Last Full Week: April 3-9, 2011

I know it's like two weeks late, but this week was our last full week in the Centre and it was a BUSY one! STARTING WITH....

Day 89: SUNDAY

April 3rd

"A General Conference Marathon"

Because of the ridiculous time difference (8 hours at this point), there was no way we could watch General Conference on time. So, instead we took all of Sunday to enjoy all EIGHT hours of it. It started at 10 AM with the Saturday Morning session. Then, at 2 PM, we watched Saturday Afternoon.

Now, by this time, I'd had as much as I could handle. BUT, we still had two more sessions to watch!!

We ate dinner and then at 7 we started up Sunday Morning session. At this point, we were almost on the same schedule as Utah. So at 9, IMMEDIATELY following the morning sesh, we were able to stream the Afternoon session LIVE!! Woohoo!!

And that gave us all four sessions!! A real Marathon Event.

Day 90: MONDAY

April 4th

"Bring On The Stress!"

Okay, granted I would have been about 9000 times more stressed had I been back in Provo. However, this week didn't just consist of school work to be done. For example, this day, there was the normal classes for the English students. Meanwhile, I had to run around the city like a mad man and visit THREE different Museums.

First, I went to the Saatchi Gallery - which, by the way, is probably one of my favourite art galleries I visited, even for being Post-Modern art. Then, I went to the National Gallery for 201 and looked at my last installment of paintings. Then, I headed to The Imperial War Museum, which I spent the longest in. They had this really amazing and in-depth Holocaust exhibit that I spent TWO HOURS in! I was blown away. So beautiful. 

Then I came home and ate dinner. This night we were all supposed to go see "The Children's Hour" with Kiera Knightly. (gag me) But as I had a buttload of homework, TWO papers to write, and a final to study for, I basically started to have a huge anxiety attack. Where's Dylan when you need her?? There was NO WAY I could wrap my mind around going to see some stupid play with some famous person that I don't even like! So, I stayed home and got EVERYTHING done! Except for my two papers, that is. I felt good.

Day 91: TUESDAY

April 5th

"Green-Witch? NO! Greenwich!"

Greenwich - pronounced Gren-itch, home to the International Dateline aka the place that everybody sets their clocks to! The Prime Meridian! We took a train for an hour south of London and got to climb up a hill to see.... NOTHING! Apparently Dursteler forgot to let us know that it costs 8,50 pounds to straddle the Dateline. LAAAAME!!! That's the whole point of going. So we just took some pictures by a big clock right outside:

We are sew kewl!

Then we walked back down the mountain to the Maritime Museum for a bathroom!! The museum itself wasn't too exciting but the gift shop was awesome! They such cute stuff! But then it was time to head home for the day.

I also signed up for my fall semester classes this morning!! Can't wait because I'm living with pretty much the coolest people alive!! Dylan Nicole Vance, Aubree Lee Schuenman, and Carley Ostergaard!! Wooo!!

Day 92: WEDNESDAY

April 6th

"Last Classes"

We are definitely winding down here in London. Wednesday was our last Tuesday classes. They were on Wednesday because we went to Greenwich on Tuesday. So we had our last History 201 and History 323 class and it was pretty bittersweet. We left almost immediately after class to go to St. Paul's Cathedral and listen to Evensong, the evening mass. It was a beautiful production but we were all pretty tired so...

Afterwards, a few of us went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant called Jamie's Italian. It took us 45 minutes to find the place because we didn't actually know where it was and then there was an hour and fifteen minute wait on top of that. But we were devoted and waited it out! And it was well worth it. I got a burger that was bigger than my face! Then we all got three desserts to share amongst us. It was basically the perfect evening:)

Day 93: THURSDAY

April 7th

"Let The Torment Begin"

Also known as, the start of finals. This day I got up and did my Fine Arts final which was, needless to say, a piece of cake! We just had a little discussion and then turned in our answers at the end so that we'd all get graded fairly. Simple as pie. Then we went to religion where we had our "final" that wasn't a final at all. He handed us a sheet of paper and told us to write three detailed questions that we thought a religion professor would write about this course that could be answered in 1-2 paragraphs. Then three more questions of the same that could be answered in 1-2 sentences. Then we just had to pick one of the questions and answer it on the back. The catch? The whole thing was open note, open book, and open discussion with neighbours. Once again? EASY. That class was kind of a joke anyways.

After religion, me, Emily, Megan, Brittney, and Jamie went to Leicester Square to attend the premiere of "Red Riding Hood" and hopefully spot some famous people. Unfortunately, we went to the wrong theatre and after being told that there was no premiere at that theatre tonight, we just thought we got the dates mixed up and so we ended up going to see a movie instead; "Unknown" with Liam Neeson. Pretty fun night if you ask me.

Later we discovered that the there WAS the movie premiere that night, just at a different theatre about a block away. We were mad.

After the movie we went out to dinner at Zizzi's right by our house because we had heard that there was a possibility that Lamb Liver was for dinner that night. Plus, I had never been to Zizzi's before.

After dinner, I decided it was high time to finish up my 323 paper that I had been working on little by little the past few nights. It's a good thing too because little did I know....

Day 94: Friday

April 8th

"SURPRISE! (thegoodkind)"

Me and Brittani treated ourselves this morning by finishing off the Beatles tour of England by going to Abbey Road, London. I can't explain what an amazing event this was. However, still wasn't the highlight of my day...

Yes, I was Paul and went barefoot:)

After that we went back to Shepherd's Bush and visited the Largest Indoor Mall in all of Europe - Westfield's Mall. IT'S HUGE. We got pretzels, smoothies, and then did a fair bit of shopping. HOWEVER, I knew I had flowers from my dad waiting at home for me and I didn't want to spend anymore money anyways so I just decided to head home.

I never could have imagined what was really going to be waiting for me once I walked through the door. I walked in and they heard my voice and started yelling my name from the Parlour. I figured it was just because my flowers had arrived. Little did I know..

The man holding the flowers was NOT my professor as I initially thought, but really, my father. With my mum standing right beside him.

If only you could see the look on my face as it took me 3.6 seconds to fully grasp what was going on. And yes, I had NO idea. Unlike everybody else in the whole wide world.

They were starving so I took them to Nando's, my favourite place in the world, and then they headed back to their hotel to nap for 4 hours while I wrote my Hist 201 paper!! I pounded that thing out so fast, I still can't believe it! I just needed to get everything done so I could properly party with the 'rents. Then, since we WERE for sure having Lamb Liver for dinner, I told them we should go out instead. We went to St. Martin's In the Fields Church to see a string quartet times three and then walked to a little kebab place and ate. It was the perfect evening.

Day 95: SATURDAY

April 8th

"Reading Day 2?"

Consisted of almost ZERO reading.. except for my Agatha Christie novel. Instead, I spent the day with my parents!! I first went to the British Museum because I realized I still had one more homework to do. This was probably the one thing I cried at the most. I love that museum and basically know it backwards and forwards. I'll never forget all the wonderful times we shared together and how many times it made me smile. Walking away was like walking away from my child. I still can't believe I won't be going back for a long, long time. It hurts me to think about. But all good things must come to an end, right? And I'm determined that I WILL go back.

From there, I went to my parents' hotel and picked them up so that we could go to Portabello Road!! Another spot that I'll miss greatly. Right by my house, we were able to go there often. It was special for me to be able to take my parents to all these places that I call home. We got lunch first at this little cafe right on Portabello and then just shopped around for a while. We got sweet crepes and I bought some fruit. I showed my mom a Tesco and I also bought a "Notting Hill Gate" street sign. Because, duh, that's my home!

Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral because my dad wanted to climb to the top but it had already closed so we stayed and listened to a little bit of Evensong. Then we went over the Piccadilly Circus and ate at the ORIGINAL Hard Rock Cafe!

wearing my new Hard Rock Cafe jacket:)

Then we settled in for the night. Basically the greatest start to my time with them.

March 27 - April 2: A "Oui" Bit of Fun

Day 82: Sunday

March 27th

"The Long Sunday"

Well, another week, another Sunday, and another day travelling more than I do in the rest of the weekdays combined. And this weekend, Central Line was down on the Tube so we had to take a bus to the Tube then another bus once we got there. It takes me an hour to get to church every week. And an hour back. You better be grateful all you people that live in Utah or Arizona.

Day 83: Monday

March 28th

"If You Want To Dance, Dance!"

OMGosh, Billy Elliott!! What can I even say about it? Basically the cutest show I've ever seen! It was funnier than I expected and just exceeded all my expectations. I guess partly because I didn't know WHAT to expect. But it was adorable. It's such a good story about a boy from a mining family who just wants to dance, however his dad is very against the idea. I loved the cultural look at their family and to see what life is like for them. I also just loved the little boy who played Billy. He was just amazing at everything. He can sing, act, AND dance! But not just like contemporary dance. He can tap (amazingly well) and do ballet (because that's what the story is about). But my favourite aspect was that you could tell that this kid was truly passionate about dancing and acting. I hope he continues on because for his age, he was spectacular! All the supporting roles did a good job as well and held their own against this spotlighted little boy. The only one who wasn't that amazing was the man who played Billy's older brother. The character itself is very course and just always has an angry demeanor but I felt like the actor just took it too far sometimes, shouting and being not angry but just annoying and obnoxious. Like he was trying way too hard. But other than that, it was a perfect night! I loved it so much, I even bought a program at intermission:)

Day 84: Tuesday

March 29th
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLL!!"

Today, I had class all day and then we had tickets to the England-Ghana football (soccer for you Americans) game!! At Wembley Stadium! With 80,102 people in the audience, we dressed up in our red and white and got our game faces on!!

It wasn't the most exciting thing I've ever seen. Not even close. Ghana wasn't that great but neither was England, I felt. The final score was 1-1, which I think accurately portrays the competition between the two teams. What WAS interesting, however, were the wild and crazy fans sitting all around us. At this game, there was no real "Ghana section" however a majority of them were organised in two different sections - neither of which were by us. But there was one lonely Ghana fan sitting 5 seats away from us who was DETERMINED to show her spirit. Wearing (head to toe) Ghana colours, the first time they almost scored, she screamed. Not like "woo! That was so close" scream. But a "OMGOMGOMGOMG I'M GONNA DIE CUZ THEY DIDN'T SCORE!" scream. I'm talking bloody murder scream as though someone was coming after her with a knife. A high pitched, PIERCING scream. Like what the mmm dude?! SHUT.UP. some people... And then, of course, all the hardcore England fans around us were slightly drunk and kept making fun of her and mocking her. I'm sure if she had heard them, she would have turned around and ripped out their throats or something nonsensical like that.. So a pretty interesting night!

Day 85: Wednesday

March 30th
"Do [home]Work, Son!"

Okay, as this program is coming to an end, I've been ditching out on a lot more things because, contrary to what most people believe, we DO have homework over here. So Wednesday, I did my last walk and blogged about it so I was done with one final! Yaaay! Then I was supposed to go visit the Tate Modern for art and do two sketches for our journal.. I got home from the walk and REEEALLY didn't feel like going out again. So I was just gonna BS it but Emily ended up (almost literally) dragging me there anyways. It took us 2 1/2 hours because the Circle line on the Tube is the gayest thing ever and I was very upset about it! Plus, the museum was so weird and I just couldn't enjoy it.

Then the night just kept getting "better". After dinner, we were supposed to have this guy from the House of Commons and talk to us. The reason he's important is because he's the only LDS church member in all of Parliament. So I was actually pretty excited for him to come to our house and talk with us! Buuut.. As soon as I got home from the museum, I checked my email and found that plans had been changed and WE, the 40 students, would have to make the long trek back out to Parliament to hear him speak because one of his votes went too long and he wouldn't be able to make it.. Grr. I definitely was NOT going back out, AGAIN. So, I stayed home!! And it was a great decision! I got most of my homework done and felt good about life :)

Day 86: Thursday

March 31st

"Are We Done Yet??"

Not that I don't love Thursday classes, but.. I don't love Thursday classes. Fine Arts in the morning with Institute in the afternoon? Not my ideal day, that's for sure. But I made it through and it WAS my last class for both - except for finals. So I'm pretty stoked. In religion we had some quest speaker come and talk to us about the Church's publication tactics in England way back when.. cool. whatever.

THEN! A few of us had signed up to go see "Jersey Boys" that night! So at least I had something to look forward to.

Jersey Boys was, to say the least, outstanding. I actually don't know what I loved more, this or Billy Elliot! They were both so unexpectedly fantastic! And in the SAME WEEK! I was very very happy :)

Jersey Boys, in case you don't know, is a biographical play/musical/concert all about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons whose most famous hits include: 

"Sherry",

"Walk Like A Man",

and my personal favourite, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"

There were so many points about this performance that I LOVED!

1. The actors were amazing - they each held their own equally and hid their European accents well, covering with a fake New Jersey/Italian/American accent. Bravo.

2. They could sing like nobody's business - the guy who played Frankie was PERFECT. He had a range like no one I'd ever heard before besides the REAL Frankie Valli.

3. The set and costume design was brilliant - all the colour schemes and quick changes right before your eyes never ceases to amaze me.

4. It was probably the smartest production I've ever seen - It starts out with some weird French rap group rapping "Oh What A Night" and it just confuses the HECK out of you, but it was basically the best attention-getter ever. ALSO, the way they narrate the story, with one of the four members of the group narrating one of the "four seasons" of the year - GET IT?? - and having their own take on how things went down; Well done!

and 5. I just love crap like this - getting to know the back story behind the band and their songs and their lives and how they all interplay with each other. Sometimes, I think THAT story is more interesting than the songs they write. Getting to know the band dynamic and how they fell apart and all the sketchy stuff that happens behind scenes. I guess I just love to see the real tragedy when all everyone else sees is the Hollywood glamour.

So, there you go! I guess I can't really recommend it because there is quite a bit of language, but if that doesn't bother you much (don't say I didn't warn you), and you like their music then I say see it!! It was such a fun night:)

Day 87: FRIDAY

April 1st

"Poisson d'Avril"

Although I didn't celebrate the traditional Poisson d'Avril (explanation and ways to celebrate here), I DID spend the holiday IN Paris!! WHAT?! Yeah, that's right. Friday morning, I woke up and thought, "huh, I hear Paris is wonderful this time of year, LET'S GO!"

Well, it didn't quite happen like that,but pretty much :) We took the Chunnel to Paris and got there at like 10:45. Ample time to scour the city! We got our Metro Passes, checked into our hotel right next to the Eiffel Tower (called the Ibis Hotel Tour Eiffel, if you were wondering, then made our way back to Notre Dame!

We took pictures outside and then got to walk around inside! While we were there, a mass was just starting so they made us move off to the side at one point so that the minister and the choir and rest of the procession could make their way to the pulpit (?). It was actually really neat, I just wish I knew more about the religion and mass practices.. Then we waited in line for like an hour to go to the TOP of the towers of Notre Dame. We climbed those 500 stairs like pros (thank you, Italy) and got to see the BELL! The ever famous "Quasimodo" bell! It went off like right when we got up there and was SO LOUD! BUT SO COOL!! Then we just walked around the perimeter and took it all in; the Seine, the city, and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. So idyllic.

Then we went souvenir shopping!! Always a must. And then met up at the Champs Elysses for dinner  how romantic! We ate at some ridiculously overpriced restaurant and then climbed to the top of the Arc de Triumph to watch the sun go down. At this point the Eiffel Tower was already lit and we just had to wait 10 minutes for the hourly light show. And, oh man, when that tower began to sparkle, everything else disappeared.  I literally couldn't tell you what was on my mind at that time because, for the first time in months, my mind was blank. Astonished and just trying to take the best mental picture I could. All the problems of the world literally melted away. To me, nothing was more beautiful than that moment.

We then walked over to the Eiffel Tower to see it in all it's ginormity and see it sparkle one last time before turning in for the night. The next day, we went to the Louvre and got in for free because we're students! (My student ID card has saved me MONDO bucks over here!) We saw the Mona Lisa, the Venus di Milo, and Michelangelo's "The Dying Slave" just to name a few. It was an awesome experience but I see why you would NEVER be able to do it all in one day. I was exhausted after one hour. So we got lunch in the cafe and then headed up to the Paris Opera House de Garnier. Probably my second favourite after Arc/Eiffel. It was so beautiful and JUST like in Phantom! All the statues on the building corners and the grand staircase with the famous multicoloured marble! Everything was so perfect and just as you'd imagine walking around the Phantom of the Opera set to be. We also got to go inside the seating area and see the people working on the sets for the next opera! There was a man tuning and practicing the piano and the light director making changes! It was the coolest thing ever! And the chandelier! SO AMAZING!! I was definitely high on life at this point.

Next came the Rue de Paix.. sorta by accident, actually. But it made Emily so so happy! Then we got jam crepes and headed over to the Eiffel tower. On the way, we stopped in a little bookstore and I bought "The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook"!! I swear it's like the best thing in the world! It goes through the Harry Potter books (yes, all 7) and anytime they mention eating or drinking something or any type of food product, this woman found the recipes and put them in this book! They're amazing!! If you ask nicely, I'll let you borrow them sometime:)

Finally we made it to the Eiffel but, because it was a Saturday and a GORGEOUS day, the lines to go up the Eiffel were horrific!! So, instead we got ice-cream and just sat underneath it and wrote postcards!! un après-midi parfait:)

After hanging there for a few hours, we made our way to the train station and home again. However, I rode home on the train all by myself because there was a situation with ticket cost.. Whatever. So my train left an hour later at 9:15. Which, let's be real, I was fine being by myself, but after arriving at St. Pancras Station in London and getting on the Central line to go home and having it terminate at Marble Arch (3 stops away from mine), I was a little mad I was all alone. Fortunately I knew there was a bus that stopped right in front of my street. But, it being a Saturday night and everyone partying, there were a ton of people awaiting the SAME bus. And on top of that, the bus never arrived.

So instead of waiting around with all my sketchy peeps, I told them "Peace out, I'm walkin!" And that's just what I did. I walked the almost two miles home in the freezing cold with my luggage in tow. I looked like a homeless person because I was wearing like 5 sweatshirts and carrying a purse, a backpack, and a grocery bag filled with random crap. Worst.Night.Ever. When arriving upon Palace Court, I immediately started running to number 27. Running with all my heart. I ran in the door, up the stairs, and into my room where my other roommates greeted me happily! Then I stripped off my dirty clothes, showered as fast as I could, then started my laundry. Then I called me mum :) Perfect ending to the Parisian weekend.