that's what i'll do

i don't think i ever wrote an entry about my living arrangements!
according to Wikipedia, the dorm i live in--Ramsay Hall--is where Coldplay got started. the band lived in this dorm while attending UCL, and they've been making mellow music ever since. i've been listening to a lot of Coldplay lately. i'm particularly obsessed with this achingly beautiful song.

and here's a view outside my window. it's the British Telecom Tower. according to my London guidebook, it was "built for the Post Office in 1961-5." Now, it's a "television, radio, and telecommunications tower. At the height of terrorist activity in the 1970s, the revolving restaurant at the top was closed and has never re-opened." when i first arrived, i didn't realize what it was. i was flipping through my guidebook, saw a picture of it, and thought "hmm...that looks awfully familiar..." it took me a while to finally recognize it. a few weeks ago, the tower was being flashy and colorful, to mark the 500th day till the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

 

this is what the BTT normally

looks like at night

this is what the BTT normally

looks like at dusk 

and this is what the BTT looks like

when it is celebrating the 500th day

till the summer Olympics

i've developed a new habit of living, which is to sleep early (12am), get up early (8am), have breakfast and read/study/browse blogs/write/pray. make lunch. then do whatever my heart is set on doing for the rest of the afternoon before working on final papers in the evening.

today that goal was to finalize my backpacking trip to Austria and Switzerland. i booked a plane ticket to Salzburg, a train ticket to Vienna, and an overnight train ticket to Lucerne. i'm so excited for the overnight train--i reserved the highest bunk in a train cabin with three levels of bunks. it's going to be an adventure! i'll be in Salzburg the first two days (pretending i'm one of the Vonn Trapp kids), then i'm spending one day in Vienna (paying homage to all the gods of classical music) before i get on the overnight train to Lucerne, where i will be hiking/mountain viewing/riding ski lifts during the last two days of my trip.

i am going alone. i am very nervous. but SO EXCITED!!

disappointment finds a treasure

now that classes are over, i have much more time to explore London and have some alone time. i'm dedicating this entire week to site seeing various spots that i have yet to take a closer look at. and because i'm going to be away next week for 10 days (i'll be in italy! and i've decided it's going to be a 'no internet' policy during my trip) i'm going to try to post a mini entry every day this week! key word: try.

it was again a sunny day here in London. i woke up, did a little reading, had some brunch, and read some other blog posts (i'm addicted to google reader now). then i set out to see St. Paul's Cathedral--the most beautiful cathedral in London. but on the bus ride there, i realized that i forgot to take my camera. and when i finally got there, i found out that it costs 14.50 to go in! agh! because of these two disappointing moments, i sat on a bench, sulked a little, and just gazed at the beautiful, colossal cathedral from the outside for about 10 minutes. it was still worthwhile seeing it up close! i always saw it from afar on a bus ride, or from a bridge on the other side of the Thames. anyway, after admiring the cathedral's beautiful architecture, i took a stroll around the area to enjoy the weather and to cheer myself up. that's when i came across the Museum of London--a museum featuring the "entire" history of London, starting from prehistoric times, straight through the Roman Empire, all the way to modern day London. i had so much fun!! i played with all the interactive toys/games that were for the kids. it was actually the perfect way to introduce myself to the city. there were tons of archaeological treasures on display. and lots of paintings/maps of London. it's always fun looking at maps of the city from hundreds of years ago, to see what part of the city still remains today. my absolute favorite part of the museum was the temporary exhibit on London Street Photography. it was amazing! i was blown away by the amount of history behind each photograph. and it was really weird seeing pictures from 200 years ago of places that i always walk by (i.e. Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Holborn Road). what was even more exciting was seeing a few of John Thomas'--one of the founding fathers of photojournalism--work on display. i wrote an awesome paper about him last year at Haverford. it was about his anthropological photography in China during the 19th and 20th century. it was nice "running into him" in London.

because i forgot to take my camera, i can't show you photos of my day...

but i will leave you with a little story called "Crooked streets, crooked corners, crooked alleys, crooked houses, and crooked old people."

In the town of Windsor, 

are crooked streets,

and each street

has a crooked corner.

From the corner, turn right

and find crooked alleys 

with shops and homes

packed snug and tight

In one of those alleys

is a crooked house

of white and green

owned by a lady named Sally

(not really. i had to make that up in order to make this story somewhat follow a rhyming scheme)

Upon seeing this treasure

I looked around

asked a crooked old man

to take my picture 

The end.

best vs. perfect

i know i said i would share some thoughts on modern art, but first, i want to show off about how wonderful this week was. it is most urgent.

i thought about entitling this entry 'the best week ever in London.' but after thinking some more for a good five minutes, i found 'perfect' to be a more suitable word. everything about this week was perfect--not because it was full of spontaneous, exciting adventures, but because everyday was so low key, relaxing, and effortless. i think i'll save 'best' for the experiences that are still to come. maybe i'm being ridiculous, but while typing this very moment, i'm fascinated by the contrast of the meanings between 'the best week in London,' compared to 'a perfect week in London.' there's such a difference...

so you might be curious as to what exactly a perfect week in London entails.

a perfect week in London requires every day of the week to be bright and sunny. which...it was :)

(and it will probably never be again...)

the week must also specifically be the last week of classes in the semester. which...IT WAS!

an afternoon must be spent having afternoon tea with a good friend. while sipping tea and munching on amazing deserts (the mango coconut marshmallow below was...interesting/weird), you and your friend should talk about weddings, describe your dream guy, and giggle over other girly things.  

 cupcakes, mango coconut marshmallows, scones,

fudge, meringues clotted cream, raspberry jam,

vanilla black tea

 at Bea's Bloomsbury Tea

the week can reach closer to perfection if you spend a good hour writing postcards and actually sending them! (i finally sent my postcards this week. some of you might receive postcards that are dated since january...yeah. i suck at this. but my excuse is that for a good time, i kept forgetting to buy stamps, and then i couldn't find postboxes...even though they're everywhere, i've discovered)

another afternoon of the week must consist of strolling around aimlessly on a street full of boutiques and cafes. bonus points if you find a really cute bookshop that looks this. it resembles my future library.

isn't it beautiful?

now, if you're a nerd like i am, then you would have become very excited after coming across such an awesome bookstore. as a result, you would spend a lazy hour reading at the park (i'm currently reading Globish by Robert McCrum). and then right after you finish reading, you would go to the campus library and borrow another book (i checked out Orlando, by Virginia Woolf).

i won't leave out the part about stopping by at the market on campus, where you can find Peruvian food for lunch after class. and it's always nice to see an epic game of dodgeball happening on campus.

so many people! don't you love the people in 

the back hugging the statues? 

a perfect week might end by spending an afternoon at a gallery, such as the Hayward Gallery, where i saw the British Art Show 7. the artwork made me feel very angry. but i won't get into that here. the thing is--i didn't mind that i felt angry with the artwork. in fact, i think it made my week even more perfect. i enjoy discovering new things that make me upset. that way i can avoid them in the future, if possible.

 modern art just doesn't appeal to me...

a day trip to Windsor Castle and Oxford University can leave you satisfied with your decision in coming to England. unfortunately, people aren't allowed to take photographs inside the castle. don't let the medieval architecture fool you! i actually think the interior of Windsor is more beautiful that Versailles Palace. Versailles is almost gaudy. sure, Versailles is extravagant, but Windsor is elegant. the castle is the current residence of the Prince of Wales, and it is used for many state events held by the Queen.

behind me is The Round Tower. it's the keep of the castle 

guards on guard 

i think that was a statue of Queen Victoria

 Oxford was so cozy! it's possibly the most quaint place i've been to so far. i got to meet up with my friend Candace, who is currently studying at Oxford. after the tour, i got to see some of the more private areas because she had access to them! here in Oxford, scenes for Harry Potter were shot, Alice in Wonderland was born, and brilliant minds (CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, just to name a few) were sculpted. i would love to study here...

Candace! 

for you Harry Potter nerds:

remember this spot in the first movie?

it's where Malfoy and Potter first met, right

before going in for the Sorting Hat! 

 The Great Hall. where the wizards and witches

of Hogwarts eat awesome food.

 Christ Church College is one of the biggest colleges in Oxford

soooo cooool! and he made some beautiful music!

oh. and you should also go to your lectures/class. it's part of the study abroad experience, believe it or not.

tales from dover, canterbury, and leeds castle

i didn't realize how color deprived i was until my little day trip to the White Cliff of Dover, Canterbury Cathedral, and Leeds Castle yesterday. who knew seeing color could have such a powerful effect on your mood! this weekend was exactly the kind of weekend i dreamt of having before i arrived in the UK, when i was daydreaming about what it would be like when i got here. and this is what i want my weekends to continue to look like:

friday night--going out dancing with the girls, just because we can :)

saturday--relaxing day trip, away from the city, with a small group of friends. in this case, it was just me and Beth (the sweetest girl i met here. i know you're reading this, you creeper :P i love you.)

the first stop was to Dover, where the famous White Cliffs are. i didn't know about Kipling's reference to the White Cliffs in his nostalgic poem The Broken Men until i went on this tour. to answer you, Mr. Kipling, Dover's cliffs aren't very white at all. they're rather tan-ish.

the only thing i remember from reading the Canterbury Tales in high school was the man who needed to divide his fart into 6 even parts (or was it 12...i don't really remember).  his clever solution was to fart into a fan with six panels while it was spinning. thus, 6 even increments of gas would come out the other end of the fan. but my visit to Canterbury was less about natural gas and more about political strife between the church and the state. Canterbury Cathedral has a rich history of Christianity in England but i won't bore you to death with all historical facts. speaking of death, this is where Thomas Beckett was murdered. unfortunately, Beckett's tomb was destroyed by Henry VIII when he was having a tantrum about not being able to divorce Catherine of Aragon.

While Henry VIII was trying to divorce her, Catherine of Aragon was probably chilling out (or freaking out...) at home in Leeds Castle.  this castle is absolutely beautiful on the outside, though the interior is rather disappointing because it's pretty modern--it didn't really seem like a medieval castle when i went in. probably because the castle went through so many different owners...but the castle grounds were breathtaking! and we saw peacocks, which is always a plus!

 and we're back in london...

after our trip, Beth and i had dinner with our friends at Brick Lane for some yummy indian food. and then we went to a bagel place, where they spell bagels like so: beigal. half a dozen bagel for 1.50 = a poor college student's dream.

toon in next time for some existential reflections on modern art...

my bad...

i just got back from kicking School's ass for the past three weeks. it was a long series of battles with School. he put up a good fight. but i won, of course. Not gonna lie though--it was a pretty tough fight. three papers and two presentations in three weeks. the wonderful thing is i got to fit in some time to host Andrew and watch The Phantom of the Opera (SO GOOD. it was painfully beautiful), go clubbing with the girls, host Jenna, and celebrate my 21st birthday! i almost lost the battle this past week--the fight was so strenuous that i became weak and got an awful stomach virus for the entire week! i had to deal with a fever, throwing up, and some tears. but it's all done. and i slept an ungodly amout of hours to recover. i'm not yet fully recovered but i'm getting there.

School can come back and try again later.

on another note, yesterday Haverford's International Council had its yearly meeting in London and a few of my peers and i were invited to speak at the student panel. what a hilarious experience, chatting with ridiculously rich, white, old men, drinking wine, munching on hors d'oeuvres, and cracking jokes with them about how their money is going to a good cause: ME

My church is right next to Portobello Road, a lovely market

that sells antiques and vintage

Andrew came to visit! that's the London Eye behind us

The Tower Bridge!

London is thrilling at night...

Her Majesty's Theatre, where i watched Phantom of the Opera

And here is Paris, in a nutshell

Mona Lisa and all her glory safe behind thick...

very thick glass

Sacre-Coeur

so beautiful.

Where Quasimodo, the deformed bellringer, fell

in love with that hot gypsy girl, Esmeralda. You all

know the story :P

Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace! Freakin' amazing...

it's a wonder the French didn't bath while

living in such luxury!

Arc de Triomphe. super impressive!

and yeah. be jealous. i went to the tippy top!

but it was foggy and freezing cold. so we had a

really shitty view. don't be jealous.

things i will be up to this week: Priscilla (a musical about drag queens), British Comedy Show, afternoon tea, and a weekend day trip to Canterbury, Leeds Castle, and the White Cliffs of Dover!