Be Thou My Vision

Life has been moving at an insane speed since I last posted. I got home from London, Kyle visited for two weeks, I moved back to Harrisonburg and into the Dugout, I started training to be a freshman small group leader with IV, classes started, I went back to work, my health got significantly worse and no doctors have found answers, etc.

Here I am though, still trusting that God is good and sovereign amidst the craziness of my busy life, and still failing and needing His grace more and more.

Things I need to remember:
1. He is good, He is glorious, He is full of grace.
2. I'm nothing without Him.
3. The girls I'm leading are girls He loves fully and completely and deeply, and they are His creation. Nothing I do matters more than that. Loving them like He does is my goal.
4. My flesh may fail (and it most definitely is), but His spirit is so strong in me. My weaknesses let me rely more fully on His all sufficient strength.
5. I need to take one thing at a time and present all my concerns and fears and worries constantly to my Father in prayer. I don't need to get overwhelmed by my busy schedule and growing to-do list.

I've been constantly reminding myself of the words to the beautiful hymn "Be Thou My Vision"...

By thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
may I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Finals Week

Sunday- submitted my final Writing in the Public Sphere paper to Nina via email...since my blog is already all wrapped up, THAT'S IT for that class! Just waiting for her feedback on everything and my final grades.


Monday- Media and Politics final at 10am. He had given us five essay topics during our last class session, and we had to write two of them in class. It was stressing me out to prepare for it, because I didn't know how much to research, what I needed to include, etc etc etc. It turns out that I prepared exactly how I needed to. I sat down in class to write them and completely visualized all the notes I had written out this weekend, and I breezed through writing both of them in the 90 minutes we had! I feel pretty good about them overall, I'm just nervous about his grading because he's so arbitrary with things like that. We'll see, I guess. I'm fairly sure I'll get a B in this class, but it's the only one I know I won't have an A in, so it's all good.


Tuesday- Turned my final Culture by Design paper in to Charlotte (it's due to her by 4 pm). Feeling good about that, good about that class in general! Had to go Media and Society to turn in our papers (differences between churches/faith/religion in the UK and the US and how media plays into it), and have a discussion about things we learned this semester being here. We were out of there by 10:45, and now there is absolutely nothing left that I have to do!


Aaaaannnndddd, just got an email from Nina about my final grades: A- on my exam, A on my blog, and A- in the class overall! HOORAY yayayay.


Her comments about my blog: 

 "It was such a pleasure to read your entry every week: I will really miss them! Your writing is polished, elegant, and, above, all thoughtful. I loved the way that you were able to strike such an effective balance between responding to specific questions and situating those answers within a much broader context. Keep on writing – always!"

She's awesome. And then there was this:

"Thank you for your very kind words in the final blog. This course was such a learning experience for me, and I was really anxious about how it would work in the beginning. We ended up making it up as we went along, but you made that so easy to do. You’ve impressed me over and over with your quick intelligence, thoughtfulness (this seems to be a word I keep returning to!), and curiosity. I wish you all the best. Please let me know occasionally how you are doing. And remember that you always have a room in Wimbledon! 
Enjoy the final days of your stay in London, and have a safe trip home. Nina" 

WAAAAHHH I'm going to miss that class like no other.

But, in other news, total freedom until my Saturday morning departure! What to do, what to do. I'm just ready to be back at this point. Trying to motivate myself to do things this week and stay busy, but I'm just pretty much checked out and tired. Almost done- so so crazy.

Last full Saturday in London

Is it really my last full weekend here? Dang. Not okay.

Today=Saturday=FINALLY time to go back to Portobello Market! I've been dying to go back all week but it's only on Saturdays, so I had to wait. Amanda went with me this time, and we left around 9:45ish to take the tube to Notting Hill. My migraine still hadn't gone away completely and I was feeling pretty nauseous, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. It also was POURING, so that was fun!

Yep, it was this gray and gloomy all day

It was fun to be back with someone else and not just on my own this time, and we wandered around a lot of the same stores and stalls I had gone to last week. I had a few places I knew I wanted to go back to, and I got to all of them to pick up things I had been thinking about all week. I'm DONE shopping for people now! I need to stop. I have way too much. Oops. That's what I get for being a gift-giving love language, I guess.

While Amanda was looking at a stall of retro Disney magazine covers, the stall owner (a middle-aged guy) started asking us where we were from, and if we were studying here, etc. Those are the questions we are usually asked by locals that talk to us, so it was nothing new or surprising. I started explaining what we were studying, and he started asking me pretty tough questions! I didn't realize how hard it was to define what I've learned in all my classes this summer, especially since they're all so different and so broad in their subject matter. He would net let me off easy though, and kept questioning and challenging what I was saying. It was pretty cool to be forced to explain what I've learned, especially to someone who lives here. The guy knew a LOT and it was an intimidating but really awesome conversation!

It rained basically the whole time we were there, which got to be pretty annoying. It's hard to manage shopping bags and umbrellas and purses and getting out money and looking at things, etc. We kept going until we got to the fruit and veg stands, got some really yummy goodies (strawberries, a grapefruit, asparagus), and then continued on to the prepared food stalls!

This is a little taste of what heaven looks like.

Amanda got Ghandian food that she loved, and I got a cheese and spinach crepe that I did not love. I don't know why I keep trying crepes, I never like them. Lesson learned. We sat on a tiny step under an awning to eat, and everyone stared at us when they walked by.

We found an AWESOME stall that had tons of baked goods for 3 for 2 pounds, 70 pents, so we both did that too! Yum.

Amanda and her rice, peanut butter chicken, and carrot dish!

my crepe getting made

my crepe (that I didn't really eat...)

YUM.

I got an apple creme turnover, a Bath bun (since we didn't get them when we were actually in Bath), and a donut. Seriously, so good. Best decision. Unhealthy, but best.

We were getting ready to go, as we had no hands left, no cash left, and were sick of the rain. We took the bus back (MY FIRST SUCCESSFUL BUS JOURNEY IN LONDON YAY. Proudest moment.) and it was fun to just zone out and see the city passing by as we rode home.

Took a super long nap when we got back (rainy days are the best for naps, that's no surprise). Finally finished another one of my final papers, took a break to attempt to start packing up all the many souvenirs and gifts I have accumulated...goodness. Packing is going to be rough. I know I need another suitcase, but mine is currently probably way too heavy...ugh. Nightmare.

Made dinner- an omelette, and asparagus from today! Had part of my apple turnover for dessert- SO GOOD.

Wrote another one of my final papers, for Culture By Design. Why am I always the most motivated at night? Weird. Everyone is wanting to go out and drink every night and celebrate while we are still here, but I'm totally winding down and just wanting to get all my work done and be productive and journal a lot and reflect on my time here. I'm such an introvert.

Tomorrow is another day of being productive, and then tea time for our group activity!

First week of July! Classes.

Monday- Media and Politics
Our outing (after a frustrating class of our teacher on his soapbox harshly criticizing topics that are sensitive and then not listening to our viewpoints at all) was to the Imperial War Museum- full of tanks and planes and lots of war propaganda that we looked at. It was a very thorough museum with  wars and conflicts I had never heard of, and we looked mainly at media uses throughout a few major wars. It was pretty depressing overall, but the propaganda was interesting to look at and see the  differences throughout the progress of time.

I think the rest of the day was just back at the house, getting reading done for my classes, etc. Nothing too exciting!

Tuesday- Media and Society
We spent class time talking all about our final papers in groups and critiquing them. We talked about our topics and our progress with the professor and it basically took the whole class time. Our outing was to the Jewish Museum in Camden where a sweet old lady took us upstairs to give us a rundown of the museum, and then we had time to explore on our own. It was really interesting to see the history of Jewish culture and people in London throughout time.

Afterward, a group of us found a cheap Italian pizza place for lunch and all devoured our pizzas. It was so nice to finally have free time in between our classes for once...usually we are rushed to get to Culture By Design in time!

Culture by Design- we didn't have lecture, but instead met outside of class and went straight to the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill. I was looking forward to this outing just because it sounded different from all the other museums we've been to, and I was right. It was AWESOME. It was a tiny little place, but it was jam packed with stuff, and I wanted to stay there forever. It started out going decade by decade from 1900 to today, with the display cases full of food packaging, toys, posters and art and propaganda, fashion, games, etc. Basically anything with a brand and a package was there. It was so cool seeing how the trends changed throughout time, and seeing how many things still have stayed so similar and so true to their original design and packaging.

After that area, the displays shifted to show brands from their original creation throughout time to today. It would show, for example, Coca Cola, from the original can through every variation throughout the decades, ending in the current design. It struck me as fascinating how little most designs changed over time. I think it speaks volumes about the original designs themselves, that they truly have withstood the test of time and stayed true to their focus, which I thought was really cool. We have another media analysis project to write about this outing, and I'm really excited about it.

After spending a little less than an hour there, we rushed off to Westfield mall to look more at branded space. We went to the area of the shopping centre known as "The Village" aka the reaaaaallllyyyyy expensive stuff. We were sent off in small groups to look around and go in as many stores as we could in the time allowed, with the goal of deciding whether the spaces were classified as a "shed," "cathedral," or "museum." Sheds would be stores were everything is out and in the open and more available and perhaps more busy and cluttered and chaotic. Museums are where you go to study things, they are less accessible, more on display. Cathedrals would be the least accessible, with people going with the intent of worshipping or paying homage to the items. It was really cool to look at these designer stores that way and to classify them and to realize I really didn't like or want anything I saw. I'm much more of a thrifter and bargain shopper, and I'm 150% okay with that.

After that, we were done with classes for the day! We had a group meeting at 6:30, and then we were done for the day!


Wednesday (4th of July!)- Writing in the Public Sphere
Discussed four articles that were more current and more about the Internet playing into the public sphere, and it was really interesting, as it was topics I had covered in my paper (that I got an A- on, yay!). I had time to come up to my flat during class and look at several major news sources online and to analyze their comment forums and take notes on their effectiveness and their content, which was really interesting.

Our outing was to the Foundling Museum- an outing I had picked since some of our outings were duplicates from my other classes. Read more about it here! (http://londonpublicsphere.blogspot.co.uk/)

Afterwards, I was off to explore a new area of town on my own, about two streets over from where Madison House is. It just happened to be a random area of the neighborhood that I hadn't really explored yet, and after walking around for a while, I realized it's because there really isn't anything to see or do there except eat at places I've seen around town already. I stopped at a souvenir shop to pick up things for people, and then came home to relax. We were going to go to the Globe Theatre in the evening to see Taming of the Shrew and we were going to have to stand the whole time, so I knew I wanted to take it easy all day so my knee wouldn't hate me TOO much.

Griffin and I left to head to the theatre and our group all met up there. We had "groundlings" tickets, and I was excited for them because it was the true Shakespearean way of seeing his plays, but also really nervous about my knee holding up the whole time. I had the okay from Rusty to leave at any point if I needed to, but I love Taming of the Shrew and I really wanted to be able to see it all.

We stood at the back of the ground area, so we had a wall to lean up against and a little ledge to sort of sit on, and that helped a lot. The play was HILARIOUS and very well done! There was even quite a lot of nudity (saw much more male butt than I was ever expecting to...) and I seriously loved it. Such good actors, and such an awesome experience, and I made it the whole time! Walking to the tube station was miserable and it's been a few days and my knee is still suffering quite a lot, but so worth it.

It ended about 10:30 pm, and walking home across the Millennium Bridge at night was SO COOL. I hadn't been down by the river at night yet, and seeing the city all lit up was incredible. The new Shard building that is the highest point in the city now lit up in crazy colors, and had these green laser beams that shot out and around the city, ending on points like St. Pauls...so crazy. It was the closest thing we had to a Fourth of July fireworks show!

It was a little weird being in England on the 4th, and it made me a little sad, which I totally wasn't expecting! I'm not a big patriotic, let's go America kind of person anyway, so I usually am not too obsessed with the holiday, but I really just missed being with my family and friends and seeing fireworks and just having a relaxing summer evening. I realized I really have missed SUMMER. It hasn't felt like a true summer here hardly at all, and I didn't know that it would actually be something I came to miss.

I'm looking forward to coming home and having hot weather (not excited about the humidity though...) and being able to go to the pool and beach and not having cold weather and rain every day. It will be nice to have a real summer in the States.

Week five of classes

Monday- Media and Politics
Had a 2,000 word paper due! Thankfully I had written mine before the weekend trip so I didn't have to worry about it Sunday night. I think it was the longest paper I've ever had to write, and the most difficult. I don't know much about politics, and it's not something I'm particularly interested in, so it wasn't easy to just sit down and write. Reading scholarly journals to find sources was really intriguing though, and I ended up loving the challenge of writing it and diving into a new topic. I was on such a high after I finished it, and I started following a bunch of new blogs on interesting topics that I want to know more about. This is how college should be. Interesting, challenging, encouraging you to learn more and seek knowledge for yourself outside of your comfort zone...so good.

I got to class and realized Kristina and I were supposed to give a little presentation on the media's perception of the Olympics that I had totally forgotten about in the midst of writing my paper...but we got up and went with it and I think it actually went really well! Practicing my B.S. skills. Sweet stuff.

Our outing was to the Old Bailey- we got to sit in on a fraud case that has been going on for a while now! It was one of the coolest outings we've had. It was so much more interesting than sitting in Parliament, because it was younger people and an actual court case and they were questioning the people and all the barristers were wearing wigs and it was just awesome. We sat in for two segments of time of the case, and I did not want to leave! I wanted to hear more and see what the jury decided. So cool. Never have I been interested in law before!

Ian, Tina, Griffin, and I went to Pret for lunch and then came back to the house. Grocery shopped at some point, and I'm pretty sure that's really all I did of importance on Monday...


Tuesday (aka longest day ever)- Media and Society/Culture by Design

In Society, we had 500 words of our essay due to show that we've made progress on it. Essentially, it was an introduction, the outline of body paragraphs with the sources I'm planning on using and quotes from them, and a rough conclusion. Not too bad.

Our outing was to Notting Hill and we took the tube to get there and meet our tour guide. As soon as we met up with him, our professor straight up left. So weird. I really think he should have stayed with us considering he is getting paid to be our teacher, not just drop us off places and leave...but anyway.

Notting Hill was really cool! Definitely a unique area. So much cool culture stuff there, and also so many nice houses where very rich people and celebs live and stay. Our walk gave me a really good sense of the area and I loved it! Lots of sights and references to parts of the movie Notting Hill, which I need to finish watching! Saw the famous Portobello Road market and want to go back one weekend.

Portobello Road

The bookstore from the movie Notting Hill

Presumed to be a real Banksy piece!

After Notting Hill, everyone that had CBD afterward had to rush and take the bus and tube to St. Paul's Cathedral where we were meeting for class. We had time to grab Pret and eat, but no real time to breathe between classes. Tuesdays are very long days.

We took a tour of St. Paul's, and it was incredible! Such a gorgeous church, especially in it's architecture, and I loved seeing it. There is so much detail in every aspect of the design, and I just wanted to stare at all of it all day. Our tour guide was a really sweet and funny old gentleman, and we learned SO much about the cathedral! The group went up 200+ stairs to get to the first tier of the big dome, but knowing my history with heights and small spaces (signs warned that people with claustrophobia not attempt the stairs), I passed.  I enjoyed seeing it all from the ground level, and with my knee and everything, I knew it was best not to attempt it.

We left the cathedral after everyone came back down, and we went to a courtyard outside St. Bride's church to discuss the day with our professor, and then we went back to the Cheshire Cheese pub (where we had gone with Society on a different outing) and discussed more while some people got drinks with the professor. Not me, too weird.

Afterward, we had time for dinner (Tina, Mimi, Ian and I went to Garfunkels where I had disappointing nachos and then a delicious berry cheesecake) and then it was back to St. Paul's for the Berlioz Requiem! SERIOUSLY the longest day ever. Nonstop.

The Requiem was SO good. It was all sung in Latin, but we had programs with the Latin alongside the English and surprisingly I was able to follow along pretty well. Reading the context of the performance was helpful too- it really set the stage for how spiritual it all was. The music and the voices were so beautiful, especially echoing throughout the cathedral...it was such an awesome evening and something I wasn't expecting to love as much as I did. So cool.

Took the tube back home and CRASHED. Over 13 hours going, going, going...Tuesdays are brutal.


Wednesday- Writing in the Public Sphere
I had a 1,500 word paper due for this class (last paper of the week!) and another big reading, but I was in a much better mood this week (and feeling much better health-wise) so our discussion was much more enjoyable! The articles are getting lighter in their content each week, and more recently written as well, so they're easier to digest. My professor gave me another incredible and humbling compliment too, saying that I have an incredible ability to read a piece of work and clearly and concisely identify what is important from it. I can't get over the ways she encourages me! I love it. Serious confidence boost.

Our outing was to Fleet Street and St. Brides Church where we had gone for an outing with Media and Society (where we didn't learn anything and I was very disappointed) so I was excited to go back and see it through a different perspective. We took a bus to get to Fleet Street and then strolled along it, stopping to read signs about the history of different buildings and to explore little alley courtyards and neat places (like the original London Twinings Tea shop in the home of one of London's original coffeehouses! SO cool!) and to learn about the buildings where newspapers used to be housed- the real purpose of the significance behind Fleet Street.

We ended our outing at St. Brides Church! Read more about it here: http://londonpublicsphere.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/week-five-outing-fleet-street-and-st.html

Afterward, my professor went her own way and I went off on my own to explore and shop and get souvenirs for people! Spent a lot of time and money in one souvenir shop and got a lot of stuff. Found awesome summer sales at Topshop and ended up finding a dress for only about 14 pounds that I love!

It was so great being on my own in the city, finding my way on my own and taking my time doing whatever I wanted, and even figuring out how to take a bus home by myself (including getting lost and having to walk 30+ minutes to get back).

Went to dinner at Nando's with Amanda, Mimi, Tina, Ian, and Rachel Gill- so good.


week of classes: DONE.

Thursday:
(I'm writing this much later...but just realized there were things I never mentioned)
Mimi and I went shopping on Oxford Street- to H&M (two different locations- one is much bigger), Topshop, New Look, and then ventured a bit further down the street in search of Primark! When we finally got there, we were instantly VERY overwhelmed. It was HUGE. We only ended up browsing around the first floor (there are several) and it was so crowded and chaotic, ridiculously cheap, and all really cute clothes for my age group/style/etc. I spent about 50 pounds and got two sheer blouses, a pair of light purple skinny jeans, green capris, a skirt, and another top. So crazy!

This week: classes, classes, classes

Monday: Media and Politics
We were in lecture a lot, I can't even really remember what we talked about at this point. More updates on the Leveson Inquiry, and then discussion. Our outing was to the Cabinet War Rooms/Churchill Museum over by Trafalgar Square area. We saw the Prime Minister's front door again at 10  Downing Street, and guards rode by on their horses while we were outside talking, which was really cool.

10 Downing Street- the black door at the back

Overall, I didn't really enjoy the Cabinet War Rooms too much. I don't think I fully understood the significance of them, and it was mostly just a lot of stuffy rooms underground with a lot of concrete everywhere and creepy mannequins in the rooms that looked eerily real. The Churchill Museum was connected to the War Rooms and it was VERY overwhelming with too much going on and not a clear organization at all, so I wandered around listened to a little bit of the audio guide, but mostly was just ready to go. I don't think we went about the museum in the right order and I'm not a huge fan of Churchill or really am that interested in him, so it wasn't my favorite outing.

We (Griffin, Ian, Amanda, me) went back to My Old Dutch for pancakes (crepes, really) since they all are 5 pounds on Monday- I got one with rocket (green leaves), courgette (like zucchini), mozzerrella, and sundried tomatoes. It wasn't as good as I was expecting, and I'm kind of over the whole pancake thing now!

We stopped by Sainsburys and Boots to pick up a few things and came home. I started working on my paper for my Writing class- I have that paper due next week, a Media and Politics paper due on Monday, and part of my Media and Society paper due Tuesday as well. It's a crazy week, and when we're leaving on Thursday for a crazy weekend traveling around, there's not much time to do it, so I have been trying to get as much done before then as possible.

Tuesday: Media and Society/Culture By Design

Stopped at Eve's to grab a cappuccino before class and she didn't put any sugar in it like she said she did so it ended up being really gross...oh well.
We spent class talking about each person's thesis statement for the upcoming paper, so it was a pretty long and boring morning when he wasn't talking to me specifically about my topic (differences between faith/religion in here and in the US- as religion is verrrrryyyyy rarely talked about here). We spent a lot more time in lecture than we were supposed to, and we still had a long break to grab food- got a delicious breakfast sandwich back at Eve's- before we left. We had about a 45 minute journey by tube and bus to get out to North London to the London Greek Radio station.

This was a small Greek radio station that has been around for a while. We talked to a lot of the different workers there and it was really welcoming and interesting- two of them talked to us a lot about how they are updating their station to stay modern, etc. We went upstairs to where a DJ was on the air and he talked to us as a group on the air and interviewed a few people with some questions about where we were from and why we were in London which was really cool! It was neat to see how a small station is run and operated like that.

We weren't there very long before it was 1 when our outing is supposed to end. The frustrating part was that we were still far away from our classroom where we had to be at 2 for our next class...so we rushed back, grabbed Pret, had a few minutes to eat, and then went to Culture By Design.

In CBD we watched a documentary from the 80s called "Style Wars" about graffiti, street art, break dancing and rap. We talked briefly about the outing and then we were off to take the tube to the Leake Street graffiti tunnel. This is a place where graffiti is permitted and encouraged and it's really the sole purpose of the whole space. It's constantly changing as people add to it, and it was so cool! We're going to try to go back and add our mark to it too I think, which I'm excited about it. Here are some pictures from it:

found our name!

After exploring this tunnel, we went over near the National Theatre to see another graffiti space where teenagers once hung out against the wishes of the city, and the space was eventually made into a skate/bike area for them and is now a tourist attraction of sorts.

The guy at the right of this picture painted this of him and his girlfriend for her birthday! and he had just finished, so cool.

After talking about the differences/similarities between the two spaces, we were done with class! Our whole group met up again (after Amanda and I got yummy cinnamon roasted nuts from a street seller) and then we were off to sit in on sessions of Parliament! We had to wait a bit to get in, and our politics professor was there and he explained some things to us. We had to go through security and bag scanners and such before we could go in, and then check our bags when we got inside as well. We sat in on the House of Commons first- we basically were just sitting up in a viewing gallery area where anyone can come watch for free.

I was really surprised at the lack of people that were in the session, there were maybe 20 or so and tons of open seats. I couldn't really follow the discussion, but it was cool to experience anyway.

We went to the House of Lords next- in the same building- and it was MUCH more elaborately decorated inside, but again had very few people and a much more complex sounding discussion. I was exhausted and hungry and just ready to leave, but I'm really glad we got the chance to go see it and see what Parliament looks like here.

We got back to the house, and Kelly cooked an AWESOME dinner for six of us girls. It was a delicious creamy caprese pasta and salad...so good. It was the best to not have to cook after such a long day- it was the greatest! We hung out for a bit and all talked and did dishes and such, and then I was back down to work on my papers some more. Amanda and I and Ian made a Sainsburys run for dessert too, which made writing more enjoyable!
Skyped Kyle now that he's back in the states and it was a WAAAYYYY better connection and it was the best to finally catch up and really talk for real! Definitely worth staying up later than usual for :)


Wednesday: Writing in the Public Sphere
I woke up feeling like crap- I really hope I'm not getting the cold bug that's been going around the house, but I feel like I've got it. Made tea and had breakfast and went downstairs for my solo class. Discussion was rough today with not feeling well and really just wanting to be asleep and feeling like I didn't understand the reading that had been assigned, but she was pleased with what I contributed so apparently I got more out of it than I thought. We talked a little bit more about Nancy Fraser but mostly about the new, more modern McKee reading. We talked at the beginning of class a lot more than usual, just about life and how I'm feeling about the program and about Kyle and time differences and such...definitely a perk of a one-on-one class! Much more personal. I love it.

Our outing was to the Poetry Library at the Southampton Centre. It was a little library space on the fifth floor of a big building, and it was just full of reference/lending books and magazines full of poetry and about poetry and I had time to just wander around and reflect on some questions that my blog post will be about. (http://londonpublicsphere.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/week-four-poetry-library.html)

When we were leaving, we were looking out at the views of the Thames and saw a rooftop garden on the next building over and went to explore it. There's a big Festival of the World thing going on in the whole riverside area and it was part of the movement and it was awesome! Grassy areas and tons of wildflowers and trees as well as vegetables and garden areas. It was really peaceful in the middle of the city skyline, and I loved it. There was tons of public art around the area too that was really neat to see- there are tons of poetry and music and food events coming up and a lot of them are free, so I'm really stoked to check them out.

I came back from class on a bus on my own, heated up leftovers for lunch, napped, woke up still feeling crappy, and have been writing and researching my politics paper basically ALL afternoon/evening. 2,000 words is a lot, let me tell you. It's been challenging to write it, and I have a lot more work to do, but it's hard in a good way. My brain feels awesome. That's weird to say, but true. I'm really enjoying the challenge of it. And I feel good about the progress I've made, so this weekend will be a lot less stressful and more enjoyable!

Tomorrow we're off to Bath for the first part of our little 4 day weekend adventure!

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday: Writing in the Public Sphere

My solo class, yay! I had had another reading to do, and it was so dense and challenging to get through, so I felt a little more unprepared for class discussion. We discussed a lot about the public sphere and how this author, Nancy Fraser, presented her argument as a critique of Habermas. I have an essay due next week so we looked a lot at her writing style to give me an idea of how to format mine.

Apparently, I had a much better grasp on the material than I had thought, and my professor was very happy with the discussion and  the things I was saying. She complimented me on being an excellent reader, and being able to pick out the important parts of a piece of writing, which was so great to hear!

Our outing was across town (by tube and above ground tube) in the East End at the Museum of London Docklands. Read more about it here: http://londonpublicsphere.blogspot.co.uk/

Rusty and his daughter, Erin, went with us, and it was a wonderful outing. I really enjoyed the exhibit a lot. And my professor complimented me again after Rusty joked about me being a bad student, and she said I was brilliant. Like, what?! Seriously?! So cool. And so humbling coming from her, because she seriously IS brilliant. So awesome.

It was me and Rusty on the ride home- Erin and my professor went their separate ways. I grabbed a sandwich, came home, took a nap (this is getting to be my normal routine...), then went off exploring. I wanted to find a bookstore to just do homework at, and I ended up at Waterstones. It's more of a chain, and HUGE with a below ground level with a Costa Coffee and then the ground level, and then three levels up from that. I absolutely loved it. There was so much to explore and it didn't have a chain feel at all...there were so many books everywhere. I went up to the highest floor and found the religious section and ended up not finding the book I was looking for (Love Does by Bob Goff) but got a Tim Keller book that I'm really excited about, and then found a book called Britain, etc. that is AWESOME. It goes through the alphabet and dives into the significance of the items of each letter on a variety of levels. I'm loving reading it- it's teaching me so much about the culture I'm living in! Love it. Such a good find.

I spent the next few hours down at Costa with a delicious raspberry iced tea, getting SO much work done. Best afternoon on my own ever. I seriously needed it.

Came back to the house in time for our weekly meeting, bought tickets for Les Miserables for Saturday (STOKED ABOUT THIS).

It was Amanda Gallagher's birthday, so a bunch of us went out to a pub a little further away from the house but still within walking distance. It was called The Rocket, and they had pitchers of Pimms for eight pounds, so most of us got those. Such a good deal. Amanda Mey and I got one to split, but I ended up not liking it much and I got other drinks on my own. They were a lot cheaper than other places we have been, which was great! It was a perfect evening so we started the night outside on picnic tables, but then moved inside when it got colder. We were definitely loud, obnoxious Americans, but it was SO much fun. One of the best nights so far!

Raced home (literally, I ran) to skype Kyle at midnight, then skyped Zach Powers!

Such. A. Good. Day.



Today- Thursday- free day

Took serious advantage of this and didn't set an alarm this morning! Yay, so great. Woke up about 10:45, had breakfast, read some of my new book, got ready, had lunch, and when Amanda got back from class, we headed back out to Waterstones.

Read more of my book and wrote a bazillion postcards and had another yummy iced tea with a blueberry muffin. Got my thesis for my upcoming essay all worked out and ready to get approved too! Stopped at a great little cluttered secondhand and new book store on the way home- so much fun but didn't find anything worth buying. Stopped at the post office to buy more stamps, then came home, made dinner (a yummy cottage pie with Quorn- a veggie meat substitute that was really good), and have been reading, writing, etc. Skyped Emily and her boyfriend! So good to see her again.

Off to Windsor tomorrow to explore on our own- I think it might just be Amanda and I! So excited. Grammy recommended it and I'm excited to see it!

Monday/Tuesday classes

Monday: Media and Politics

We discussed a lot about the constitutional differences between the US and UK and the roles of the monarchs (to be seen and never heard), talked about the experience we had at the jubilee activities, etc. Our outing was to Kensington Palace- where Princess Diana lived, and where some royals still live. Half of it is residences and half is museum.

It was recently renovated and there was some sort of super modern exhibit thing going on through the museum and we all were pretty disturbed by it overall. It was so distracting and got in the way of the actual palace in it's history and beauty and I really didn't like it. It all had a weird sort of dream-like, Alice in Wonderland kind of spooky feel...weird. Museums don't need cutouts of dead trees in shadow and megaphones that whisper royal gossip when you walk by...

Why is this...thing...hanging from a chandelier? I don't know.

Overall we rated the new renovations and exhibit a 4 on a scale of 1-10...not as awesome as it could have been. But it definitely was fun exploring and giving super honest feedback throughout it on what we thought! Our professor is very open and fun and honest about things which makes it really interesting and just a much better experience overall. I love it.

Oh, forgot to mention it was POURING RAIN when we were walking to the museum from the tube...and of course it was the one day I decided not to wear my rain boots. So my poor Toms got soaked. And my feet got soaked. And every time I took a step, water sloshed around in my shoes. Gross and uncomfortable, lemme tell ya.

After the musuem we rode the tube back, I stopped at Pret to grab a sandwich, and came home and napped. Oh, sleep, how I miss you. Naps are my thing.

After my nap, it was homework homework homework for the rest of the day pretty much. Such a fun life...group work and media analysis papers to revise and such.

Tuesday: Media and Society/Culture By Design

Media and Society was a lottttt of lecturing. Our professor gets lost on these tangents about things that are interesting, but so long-winded that I start to lose focus. And he talks for ages, today was all about the British class system and the British empire (terms we had already defined in our group work). We had a guest speaker who was an American/now British journalist, and she presented to us about the different newspapers in London and told us where they stand politically and what types of news they present and to what target audiences, which was interesting.

We were supposed to leave for our outing at 10:30 but I'm pretty sure it was more like 11:30 before we left...and then we walked and walked and walked to get to Fleet Street where I'm sure there is awesome journalistic significance with newspapers from back in the day and such, but our professor never mentioned it. I'm still not really sure why we went and what we were supposed to get out of it...basically a lot of walking for no real reason. Oh well.

A group of us went to The Olde Dutch- a pancake house with huge awesome sweet or savory crepes- for lunch. I got a sweet crepe with berry compote and cream, and it was good but really different. There were berries in it that I have never seen before, so that was interesting. I ended up wishing I had gone savory. But oh well, there's always next time! There will definitely be a next time at that place.

We had Culture By Design about an hour after Media and Society ended, so after lunch we headed back to class. This time, lecture was shorter, and we discussed a lot about industrial design and the components that make up good design, so as to set the stage for our outing to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

We took the red double-decker buses to get there- my first time riding them! We were on top and it was a neat way to see the city as we rode quite a ways to the museum.

The museum was HUGE and awesome and full of so many cool things that we didn't get a chance to fully see, but we looked at several examples of design and discussed them as a group before we went to the temporary exhibit of British Design through the years which was really cool. We were sent off on the mission of finding something we felt was excellent design, based on our own standards. The exhibit went through many decades, with fashion and music and entertainment and household products and all sorts of designed things on display. It was really cool and so unique from anything I've seen before, and I loved it.

The design I picked as being particularly excellent was actually the museum's logo:

I'm just a big font nerd, and I love the serif font that speaks to the historical aspects of the museum as whole- it's not helvetica and modern, it's still timeless and classic but still unique. The "A" isn't complete, which adds quirk and a bit of whimsy to the design, which is also such a key characteristic of the museum itself. I just loved that it was simple and clear and easy to understand, is indicative of the museum and represents more than just the title, and it's not excessive. All it takes is three characters, and a bold and obvious message is presented. I just loved it. Call me crazy, whatever.

Also. This museum had an awesome huge grassy courtyard area with THE COOLEST CHAIRS EVER. I was seriously obsessed with them. We sat in them during a break in the outing, and then after our scavenger hunt when we were reflecting on what we found. I loved them. They just spin around when you move in them, and you always feel like you're about to fall, but you never do. It's just great. So much fun. Best part of the day by far!

Culture by Design class! Our professor is in the dead middle in the back

After class, we rode the tube back, stopped at the grocery store, and came back to the house. I ate dinner- random odds and ends, and then worked on reading a huge 26 page scholarly article on the public sphere for my class tomorrow and uploading pictures and such! Off to bed now...sadly, no skype date with the boy and I'm not sure what happened :( things that suck about being in foreign countries...

until tomorrow!