Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Home at Last!

I cant even begin to tell you how much I want to go to bed right now but I know that will not help me get over the jet lag at all so I will resist the temptation. So I got home-well to my aunt and uncles- at 9:45 last night and it felt so good to be able to just fall into my own bed and not have to worry about waking up to someones alarm at 5 in the morning.
The last couple of day in London were amazing and I just loved being able to spend some free time with everyone. On Saturday we went to the temple which was so much fun and was such a nice relaxing experience. After that we headed back to London and tried to get tickets to Lion King but we did not succeed but it was probably for the best because we were all so tired. On our way back to the center we stopped but the British Library which was truly an amazing experience. We saw stuff by Jane Austen the original Handles Messiah, the magna carta and lots of stuff from the Beatles. It was really cool and defiantly worth it. On our way back to the tube we stopped but Kings Cross and I went and saw Platform 9 3/4. I was expecting the really grand platform and what not but it was just a wall with a sign on it! I was really sad but it was fun to take pictures. After Elizabeth Stuart and I went back to the center and fell asleep in the sitting room for about two hours. After that we headed to dinner at some Thia place that was amazing!!!
Sunday was pretty normal. I taught the young women again and it was alot of fun and we took lots of pictures with the girls and it was great. We didnt have any major happenings on the way there or back which was nice. That night we stayed up and played spoons and had a dance party in the servery. It was so much fun and a perfect way to end the trip. Ilarene, Gerret, Danney and I left for the airport at the six in the morning and it was a really interesting experience taking the tube with two really heavy suitcases... Anyway we made it there fine and we didnt have any problems with our flight. When we got to JFK the first thing we all did was to head for Wendy's. It was so good!!! Anyway now I am just hanging back in Utah trying to get over the jet lag and procrastinating unpacking. And tomorrow I go back to work and get my wisdom teeth out. Should be great fun!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Big Brother Is Watching!!!!

So any of you have not read 1984 Big Brother will mean nothing to you.... But I swear the Big Brother is here in London, disguised in the from of CCTV. So about an two hours ago Elizabeth Stuart and I went down to try and get tickets for Phantom of the Opera again and while be were waiting for the central line tube at the Queensway station I decided to take a picture in the tube for memory sake, since I am there all of the time. Well I forgot to turn my flash off and well it flashed when I took the photo. Less then two seconds later an announcement comes on... "Your attention please, we would like to remind all London Underground costumers that there is no flash photography in any of the London Underground station, thank you." Can I just say that really freaked me out. I know that there was a video camera in the station but the response time was just scary... Anyway we got on the train and when we got off at the next stop another announcement came on "Your attention please, we are experiencing delays on the central line due to the actions of a customer." It really freaked me out and I was just waiting for people to jump out and grab me and drag me off for accidentally taking a picture with my flash on. Oh well, it makes for a good story and fun memories.

This week has been really fun but also full of stress. My last paper for English was due and I really had a hard time writing it. I just couldn't seem to get the ideas in my head onto paper and it was really stressing me out. Eventually I got a pretty decent paper gave up and just turned it in. We also had finals this week. I thought they were going to be pretty hard based on the study guides and so I study really hard and did all the study guide and held a group study session. The test ended up being really easy and I finished my English one in 30 minutes and I finish my history one in 15 minutes. I was the first one done both times and I honestly think this is the first time that I have ever over prepared for exams. Also I have found that wearing a turban while taking exams really helps you focus... haha.

Tonight I think that we are going to watch movies and play poker all night and just hang out and enjoy the time that we have together.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Death by English Paper

Ok, so I would have posted earlier but we didnt get home from Stratford upon Avon until 1 this morning and then we had class and for history we had to go to the imperial war museum and then culture class stuff and I just dont know where the time went...!

So yesterday we went to Stratford upon Avon and that trip helped to reaffirm my hatred of Shakespeare. We first went to this little farm sort of thing were the home of Shakespeare mother was... and it was interesting. There were a few good things though and one of the them was actually quite amazing. So you remember the killer swan from Scotland??? Well Elizabeth Stuart and I were talking and we saw a goose and we thought well I wonder if geese speak killer swan. So she went over and hissed at it like the swan did and guess what?!?!? It hissed back, hahah!!! Another thing that was kind of fun was that there was a lady there that was a falconer and she was flying an Owl around for a little while. She had an extra glove and a few of us had the chance to hold and feed the owl and I was one of them!!! It was really cool and the owl was so big but didnt weigh a thing and I wanted to hug it but I decided I didnt want my eyes to be gouged out. But other then that we saw lots of gardens and a pig that was peeing and got to try milking a cow...
After that we went over to the place where Shakespeare and his wife lived. It had a Mid summers Night Dream theme to it and well... it was all very odd. But the lady who did our tour was really nice and we had a nice chat with her.
We then headed to "The Birth Place"... everyone acted like we were going to see Jesus and the manger. We visited the home where Shakespeare was born and got to see where his father would have worked. It was interesting but very anticlimactic.

After that we had like 4 hours before the play we were supposed to go to and since there was nothing else to do both Elizabeth's and I went to the local library to do homework... We were there for about an hour and a half and then we went to the park and eat dinner and just talked about everything, funny stories from when we were kids and what not. It was really fun and there was a lot of laughter.

After that we headed up to the play. We went and saw A Winters Tale but the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was a very... well... interesting play. The second half was pretty interesting/ funny and the acting was great but altogether I dont think that I would ever read that play even if someone had a gun to my head!

After that we headed back to the bus and had a 2 hour ride home and got back just before 1am :(
I have spent almost all day in class and we had to go to the Imperial War Museum for History and that was really cool! They had some really cool exhibits about the children in WWII and the Holocaust and it was a wonderful learning experience. But other then that I have pretty much died today because I am trying to write my paper for English and I keep hitting a wall and I just cant seem to get past it! Oh well, I guess I will just go keep trying.