Weekend Wanderings

Due today is our third major project, the digital story. This project is a combination of still photos, music, and narration. I used iMovie again, which I'm getting more and more comfortable with.

In my story, I take Chick on the tube to Harrods. There we explore the food halls and have some lunch.

I took the photos for this project on Saturday. We had the weekend free to catch up on homework and explore on our own.

I set off first to take some pictures of the London landmarks for my tattoo video. I took the tube to London Bridge and walked past pubs and parks to get to the Tower Bridge.

Love this blue sky after a week of London rain!

I skirted the Tower of London and then enjoyed a short portion of the Thames Path. I ended my walk with a jaunt over the Millennium Bridge, featured at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The bridge connects the Tate Modern Museum and the area around St. Paul's Cathedral.

Looking towards the Tate.

Looking back towards St. Paul's.

Next stop: Trafalgar Square. In Portland, Pioneer Courthouse Square is considered "Portland's Living Room"--a site for festivals, music, and just hanging out. Londoners hang out in their public spaces--parks, roundabouts, even the courtyard of the British Museum--all the time, but Trafalgar Square, capped by the steps of the National Gallery, seems to be the living room of London.

On this day, there was a children's movie playing on a huge screen. It was sign language interpreted, which I've seen several times here. There was also a kids' art area right in front of the stage.

I hopped the subway to Harrod's next, to take pictures for my digital story and have some lunch. This was the most expensive meal I've had in London, but since it was school work, it's completely justified, right? Harrod's is really big and I only explored the food halls, which were four large rooms. I know there's more to it, but I'm trying not to do much shopping. One thing that really impressed me was the huge number of staff at the store, all gracious and helpful.

Chick's adventure on Saturday:

Tower Bridge

The London Eye 

Harrod's

Biscuit (cookie) tin: "Did I ever tell you I have two dads?"

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Sunday was pretty quiet. Again I had to make a special excursion as part of an upcoming assignment. Our free time is often spent researching or filming for our multimedia projects. I think this works okay if you do a project on something that you're particularly interested in, like the oral histories at the Foundling Museum. However, it is difficult to just get in and get out. I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum specifically to see and photograph some watercolors painted by Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit. I needed to get back to my flat to work on my video, but the V&A is huge--and incredibly interesting. I did browse the jewelry exhibits, which I had to walk through on my way to the paintings.

I was disappointed that the textiles and costumes have all been removed from display pending architectural renovation of those galleries. Bad news for the fiber artist in me, good news for the harried student.

Keeping up with the projects and the daily assignments, all while spending much of our days on group tours is challenging. All of the other students are writing fascinating blogs and making cool multimedia projects, and I don't have time to check them out! 

Tonight we're headed to the Globe Theatre to see Anne Boleyn (no spoilers, please!) and then practicing some nighttime photography. And I haven't even told you all about St. Paul's Cathedral, the Museum of London, Stonehenge, or Salisbury...

Performance: Street and Stage

There's a lot of talent in this town. Some of it can be found in in the tube stations or on the street. I caught this guy at Oxford Circus on Friday night when I was exploring on my own. I videotaped two minutes of his performance and then tossed 50p into the suitcase near his drum kit. On the way back to my flat several hours later, I saw him leaning against the window engaged in heated conversation with another person, en français.

Then last night, our entire group went to see Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

You can take a virtual tour of the entire theater on the Victoria Palace website. My seat was in the front row of the uppermost balcony

Screenshot from virtual tour video. © Victoria Palace Theatre

I was fortunate enough to see Billy Elliot in Portland a few months ago. I was glad to see that there was very little difference between the two shows. This makes me feel as if the Broadway Across America touring shows we get in Portland at the Keller Auditorium are equal in quality to the shows we'd be seeing if we went to New York or London.

Naturally the best part of the show was the young dancer who played Billy Elliot, as well as the other kids in the musical. What incredible dedication these kids have to do such a demanding, professional job, night after night (even considering there are multiple dancers who play Billy.) And what incredibly supportive parents they must have as well.

Chick liked the show, too, though he was dismayed by all the f-bombs dropped by the child actors. Geez, Chick, don't be such a prude.

Arrival

On the plane...so excited!

London is huge. When you fly over the city, you see just how massive it is. And as you get closer to the runway, the plane flies over all these neighborhoods full of matching houses--but unlike in the States, where the cookie-cutter houses were built with particle board in the last 10 years, these houses in London are really old. Almost beyond understanding for your average American, who thinks 1776 is the start of history.

You can't help but be surrounded by real history here. The building that houses the Florida State University Study Center was built in the 1700s in the heart of a ritzy area now known for publishing houses and education. The British Museum (we'll be there on July 22nd!) is just a block down the street. Many things are within walking distance.

I met my roommates. I unpacked. (And I think I packed well, since I made sure that I could carry everything I brought at once, by myself.) I walked around the neighborhood. I had dinner. It was all fun, and exhausting.

Tomorrow we have a long day of class. I'll be presenting information about Xtranormal, together with two other women. Apparently we're now experts.

Here's Chick, checking out a bigger chicken 

in the Bloomsbury Square playground, close to our flat.

Train-ing Day

Today I caught the train from Vancouver, Washington to Tacoma. This was the first leg of my journey to London. From Tacoma, I took a bus to the Seattle airport, where I am now waiting for Icelandair Flight 680 to Reykjavik, Iceland.

It's been a long time since I took a train anywhere--over eleven years, in fact. Back in 2000, I took my family from Lawrence, Kansas to Victoria, British Columbia for a two-week vacation. Part of that trip was the gorgeous north-bound train ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC.

Americans don't take the train much. Before I spent my senior year of high school in Finland, I don't think I'd been on a train at all, if you don't count the monorail at Disneyland and the railray at the Oregon Zoo. In Finland, riding the train was commonplace, cheap and easy. I rode all over the country--to visit friends, attend music festivals, camp. Since one of Rotary International's many rules for exchange students was "no driving," we all used the public transportation extensively. (The other Rotary rules--termed the Four D's--were no drinking, no dating, no drugs.)

I think the 1980s were sort of the dark ages for trains in the United States. Amtrak now is efficient and clean. There is free wi-fi on the train. I'd much rather take the train than the bus. (Though the bus driver today did chat me up and give me a butterscotch candy.)

The London multimedia students have been requested to bring a personal mascot to star in photos and videos. I don't think Chick is particularly impressed by the train, particularly considering that he probably came to the United States on a container ship from China.