The Final Weekend...

It's my last weekend here in London, and I couldn't have asked for a better one! All this week it has been sunny, upper 70s, and hardly a cloud in the sky (most of the time). It has also been surprisingly humid! I suppose that's because we're close to the river Thames...

We make sure to go out and sit in the sun at the park at least once a day, and walking around is a must! The weather is so nice you never want to stay indoors. Too bad it started to be this beautiful one week before we leave to go home!

My only big update is that this Thursday I went with some friends to see "Macbeth" at the Globe Theater (a reconstruction of where Shakespeare originally put on his plays. Remember the pictures from January?) We only paid 5 pounds for our standing room in the pit in front of the stage. This is where the "groundlings" would have stood in Shakespeare's time, and the 5 pounds we pay today is the equivalent of the 1 shilling (1/4 of a penny) they would have paid in Shakespeare's day!

It was a very interesting play, with lots of blood, gore, and murder. Very befitting the plot line! Our only complaint is that they didn't cut some of the boring scenes. Even Shakespeare would cut lines of his plays during production - and it seemed like this director didn't cut enough! But maybe that's just because our feet were really getting sore after 3 hours of standing.

The most interesting part of the production was the director's concept of the audience as the "Underworld". Everyone in the pit had to stand under a large black cloth with only our heads sticking out. We were literally "talking heads"! Of course, not being able to see your feet meant that the actors had a good time running under the cloth, poking, tickling, and popping out to scare the crowd. They even reserved holes for dead bodies to rise out of in the middle of the audience! Naturally you didn't know if or when a body would rise out of the hole next to you. It was spooky!

However, my favorite part of the show was at the end. A few of the actors were hiding next to me in the aisle, waiting to go on for the curtain call. They were supposed to be covered in mud and blood from the battle, but my nose smelled otherwise. As the show ended and the audience started to clap, I whispered to the actor next to me "You smell delicious!" and he laughed and whispered back "Thanks - it's all choc!" (Choc is British slang for chocolate) I guess the fake mud was actually chocolate powder mixed with chocolate syrup for effect! No wonder they all smelled so good...

So that's it, my last "Cultural Activity" for the term. The rest of this week is going to be buckle-down and working on the last bits of projects for final presentations. My last class is this Thursday and I fly home on Friday morning. I'll probably update one more time with a reflection over these past 5 months. Oh how they've flown!

I'll leave you with two pictures from MacBeth, showing the audience in the pit standing under the black cloth:

Weekend Adventure in Wales!!

As promised, here is the story of my awesome Weekend Adventure in Wales! This was a school trip organized by the University, so I went with 10 other students.

Day 1:
Getting there - We took a long 5 hour train ride from London to the western coast of Wales (Mathry, if you want to look it up on a map) and were then escorted to Preseli Venture Camp. This is a private adventure camp owned and operated by experienced guides. It's a very nice facility - with a big lodge with different rooms for guests, lots of nice clean bathrooms (shared by everyone), and a mess hall/lounge with games, a bar, and couches for relaxing. The whole place is situated in the middle of rolling farmlands with a great view of both the coast (20 min walk away) and the quaint town of Mathry on the hill. Meals were home cooked every night by a little Welsh woman - and the portions were huge! Over the weekend had vegetarian lasagna, chicken curry, Welsh stew, jacket (baked) potatoes, and big breakfasts. It was great to come back from our various activities and eat/drink/relax in the mess hall.
The Room - After arriving at Preseli we were assigned our room. There were 8 girls on the trip (plus 2 guys, and a faculty member)and all of us girls slept together in the same large "bunk" room. There were triple bunk beds as well as a loft! I, of course, took one of the top bunks. So much fun!
Exploring the Beach - After moving in we took a 20 min walk down to the private beach. Since there is no road access, only locals and Preseli guests use it. To get there you have to walk down narrow country roads and through a cow field... with cows! But the beach is GREAT. It was rocky and pristine. We spent the evening climbing on the rocks and generally having a good time before returning to the lodge for the rest of the night.
Click the picture below to see more photos from Day 1


Day 2:
Kayaking - For each of the days, our group was split up into smaller groups depending on the activities we wanted to do. I had originally signed up to go surfing, but the conditions were bad so our guide took us kayaking instead. We had single-person kayaks, which was nice because of the different skill levels, and lots of gear to go with it. Our guide, John, then took us to a nearby bay to paddle around. Unfortunately the tide was low and coming in, so the conditions weren't great. We couldn't paddle around the island because, with the low water, it wasn't an island any more! Plus the swells outside of the bay were BIG (8-10 feet), so paddling along the coast was a heart-racing roller coaster ride! I was having a blast, the waves were thrilling to ride on, but other girls who were less experienced were more nervous, so we returned to the bay to practice "riding the waves".
Hiking - After lunch and a quick shower, our group got to go on a hike along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. This is a trail running the length of the west Wales coast (Pembrokshire). The 7 mile section we walked had great, scenic views of the rocky coast on one side - and hilly farmland with lambs, friendly ponies, and cows on the other! There were fox holes, yellow gorse bushes, tons of sea birds (gannets!), and lots of other things to see. It was a great, relaxing walk back to Preseli from the drop point.
Fun at the Lodge - That night we stayed up playing board games, card games, and meeting the other guests. There was one other college group (5 friends from St. Louis) who was also studying abroad in London, so we even made new friends!
Click the picture below to see more photos from Day 2


Day 3:
Coasteering - This was the highlight of the trip. Coasteering is, essentially, climbing/swimming/exploring the coast and jumping off of cliffs! There was a lot of gear involved to protect us from the rocks and cold water (life vests, helmets, neoprene socks, two layers of wetsuit, etc.) but the fun made up for it. Our guides led us on a swim along the coastline, stopping to check out caves, tunnels, and natural canyons where the big waves carried us up/down and back/forth like a fair ride! It was SO much fun!! The best part had to be climbing up the cliffs and jumping back into the water. It sure took a lot of courage! Our biggest jump was about 30 feet, but it sure felt like more when you were standing on the top. At the end of the trip we swam/hiked/climbed our way back to Preseli for a shower and lunch.
Returning Home- After lunch we had to pack our things and, sadly, return to London via train. I was really sad to leave. The area was unspeakably beautiful, the weather was GREAT (especially the day we went coasteering, perfect!) and we had such a good time. I know I would like to return to Wales someday and spend more time exploring the small, quaint towns along the Pembrokeshire coast.
Click the picture below to see more photos from Day 3


So that's it! Thanks for reading about my fun trip to Wales. Only 2 weeks left until I return to Oregon! I'm so glad I got to take this trip before I left.

On the British Election...

Before I post my big Wales update, I thought I should give a brief note on the British Election. It works something like this...

- One month before the election, the Prime Minister goes to the Queen and announces he believes an election should be held. (Usually these things are planned in advance, and an election MUST be held every five years)

- The three main parties (Labour, Liberal Democrats, and Conservative "Tories") then have one month to campaign. This is usually a very quiet matter. Parties are only allowed to advertise via signs and billboards, and personal campaigning - NO TV or radio! And since most Londoners don't have cars or yards, there are few signs/bumper stickers around the city.

- Voting happens for only ONE DAY. So no mail in ballots! Voters must go to their nearest polling station (of which there are many) only on the day of the election. And, instead of voting for a candidate, voters choose their favorite party!

- The leader of the winning party (selected by party members) is then made Prime Minister, and the party also selects a cabinet for him. Seats in the House of Commons (Parliament) are assigned according to the percentage of districts who voted for a party. (For example, the party with the greatest percentage of votes will get the most seats in the Parliament House of Commons.)

- A party needs 326 seats to have a majority in Parliament. If no party gets 326 seats, it's called a "Hung Parliament". This happened THIS YEAR, and hasn't been seen since the 1970s. At this point, the three parties begin negotiating to reach a solution.

This year, because of the hung parliament, a lot of political negotiations took place. Both the Conservatives and Labour began courting the Lib-Dems, asking that party to "share" their seats. This is known as a coalition: two parties add their seats together to make the majority, with the larger party taking the most power. Gordon Brown and Labour said that, if the Lib-Dems joined them, Gordon Brown would step down as party leader. However, the Lib-Dems saw more opportunity with the Conseravtives, and joined them!

The current status is this: Labour (led by Gordon Brown) has left office and Conservative leader David Cameron has taken over. However, because of the joint coalition, some of the Cabinet seats are held by Lib-Dems, and Lib-Dem leader Clegg is "Deputy Prime Minister". It will be very interesting to see how these two parties - each with VERY different viewpoints - will compromise in power.

For a better understanding of how the coalition will work, I recommend reading: THIS ARTICLE from the BBC.

That's all for now, keep an eye out for my Wales Weekend Adventure, posted tomorrow!!

Update Before the Wales Update

Hello everyone, I know you may think I've been neglecting my blog - but I swear I haven't! It's just that not many interesting things have been happening this term. I suppose there are some short updates, but nothing big and not many touristy-trips around London (since I saw them all last term). BUT, I did just return from an "Adventure Weekend" in Wales, so I'll have a big post - with lots of pictures and stories - very soon.

In the meantime, here are some short updates from the past month:

- Dad and Anita came to visit at the end of April. We toured a lot of the major sites in London (Westminster/Big Ben, Covent Garden, St. Paul's, etc.) went to a pub on St. George's Day, and they ran the London Marathon. It was good to see some familiar faces in the city!

- On a particularly nice day I decided to go lay in the grass in the park. However, I ended up getting a big mosquito bite on my foot! I guess I'm not used to British mosquitoes, because the bite itched and caused my whole foot to puff up in an allergic reaction. So when people tell you there are fewer insects in Britain, just remember the ones that ARE there can bite!

- I took the bus for a quick visit to the Natural History Museum for a class project. On the bus ride home we got stuck in some major traffic, but gave us a chance to see the start of the Gumball 3000. I had no idea what it was at the time, and just thought it was cool to see all sorts of fancy-looking race cars driving down the street. I looked up the info later... The Gumball 3000 is a road-rally/race which travels 3000 miles around the globe. They start and finish in a different place, but the race is always 3000 miles long. This year the race started in London and finished in New York, so we saw the cars straight out of the starting line, on their way to the Dover ferry to France. After that they'd drive to Copenhagen, take a boat to Boston, and finally drive to New York. The best thing about the race is the cars. They have race cars, sports cars, and even funny cars like the Batmobile!

Other than that things have been based around school, homework, hanging out with friends (going out to dinner/baking cookies in the room), or running around the park. I'm really excited to go home: only 18 days!.

So be on the lookout for the Wales Adventure Post, coming this week to a blog near you!