A Creative Mind Abroad

I’m sick. When I say I’m sick, I mean I’m very sick. Like, needing some serious cold medicine sick. I mentioned in my last blog entry how Henry V was wet, cold, and ran until late. Well, that came back to bite me in the morning when I woke up feeling like my head was about to pop into little mucus-y pieces. Lovely, I know. I actually had to miss class this morning, effectually turning in my first paper in a couple hours late, and only after some serious catnapping was I able to get the energy to go on the Dickens Walk through Central London. I was pretty miserable for that, too, and I’m sure my writing is suffering as much as my head right about now, so I’ll sum up the walk briefly.

Basically, we followed a map in a book about historical walks through London, and this particular walk followed a lot of the sites found in Oliver Twist. We visited the area where Oliver gets accused of stealing a man’s handkerchief, then followed the general path of the ruthless crowd as they tried to catch him. I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could’ve focused on what Nick was saying, but even so, we saw some pretty things. I’d say the best was the last stop, which was a large, red brick building with architectural elements you don’t normally see in red brick, namely arches and detailed flourishes.

Obviously, I’m out of it, and though the medicine I bought at Boots is helping, it certainly isn’t enough to keep my mind on this entry, so I’m going to go be a blob in bed. Ta-ta for now, and wish me luck at feeling better! (Though, I’m just saying, it’s Friday the 13th, so luck might not be on my side tonight…)

I won’t write too lengthy a blog entry for this, seeing as though it’s really late and I’m still damp and cold from the performance, but here goes:

In the mid-morning/afternoon, we got the opportunity to see the Globe exhibit, which is a really cool museum describing life around the Globe in Shakespeare’s times, various crafts of the stage, and other pertinent things. There were Jacobean style costumes in a recreated period costume shop, props from past productions at the Globe, and a large amount of history about the new Globe (which had its first performance in my birth year)! I enjoyed seeing everything, but I’d have to say my favorite part was reading lines from Romeo and Juliet with a pre-recorded actor’s voice and having a program play it back for me. That was fun! Since we had a couple hours to kill, my friend and I went to the Clink Museum, which is located on the site of the original “Clink” prison, supposedly named so because of the clinking sounds of the prisoners’ chains. It was really interesting to see the torture devices, read the stories about past imprisonments, etc, etc. Again, I won’t go too in depth since it’s way too late for that.

Even starting at 7:30 and running until late, Henry V was brilliant… You know, except for the rain which poured down on us all four hours that we were there. You aren’t allowed to open umbrellas inside the theatre, and I wasn’t wearing appropriate rain gear, so I got really wet. Still, I was barely paying attention to that when the actors were onstage, particularly Henry; he had an amazing stage presence, and all of his rallying speeches were invigorating! We became the foot soldiers of the war which figures in the “national myth of England”; basically, the story behind Henry V explains the legitimacy of the ruling family of England, though they ended up getting killed off pretty soon after and had to be replaced by Scots from there on out… Probably why England doesn’t want to give Scotland its independence!

I’d have to say my favorite scene was at the very end of the play, when Henry sets about wooing his French cousin in a very awkward and adorably clueless way. Hey, don’t blame me for liking the scene with moderate incest; it’s really funny! It’s also very different from the rest of the play, because up until that point, cultured women and men had never actually interacted. It’s really a male-dominated show, particularly because the majority of it deals with war. I really did enjoy it overall, and I would be more than happy to see it again… Providing I don’t wear capris and flats…

Anyways, I’m not feeling so great after the four hours in the rain and the lateness of the hour, so I’m going to hit the hay. Good night, everyone!

I didn’t get the chance to write up about yesterday… Well, yesterday, so I’m including that fairly uneventful day with this one for the sake of convenience for everyone!

So, yesterday morning we talked about the Taming of the Shrew, going over what we thought of the performance and how they had interpreted the text. If I enjoyed this play before, I probably enjoyed it just a little bit more with the additional discussion after the fact! It’s really interesting to see how differently some people perceived the performance, despite how clearly they portrayed their take on the text. It’s all one, though, because I personally enjoyed it despite my previous hatred of all things Taming of the Shrew. In the afternoon portion of the class, we started our discussion of Henry V, which should prove to be a very interesting and engaging performance! It’s one of the histories, and though the histories have never been my be-all end-all favorites, I really enjoyed this one. It was really nice to continue my knowledge of the Henriad from high school into a college atmosphere, and I think tomorrow’s performance will be very engaging (though male dominated because of the text and nature of the action).

There was also a barbecue with some of the Kingston students after that, and I had a lot of fun playing football (or soccer) and other sports with the British natives… Might have gotten my pants completely covered in mud, and my legs a bit bruised, but I had a lot of fun doing so. We actually played a game I haven’t played since middle school, namely where one person throws a ball into the air and assigns a point value to it, with whoever catching it receiving the points. It’s really simple but really fun, and I was actually really good at it! I might have accidentally slammed into a couple people, but I got hit more than enough times to make up for that! I went to bed bruised and a little residually dirty, but happy.

In London and Its Literature this morning, we discussed a lot of poetry about London, obviously! I was familiar with a couple of them, particularly “London” by Blake, but I was happy to be exposed to all of them. I don’t read a lot of poetry, but what I do is mostly traditional stuff, like what we covered in class. In the afternoon, we visited Samuel Johnson’s house, which was really fun and a little bit funny. Samuel Johnson wrote a monumentally important dictionary, which was regarded as the standard for nearly 200 years, and his house is a reflection of the mid-1700’s. There were some really beautiful pieces of furniture, and I particularly loved Johnson’s sense of humor in some of his dictionary entries. For instance, the definition for “oats” is: a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people. He has several others which are equally witty, but I’ll let you look on the internet at the other entries. As a theatre geek, probably the most fun part was trying on period clothing and laughing at the cumbersome undergarments. The dress I tried on had what I called “saddle bags”; two structured lobes were attached by a belt around my waist in order to make my hips and legs look wider. It seems really impractical considering how minimalist undergarments and clothing is nowadays, but it was the norm for the period and, therefore, was nice to experience.

The past two days have been really nice, and fairly low-key. I hope to change that with Henry V tomorrow, but we’ll see about that. For now, good night, world at large!

Where do I even begin? I have had four of the most amazing days of my life, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to relate them to you in the full detail required… It was just too wonderful!

To begin with, it was raining/sprinkling/overcast… For all four days. I know, you would think being cold and wet would effectively dampen my spirits (ha, ha). It didn’t! We left in the early hours of the morning from an overcast London, taking a four-hour long train ride out of King’s Cross directly to Edinburgh. Yes, I took the touristy Platform 9 3/4 photo, but I was a lot more excited by the scenery on the way there. We passed through some beautiful areas of both England and Scotland, and occasionally were able to see the sea and the shoreline! The only thing about that journey which was a little odd was a stag party at the back of our train car. One of them, presumably the stag, passed through the car asking people to sign his (plastic!) penis. We all got a kick out of that, and eventually, we made it to Edinburgh.

Our tour guide (aka “our fearless leader”) Mike met us outside the train station and took us to the hostel to drop off our stuff. After that, he led us on a brief tour of the area, particularly what is known as the “Old City.” If it gives you any hints about how beautiful it is, the “New City” was built in the 1700’s. Yeah, it’s an old city, and that’s why it absolutely captured my heart! Like, I’m seriously, seriously considering moving to Scotland based off this trip. I’ll talk more about that later though. After our little tour of the “Old City”, a few of us went off to do what any good tourist would do: buy souvenirs and eat some haggis. After doing those necessary things, we visited Greyfriar’s Cemetery where we spent a good couple hours wandering through the gravestones. That site is actually where J.K. Rowling got a lot of the names for her characters in Harry Potter, so it was cool, as a writer, to see that physical influence on a story. After taking way too many photos, we wandered up to a hill with an incomplete replica of the Parthenon. It turns out they had run out of money in the middle of the project, so they stopped midway, and it’s been like that ever since. By the time we left, the beautiful panoramic view of the city was going dark (i.e. it was around 10 PM or so), so we headed back to the hostel and pretty much went to bed immediately after.

The next day, which was a very early and rainy day, we made our way to the Highlands! We passed a lot of pretty, pretty things along the way, and the stops along the way were really cool! Our first stop was at the Pass of Killiecrankie, where a great battle took place. Soldier’s Leap is the most notable part of the area, where a fleeing man jumped successfully from one cliff-face at the side of the river to the other over. Today, thrill seekers jump off of it and into the water, and tourists like us watch! The second stop was St. Andrews, which, if you know Chariot’s of Fire, was where the classic running on the beach in slow mo to music scene was filmed. Google “Chariot’s of Fire song” and you should come up with it. While there we visited the ruins of a fort, a cathedral, a graveyard, and a couple little shops for souvenirs and food. After that, we stopped by a little building in the middle of the woods where several Scottish writers came to think and write. It was an absolutely beautiful area, and it was really amazing because there was a secret door which lead to a room with the most gorgeous view of a waterfall. If I could live there, I absolutely would! We all made it back to the bus and finally got to Inverness, which is right at the bottom edge of Loch Ness. A couple friends and I went out for some food, stopping to call for Nessie and pick up souvenirs on the way. After that, we hung out in the bar for most of the night, my friends trying whisky while I drank water awkwardly. We had a really cool encounter with the bar tender and a couple of his friends after they closed the bar. They taught us a couple Scottish songs, which we sang along with loudly until 3 in the morning, when we finally had to turn in.

About four hours later, the next day began, and it began with a very interesting look into the Highland traditions, i.e. traditional kilts, weapons, etc. That included watching someone strip to his skivvies to put on a kilt, which I was kind enough not to take pictures of. It was really fascinating to get that glimpse into the Highland culture, and I have to say, some of those weapons were impressive. My friend got “killed” by a hooked and bladed weapon in a gruesome way that really does not need repeating! After that, we did a lot of driving, stopping a couple times along the way. The first stop was a little port town with the ruins of an old fort and a very cool sea-glass beach. I was brave enough to venture onto a small island where several birds were eating before having to get back on the bus. After that, we made our way to a national park, where we stopped at a mountain range called the Three Sisters. They were absolute beauties, and I felt really small next to them; sure, I’ve passed through the Rockies before, but the parts I pass through did not make me feel nearly so dwarfed! We drove through the national park, where we experienced the only patch of blue sky from the whole four days. It was perfectly timed, and the view was gorgeous. We made a quick stop just outside of the national park to see hairy coos, which are long-haired cows with large horns. After, we passed the castle they used to film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which I got two very blurry pictures of by luck! We stopped by the William Wallace Monument, which was on a very steep hill made slick with mud by the rain. It took us a little bit longer after that to return to Edinburgh where a few of us got food at an American diner for laughs. Finally, after spending a little bit hanging out in the bar, it was time for bed.

Today was our last day in Scotland, and it started with a visit to Edinburgh Castle, where we saw the Scottish Crown Jewels (obviously out of use now), war memorials, information about soliders, and other very interesting historical things. As is appropriate in Great Britain, my friend and I had tea at the castle before heading off for a couple more souvenir stops. By the time we finished, it was time to head onto the train and back to London, where it was, surprise, not raining!

Overall, I had an amazing, life-changing journey in Scotland, and I’ll be all too happy to repeat it! I have a week and a half extra time after the program is over to play around Europe, and I think I’ll cut my time short in Ireland and go back to Edinburgh… Luckily, I haven’t planned anything yet, so I’m still free! I think I’ll look into moving to Scotland once I’m back in the states, but it’ll still be two years until I’d make that particular move. I’m really beat, and after a very, very lengthy blog entry about it, I have to say good night and good bye to the lovely Scotland. So, good night!

I mentioned yesterday that I pretty much loathe the Taming of the Shrew with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns. Well, today the fires have been quenched, and I actually found it extremely entertaining. Here’s why:

It started with our discussion of the play this morning. A lot of people don’t believe that there is an inherent misogyny in the piece that isn’t light-hearted, comedic, or sarcastic. I used to be one of those people, but the Taming of the Shrew really isn’t that misogynistic, particularly when it’s compared to the contemporary literature of the time. For instance, there’s a particular ballad about a shrewish wife, like Katherina, who is disciplined in… How can I put this gently… In one of the most sadistic ways I’ve read in literature. Just for being stubborn, the wife is flogged bloody and wrapped in the salted skin of a recently deceased plow-horse named Morel. Yeah, compare that to what Petruchio does and see if it’s really that bad. For those of you who don’t know the play, Petruchio withholds food and sleep from Katherina, taming her in the same way a hawker tames his hawk. (As a quick interjection, “Kate” actually bears similarities to the word “kite,” which is a term for a hawk.) What most people don’t realize is that Petruchio is also undergoing the same treatment of no food or sleep in ensuring Katherina receives none, making it really a battle of wits and wills. This is really only as true as the interpretation of the performers and the readers of the text, but close examination reveals a much milder prejudice than people, like me, think.

The performance we saw was superb. Our thirteen-person class got to the Globe early enough to lean against the stage, so I didn’t even notice we were standing for three hours! The actors were superb, and maybe I’m biased because of how monumental the experience of seeing a play at the Globe was to me, but I thought it was the best production of the play I’ve seen or heard about. They use traditional costumes, though they actually had people half in modern clothes in the frame part of the story. (The Taming of the Shrew is framed by a trick played on a drunkard named Sly, and the present action of the story is actually a play within the play, making it even less misogynistic than many think.) Overall, this afternoon was great, and I’m so excited to see two more plays at the Globe! I do have to get some sleep though, if I even can get to sleep; I’m leaving for Scotland in the morning and might be too excited to sleep! I will make a concerted effort, so for now, good night!

Today, after discussing the Beggar’s Opera in the morning, our class went to the Sir John Soane’s Museum. Aside from getting a wee bit of heat stroke from waiting in line outside of the very small museum, I really enjoyed it. It’s a really charming building that used to be a mansion, and the man who lived in and owned it, whose name I’m sure you can guess, started a very eclectic collection of art. The pieces range from anywhere from frescoes to Roman sculptures, and even to an Egyptian sarcophagus on the lowest level. The particular reason we went to it for our class is because of the Picture Room, which is exceedingly unique. It is a very small room, no more than 20 feet across either way, completely filled to the brim with paintings, some by Sir John Soane himself. What makes it so unique are its walls, which can unfold to reveal more paintings several times over. Inside the room are many paintings by Hogarth, a propagandist painter who utilized corruption as the subject of his works, hence the museum’s connection to the Beggar’s Opera.

The rooms of the building itself are very charming, and the library in particular was exciting for an old-book lover like myself to encounter; two walls were literally blanketed in books behind glass cases, with most of the books older than the early 1800’s. You obviously aren’t allowed to touch them, but I would be too afraid of damaging them to do it even if I was. There were also several pieces of art incorporated directly onto the surfaces of the building itself. In the selfsame library, the ceiling is partially covered with a depiction of the Greek pantheon of deities. Unfortunately, guests aren’t allowed to take photographs, but I might be able to scan in the postcards I bought when I get back in the states!

For now, I’m tired and interested to see what my Shakespeare class has in store for me tomorrow; out of all the Shakespeare I have read, Taming of the Shrew is my least favorite. It actually borders on hate what I feel for it, which is pretty much the opposite of what I feel for every other of his works! I do have to turn in now, or I’ll be absolutely incoherent for our discussion of Taming of the Shrew, which I want to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe studying it will help me get past all the misogyny, but it might very well be my least favorite of the plays we see and study. Until tomorrow, good night and happy Fourth!

I think it’s no secret that I’m an ENORMOUS Shakespeare fan. I mean, not only do I have two books of his collected works and individual books for over half of his plays, but I also have Shakespearean Insult Gum, post-it notes, and a book called Filthy Shakespeare, which outlines all the naughty things hidden in Shakespeare’s texts. Needless to say, I like Shakespeare, so today was more than a little bit monumental for me!

This morning we had a general introduction to Shakespeare’s life, London at the time, etc, but this afternoon was our bank-side along the Thames! Guess what I got to see? (And if you’ve read the London and Its Literature first post, don’t give away the answer!) I got to see the Globe!!! YAY!!! Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system, the bank-side walk was very enlightening. We stopped by London Bridge, which was the only bridge across the Thames at the time, the Globe, which is not a giant ball near the river, and the Golden Hind, which is a replica of a trade ship from the late 1500’s. It was really cool to visit, but a lot of people bumped their heads because of how low the ceilings were. We did, however, finally get a small taste of true London weather, so I might have jinxed it in my last post… Regardless, I got a very good insight into London at the time of Shakespeare’s career from my knowledgeable and awesome professor, Dr. Foxton. I think the most interesting thing I learned from him was that the land below the Thames was not a part of London at the time. The reason the Globe is built on the lower bank is specifically because theatres were outlawed in London proper, but the proximity to London Bridge made it easy for people to cross and go to a show.

I had a very nice day out by the river, and though it was rainy and muggy, seeing the Globe more than made up for it. Tomorrow is back to London and Its Literature with a visit to the Sir John Soane’s Museum, but until then, “a thousand times good night!”

Photos:
(Same drill as the last set of pictures, folks: follow the link down the rabbit hole…)

Today was a pretty relaxed day, especially because it’s one of the few class days we have without a field trip into London during the afternoon. In the morning, we just had a general overview of what we’ll be doing in the class, which can pretty much be summed up by its name. During the afternoon, we watched a video rendition of The Beggar’s Opera, which is the first text we’re studying in the class. It was a very interesting movie, but then again, the text was a very interesting representation of London’s lower classes in the later 1700’s. Calling it satirical doesn’t even begin to touch on how over the top and amoral it is; throughout the text, promiscuity is hailed over marriage, unless the wife intends to murder the husband, and gold is the driving force behind almost every character’s actions. It’s a very unique text, and our discussion of it on Wednesday should be very… Well, interesting!

Kingston is a really lovely town, and its proximity to the Thames, illustrated in its full name “Kingston-Upon-Thames,” makes it a very nice place to spend time outside in. We haven’t really gotten all that much rain yet, so I’m starting to wonder when the London weather is going to kick in. I’ve been carrying an umbrella around for basically nothing, but I really shouldn’t complain that I’ve stayed dry over the past few days. Tomorrow is my first day of Shakespeare: Reading and Performance, and I am absolutely ecstatic about the walk we’ll be taking in the afternoon; our first visit to the Globe will come during it! Anyway, it’s time for little college students to go to bed, so until tomorrow night, ta-ta!

So, I’ve experienced a lot of things in my life, but the nine-hour adventure I had yesterday is definitely going up in my books as one of the greatest days of my life. Basically, here’s how it happened:

I woke up at a reasonable hour, something like nine ‘o’ clock in the morning, had breakfast, and tried to figure out what I wanted to do that day. Well, it turns out that the cleaners were about to come in and do turn-down service, so I quickly through my stuff together and left without a definite plan. That could have ended badly, if I hadn’t picked up a tourist book in Waterloo Station. So, I sat down in front of the London Eye, seeing as though I couldn’t think of a better place to plan what I wanted to see, and I started going through the entire Central London map. I picked out literally every attraction I wanted to see, and I got started on my day.

My nine-hour adventure started, obviously, at the London Eye, which I had already seen during the Photo Frenzy. After that, I crossed Westminster Bridge, got more than enough pictures of the Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben), and then looked at Westminster Abbey and Cathedral from the outside. I didn’t feel like being cattle-herded inside either of them, so instead, I made my way for the Tube and headed towards St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Once I arrived at Blackfriar’s Station, from where I immediately got lost, I stumbled across a church hidden away behind several taller buildings in close proximity. I can’t for the life of me remember it’s name, but after all the things I saw, I’m not surprised! After I did that, I continued to be lost until St. Paul’s basically appeared to me. Seriously, I just turned a corner, hoping I was going the right direction while burying my face in my map, and there it was. It’s really quite an impressive building, and it takes a lot to make someone as well-traveled as me say that. They were having an ordination of deacons at the time, so I didn’t get the chance to peek in, but I did get to hear them ringing the bells, which was pretty sweet. Discovering I was hungry, I went into a restaurant called Yo! Sushi, which was very different from the other sushi places I’ve been to before. It had a conveyor belt at this large, rectangular bar, and little color-coded containers of sushi (say that five times fast) passed around on it. You snag whatever looks good, and depending on what color it is, you pay a certain amount for it. They also had individual faucets so you can serve yourself both flat and bubbly water, containers of soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger built into the bar’s surface, and a button that let’s you call the server if you need help. I walked out of that restaurant full of sushi, eating green tea ice cream from a little plastic container.

Hopping on the Tube again, I made my way towards the Tower of London. Coming out of the station, I came across a beautiful World War I and II memorial with a lot of stone work and a very solemn pillared building at the edge. I paid my respects and moved on towards the Tower of London, which isn’t just a really big tower near the Thames. It’s a complex of castles and structures that have been completed over the past 1000 years, and though I wanted to go inside, it was, again, too crowded for my tastes. Instead, I passed by it and walked to Tower Bridge, which is not the same thing as London Bridge. This is a common misconception, but London Bridge is a much less ostentatious bridge now in the Western United States; they have since replaced it, but a businessman in (I believe) Arizona bought it thinking it was Tower Bridge. It’s funny the things you learn from stones in the ground. Anyway, instead of crossing Tower Bridge, I actually discovered that there’s an exhibit in its upper walkways, so I went in there and got some amazing views of the Thames. They also had panels of the past Olympics games in addition to magnificent bridges from around the world, but I was much more excited about seeing the steam engines in the underground section of the exhibit.

Upon leaving Tower Bridge from the opposite side, I passed by a shopping center along the river, as well as what is colloquially known as the “Armadillo.” I also passed the Shard, which is the tallest building in both the United Kingdom and Europe. Being the jaded New Yorker that I am, I’ve seen better skyscrapers, but it’s still a very interesting building, particularly for it’s slanted edges. Walking near the Thames back towards the center of Central London and looking for London Bridge Station unsuccessfully, I passed another church that I can’t name and then crossed London Bridge itself. I walked a little farther and came across the Monument, which is the tallest, isolated, free-standing column in the world. In short, it’s a really tall pillar, but next to it were a couple inebriated people around a very random piano. So, I sat and listened to the man at the piano play, which was surprisingly well considering the amount of alcohol they had with them.

Finally, after another short Tube ride, I went to Baker Street in the attempt of finding the closest point to 221B, which I eventually did. Before stumbling across a statue of the pointy-nosed detective himself, I stopped by a couple souvenir shops for random gifts, and very nearly bought a deer-stalker (the hat which is infamously associated with Holmes). When I did finally stumble across the statue, I realized that traveling alone through London makes it very difficult to get pictures of yourself, so I did the Facebook-esque self picture with him and headed back to Surbiton.

As you can see by the novel I wrote, yesterday was a very long, interesting day full of little discoveries and really sore feet! In the course of nine hours, I saw about half of the things I still needed to see in London, though not necessarily as thoroughly as I might have liked. I do still have some time to explore London more, though I spent today lazing about my dorm and getting caught up on my class reading. Then again, I really only have one weekend to do things, seeing as though my two four-day weekends are filled with trips to Scotland and Paris. I’m hoping to go to Stonehenge during that open weekend, but we’ll really have to see. For now, I have to go to sleep and wait with bated breath to see what my classes are like on a normal basis. Good night, all!

Photos:
(Since there’s SOOO many pictures from Saturday, I’m just going to give you the link to my Dropbox folder with them in it. Enjoy by clicking here and following the link inside it!)