London, England

the last few days have been insanely busy, so i havent had a chance to update the blog until now. anyway, i will update starting from last wedneday. also, i am on an older computer at an internet cafe in england, so i wont be able to upload any pictures.

wednesday morning brought the elections for student officers for our trip, and i was elected as the male social chair, which basically means that i get together with the female social chair and plain social events throughout the semester, such as birthday celebrations, parties, and surprise events. wednesday afternoon we had the punting olympics, and more battling and splashing that the river cam has probably seen in a long time. the olympics started out as a race between two boats, but ended with a splashing war in which several of us, including bo and myself, ended up swimming in the cam. wednesday night we had our first party, a getting to know you party, which was a great success.

thursday we woke up and left cambridge for london. on the way to london we stopped by the stowe landscape garden, which is a perfect example of what happens when rich artisocrats have too much money on their hands. stowe garden is a bunch of land covered with buildings designed in the greek/roman style. we went on a walking tour of the garden, and our group didnt have a faculty member, so we were a little bit out of control. we arrived in london in the late afternoon, had a group dinner at the burger shack, and then a city report on london. after all of our required group activities i went out to explore the area around where we are staying at the london school of economics. i went out with charley, ryan newton, and brandon woods and we walked around the soho district for about an hour or so.

on friday we had two hours of class. after class i went with ryan newton, davis, and bo to buy tickets for a musical called avenue q. on friday afternoon we all visited the british imperial war museum, which had a lot of fascinating artifacts, vehicles, and exhibits on world war I and II. in the main room of the museum there were a large number of full sized replicas of tanks, planes, subs, and other equipment used in the world wars. it was interesting to see a war museum from a british perspective. many parts of both world wars were equally represented and i felt that it was much less patriotic or nationalistic than any museum or memorial in the united states would be. on friday night we went as a group to see a play called emperor jones by eugene o'neill. the play is about an african american man, brutus jones, who kills a man, goes to and escapes from prison, flees to the caribbean and sets himself up as emperor of an island. the play recounts his final hours on island as he tries to escape his former subjects who have turned on him. i enjoyed the play, and luckily it was pretty intense or else i may have fallen asleep during it.

on saturday we had an hour of class, which was kind of lame, but understandable because we are not on a typical schedule. in the afternoon we went to the national gallery. the national gallery was amazing. there are so many increbile works of art housed at the gallery. six people gave artists presentations at the gallery, so that made enjoying the gallery slightly difficult. i dont know if i have explained the artist presentations yet, so i will do that now. last spring we selected or were assigned an artist and over the summer we wrote a short biography on the artist and select a work of theirs to present while in europe. the presentation consists of given a brief biography of the artist and then explaining the painting, its significance, and where it fits in art history and history as a whole. after the presentations were complete i wondered around the gallery alone for 2 hours or so gazing at a large number of masterpieces. the gallery housed some impressive van goghs, and i particularly like the works "sunflowers" and "a wheatfield, with cypresses." there were also some incredible monets and other pieces whose creators names escape me. after spending time in the gallery i wondered home by myself, and walked around a major shopping area, but didnt see anything worthy buying. on saturday night i had indian food for dinner, which was a first. it was pretty good, but not something i would choose. after dinner we went to see avenue q, which was one of the funniest musicals i have ever seen, actually probably the funniest because i havent seen too many musicals in my life. anyway, avenue q is essentailly a version os seaseme street for adults, and with a very raunchy sense of humor. my friends and i all loved it. on saturday night we were supposed to meet up with friends to go dancing, but they never showed, so i ended up eating gummie bears and drinking juice while having a good talk with my friend bo.

today i went to st paul's cathedral. from the outside, st pauls looks more like a state capital building than a cathedral. on the inside, st pauls is gorgeous. the celling is covered in paintings of biblical scenes that are painted with a lot of metallic tones, espeically gold. the paintings are beautiful and were slightly distracting during the service. the service was incredible. i had the privilage of hearing the cathedrals boys and mens choir sing, and they were outstanding. attending service at this cathedral was a religious experience unlike any other i have ever had. additionally, the entire service was conducted by a woman, which i had never had before. it was a good break from every other church service i have ever attended before. after church i had lunch on the steps of the cathedral with some friends and then set out for adventure by myself. i walked to st james park and read and journaled for a couple of hours. from there i walked to the parliament building and big ben, then crossed the thames and walked along the thames to the mellenium bridge, where i crossed back over the thames. the bridge crosses exactly where st pauls cathedral is, so i had another look at the outside of the cathedral and then made my way back to the london school of economics, where we are staying here in london. it was nice to be out by myself all day and not have to worry about being any where or being on anyones time schedule. i had the whole day to relax and think and be alone, which i think is important to do form time to time. i was pretty tired after the long day alone, and will probably call it a night early.

tomorrow i am going back to the national gallery, which is good because i saw a little less than half of it on satuday. anyway, i am doing well. my travels have still been wonderful, but i have been a little more homesick, or just missing katie the past couple of days, especially after the wonderful letter she sent me last week. i am excited to have a whole week left in london and i am planning on seeing some more shows and some more of the sights. keep me and my safety in your prayers, especially because london is a massive city and can be dangerous.
love and blessings,
mikey