the castle. Not much exploring was done, it was mostly a photo shoot, again. This is an example: Why I am on a cannon, not really sure. We saw it and decided we would spend 20 minutes of our time taking pictures on it. But I guess I will forever have a picture of me on a canon at Dover castle, not many people can say that. Besides the 30 other girls in my group that took a picture on it, of course.
After Dover castle we hopped on a bus and went to Canterbury. In Canterbury we went to St. Martins Parish, St. Augustine's Cathedral Ruins, and Canterbury Cathedral.  We arrived to our first destination at St. Augustine and noticed a rather large CLOSED sign on the front gates. Brother Seeley called and showed them who was boss. They were going to send a tour guide to let us in, in a half hours time. In the mean time we went to St. Martins Parish. It was the first church in England and that is also where Queen Bertha went to church before her husband, Kind Ethelburg converted to Christianity. The church was very small, and set back in a graveyard. A cute older lady talked to us for a while and then we sung hymns in the church for about 10 or 15 minutes. It was quite the experience. You could tell the spirit had a very strong presence there. Brother Seeley pointed out that alot of our relatives would have gone to small parishes for church like St. Martins and it make the experience very special, Christianity really did pave the way for the Restoration.
We wrapped us St. Martins and then walked back over to St. Augustine's ruins. The ruins were cool to look at, and then once again it turned into a photo shoot. It was a blast, the ruins were like a jungle gym for big people. You can only look at ruins for so long, and then you have to rock the ruins, spice up the ruins a little bit. We took countless pictures, and then 5 of us were brave enough to climb to the top, and then we of course had to document that, in various different ways. I will spare you all, and just give you our Greek Goddess pose, and then mine and Jani's Roman warrior picture.

And we were off to our last stop! (it's almost over guys, promise) Canterbury Cathedral, here we come. This cathedral was amazing! It was constantly under renovation and construction from about 1200-1700 AD. The cathedral was HUGE. There really isn't a better word for it, it was just absolutely HUGE.

Because we had such a long day this tour seemed to drag on for a rather long period of time, though I did enjoy every moment of it. Once we got into the courtyard I was feeling kind of droopy and tired, and realized this looked familiar.
I got all excited and told my friend Meegan I was positive that this was where they filmed Harry Potter. She got all excited too and you could instantly see the group perk up once we figure out it looked exactly like HP. Meegan asked, no, yelled (he was hard of hearing) at our tour guide about 5 times if they filmed HP here and he looked completely clueless. So, we still don't know, but I am convinced it was filmed there.

Today was a really good day. I LOVE Saturday's. We had a pretty late night last night. We watched Pride and Prejudice and then stayed up to sing Happy Birthday to Lisa, and then just talked. I slept in till 9, and then Lauren and I went for a 6 mile run. A few of us went to Camden Market, which I like much more than Portabello. It's a little grungier, but it is just a blast to go there. Then we went to Tuk Tuk Thai. I would fly 7,000 miles just to eat there. I spend 4 pounds on the best Thai food I have ever had. Now that is a happy ending to this long blog.

The Cheers to Tube Strikes and Dances

I will just do a quick recap of life from Friday to Monday and expound where needed.

Friday
Homework at the National Gallery
YSA Dance. Party Like a Rockstar
Lost girls at the dance, Jani and I searching for an hour. Almost heart attack.
Walk home from nice English lads

Saturday
Portabello Road (1,500 antique shops. Saturday only- OVERWHELMING)
Les Miserables
Italian Restaurant
Haagen Daz (Carmel Biscuit. Europe only. AMAZING)


Sunday
Church at Hyde Park- Hyde Park Ward
Slovenian man asking Brother Seely for all of our addresses- he is determined to marry one of us.
Called to the London North Ward
3 hour nap
Fireside with President and Sister Maythem (He is from S. Africa, she is from Scotland. HILARIOUS couple)

Monday
Classes
Ben's Cookies
Big Ben
Asian couple wedding pictures
V&A Museum Homework (Grace Kelly Exhibit)
Tube Strike
Dessert at the Waffle House (Best Ice Cream waffle in the world. Really.)


As for the tube strike- Becca, Lauren, Jani and I were rushing home from the V&A at 5:10 so we could make it to dinner, and briefly remembering our professors talking about tube strike starting at 5 may or may have not had something to do with our rush. (yes, they may have more than just briefly talked about it, maybe every night for a few days, telling us to not get caught in it, and not to be on the tube at 5.) In the long run, who knew the rush could be so exciting. So we only had three tube stops to go, and we made it to Notting Hill! It was a miracle. When we got off they started saying over intercom that the strike was beginning and everyone needed to get off at the next tube stop. The church is true, we got to dinner on time!

Living and going to school in London is more difficult than one would actually think. As Lauren would say, considering the term "Study Abroad", we have got the whole Abroad thing down, it's just studying we need to learn to conquer. We have class Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from roughly 9-12. Tuesdays I only have The Great War and so I have class from 10:35- 12:10 and Mondays/Thursdays I have three classes, from 9-12:40. After class we usually go out and do stuff, and we generally have "field assignments" for class and need to go to various museums. Dinner is promptly at 5:20 and then we usually go out again, or do homework, usually the first, of course.

Living with your professors is just a whole other world. This morning I was doing my hair in soccer shorts and a tank top when all the professors waddled on by, and Sister Bird complimenting me on my hair. It was just odd. Oh so odd. They also know who is up till 3 am finishing their homework and just our daily patterns of life. It is fun, but I am still getting used to the idea, especially them seeing me fold my underwear. Two words. AWK WARD

That is all for now, homework and a nap are calling my name!

Love Is Like A Gelato Shop

First, let me just say that time here feels like a blur--granted the jet lag may or may not have something to do with that, but my last blog feels like five days ago, not two. 

Yesterday morning Jani, Lauren, Meeghan and I all went for a nice  5K run around Hyde Park. I can't even begin to describe the beauty of waking up a day break, and going running as the fog is just beginning to clear over the lake. I have never experienced something like that, it truly took my breath away (in such a way that I wanted to start singing "Take My Breath Away" from Jessica Simpson, but spared my good running buddies the pleasure). I am now incredibly motivated to get up every morning for my run. 

In the morning we had orientation where we recieved a little "exploration of London" assignment. A group of us went and we just got a little taste of different museums, bus routes, tube stops, shopping areas, Herrods, etc. It really was a great day. My favorite memories are the group of ten of us standing on the corner with a map the size of one street block, wide open, and 5 other little maps out trying to figure out where we were, and definitely making ourselves known as the American Tourists. Finally we just asked a nice lad to point us in the right direction and he was more than willing. Problem solved. Did I mention how my sense of direction has dwindles since I came to London? Well, it has. 

My lovely street

To top off the evening we made a very last second decision to go to a broadway show The Lion King. Because we are students we found out we can go to a show a half an hour before it begins, and if they have extra seating they will sell us poor students deeply discounted tickets. It was 6:30 and the show started at 7:30. We all changed at lightning speed (and for girls, ten minutes is lightning) and headed off! Wrong tube stop, lost lion king, lost time, and 20 pounds later, we were at LEGALLY BLONDE: The Musical. Yes, yes, as my father put it "now tell me one more time, you flew 9,000 miles, half way around the world, to the culture capital of the world, and saw THAT?" Well said dad, that was it. Surprisingly it was really well done. Give us drunk guys cracking up hysterically behind us (made the show sooo much more entertaining), people singing happy birthday over and over again, us sitting literally on top of the stage we were so high, more drunk birthday girls, and a pregnant ELLE WOODS, and once more us getting lost in London, and you had our evening! It was very memorable. 

So, you all are probably wondering about my title. I am getting there, believe it or not. 

We will start with Gelato. Well, take that back. Classes started today. They were good. Now, back to Gelato. We (Me, Jani, Natalie, Lauren, Jenna, Becca,and Meegan) were galavanting along Notting Hill, just exploring our neighborhood, doing a little school supply shopping and came across a cute little gelato shop,Mia Bella (in all honestly, I can't remember what it was called, so I made that name up). There was this amazing Peanut Butter flavor that Jani and I fell in love with. Now pause, just remember Peanut Butter was on the back row. Continuing, the gelato was amazing. After gelato we wondered our way back to home, and didn't get lost. A few of the girls just stayed home, and so Meegan, Becca, Lauren and I went back out to see if we could sneak onto Embassy row (we got rejected last time we tried). Yes, we were successful. Embassy row in incredible! It's amazing walking down a street of billion dollar homes, and knowing their backyard is shared with Kensington Palace, and they had all been there for hundreds of years. 

So later that night my roommates and I (Jani, Jenna, Kaitlyn, Beth) stated up talking about love and all our crazy theories about it. Best conclusion of the night, Love is like a gelato shop. You can't see all the flavors, but the ice cream man can, so you need to ask the gelato man what flavor he thinks will fit you best, which will be peanut butter of course. So, we know it's deep if we tell someone that we "found our peanut butter gelato"

Well, this was actually from two days ago and I never got around to posting it, so do forgive me. I will give today and tomorrow's update tomorrow night. 

Teaser: Party like a Rockstar, YSA style.