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.