Paris

Well, this is it. My last night not only in Paris, but in Europe. Tomorrow, and actually in less than twelve hours, I'll be on a plane back to the US. This will most likely be the last post of this blog, unless the journey home is so eventful that it requires a post itself.

I got into Paris late Friday night, and found my friend's flat without difficulty despite the late night. I've been sleeping on her convertible couch, but it's been completely fine. She actually even has something of a view of the Eiffel Tower; only the top, of course, because there are buildings in the way, but quite a good location.

My first actual day in Paris, my friend and I went for a picnic in the Buttes Chaumont park, which was quite nice. I actually fell asleep for about an hour, making that the fourth park and fourth city in which I have fallen asleep -- London, Hamburg, Salzburg, and now Paris. Traveling is exhausting.

Saturday night I actually spent at the opera, seeing The Valkyrie, the second part of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung cycle. It was not at the actual Paris Opera house, but the Opera Bastille, a much more modern looking building, and of course it was sold out by the time I got there for all the seats so I had to get a standing ticket, but the standing ticket was not as bad as I'd been thinking it would be. There were backrests for us to lean against, or even hop up and sit on if necessary, and there was no one behind me for me to block if I did sit, so I frequently did. It was actually surprisingly comfortable, because I could stand if I needed to stretch my legs, and sit if I needed to sit, which is more than I'd got for any other theatre. And considering this was a show lasting five hours, I very much appreciated it.

I definitely enjoyed it, even though it was in German and I couldn't see the posted subtitles, not that subtitles would have done me any good because they were probably in French anyway. I still got quite a lot of the story, and looked up the summary later, but it was really good. Of course I was expecting that from Paris, but I'm glad my hopes were not disappointed. I actually like opera. Who would have thought?

Sunday was my day for Versailles, because Versailles was the one thing I knew I wanted to do when I decided on Paris as part of my trip. The day was more overcast than sunny, but that did not deter me, nor even the slight rain of the morning (early in the morning there'd even been a thunderstorm). There was no rain once I got there, at least. The line for the tickets was ridiculous, but I dutifully queued up and got my ticket, one for the palace and one for the gardens.

I did the palace first, and spent about two hours there. That was now the fourth royal residence in Europe I've seen, from Charlottenburg in Berlin to the Residence in Munich to Schoenbrunn in Vienna, but wow, there's a reason people tried to model things on Versailles. Every room I went in had ceiling paintings, most of them were quite full of gold, and the Hall of Mirrors was gorgeous. And this not even touching the grounds.

Because I spent the rest of the day on the grounds. Fountains everywhere, and because it was a weekend they were turned on and playing music for a couple hours in the afternoon. So many different groves and statues and avenues...I got rather a lot of pictures there. Amazing. I only left when it was just about to close.

I had dinner, then went back to my friend's flat, where we watched a movie. I slept in, because I am trying to screw up my sleeping schedule a bit for tomorrow. Hopefully I will get little enough sleep tonight that I will need a nap tomorrow afternoon, on the plane. I certainly do not want to be awake the entire time I'm traveling, because the time I get back to Reno will be roughly twenty-four hours after I'm going to try to get up tomorrow. That will be a lot easier to endure if I can sleep on the plane.

My only plan for today was to take a boat ride down the Seine. What I ended up doing was just walking to the boat, which was across the Seine and down a bit from the Eiffel Tower, which is within walking distance of my friend's flat. I did get a picture of it, and I'm glad, because my camera's battery was about ready to die the entire day and I couldn't find the charger. Hopefully I will be able to find it when I finally get to unpack everything.

Anyway. I took the boat ride, then walked up to the Champs-Elysees. I took a picture of the Arc de Triomph from a distance, but I wasn't intending to get closer, because I'd decided to go to the Ile de la Cite, which is in the opposite direction. I had crepes when I got there, because I've always wanted to have crepes in France, but while it was good, the best crepes I've had were actually in Galway.

After crepes, I went to Notre Dame. Outside it a family asked me to take a picture of them, and they must have noticed my American accent when agreeing, because they asked me where I was from, and when I said Nevada, they said they were from California. And not just from California, but from Chico. Chico! Small world. I walk around Venice with a girl from Seattle and take a picture in front of Notre Dame of a family from Chico.

I went inside and got a few pictures, and after that went to the Saint Chapelle. I've seen so many churches on my trip, but I'd heard about this one's windows, and wanted to see them. I spent the last of my cash getting in, and wow. Those are definitely the most amazing stained glass windows I've ever seen, in any church or out of one. Most of the walls were windows, and apparently they tell stories from the Bible, but I do not know the Bible well enough to know the stories the windows depict.

After the Saint Chapelle, I walked along Pont Neuf, then headed to the Opera house because I'd forgotten to get a picture of it the first time I was there, and then from there I headed to Place de la Concorde, with its fountains and obelisk. There my camera died. Hopefully it took the picture of the obelisk, but I'm not sure.

I was tired by then because I'd been walking for most of the day, so I headed back for my friend's flat. On the way I bought her a bottle of champagne, which by complete accident (because I certainly don't know the difference) ended up being a rather good one. I'm glad, because she's been awesome enough to have given me a place to sleep and most of my meals for free, and I wanted to give something back. Her boyfriend even cooked a really good French meal for me tonight. She appreciated it, at least.

So, tomorrow I leave for home. I have my ticket for the metro and the bus to get me to the airport, so all I have to do is get there, check in, and make it to the plane. Then I change planes in New York, and then Dad picks me up from San Francisco. Eight hours on a plane, then six hours on a plane, then four hours in a car. It's going to be a rather long day, but it's just one day, and then I'll be home.

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It seems just a few weeks ago that I was getting settled in London, but now it's over. It doesn't feel like I've been four months away from America.

I learned so much on this trip, though I think I won't know how much I really learned for quite a while yet. Still, I think it's definitely time for me to go to bed on my last night in Europe.

Austria and Italy

I feel rather perpetually behind, but I've been feeling too tired to write a long blog post catching up. Let's see how well I do today.

Salzburg is easy to finish off, because my third day I just went to the old town (across the river Salzac from the new town), wandered around a lot, then went back to the Mirabel gardens for awhile and hung out. I did very much like Salzburg. Small enough to walk around in, but gorgeous countryside, bigger cities pretty close by, and still things to do.

The next day I left for Vienna. The countryside was not quite as beautiful as Munich to Salzburg, but still quite pretty. When I got out of the train station in Vienna, I got a bit lost trying to get to my hostel. I found the right street, but ended up going the wrong way down it. I knew the hostel was supposed to be close by, so when it felt like I went too far I turned around and decided to go back the other way, and then I passed the train station...and there it was. Definitely the closest I've been to a train station, even in Munich, or here in Venice. I felt a bit silly for having gone the wrong way, but at least I did find it.

After I checked in, I went to the Sigmund Freud museum, which was the building where he lived and practiced while in Vienna. It was small but interesting. I really prefer specialized museums unique to specific places to bigger art galleries or ethnology museums that I can find in almost all the cities I've been to so far.

After the Sigmund Freud museum I took a tram around the Ring Road, which is a ring around the center of the city and shows off a lot of its attractions, like the Hofburg Palace (and everything in it, including the Spanish Riding School and the Vienna Boys' Choir), the Museums Quarter, and the Parliament. Very cool. Lots of impressive buildings. I especially liked the Parliament building, though I think it ranks after Westminster in terms of impressiveness. So far the parliaments I've seen in order of impressiveness are London, Vienna, Berlin, then Edinburgh, but I'm looking forward to seeing the Paris government buildings.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around, though it was raining and I got rather wet. Still, after Tacoma and London I'm pretty used to that, and it didn't bother me too much. My hostel gave me a map that included sights and restaurants/cafes they liked, so for dinner I decided to go to this pizza place that was advertised as cheap but good. And it was cheap but very good, but even better, the pizza was the size of a medium at home, rather than the one-person pizzas that are mostly what I've seen in Europe, so I had some to take back for lunch.

The next day I went to the cemetery, which seems to be a tourist attraction for two reasons: the famous people interred there, including the composers Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, and Beethoven, and the sheer impressiveness of the headstones. That's a word that I'm using a lot in relation to Vienna, but it really fits. Many of these graves were just so elaborate, filled with carvings and statuary...I didn't get many pictures, though. I did of the composers' graves (at least, the composers I recognized), but I didn't feel right about taking pictures of random graves, no matter how pretty and/or impressive they were.

I spent the rest of the day at Schoenbrunn Palace, which had been home to Empress Maria Theresa, and then later to Emperor Franz Josef I, and as befitting an imperial residence, it was...impressive. Hah, there's that word again. Likewise with the gardens, or even more so. Those are definitely the biggest gardens I've seen, with a lot of tree-lined lanes, fenced-off green areas, manicured flower beds, fountains, including a huge one in the middle, a mock Roman ruin, an obelisk, and a maze area, and those are just the places I went to. There's also a zoo and some other things I didn't get to, because it took me a couple hours to see the things I did. There was an adorable little train going all over the park, but I didn't take it. I did do the maze, though, which was fun, though fairly small.

This was Vienna, a significant city for music, and I did want to see something before I left. At Schoenbrunn I saw advertisements for Mozart's The Magic Flute at the marionnette theatre, so I got a ticket for that. And while it was marionnettes and not people on stage, I thought it was very well performed, and I enjoyed it very much, even though it was in German and I understood at most scattered words here and there. I still managed to get most of the story, at least. I'd been dubious about opera ever since that production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in London, which no one in my group liked, but this I really enjoyed. I think I'm going to see if I can go in Paris.

The third day I went and took pictures of some things in the center, like the Hofburg Palace and the museums and the Parliament. By the Hofburg Palace there's this statue of Mozart and in front of it is a grassy area with a flower bed in the shape of a treble clef. That was pretty cool. Also, I went to the Opera and took a tour of that. It was very cool, even if I wasn't going to be seeing a performance there. But I was glad that I saw The Magic Flute, even if at a marionnette theatre and not the Opera, because I haven't heard of the ones that were playing while I was there and I'm glad I at least knew something about the one that I saw.

My hostel offered free pasta in the guest kitchen, so I had pasta for dinner, then went to catch my night train to Venice. Twelve hours, gah. At least I was able to sleep through most of that, so it wasn't too bad.

I got to Venice at about eight-thirty in the morning, and this is seriously the most confusing, illogical city I've ever been to. I definitely got lost trying to find my hostel, but that's because the address on the hostel website, which I'd used for googlemaps, was outdated. Apparently what I'd needed to do was go across the first bridge I saw and down the street, and there it was, a good two minutes from the train station. Instead I wandered across Venice with all my luggage for forty-five minutes, until finally some helpful Venetian managed to get me to the original address, and someone there directed me to the right place.

But then I got to my hostel, which is the most adorable place ever. My room is like a little apartment, with its own tiny kitchen. It has an outer door and then a courtyard and then my room, and there's another courtyard out the window, and it's really cute. Definitely a nice place. Anyway, I dropped my stuff off and, armed with the map given to me at reception, wandered out into Venice.

Maps are the most useful things ever. Venice has a ridiculous number of long dark alleys it tries to call streets, but thankfully I have a good head for maps, so once I had one, I had no problem getting around. The guy at reception marked this loop that would take me to most of the sights in the city and then back around to the hostel, so that's what I did the first day. I didn't really go in anywhere, but I saw the Rialto, and the Piazzo San Marco and Basilica di San Marco, and quite a lot of churches. This city has the highest concentration of churches I think I've ever seen.

Day two I went to Murano, a little island just off Venice proper, because that's where the famed glassmaking is. It was an adorable place in itself, but somehow I managed to spend four hours there just looking at the glass. In some shops, the shopkeepers would just be casually shaping glass behind the counter. I've been to the Tacoma Glass Museum several times and have seen people making glass before, so I didn't spend that long watching, but Murano had so much more variety than the museum gift shop in Tacoma. Unsurprisingly, hah. But yeah. Beautiful glass.

After that I just looked around Venice some more, then went back to my hostel and talked for about an hour with a roommate from Brazil. I went for dinner after that and had a caprese salad, because that is one of my favorite salads ever and I enjoyed having on in Italy. Then I just went back to my hostel and stayed in the common room for awhile, talking to people. At around nine some people were really hungry and decided to go for pizza, and I went with them but only had a couple slices. Just spent a lot of time talking to my fellow travelers.

Today one of my roommates and I decided to catch some sights together and also find me a dress, because I've been wanting to go dress-shopping. We took the bus (basically a ferry, because of course people don't drive here, they walk or take boats) down the Grand Canal, which was very pretty, and got off at Piazzo San Marco. We decided against going in the duke's palace because it was expensive, but the Basilica was free. She couldn't go in because she was wearing shorts and sandals, but I had jeans and proper shoes so I went in. And of course I would expect this from a basilica, but it was definitely one of the prettiest and most impressive churches I've been to. The floor was all mosaic and the ceiling all gold and pictures, and though we're not supposed to take photos I did anyway.

I found a dress I liked after that, and it wasn't very expensive, so whoo! Something nice to wear in Paris, especially if I do manage to get to the opera. Now all I need is a bathing suit for Nice, because I didn't bring one, and then I think I'll be done with accumulating things, for which my luggage will thank me, I'm sure.

I have five mosquito bites right now. I will be very pleased if I manage to make it out of this mosquito-ridden area with only five.

I made seat reservations for my journey to Nice, which will be something of a hassle. The Eurail timetable I have implied that there's a train from Venice to Nice, but apparently there's not just one. I have to take five trains tomorrow, three of them for less than half an hour, so that'll be...fun. At least once I get to Nice, I'll have just the train to Paris left. And then, just the two flights home.

I have very much enjoyed going to all these different places, but traveling so much is tiring, and not being settled in one place for longer than three days at a time. I was happy in London, but though I definitely appreciate everything I've done since getting to the continent, I will be happy to go home.

Guten Tag!

Hello from Berlin! My computer is being temperamental about the wireless in my hostel, so I'm using one of the hostel's computers, with its freaky German keyboard. Y and Z are switched around, I have no idea where the at symbol is, and I have to press the shift key to get to an apostrophe. It's even weirder than the British keyboard, which I thought disconcerting enough.

The semester is now over. I finished and turned in my last paper and we had our end-of-term tea party. I had my last dinner with my host mum, and my last day out in London, where I finally saw the Changing of the Guard (though not from a very good spot, as I'm guessing most of the action took place behind the gates of Buckingham Palace, and I wasn't close enough), and ate my lunch in a park near the Victoria Embankment, took some more people to the Doctor Who shop and small museum, then finished my paper and wandered around a bit before seeing Legally Blonde, my last show in London. It was a lot of fun, especially seeing how things get adapted from movie to musical. I very much enjoyed it.

Saturday was when I left for Cardiff with some friends, fellow Doctor Who fans. Getting to Paddington, however, was a public transportation fiasco. The bus that goes right past my homestay either came too early (meaning more than five minutes early, which I really don't think buses should do) or just didn't come at all, so instead of taking ten minutes to get to the station from which trains run frequently, I had to walk twenty minutes to get to the station from which they do not run as frequently. One was leaving just as I was walking up, so I had to wait ten minutes for the next one. Then when I got on that, there was a defective train at the next station, so we had to wait for that to leave. When I got to Baker Street, the next line I'd intended to take wasn't going to Paddington at the moment, so I had to take the longer route. I left the house at 7:15 for an 8:45 train in what should have been plenty of time because Paddington is fairly close, but I ended up getting to the station just as the train left. Then I had to buy a new ticket all together, because the one I had was for that particular train only. At least my friends waited for me and we got to Cardiff together.

Our hostel was not very far from the station (though that's not really saying much, since Cardiff is small enough that we could walk from the north end to the south in just over half an hour), but it was an awesome place. Best hostel I've been in. I'd originally booked us three beds in an eight-bed dorm for twenty pounds a night, but somehow we got a three-bed private room without a difference in price. Really nice place.

From the hostel we walked down to the Doctor Who Museum, near the Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay. The museum was very cool, having original props and costumes and just some really neat stuff. Then we hung around Roald Dahl Plass for awhile, looked out on the bay, got a lot of pictures. But Cardiff is small and there is really not all that much to do, so we went back to the hostel for dinner, and for watching the newest episode of Doctor Who as it aired. That was pretty awesome, to watch the show in the place where it's filmed.

Our hostel had a pretty nice bar, so we stayed there for a bit, then went to an O'Neill's (chain Irish pub). Around midnight I was feeling tired and wanted to go to bed, but my friends are more into partying and they stayed out later.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We slept in (them more than me), then walked around Cardiff on a Doctor Who tour of the places where it was filmed. It was pretty cool to walk around a place and recognize it from the show. Then we went back to the bay and took a boat ride around the bay. Hah. 'Boat ride' sounds so tame. The boat basically sped us around the bay at roughly 85mph, including taking us in tight circles and riding the waves so hard we got jostled. I was not expecting that, but it was very fun.

We went back to the hostel and watched a movie in our room until dark, when we went back to look at the Millennium Centre and Roald Dahl Plass all lit up at night, which was quite cool. But again, not much else to do, so we went back to the hostel for an early night.

Monday we took the train back to London, then I went back to AHA to pick up the stuff I stored there, and we met again at Victoria station for the train to Gatwick, since my friends were going to Amsterdam from there. I got on my flight to Berlin, which was thankfully a very easy flight, and got here and made it through customs (easiest customs ever--they didn't even ask me how long I was going to be here), then caught the train into the city center and made my way to my hostel.

Berlin is smaller than I'd thought, because today I walked across what looks like about half of it. My hostel is near Alexanderplatz, and I walked from here to the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz without difficulty. The Brandenburg gate is very cool, and I got some pictures of bits of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, and saw the Memorial for Murdered Jews in Europe. Right above the memorial is the Field of Stelae, tall rectungular concrete blocks set out in rows and columns. I walked into them, and they got gradually taller, and I felt like I was walking amongst rows of sarcophagi. Very appropriate, but also very creepy.

Tomorrow I intend to go Schloss Charlottenburg (a palace), the Reichstag (Parliament building), possibly up the TV Tower for a view of the city, and maybe for a boat and/or bus tour around the city. I'll figure out the rest from there.

It's been very interesting being here, alone in a big city when I don't speak the language. Everyone I came across in Oslo spoke English, and I was with someone then, but not everyone speaks English here and I've been having to get around and figure things out completely by myself. I've been fine so far, but it's definitely an experience. At least English is a Germanic language so there are some things I can figure out, Austria also speaks German, and Italy and France are Italic languages which I have some familiarity with. It may take a bit of time, but I can figure things out!

Semester's End

Last day of school today. I just finished my last final. I have one paper I need to write tonight and email to my teacher tomorrow, but otherwise I'm done with this semester. The end-of-term tea party and the paper, and then I'm free...

Anyway, playing catch-up again.

Sarah and I slept in in Olso and didn't leave the hostel until nearly 11, but after spending the night before in the airport, we rather needed the sleep. I had my leftover pizza for lunch, and then we headed back to City Hall and the fjord, because we wanted to take a ferry over to the Norwegian Folk Museum. We were supposed to buy our tickets on the ferry, but we accidentally avoided paying by sitting on the deck outside. We didn't realize until the way back that the guy checking/selling tickets only did it inside, because we sat inside the way back. Except at that point we didn't have enough cash for a ticket, of any denomination (they would have accepted Euros or pounds), we just had credit cards. And the ferry people ran the ferry continuously and couldn't wait for us to go find an ATM, so...we used the ferry for free. We would have been willing to pay, but you know, I can't say I'm sorry we ended up not having to.

The Folk Museum was pretty cool (and paying for a ticket in was where I used the last of my cash). It was an open-air museum, with Norwegian buildings ranging from several decades old to about eight hundred years, the church. In one of the houses they were making traditional lefse, which is a sort of slightly sweet flatbread. Sarah told me I had to try it, so I did, and it was really good. Sarah also told me that around the end of November/beginning of December, PLU (her school, and also in Tacoma) hosts this kind of fair thing and people come who make traditional lefse, so I think when that comes around I'm going to go to PLU and get some.

Sarah has a Norwegian friend named Even who came to Oslo at two to spend time with her and show us around. He took us to the opera house, which I wouldn't have thought of going to, but it was really interesting. Not a traditional building at all -- it sort of reminds me of the Scottish Parliament, but mostly in the sense that what seems like it should be an old traditional building is instead really interesting modern architecture. The roof of the opera house in Oslo was this long slope, so we just walked up the roof to the top and looked out on the fjord again, which was quite cool.

After that we took a tram to the sculpture park, which was...interesting. It was very pretty scenery, and a beautiful day, but all the statues were of people, and all of them were naked, and not even in sculpture sections of museums have I been surrounded by that many fake naked people. For the most part they did not come across as sexual despite the nudity, but I really don't think I have any way of describing them without it sounding sexual, so I think I'll refrain and just show the pictures I took.

That was really about all we could think of to do for Oslo, so it's a good thing we were only there for two days. The three of us just ended up going back to the main shopping street of Karl Johans Gate and finding a nice spot by one of the fountains to sit around and chat. I ate the last of the food I brought, and then we took the bus back to the airport of Rygge, where we spent the next ten hours.

I got even less sleep on Saturday night than I did Thursday, though we got to the airport in enough time for me to have gotten more. It just took me a long time to get so tired that I could fall asleep even there. Also, around two in the morning this girl and her friend from Turkey came in, and we just started chatting about being students traveling. I enjoyed that, even if it meant even less sleep.

I was up at five, which was not fun, and on the plane not long after six. What was nice, though, was that all the scheduled passangers got on quickly and so we were able to leave early, and get back into London half an hour before scheduled. We were then able to catch an earlier bus back to Baker Street, and therefore I managed to get home by ten, rather than eleven. I started laundry, and then I took a nap.

The election here has finally resolved itself. David Cameron of the Conservatives as new Prime Minister, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats as Deputy Prime Minister, with a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the first coalition in decades. It's too bad I'm about to leave, because this would be fascinating to watch play out first hand -- men of two different parties as PM and Deputy PM! Especially considering they're the right-wing and the further-left-wing parties! I'm going to have to keep up with what's going on when I go home, because this is just too interesting. I got to watch Gordon Brown give his resignation speech live, and go to see the Queen and recommend she ask David Cameron to form a government, and dude this was just so cool.

I got my final papers done in enough time for me to spend two evenings this week seeing shows. Last night I saw Avenue Q, which was awesome. Absolutely hilarious. I think it was pretty obvious who the Americans in the audience were, though, because there were some things we laughed at that most of the people there didn't. In the final song, they started listing things that were "only for now", and I was amused when one of the things they listed was Gordon Brown. This was the first show where that was not applicable, because it was last night that he resigned. Still, I very much enjoyed the show, even if it was in London and not New York. I just hope it's not too prophetic, because this time next year I'll have a BA in English...

My finals are done, now, though, and almost all of my preparations for Europe. I have booked all of my hostels, and have also added up how much all of the hostels will cost me. What's left over in my bank account will be used on food, inner city transport, and seat reservations on trains (I may not have to pay for a ticket, but I still will need reservations for many trains, but plain reservations are a lot cheaper than tickets), and of course souvenirs. I've got one suitcase packed, then tonight I'll pack up a box to send home, probably by sea because that's cheaper and I don't really need it to get there sooner than the three weeks or so it'll probably take. Then I can do the last packing, because on Saturday I leave with friends for Cardiff, and only on Monday will I leave the UK.

I...don't want to think about it right now. I've been making all these plans for Europe, but trying not to think about the reality of actually being there. I mean, I'm looking forward to it, but it means the end of my big semester abroad. I'll confront the reality later. For now I still want to pretend I don't have to leave in just a few days. Sigh.

Busy Week

This has honestly been my first chance to update since Monday.  Wow, my week has been full.

Saturday was Brighton, which was lovely.  Weather reports warned that it was supposed to rain, and it did...for the first half hour.  After that it was sunny for the rest of the time we were there.

The train ride on the way down might have been the best, and also the geekiest, train ride I've ever had.  It's only an hour to Brighton from London, but my friends and I passed the time playing Shakespeare and Fantasy Twenty Questions.  And for Fantasy Twenty Questions the sources we focused on were Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Narnia, so I kicked serious ass.  On the way home we added Disney to the mix, and I kicked ass at that too.

My Novels teacher lives in Brighton, and she said she'd show us around, so we met her and her excitable Dalmatian puppy (she couldn't get a dog-sitter) at the train station and she gave us a tour.  We followed the May Day Parade for a bit, and then she showed us the Royal Pavilion, the sumptious Indian/Oriental-style palace where George the Prince Regent kept his unofficial wife, apparently.

From there we hit the beach.  It had been raining, but seriously, once we got to the beach, the rain stopped.  It was awesome.  The beach was very rocky and not sandy, so it was not as comfortable to lie on, but we still spent quite a bit of time there.  There was also a carousel on the beach, which four of the five of us decided we had to go on -- we were the only adults there unaccompanied by children. :p  I enjoyed it, though.

We went to lunch at Brighton Pier, and I had fish and chips.  The very first time I've had fish and chips since coming to England, too -- and also the last.  It wasn't...bad, but it didn't have much taste, even when I added vinegar.  But at least I've finally had it, and it was by the seaside, too, so I'm satisfied.

After lunch we went shopping.  Well, I window-shopped.  Some of the others bought stuff, but there was nothing I wanted that would fit me, so I didn't get anything.  We also just walked around and listened to the street performers, but I think the main attractions of Brighton are the beach/seaside and the shopping.  We were done with the shopping, so we went back to the beach for awhile.

We went to a pub for dinner, and I have chicken tikki masala with naan.  It is a mark of how good Indian food is in Britain that I could order it at a pub, of all places, and still have it be very good.  One of the others ordered a whiskey and coke, and we got onto the subject of whiskey, and I somehow managed to be the expert on the subject there.  (Well, maybe it's not too surprising, since I was the only one there over 21.)  This made me want whiskey, so I ordered some, and I actually prefer my whiskey neat rather than mixed with something.  But the others were curious about the taste of plain whiskey, so I let them have small sips.  One made a rather hilarious face, but another actually spat it out.  What a waste of good whiskey! :p

After dinner we went home.  I went to bed, and actually slept very well.  I'd been getting an ear infection, which, after the horrible one of last year, made me very nervous.  I was going to try and see a doctor just in case, but then it just started going away on its own, which was a big relief.

Sunday and Monday I just spent on classes and homework.  Three papers due next week, and three finals.  Gah.  I really prefer having either a final paper or a final exam, not both, especially when the final exam is essay questions.  Oh well, though, since I think I'm pretty well prepared for the tests at least.  I still have two essays to finish.

On Tuesday the entire program went to see Macbeth at the Globe.  The Globe!  Macbeth!  I hadn't been looking forward to standing for three hours, but it wasn't as bad as I'd been anticipating.  I enjoyed the performance.  Some of the others didn't like some of the choices the director made, but I hadn't minded.  I was right in the front, almost in the center, and I just really enjoyed the experience.

Wednesday was spent on classes, figuring out some stuff for Europe (oh, Mom and Dad -- I got the Eurail pass), and writing one of the essays.  I finished the essay Thursday morning, so I didn't really have time for the changing of the guard or the national history museum, so I'm going to try for those next week.  The changing of the guard I especially want to see.  Anyway, I think I've got my exact dates for Europe figured out, for when I'll be in each city and when I'd be better off taking sleeper trains and so on, so that's a relief.  I think on Monday I'll try to make hostel reservations.

Thursday I spent on finishing the essay and doing research for another, then class, and then a show.  Sarah and I were going to spend the night in the airport before our flight to Oslo this morning, because trying to get there in the morning would have been such a hassle.  But we had to leave pretty late, because Sarah had to see Midsummer Night's Dream for the Shakespeare class, and I decided that since she had to see a show, I might as well use the time to see one as well.  I did Billy Elliot again, just because I love it.  Wow, do I love it.  I'm definitely going to try and see the movie when I get home.

Yesterday was also election day in Britain (it looks like the Tories got the most seats but there's a hung parliament, which means they only got a plurality, not an outright majority).  Martin had told us that there'd be broadcasting of election results in Trafalgar Square and against Big Ben, so after my show was over I went to Parliament Square, but there was no broadcasting.  I met Sarah there, and we decided to check out Trafalgar Square, but there was likewise no broadcasting.  It made me very sad, because I'd wanted to watch it, and thought it would have been so cool to see it in Trafalgar Square or against Big Ben.

We had to take an hour-long bus ride to get to Stansted Airport, and Sarah made reservations for one in the morning, because she wanted to make sure we had enough time to get to the coach stop.  I understand that, but I wish she'd gone for the midnight time slot, because we found the bus stop by then, and then had nothing to do.  Things close so early in London -- there were no pubs or bars open or anything.  We basically had to wait outside in the cold for an hour, and I was tired by that point, so I was trying to sleep on a hard wood bench, but it wasn't working out too well because I was so cold.

We made it to Stansted by two, but check-in and security weren't open then, so we passed the night on a hard cold floor in the lobby area.  I drowsed for three hours, but that was about it.

I woke up by about five-thirty and we checked in and went through security, but we still had another couple hours to kill before we even found out what gate we were, so I went on my computer, but not on the internet because I would have had to pay.  We finally made it to the airplane and I dozed some more on the flight.  It was thankfully only about two hours.  That was the first time I've flown since coming over here, and I don't like it any more than I ever have.  I'm really not looking forward to the flight home from Paris.

We had to take another hour-long bus to get from the airport in Rygge to Oslo, but we got to our hostel at about one.  I'd brought some food for my lunches for both days (definitely a good idea, now that I've seen how expensive food is here), so I ate lunch and went on the computer for a bit while we waited for check-in to open.  Then we checked in, dropped our bags off in our room, and went out to explore Oslo.

We'd decided on an easy day today, because both of us were exhausted (honestly, I'm surprised I've managed this long).  We wandered around the shopping area nearby, and I got a European plug adaptor.  From there we went up one of the main streets towards the royal palace, seeing sights such as the Domkirk (church), the University of Oslo, the National Theatre, the Hard Rock Cafe Oslo, the parliament building, and just some great pedestrian areas.  We took some pictures of the palace when we got there, but there wasn't really much else we could do, so we stopped in for a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe and then moved on to look at the fjord.

Right by the fjord, at least the part we went to, was an old fortress and castle, so we explored that a bit.  The castle was closed by then, so we didn't go in, but we actually saw rather a lot of the fortress grounds, and got some great pictures, and saw some guards in funny uniforms standing and marching around, so that was cool.

Sarah had brought food for her dinners, but I really only had room in my backpack for lunches, so I went to find dinner.  Wow, things are expensive here.  Much more so than England and even Ireland.  I really hope that the rest of my visit to Europe has prices more similar to England than to Norway, where a medium pizza cost almost thirty dollars and a glass of pepsi almost six.  But the good thing about getting pizza is that I now have leftovers, so I can have leftover pizza for lunch tomorrow, eat the food I'd brought for dinner, and then not have to pay more.

We came back to the hostel after dinner, since both of us are quite tired, though Sarah more than me.  So now I'm online, have finally had time to properly update this thing, and will probably go to bed in a few hours.  It's nine-thirty here, but it's still light out!  Considering how far north we are, I would have figured it would have gotten dark already, but apparently not.

Anyway.  Tomorrow we're going to take a ferry across the fjord to the Norwegian Folk Museum, meet one of Sarah's Norwegian friends who will show us around more, and then go back to the airport in the evening to spend the night there for a six-fifty flight Sunday morning.  Hopefully I'll be able to sleep better at Rygge airport than Stansted.

Playing Catch-Up

Now for the rest of the past week and a half, which, though interesting, has not been quite as eventful as spring break.

Got all my midterm grades -- As and A-s on everything, which makes me feel a lot better about my unrevised papers.  Unless my teachers get ridiculously stricter for subsequent assignments, I think this semester will continue my straight-A streak.

On Wednesday one of my classmates got a care package from home that included a box of Cheez-Its.  There were only a few of us in the room at the time, and she let us have some, and oh, Cheez-Its.  God, I miss American snack food.  I found something generally cheeto-like to munch on, but I really miss goldfish.  If anyone wants to, you know, send me a care package, then I will love you forever if you send me some goldfish.

On Friday we had a group excursion to Oxford.  I enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it more had I been on my own and able to do the things I was most interested in doing, so a friend and I will be going back next Sunday, after Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick.  Anyway, we took the coach there, which was only about an hour (God, this is such a small country), and first we went to the University Museums, where I saw dinosaur skeletons and shrunken heads.  After that we did an audio tour of the Bodleian Library, and then we had about an hour for lunch.  About half of us went to the Eagle and Child pub, which is the pub where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis and the rest of the Inklings would meet, so that was pretty awesome.

After lunch we went for a tour of Christ Church College and Cathedral, including the dining hall and other bits where parts of Harry Potter were filmed, then finished the trip off with the Ashmolean Museum, where I saw King Alfred's Jewel.  (Which was the only thing I was really interested in.  I've been getting rather burned out on museums, I've seen so many this semester.)

There were several things I wanted to do but didn't get a chance to, like touring Tolkien's colleges and getting a punt down the Isis or the Cherwell, but that's why I'll be coming back.  I'm also debating getting an Oxford sweatshirt.  It would be awesome to have, but I generally don't like wearing memorabilia of colleges I don't attend.  Well, I'll think about it before I go back.

I've been missing a lot of the books I had to leave at home, so on Saturday I went to the big Waterstone's on Piccadilly and spent half the day there just reading, and it was wonderful.  Then I came back to my homestay and watched Doctor Who as it aired on BBC1, for the first and possibly the only time.  I've never seen Doctor Who as it aired before (well, it's only possible in Britain), so I was very happy to be able to do that.

Sunday I went with a friend to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX.  It was more expensive than I like for a movie (though I think I've been spoiled by working at a theater and seeing movies for free), but it was so worth it because my friend actually invited me.  In the beginning of the program I always had to invite myself to things or just go alone, but now people have finally started inviting me, and it's great not being the one to have to make the first move all the time.  Definitely worth a movie ticket.

Though speaking of invitations, another friend told me last week that she was going to Norway in May because she found a ten pound round trip plane ticket.  She asked me if I might be interested, and I said I'll think about it, just send me the information.  So she did, and though the ticket prices went up a bit since she got her tickets, I found that I can go to Norway for $40.  I can't even go from Reno to Tacoma for $40 (flying or driving, considering how much gas it takes), and that's in the same country!

So I decided I'm going with her to Norway in May.  It's the week before the program ends, the 7th through the 9th, and I'm getting pretty excited about it.  I mean, I'm really looking forward to traveling after the program ends (really looking forward), but I'm just going to Western Europe.  And because I did my spring break in Ireland, I'm spending pretty much my whole time abroad in Western Europe.  Which is awesome, of course, but Scandinavia is a different region, with different history and traditions.  I really couldn't pass this chance up, so in May I'll be spending a couple days in Norway.

Today I had a history presentation on Canada in World War I, and I think it went pretty well.  My teacher said I went into a bit too much detail on the battles but that I was very thorough, and he was nodding through most of the presentation, so I think I'll get an A or A- on that.  Next week I have a paper due for that class, but I need to find some more research on my topic, so I think I'm going to do that tomorrow, because I'm going to have a busy weekend.

Tonight I'd been intending to see Wicked with some friends, but a couple said tomorrow night would be better, so I guess I'll be seeing Wicked tomorrow.  Instead, the friend I'm doing Norway with and I decided to see a movie tonight since her phone service gives her 2-for-1 movie tickets on Wednesdays and student prices made it even cheaper -- I paid about three pounds for a movie ticket, which is probably the cheapest I've ever had, not counting the free ones.  We saw Kick Ass, which I very much enjoyed, though it certainly earned its R rating (for violence).

This weekend I'll be meeting two different internet friends.  I'm meeting a more casual one for drinks on Friday, and then I'm spending the weekend with my close friend from Southampton.  On Saturday she'll be coming to London, and then on Sunday I'm going to Southampton.  I can't wait!

Murphy's Law

I'm almost all caught up from spring break.  The final leg is one big long story of Murphy's Law in action.

The initial error was definitely mine, but the consequences gave me a sharp lesson.  See, my train from London to Holyhead had been one train doing the whole trip, but on the way back from Holyhead to London I had to change trains twice, once in Chester and once in Crewe.  The train from Chester got into Crewe about half an hour before my next train was set to leave, so I found out what platform I needed and went there.  At about 8:30, still fifteen minutes before my train is supposed to leave, a train arrives at my platform.  It's Virgin Trains, which was the train I needed, and it was at the right platform -- the only issue was that it was too early, but I've seen trains arrive at a platform and just wait for twenty minutes before.

What I should have done is look at the departures board, because then I would have seen that this particular Virgin train was going to Manchester, not London.  I didn't, though.  I just assumed that the train was going to wait a bit, and got on.  I realized my mistake moments later when the train started moving, but by then it was too late.  I didn't even know where this train was supposed to be going.  I hoped it was the same general direction, so that I could just get off at the next station and still catch my proper train, but that hope was dashed when I did get to the next station, Wilmslow.

At Wilmslow, I went to the security station and told the guard I think I got on the wrong train; I needed to get to London.  He informed me that I had indeed gotten on the wrong train, because I was now halfway to Manchester.  Furthermore, by this time the train I should have been on was already gone, and it was the last train of the night going to London.  There I was, stuck overnight in a place I couldn't have pointed to on a map.

This would have been bad enough, but what was worse was that I had plans the next day.  I had my ticket for Star Wars in Concert, which I really wanted to get to.  It was at three, but getting there would have been complicated because the Jubilee line, which would have taken me right there with only one change, was down for planned engineering work over the holiday weekend.  The route I had mapped out involved different lines and replacement buses and would have taken nearly two hours, but that wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been home on Sunday and could have left early enough.

Instead, I had to spend my Sunday getting back to London, getting from the train station back to my homestay to drop off my stuff and get my ticket for the concert, and then getting there in time.  The security guard in Wilmslow said that I could stay the night in Manchester and get a train that would get in around 1:30, which would not have given me enough time, so that was out.  My other option was to go back to Crewe and get a train that would get me in around 12:30, which would be cutting it close but would still probably be all right.

I bought a train ticket for the next morning, and went back to Crewe.  Once there, I asked the station personnel for overnight options.  They did say I could stay the night in the station, but I'd have to sleep in the waiting room, and when I got back to London my host mum said that's what she would have done, just to save money, but I couldn't.  Stay the night alone in a train station in a foreign country?  I wouldn't have been able to sleep, and not just because all I had was the floor, short benches, or chairs.  And I seriously can't function when I don't get enough sleep -- I probably would have bungled getting home even worse than I already had.

Crewe, being in the middle of nowhere, didn't have any hostels, and I hadn't meant to be there so I didn't have any research on places to stay, and had to rely on the station people for recommendations.  The place they directed me to was fairly close, but one night was fifty pounds (at which I winced, but what other options did I really have? I didn't know where else to go), and they did not have any internet access.  No business computers, no wifi, and no open internet cafe anywhere nearby.

This just made things even worse, because my host mum was expecting me home that night.  I'd accidentally left my paper with her phone number in my room in London, so I thought the only thing I could do was get into my email account and fish out my roommate's number, call her, and have her explain to my host mum what happened.  Unfortunately, though, no internet.  I made it clear to the receptionist that I really needed this (all the while thinking, what kind of hotel doesn't have any internet access at all in this day and age?), so he sent me one of their employees with an iphone he was willing to let me try.  No dice, though -- couldn't get into my email.  I was basically stuck hoping my host mum would call me so I could explain, but I didn't know when.  I wasn't supposed to get home until around midnight, so it would have to be after that, but I just wanted to go to bed.

I waited for a bit, but finally decided to just take my shower and go to bed, and just answer if it woke me up.  But then I couldn't figure out how to turn the shower on.  There was a bathtub I could turn on, but I couldn't find anything for the shower.  So I had to go to bed without taking a shower, which always makes me feel uncomfortable.

My host mum did text me in the middle of the night, waking me up, but I did feel relieved at being able to explain a bit of what happened and that I'd be home the next day.  I did not sleep as well as I would have at home, but I did get enough sleep to function, and far more than I would have gotten had I stayed at the train station.

I got to the station bright and early, and this time made sure of the train's destination before boarding.  Unfortunately, the train encountered delays along the route.  It left Crewe at 9:17 and was supposed to get in to London at 12:32, but it managed to get there at about one instead, and I was almost despairing.  I could have made it to my concert on time if I'd left my house around one, but I was still at the train station and needed to get home, and had to take circuitous public transportation back.

I made it home at 1:40, where my host mum was a marvel.  After wanting to cry at finding out there was no way for me to get there by public transportation that wouldn't get me at least an hour late (and the show was only two hours, so I would have missed at least half of it), she found me a cab that could get me there in an hour.  It was more expensive than I would have liked, but I'd been looking forward to this concert for weeks, and really wanted to get there, so I paid it, and I got there only fifteen minutes late.

It was Easter, so the show wasn't full, and I got my seat upgraded so I could sit closer.  The concert was basically music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra set to a theme montages from the films, narrated by the actor who played C-3PO.  It was so awesome listening to the Imperial March played live, and the theme music, and so much more that I recognized and loved.  Live!  Exactly what I'd been waiting for.  I did not regret rushing to get there.

I especially did not regret it after seeing how long it took to get back home.  Had the Jubilee line been working, it would have taken me forty-five minutes.  Instead, it took two hours and fifteen minutes, which really emphasized that I could not have taken public transportation to the show without missing two-thirds of it.

But I got back, and ate dinner, and spent time online, and went to bed, peaceful in the knowledge that Monday was a bank holiday and therefore I could spend it doing absolutely nothing.

Mid-Term

On Thursday I met Maddy for lunch, the London Eye, and the Imperial War Museum.  The London Eye was fun, but not as impressive as I'd hoped.  I did get a very good view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, but the sun was starting behind them so I'm not sure how well the pictures I took will turn out.

The Imperial War Museum was interesting, but I could only stay there for about an hour because I still had to get to class.  That night we had another show, The White Guard.

Awesome play.  It's about this family of Russians in the Ukraine at the very end of World War I and in the middle of the Russian Revolution, and it had some really amazing sets and wonderful characters and a great story and set of themes.  I loved it, so now it and Billy Elliot are my favorite things I've seen so far.

On Friday we went to Stonehenge and Bath.  We got a coach and a tour guide and stopped at Stonehenge for an hour, where it started raining.  I think it was raining the last time I was at Stonehenge as well.  It was pretty cool, but I have been there before and it hasn't really changed much.

From there we went to Bath, which I enjoyed.  It was still raining, and in fact rained the entire time, but I still enjoyed it.  Our tour guide took us on a walking tour of Bath, showing us some of the main streets, the river Avon (which I hadn't realized went through Bath at all), the Bath Circus and the Royal Crescent with their impressive architecture, and then Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths.  Bath Abbey had some absolutely gorgeous stained glass windows, and at the Roman Baths we were given audio guides that I found out today were narrated by my theatre teacher.

I enjoyed the Roman Baths, mostly for the omgRomans! factor.  After we were done there, we had about an hour of free time, so Sarah and I went to the Jane Austen Centre.  I wish we'd had more free time, because I enjoyed the mini-Jane Austen museum, but the Centre also had a tea room that advertised tea with Mr. Darcy, and I would have liked to do that.

We left Bath at about four for a three hour coach trip back to London, getting home in time for dinner.  Some people stayed in Bath an extra day, but I decided not to, because I had three papers due this week and I wanted to use the weekend to write them.  I did get two done and turned in already, and the third isn't due until Friday so I was going to do it tonight and tomorrow.

I had a bit of a weird experience (I'm not sure what to call it) with the papers, though.  When I write papers, I like to take a draft to my teachers for their feedback, which I can then use to revise the paper and turn in an improved final draft.  I'd intended to do that with these, but when I asked Martin if he'd be willing, he seemed very confused at the concept.  He said he normally looked at student summaries of what their papers were about so he could tell them if they were on the right track or not, but looking at a complete draft was too much like marking it, and he would prefer I do the summary.  I did, and he said my paper should be fine based on that, but I'm a bit eh.  We don't have a writing center here, so my only source of feedback on a rough draft is my teachers (I don't want to ask fellow students, who are busy enough, this isn't their job, and most of them are not politics students, but my teacher (who is also the program director) said he doesn't really do things like that.  I did do another read-through and make a few revisions before turning what I had in, but if I don't get as good a grade as I'd like, for the next assignment I might ask him to look at it anyway, even if it's not what he usually does.  It's really an important part of the writing process for me, and has resulted in the great improvement of many of my drafts, and is really something I sort of took for granted at UPS, since the teachers there encourage that sort of thing.  But it's not like I've never turned in a paper cold, so I suppose we'll just see how this goes.

This weekend I also finished Great Expectations!  Finally!  I "read" it in high school, which means I read the first part, did a bit of skimming of the rest with relying on SparkNotes, and read the final pages.  This is partly because I didn't like the first part and partly because that week was when I was stage crew for 42nd Street and I was busy enough, but I still did fine on the test we had on it.  This time I actually read the entire thing, and liked it somewhat better.  I still don't precisely like it, but it wasn't as bad as I'd remembered, and I enjoyed it more once Pip because less of a little snot.  I still didn't find it all that funny, though.  There were a few moments where I cracked a smile, but really, I find Dickens's style more annoying than amusing.

Moving on!  Monday night we saw Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and I was like finally! a playwright I recognize!  Apart from the Shakespeare I've seen, I haven't heard of any of the people who have written the plays I've seen, but of course I've heard of Tennessee Williams, and have even read one of his other plays (A Streetcar Named Desire).  I was rather eh about this play, though.  There were things I really appreciated, like the character of Brick and the actor playing him, some of the really great lines, and James Earl Jones, but there were things I rather didn't appreciate, like how the first two acts had mostly two people, only one of whom did much talking.  I found it sort of hard to pay attention with more monologue than dialogue.  Still, it was all right.  Not my favorite, but not my least favorite either.

Tomorrow we're going to the Houses of Parliament!  To watch a debate!  And it's going to be Budget Day, so the different parties are totally going to be all over each other about the budget!

British politics is hilarious.  This is going to be so awesome.

I've been having a good but busy week so far.  On Saturday I was feeling sick so I did nothing, but on Sunday, London was having its St. Patrick's Day celebrations, so I went into town for that.  There was a parade at Piccadilly Circus, and I enjoyed most of it, though I think I had a better time last year, when I was in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Spokane, as part of the Young Democrats delegation.  It's a lot more of a thrill being in a parade rather than just watching one, even if London is inherently more exciting than Spokane. XD

There were also performances going on in Trafalgar Square, so after the parade was over I walked over there.  It was absolutely packed.  Trafalgar Square is pretty big, but it was seriously packed, so it just looked like a sea of people.  I did manage to get a spot where I could sit at a good, fairly close angle to the stage.  I didn't watch everything, because I was still feeling sorta sick, but I listened to a couple different guys singing old Irish songs in both English and Irish.  A school orchestra played some traditional Irish music, and a dance school did some Irish dancing.  Pretty cool.

On Monday my 19th and 20th Century British Novels teacher took us out on a Dickens Walk -- she showed us places like the church where Dickens' parents were married, some places he lived, and several of the places mentioned in Great Expectations.  That was really cool.  When we were in the Temple area, she took us to Middle Temple Hall as well, where Twelfth Night had been performed in Shakespeare's day.

Our walking tour ended pretty close to St. Paul's Cathedral, which I very much appreciated, because Monday was when Maddy arrived and she was staying near St. Paul's.  I haven't seen Maddy since this summer, when I went to Davis to visit her after the Green Day concert in Sacramento.  I took her to Soho for dinner -- we had Indian, and it was actually really good.  I've had better naan, but I got this dish called honey chicken, and it was so good.  Anyway, after dinner I did a bit of playing tour guide, showing her Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, and then we went to this pub I like for pear cider and to sit and chat for a while.

Yesterday morning I met her at Leicester Square again, because she wanted to see Billy Elliot while she was here, and I was completely fine with seeing it again, even just a few days after the first time.  After that I did more of the tour guide thing, since from there we walked to Trafalgar Square and then to Westminster Abbey.  I pointed out the theatre where I saw The Caretaker a couple weeks ago, and where St. James's Park was, and Downing Street, and the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Westminster Square, and felt sort of weird for even beginning to know this city.

So we went to Westminster Abbey, and wow, I really wished we were allowed to take photographs.  Especially of the graves of Mary Tudor, Queen Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots, and especially of the poets' corner.  Unsurprisingly, the poets' corner was my favorite part.

When we were done at the Abbey, Maddy wanted to see Westminster Bridge, so we walked by the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and I told her some of the things I've been learning about the British political system.  She got some pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye (which we've decided we're going on tomorrow, whoo!), and then we walked back to Trafalgar Square, where we split up, because she wanted to go to the National Gallery and I had to get to class.

We met up again for dinner, and then we saw Billy Elliot.  This time we were seated upstairs, but I enjoyed it just as much as I did on Friday.  It was interesting to see it from a slightly different perspective, because this time I could see their feet, and now I'm even more impressed with these kids' tap skills than I was before.  There were also a few things I noticed this time that I hadn't last time, so I guess it's true that every time you see a show you get something new out of it.  Anyway, I still loved it, it was completely worthwhile, and this time I bought a program as a souvenir.

Maddy and I did not meet up today because she was going to spend it with her cousin, but I had plenty to occupy myself with.  Our class schedule was rearranged a bit, and one of my classes canceled, because Martin wanted us to see the London Mayor's Question Time today.  We went to City Hall, which is across the Thames from the Tower of London in an extremely interesting juxtaposition of ancient castle and modern glass building, and listened as the Mayor answered questions put to him by his assembly of concerns brought to them by their constituents.

I found it really interesting, if very different from American politics, because it seems to me that American politicians try to be somewhat more diplomatic than British ones.    American politicians will be insulting, but indirectly so.  British politicians will just insult you to your face.  It was actually rather hilarious.  Some of my classmates wrote down their favorite insults, but I didn't have the foresight, and so I don't remember the best ones now.

It was still just plain interesting to watch, though.  I was sitting next to someone who is a PoliSci major, so we were taking notes and having a conversation through our notes on our thoughts on what was going on.  We did decide that the Mayor is not a very good debater because he spent his time interrupting people (even those from his own party), and most of the time when he responded to questions from the Opposition, he'd do it through straw man and ad hominem arguments.  I wasn't very impressed with him, though I did enjoy the session in general.

I only had one class this afternoon, thanks to the canceled class, which meant that I was done at 2:30, which is the earliest I've every been done.  I put my time to good use, however, and am now almost done with all the preparation for Ireland.  I have my transportation from London to Dublin and back, from Dublin to Belfast and back, my hostels in Dublin, and my tour.  The only things I have left to do are book my hostel for Belfast, but Maddy was just there and was going to give me information for the hostel where she stayed, and figure out how to get to the Giant's Causeway.  I think I saw that I can take a bus from Belfast, but I'm going to have to double check that.

Today I also got my ticket for Star Wars in Concert, for the day after I get back from Ireland, which happens to be Easter Sunday.  I'm going with another girl from the program, and she got our tickets so I'm going to have to pay her back, but I am so excited for this.  We got the cheapest tickets so pretty far seats, but I'll still be able to hear the music and see what's on the screen, and it's Star Wars in Concert in the O2 Arena.  This is going to be so awesome.

I just came home after I finished booking Ireland stuff, so I'm not going out on St. Patrick's Day, but I'm fine with that.  It's nice to have some downtime in the middle of a busy week.  Tomorrow Maddy and I are doing the London Eye and the Imperial War Museum, then I have class, and then a show.  Then on Friday we're going to Bath and Stonehenge.  Saturday and Sunday are also going to be busy, if in a different way, because I have three papers due next week and I'm going to try and get them all done this weekend so I can get some feedback from my teachers before they're properly due.

The week after next is midterm break.  I'm almost halfway done.  How did that happen?

Billy Elliot

Yesterday I went to see Billy Elliot.  I got up earlier than I'd wanted on a weekend to get to the theatre's box office early to see about day tickets before they were all gone, and the cheapest were actually in the front row.  I was a bit dubious about that, since I wouldn't be able to see everything, but the next cheapest tickets were a full twenty pounds more, so I got the front row seat.

Then I went to King's Cross to get a Youth Railcard, which gets me a 30% discount on all my rail tickets in Britain.  I'd been putting off getting that, but that was all right since I hadn't been going anywhere and the trains for Scotland and Birmingham (and Bath and Stonehenge next Friday) were paid for by AHA.  But I do need it before I go to Ireland, and there will be more trains I book myself in the future, so it'll be worth it.

For lunch I picked up something quick off a street vendor in Chinatown, and then I walked to Covent Garden Market, where I spent most of the rest of the afternoon.  My favorite parts were the crafts stalls and the street performers.  There were a lot of places to eat and some regular shops, and then just past the Covent Garden Market was another street market selling mostly souvenir-type stuff.  I definitely like the craft stalls and the street performers, though.  The performers alone I spent over an hour watching/listening to.

Just after five I went to find dinner at Pizza Express, because it's been a month since I had any pizza and I've been seeing Pizza Express all over and wondering how it was.  From the name you'd think it'd just be another fast food type pizza chain, but it's actually a sit-down restaurant.  I was amused that a plain pepperoni pizza was called an "American", but I still got it.  It was pretty good.  Not the best pizza I've had, but still pretty good.

I went not long after five because I wanted to be sure I had enough time to get to the theatre, but dinner was quicker than I expected, and I still had about an hour to kill before I could go pick up my ticket.  I ended up walking to Leicester Square, which is a big pedestrian zone filled with places selling discount theatre tickets.  From there I walked to Piccadilly Circus and ducked into the big Waterstone's on Piccadilly, but they didn't have anything new I wanted.  I decided to just walk to Green Park from there, since Green Park had the tube line I needed, and all of this did not take very long, because I was still about fifteen minutes early to even pick up my ticket.  Martin told us when we got here that however big and spread out London is, central London is actually a fairly small, compact space.  This is perfectly evidenced by the fact that I could walk down four tube stops on the same line (Covent Garden to Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus to Green Park) in less than an hour, even with stops, detours, and just going slowly to see more.

When it was seven I picked up my ticket and found my seat, then read Great Expectations until the show started.  And now Billy Elliot is definitely by far my favorite thing I've seen in London (at least for this trip -- I still have fond memories of The Reduced Shakespeare Company last time).

Just -- oh my God it was wonderful.  Marvelous.  Whatever superlatives you care to name.  There is not a single thing I didn't like about it.  And my front row seat was awesome.  I often couldn't see their feet, but that really didn't matter.  What I could really see was their expressions, and I could hear everything, and just wow, that ended up being a great seat.  I was even pretty close to the center.

The kid who played Billy was amazing.  He's like half my age, but he could sing, he could act, and he was proficient in three separate styles of dance (ballet, tap, and hip hop).  All the other actors were great too, but that kid really shone.

The story was really tight and integrated.  Billy's family were coal miners going on strike in their village near Durham, and the strike was perfectly paralleled and integrated with Billy's quest to be a dancer.  Just before intermission Billy had an angry dance (tap), and during it police showed up rhythmically banging on riot shields, which Billy would also sometimes use as a dance floor -- Billy's quest wasn't going well, and the strike wasn't going well, but the dance was so well choreographed that it just threw all these things together and they really worked.

Billy's brother also had this line in the second half about the striking miners just wanting more equality (though of course the line was more eloquent than that) and I think that really tied the two storylines together for me.  The miners want more equality, and so does Billy, with his desire to pursue something considered to be just for girls.

The storytelling was tight, and the actors were amazing, and I loved the musical numbers, and I could see everything, and at the end, the bow ended up being another dance.  The entire cast came out and did this tap number that had nothing to do with the story but had the bows in it, and it was awesome.  Creative and skillful and fun all at the same time.

I loved it.  Adored it.  Spent the entire time grinning.  I stood up to applaud, and when I looked around it seemed like they were getting a real standing ovation, which I haven't seen in any of the other half-dozen shows I've been to so far.  But they deserved it.  That was such a wonderful show.  I would totally see it again.

I'm still high on the good mood from that, which is good, because I'm sick.  Again.  I felt myself start to come down with something on Monday, but I had school and a busy week, so I ignored it, and then yesterday I wanted to see Billy Elliot.  (And it was worth it, even if I am sicker today.)  But then today I woke up at almost 11:30, after ten and a half hours of sleep (normally I have difficulty sleeping more than eight), and my head feels stuffed, I'm sneezing all the time, and I have no voice.

So, today is definitely a day to recuperate.  I hope I'm better by tomorrow, because it's the St. Patrick's Day celebrations, and there's a parade starting in Piccadilly Circus and performaces in Trafalgar Square and I want to go.  So I will do nothing today, and hope I feel better tomorrow.

Two more shows since I last posted. The first was London Assurance on Tuesday, which I loved. It was packed with cliches and contrived plot devices, but the writing was good enough, and the actors amazing enough, that I still thought it was absolutely hilarious and loved it. The two main leads, especially, had an awesome sense of comedic timing that just enhanced the delivery of already great writing. Wonderful show.

The other show, last night, was the opera version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. I've never seen an opera before, and if this is what they're like, I have no interest in seeing more. I did enjoy the music and the singing, but I could only understand what they were singing maybe a third of the time, at the most. If I didn't already know the story, I'm not sure I would have been able to follow it. And I don't know if this was deliberate or just a byproduct, but most of the comedy was gone. Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's comedies, but while I found regular play productions very funny, I only laughed in this one a few times in the second act.

So that was a disappointment. Still, at least I can say I've been to an opera.

I'm getting things figured out for Ireland in two weeks (two weeks!). My host mum's daughter suggested I book a tour, and I thought about it and did some research and decided that was a good idea. So I found a tour that takes me around most of the places I want to go in the Republic of Ireland (including Dublin, Galway, Cliffs of Moher, and the Blarney Stone) in five days for £180, which is a good price for all the traveling and affords me the safety of being in a group. I will have to pay for my accomodation and food (they book the room, but I have to pay right there), but I'm quite pleased.

The tour leaves on Monday, March 29th, and my spring break starts on Friday the 26th, so I'm going to leave Friday morning and spend a couple days in Belfast and Northern Ireland, because I'd also like to see the Giant's Causeway. So I can get into Belfast Friday night, spend Saturday and most of Sunday there, go back to Dublin on Sunday night, and meet the tour on Monday.

So I've booked my tour, and my transportation to and from Dublin (train to Holyhead and then the ferry). Now I just need to do Dublin to Belfast and back, accomodation in both places when I'm not in the tour, and find out the best way to see the Giant's Causeway and the Hill of Tara. I can do that on Monday, though, since I have to go to class soon.

I did have to pay for these things with my credit card, since I think my bank put a freeze on my debit card. Sigh. I told them that I was going to be in Europe, but maybe the note expired or something. I emailed them about it, and hopefully that will be taken care of soon, because I also want to buy my tickets for Star Wars in Concert.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and see Billy Elliot, which I'm really looking forward to. But the cheapest tickets are always the ones you can get the day of from the ticket booth, so we'll see how that works out.

Between Ireland and my shows, I feel like I've spent a lot of money recently. But I have not been spending much money prior to now, and I'm studying abroad to do things like this, so I'm going to try not to feel guilty about it, especially since I've been looking for things that are economical. I might have to ask for more money sooner than I'd hoped, but on the whole, I think I haven't been doing too badly, money-wise.

I'd been intending to see Alice in Wonderland on Saturday, but apparently it only premiered on Thursday and doesn't actually come out in cinemas (hah, watch me use the more British term. :p) until this Friday, so we did not go see it. Instead, I spent the day reading Great Expectations. Sort of. I did a lot of staring at Great Expectations, at least, but I've been reluctant to read it because I didn't much like what I did read in high school. Well, at least I don't have to have read it until next Monday, which is plenty of time.

We had theatre nights two days this week, Monday and Tuesday. Monday's performance was Dunsinane, which is a sequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth where Lady Macbeth survived, remained sane, and had a son. I really enjoyed the performance, especially coming as it did right after we came back from Scotland, since it was so much about Scotland. I feel like we've been inundated with Scotland lately, but I don't mind because it's really so interesting.

Last night we saw The Caretaker, which I...did not particularly enjoy. I thought it was boring and the characters unengaging, and I'm not sure what the point was, apart from that people are crazy and self-centered. It'll be interesting to hear what the rest of my theatre class thinks, though, since everyone else I've talked to seems to have enjoyed it.

Next week we have another two shows, London's Assurance and an opera of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I've seen Midsummer several times, but I've always enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to an opera version of it, especially since I've never seen an opera before.

There are two particular extra-curricular shows I want to see soon, though, and those are Wicked and Billy Elliot. I've also been seeing posters for Star Wars In Concert, at the O2 arena, which just sounds omg so awesome. That one, however, is April 3rd and 4th only, which is the weekend ending our spring break, so I'd have to cut short traveling a bit and come back to London sooner in order to see that. I think I will, though. Star Wars in Concert! How awesome is that?

Back from Scotland

So last night we got back from Scotland.  I would have posted last night, but internet was being worse than usual (blinking out after only a few seconds rather than a few minutes) and I was tired.  But I slept a lot last night and am now waiting for a text from some people I was planning on seeing Alice in Wonderland with later today, so now I attempt to chronicle my trip to Scotland.

Well, really the first thing to talk about is Tuesday night, because I saw Twelfth Night.  I'm not in the Shakespeare class, but I got an extra ticket, and I'm so glad I did, because it was an awesome performance.  Very funny; I definitely enjoyed it.  But we got out pretty late, so it was almost midnight when we got back home.  Considering we had to be at King's Cross at 7:45 the next day, meaning getting up no later than 6:15 thanks to the commute, it wasn't much fun, but I was fine.  Martin kept telling us to just sleep for a couple hours on the train, but once I'm awake, I'm awake, and I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep until the afternoon at the earliest.  Thankfully, though, less than six hours was still enough for me to stay awake the whole day.

I like trains so much better than flying.  So much.  I still didn't want to chance reading, but I had enough to occupy me, and I had so much more leg room, and it just felt smoother...I hate flying.  Thank God I got the Eurail pass so I can take trains across Europe and not fly.

The weather was miserable the entire time we were there.  It was snowing when we got out of the station, and that sucked, because we walked from the station to the hostel, and I'd lost one of my gloves and hadn't yet had the chance to replace them, so there I was, carrying an increasingly-heavy bag (or so it seemed) with freezing wet hands for twenty minutes in an unfamiliar city with my glasses getting wet and slush sliding around under my feet.

Edinburgh is a very hilly city.  Lots of inclines, not that much level ground.  I did not enjoy that, though there were only a couple times it was bad, when we had to climb things particularly steep.  The first of those horrible climbs was right after we dropped our stuff off at the hostel, because our first stop was the Castle of Edinburgh, which happens to be at the top of a tall hill.  There was a set of stairs that was particularly brutal, and that no one liked, so it wasn't just me.  But I managed them, and all the way up the rest of the hill to the castle.

I do want to say, though, that on the way we passed a street performer who was playing bagpipes and wearing a kilt.  Disappointly, I did not see many men wearing kilts, but one of the ones I did see was also playing bagpipes.  Hah!  That was awesome.

The castle was very cool.  It was still sorta snowy and very cloudy, so we didn't have the view we would have had on a clear day, but it was still a nice view.  We could see pretty much all of Edinburgh, which is an interesting combination of very old (like the castle, part of which dates back to the 1100s), to the old-but-not-as-much (like all the Victorian buildings), to the pretending-to-be-old (like all the buildings in the style of ancient Greece), to the startlingly-modern (like the Parliament building).  Very strange juxtaposition.  London also has that juxtaposition of very old and quite modern, but it tends to have the very old things clustered together, and likewise the very modern, whereas in Edinburgh it all seemed a mish-mash.

Anyway, the castle.  I wandered all over and saw St. Margaret's chapel, which is the oldest thing there (the one built around the 1100s), and the Great Hall, and the War Veterans' Memorial (for the Scots who died in the world wars), and the Scottish Crown Jewels, and the room where King James the VI and I was born.  We had audio tour guides, but I was so busy looking at things that I was only half paying attention to mine.

When we were done at the castle, we walked to the National Gallery.  It was cool, I suppose.  I never was much of one for art museums.  There were some pretty things, but I was not sad that we only had about an hour to look around until it closed.

We had a few hours of free time until dinner (which the hostel provided for us), but most of the people in the group wanted to take a nap.  I still felt awake, but I didn't want to go out by myself after dark in an unfamiliar city in the snow, so I just stayed in my room and read for awhile.  It was not a bad room, but it had bunkbeds and I was too slow, so I had to have top bunk.  It was also an extraordinarily creaky bunk, so I couldn't get into it, out of it, or move around in it without it creaking like hell.

After dinner we had the night to ourselves.  I just went out with a group of people to a pub, but I had a good time.  I did not drink that much, and we just spent the entire time talking and trading stories in a fairly quiet pub, which is what I like best in a bar experience.  Being there to socialize, not to get drunk.  I also discovered that one of the girls is a big fan of Doctor Who, and another thinks Final Fantasy VII is the greatest video game in the world, so I had plenty to talk about.

The next day we went to the High Kirk of St. Giles, which is also known as St. Giles' Cathedral and has at a couple of points actually been a cathedral, but it isn't properly anymore, it's the high kirk.  We had a tour of that, and I found it quite impressive, but I usually do for really old churches.  The window above the entrance had only been replaced a couple decades ago (actually, the stained glass windows in the kirk were all Victorian; in the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, the kirk had clear glass), but it's called the Robert Burns window because the scenes in it relate to Robert Burns, which I found very cool.

After St. Giles, we went to the Museum of Scotland.  On our way, we passed a place called The Elephant House, which had a big sign in the window advertising itself as the birthplace of Harry Potter -- the cafe where JK Rowling thought up Harry Potter.

The museum was interesting.  It was huge, and we didn't have a lot of time scheduled for it, so we couldn't see that much.  There were seven floors, from the basement and the pre-history of Scotland to modern Scotland on the sixth floor, and the rooftop terrace with yet another awesome view of Edinburgh.  So much to look at.

After the museum we ate lunch, and I have a new favorite sandwich with an actual story behind it.  See, the hostel packed lunches for us, which was very nice -- or would have been, had the sandwiches not been covered in butter.  Seriously.  I had two half sandwiches, one of ham and one of tuna, and I like both of those on their own, but both ham and tuna were thin layers of meat surrounded by think layers of butter.  There was maybe two or three times as much butter as meat.

I don't even like butter as a thin layer spread on bread.  I'm sure these sandwiches could have looked less appetizing, but I really don't want to imagine how.  We had free time that afternoon and Martin was organizing an optional trip to Linlithgow Palace that I wanted to go on, so I just ate my apple and chips and figured I'd picked up something else on the way to Linlithgow.

Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, is about a fifteen minute train ride away from Edinburgh, so we went back to the train station, and there I found My Sandwich.  Ham and mozzarella on a baguette, cold.  Normally I'm not much for cheese on my sandwiches, but that's cheddar and swiss and so on, and I do like mozzarella cheese on pizza, so I thought I'd try it.

Oh my God that was so good.  Ham and mozzarella on baguette.  I am so remembering this.  I bought another one for the train back to London yesterday, and it was still so good.

Anyway.  About half the group ended up going to Linlithgow, which was amazing.  It's partly in ruins -- there are no roofs, and some of the walls are crumbling, but it's still mostly intact.  It was raining the whole time, but I had such a great time exploring.  So many awesome pictures, especially one Martin took of a bunch of us in what had been the kitchen.  The fireplace there was so huge that seven of us could stand in there without touching each other, the sides, or the ceiling, so Martin took a picture of us in the fireplace.

We explored that for about an hour, including going up to the top of the tallest tower and seeing yet another great view, but the palace isn't really that big.  We went back to Edinburgh and still had a few hours to do our own thing before dinner.  I wanted new gloves, but in particular I wanted those kind of fingerless gloves with the flaps that fit over and turn them into mittens, but I couldn't find them.  I went to two different malls and walked down several shopping streets, and could not find the kind of gloves I wanted.  It's probably because winter fashion is out and spring fashion is in, sigh.

I went back to the hostel for dinner, and afterwards one of my roommates expressed interest in the bar across the street advertising pear cider.  I love pear cider, so I agreed to go with her.  It ended up being just us, because a bunch of people were either going out for serious drinking (it was one of the girls' twenty-first birthday) or were going on the Edinburgh Ghost Tour.  I thought about going on the Ghost Tour, but it looked like it was going to be cold and wet, so I decided not to.  (The next day I was glad, because the girls who went said that they'd never been so soaked.)

The pear cider was wonderful.  Definitely the best I've ever had.  The bartender noticed our accents and asked where we were from, so we chatted a bit about that.  It was really just a nice relaxing experience, where we just talked and had a couple drinks.  After two each, we went back to the hostel and went to bed, and it was pretty early, but I still slept well.

Yesterday we climbed Carlton Hill, which was the second of the absolutely awful climbs.  Carlton Hill is where the Nelson Monument (for Admiral Nelson) is, and though a bunch of the group climbed to the top, I did not.  Carlton Hill is also where they built this thing they wanted to be a second Parthenon, because during the Enlightenment Edinburgh was called the Athens of the North, but they ran out of money partway through and so this second Parthenon is unfinished and looks sorta funny and is sometimes called the Shame of Scotland.

After Carlton Hill, we went to the Scottish Parliament.  It's an extremely modern-looking building (quite the contrast to Westminster Palace) right across from Holyrood Palace, which is where the Queen stays when she's in Scotland.  We went on a tour of the Parliament, which I thought was very cool for multiple reasons.  Scotland had had a parliament since at least 1235, but it was dissolved in 1707 when Scotland united with England to become Great Britain, and has since been governed from London.  But then in 1999 they got their own parliament back, and after learning more about Scottish history, I felt so happy for them.  They really are a people with their own distinctive history and society, and though I think the issue about them becoming a completely separate nation again is very complicated, if they do manage it I'll be very happy for them.  Scotland is now the only country in the United Kingdom to have its own parliament -- Northern Ireland, Wales, and London have assemblies, but they can't make laws and raise taxes, and parliaments can, so they've all just been governed out of Westminster.  But now Scotland has its own parliament, which is a step closer to being independent.

Our tour guide also said that the Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature where committees are used in effect as a second chamber, and I think I'm going to have to do some more research to figure out how that works.  I mean, Congress has committees that do what the Scottish ones seem to, from my understanding, but Congress is still bicameral.  Now I want to figure out unicameral vs bicameral and their respective advantages and disadvantages.  I also really want to see Westminster, but that's not scheduled for awhile yet.

That was pretty much it for Scotland.  Our train left at three, so we had to get back to the hostel and get our bags and get to the station.  The first part of the train ride was actually sorta funny though, because at the front of our car was a hen party, and they were very...exuberant.  They got off at Newcastle, though, so they weren't there for very long.  Otherwise the train ride was quiet.

Next week we'll be going to Birmingham for a day, and later I'm going to try and organize trips to Southampton, where I have a friend, and Cardiff, because the Doctor Who friend and I really want to see it.

I forgot to bring my flash drive today, so no pictures yet again! Wednesday is my busiest day with three classes, but those are spread out beginning at 9:30am and ending at 5:30pm. Time enough to go on the internet, but not to go home and get my flash drive.

On Sunday I actually got sick. Just a cold, which is really going around our group of students (it's easier to point out those who don't have it than those who do), but I didn't really want to do anything then either. It was a bit better on Monday and Tuesday, and I'm almost over it now, so hopefully this weekend I will be doing something. Apparently there's a Viking festival in York, so I might see about getting a student rail card (makes rail tickets a third cheaper!) and going to York. I heard some people talk about going on Saturday, so I might see about going with them.

Next week we'll be going to Scotland for three days -- Wednesday through Friday. I think we'll be the entire time in Edinburgh, and I'm warned that it's very cold, so I'm going to have to remember to bring my sweaters and dress very warmly. Here it's been alternately very cold and not as cold as I was expecting, but I'm not sure if that's the weather or just something weird my body is doing, because everyone else seems to think it's just plain cold.

Last night was our first theatre show, the play Enron, about the rise and fall of the company Enron. It was sort of strange, being there as an American -- it seemed like such an American show, but it was written by a Brit and is performed by Brits in Britain. My theatre teacher explained today that Britain's economy is so tied to America's that something like Enron would still have been very significant here, which makes sense, but it still feels a bit strange.

I did get dressed up. I knew I wouldn't have time to go back home and change between my last class and the show, so I wore tights under my jeans and brought a skirt and my nice shoes, and changed into them after class. No one else got dressed up. It was also raining, so though I did bring my umbrella, it was not so much fun wearing tights and open-toed shoes in the rain on uneven cobblestones while hurrying and often running to get to the theatre on time. Especially since I saw very few people dressed as nicely as I was. Liz explained later that people are going to theatre more casually now, especially in London, which I'm definitely going to remember because jeans would have been much more comfortable throughout the whole adventure.

I enjoyed Enron. The play actually explained financial matters so I understood them, which I felt was quite the feat. It was also something of a musical -- there were musical numbers and interludes, including songs both written by the playwright and inserted by her to appropriate places -- I especially enjoyed Guns N' Roses's Welcome to the Jungle as particularly apt for the corporation stage. There were a lot of pop culture references to things like Jurassic Park and Star Wars, which I also enjoyed.

Our next play is Dunsanine in about two weeks, which is apparently a sequel to Macbeth written last year or thereabouts. I think that'll be interesting. I'm looking forward to it!