Queens Gate, London: 3/16-3/19

Sunday we went to church. I gave a talk about being spiritually minded. I was not as nervous as I thought I would be and I actually enjoyed having the opportunity to speak. I do think I probably talked too quickly....and maybe said "ok" too many times! After church we went to Holland Park. Holland Park is about a ten minute walk from our flat. We took a blanket and all slept/journaled.

Monday was the first day back to class (since we had our North trip). It is getting to the point where they want us to read a lot. Here is our weekly schedule:

Monday- Jane Eyre by Bronte
Tuesday-Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Thursday-Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

The teacher did tell us that she doesn't expect us to read each book thoroughly. So we go to class with a mixture of sparknotes, movie versions, and Wikepedia plots (and just hope we don't get called on). It is good though since I love getting a rough background on all the authors so when we visit their houses we are somewhat familiar with what they wrote. It has made me look forward to reading these books for reals when I get home.

After class I went to Regent Street. Regent Street is right near Oxford Street and is a street lined with shops and cafes. We got some hot chocolate (yummy hot chocolate here) and went into a few stores. We went into the Nike Store! It was huge and had so many different types of work out clothes in organized sections. I missed Zachary and McKay and their cute high socks and basketball shorts! The men here dress so formal and classy. I love some of their outfits but it was nice to get in a store and see sport clothes. We also went in a boutique type store that had a make-up section/beauty section. We tried on different perfumes, lotions, and make-ups. I saw a bottle that said "self tanner" so I grabbed it as fast as I could. (I don't think I have ever felt so white, we hardly see the sun). The tanner came out of a pump and looked like soy sauce but I didn't care anything to just remind myself what my skin could look like with sun. I put it on my right arm and it looked pretty good (don't worry Dad I didn't "waste" any money actually buying it). I was impressed my the natural color it gave my arm. I started reading the bottle and it said it will take three days to completely show up! I thought it would just wash off. For a split second I realized that I would be going around with just one arm tan. I am glad I didn't invest in it because one hour later it already was completely gone. After Regent Street we got on a bus to go to the Westfield Shopping Center. It is the biggest mall I have ever been in! We don't take much time going to places that we can get at home but it was a nice day being able to walk around the mall. Made me feel like I was back in the States. They have stores that are familiar (H&M, Gap, Banana Republic, etc). Then they have stores that I have never heard of. Many of the stores have a cuter selection of clothes. Even the stores that I am familiar with have a better selection. Then part of the mall consists of designer stores (Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, Prada, & Versace). We shopped around for a bit and then went to dinner at Wagamama. Wagamama has curries, ramen noodles, and rice bowls. The food here is so much cleaner. Even the packaged foods at the grocery store have to meet a stricter food code. Wagamama has big long tables like a cafeteria (a cute cafeteria) and you go and sit. You have a waiter but the food comes out fast. After we went home to do homework and go to bed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! London is NOT very festive when it comes to wearing green.

This cute display was in one of the windows of a store on Regent Street.

Tuesday we had a lazy day. We had class and then all just did things we need to do. I went to the post office to mail some cheesy postcards. We live so close to the post office so I walked with Hannah and Jillian. We stopped at the grocery store after to grab a few things. Tuesday night we went to Les Miserable at the Queens Theater. It was incredible! It was my first time seeing a professional version of it! I absolutely love the music and I thought the cast did great! We had tickets that were "obstructed view". Luckily if we leaned to the left and up we were able to see. By intermission we were able to move down to the empty seats next to us.

(Andrea, Me, & Abbie)

(Andrea, Hannah, Abbie, Me, Jillian, Andrew & Hali)

Wednesday we went to Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. We visited five places. We then had a five hour gap before going to see Henry IV. What do tired students do for four in a half hours in a little city? (everything closed at 5:00)
3:00-4:00 went down by a river and sat on a rock
4:00-5:30 went to McDonald's. Tried to eat super slow to take up some time
5:30-5:50 went to Poundland (got candy and treats for the performance)
5:50-6:00 stand outside Poundland thinking of what we want to do
6:00-7:00 decided to walk around. We found the river and decided to walk down it and then follow it back up
7:10 got to the theater
7:15-10:30 we watched Henry IV (luckily no naked people like in A Mid Summer's Night Dream)
11:00-1:00 a.m. drove home on the big charter bus/slept the whole time

I enjoyed the performance because it was Henry IV that I presented on in class. I felt like I understood the plot and so was able to follow along. The theater was set up similar to the Globe Theater (theater Shakespeare build). It had wooden beams in the aisles and the seating was 3/4 of a circle. The balcony went steeply up and people were close to to the stage. In Shakespeare's days people could lean right on the stage to watch the performance in the Globe Theater.