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England Archive

Thursday

26

November 2009

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Success!

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London Thanksgiving was indeed a success. Alissa worked all day brining and cooking the turkey, which turned out great. I helped with some prep work, and was responsible for all the desserts (the pumpkin pie actually worked, which was a minor victory). There were ten of us – three Americans, two Brits, two Italians, two Canadians and one German – and everyone contributed something. We had all the dishes – mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, gravy, candied yams, and turkey. It was a lot of fun, and everyone seemed to have a great time.

When I got home I called a few people who I thought I might be able to catch either just before dinner (like my NYC family – who I got to talk to!) or well before their holiday began. It was nice to hear some voices from home, for sure.

I have two weeks left in the term, one assignment left to do, a couple of essays to start, and loads of reading. But this weekend I’m taking off to visit Vanessa in Dublin for a weekend of relaxing and getting caught up. When I get back, I have some holiday shopping to do (I ordered my Christmas cards yesterday – woo!) a mini-cookie party with Kate and Richard, and hopefully some ice skating at one of the London rinks.

Before I head off to bed on this unusual Thanksgiving, I figured I should remind myself of a few things for which I’m thankful. They are truly in no particular order.

– The friends and family I have here in Europe and back in the states
– Unlimited text messaging
– The fact that I’m able to spend a year living in London, learning interesting things, and travelling around Europe
– Podcasts of Countdown and the Rachel Madow Show (how else will I stay indoctrinated with the left-wing agenda whilst studying Mill, Kant and Locke?)
– Universal health care in the UK
– Cocoa at the Garrick for only 95p before 10AM on Fridays
– Emails from home
– Running
– How I Met Your Mother on iTunes
– Student discount rail cards and bus passes

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you had a good one.

Wednesday

25

November 2009

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Holidays in London – Part I

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I suppose my first real holiday here was Halloween, and it was definitely fun. I actually went to more parties here than I usually did back home, and I had a nice time. People do things a bit differently over here, but for me Halloween really does just involve pumpkin carving (check), candy (check), costumes (check) and, as I’ve gotten older, alcohol (check). So I missed certain types of candy, but overall it was a good one.

Now things are a bit more challenging. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. For many people, it’s a day to spend with relatives. Growing up, it was the one time of year when my sister and I saw all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. We’d head down to Southern California (often missing school for a couple of days) and go to Disneyland on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was just reminded of that when I saw a post by a friend on Facebook, who is down there now. I grew up thinking there were no lines at Disneyland. We rarely had to wait more than five, maybe ten minutes to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, or Space Mountain. It was usually just the four of us for that day of fun at the Happiest Place on Earth.

On Thanksgiving we’d head over to the home where my dad’s parents lived. But only after we saw a movie. I vividly remember seeing My Girl at a movie theatre that I believe was attached to a mall. Man, I did not see the whole Macaulay Culkin death thing coming. Anyway, one of my aunts lives in that house now. Another of my aunts would make really yummy pumpkin bread. There were the five younger cousins (me, two guys my age, and two girls about four years younger than me) and the four older. We got along, but we didn’t (and still don’t) really know each other well. After all, we only got together once a year. One of my uncles (by marriage, and a favorite) would generally hide in the kitchen after dinner, doing dishes. My grandpa would sit in his easy chair, drinking scotch, telling me I was full of mud. Ha. It’s kind of amazing how really clear these images are.

Some time in the 90s – probably around when my sister went away to college – we stopped heading down there for the holiday. Instead, just the four of us would prepare the meal (a turkey breast, since none of us eats dark meat), but always after going to a movie first. And people wonder how I can go see a movie once or twice a week – obviously it’s in my genes.

Once I graduated college Thanksgiving became more of a holiday about second families. My first year out of college I went to Omaha to spend it with my then-boyfriend’s family. We’d been together for many years, and I knew a lot of his family, but it was still so strange to be away from my family. And the food! It was good, but I missed those dishes that were, not unique to my family, but that we always had. Our Thanksgiving was never over the top, but it was always good. Great mashed potatoes (I may have actually cried one year when we realized, the day after Thanksgiving, that we’d left the potatoes in the oven, thus eliminating the possibility of leftovers), stove top stuffing, and damn it, the cranberry sauce from the can, with the indentations on the sides. 

I think my parents spent every Thanksgiving during the past eight years with their really good friends, and a second family to all of us. But that’s the family that lost the patriarch to brain cancer this year, and my folks will be spending their time closer to home with another set of close friends tomorrow. And my sister – she has always seemed to find great places to eat, and will send me the menu every once in awhile to rub in all the amazing food she’s going to have.

After that first Thanksgiving away, the holiday became more of an adventure for me. I spent my first NYC Thanksgiving with that same former boyfriend, at an “orphan’s” Thanksgiving in Williamsburgh. My first experience making pumpkin pie! The next was with Allegra and her extended family in Pittsburgh. Then outside Baltimore with another ex’s family. There was a memorable one with Richard, my British friend who had to work Friday as well, where we went to Junior’s in Brooklyn for our surprisingly good dinner. 

For the last three years I’ve spent the holiday with my NYC family. Herman and Kathleen have hosted an amazing dinner for all of us who don’t have family nearby, or can’t travel because of working the next day. Meg brings the yams with marshmallows (and makes a vegetarian version sans marshmallows as well), Kathleen makes the corn pudding. Erin threatens to bring Brussels sprouts, I make a few desserts. Herman prepares an AMAZING turkey, often the size of a small child. Last year, after too much food and as we got ready to go, they brought out a bunch of Tupperware so everyone could take home some leftovers. That’s thoughtful. 

Tomorrow they are getting together to continue the tradition, and I won’t be with them. It definitely makes me a little sad. Well, a lot sad, actually. But tonight I got to start my own Thanksgiving adventure. I got lost but eventually found a real supermarket and managed to get a 13 pound turkey, which my friend Alissa is going to prepare tomorrow for some Americans, a Canadian, two Italians, and possibly a German. I still have to figure out a crust and tin for my pumpkin pie, and I can’t make fudge as there’s no marshmallow fluff, but it’ll be okay. It’s another adventure. And it’s definitely already a memorable one.

Tuesday

17

November 2009

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First Visitor!

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I’ve been here about seven weeks, and have now had my first visitor. Allegra arrived on Wednesday for a couple of days in town before we headed to Spain.

She arrived on the red-eye Wednesday morning and was able to nap while I went to class. We met up at campus, then went over to wander around Covent Garden. It’s a really cute market, with a mixture of chain stores, little restaurants and craft booths. After a pub lunch we walked up to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and the mummy of Cleopatra. It’s a gorgeous building with a lot of interesting old world “acquisitions” (my favorite British euphemism for stuff they stole during their conquests).

Although it was a bit misty we walked down to look at Buckingham Palace, then stopped at a nearby pub before heading back over to Brick Lane for some yummy curry.

Thursday I didn’t have class, so we had the whole day to explore the city. A quick trip through Spitalfields, then down to Tower Bridge and over to the south side of London. We got down into Southwark (pronounced suthuck) and cut over to Borough Market, which I’m excited to now know that it is open on Thursdays. There was a lot of excellent-looking produce (which I’ve been missing a lot here), so I plan to go back this week and do a little shopping.

Continuing along the south side we walked past a few places I’ll likely go visit for real eventually, including the Globe theater and the Clink museum (the latter is where we get the term “the clink” to describe prison). We settled on a visit to Tate Modern, which had a very cool Pop Art exhibition featuring Worhol and Koons work. I had no idea that Koons, in addition to those adorable metal balloon animals, did a lot of very blue imagery, including some quite vivid pornographic stills. Huh.

The fun wasn’t over yet! We walked back to the north end of the river, via the Millennium Bridge. Harry Potter fans will remember it from the most recent movie. We worked our way up to Lincoln Inn Fields and visited the Sir John Soane museum. It’s especially creepy at 3:30 on a cloudy day. But I recommend it.

 

Tuesday

10

November 2009

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Remember, Remember, the . . . let’s set off fireworks!

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I’ve now experienced my first Guy Fawkes day. If you saw V for Vendetta, you’re familiar with the story. He tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but was foiled, and the British celebrate that. Thursday was the official day (November 5), and a few of us went in search of fireworks … and failed.

Saturday night was MUCH more successful. A few of us went over to Victoria park, where they had a really amazing show put together. All songs during the fireworks had a fire theme (it’s known as bonfire night), like “Light my Fire” and “Fever.” They had flames shooting up from the set-up, and a really great finale. Better (on a different scale) than the NYC fourth of July fireworks in my estimation.

I rounded out the evening with a friend’s house party over in Covent Garden.

Oooh! And I checked out the London Transport museum. It’s very cool.

My first guest arrives tomorrow morning – Allegra is coming in for a couple of days, and then we’re heading off to Barcelona. I can’t wait to see the Gaudi church. So excited.

Friday

30

October 2009

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Hey Smokers – What’s Up?

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Continuing my intermittent series of open letters, here's one to smokers in London.

Dear Smokers of London:

Hey! What's up? How's it going? Stressful day, eh? Relaxing with a nice drag off a (cheaper here than in NYC, even with the exchange rate) ciggie? That's cool.

This is not a letter where I'm going to judge you. I know you have enough to deal with, what with the hacking cough, yellow teeth and lighter wallet (kidding!). Seriously, it's got to be a big pain in the ass to have to leave your cozy cubicle to go outside for a smoke. And you can't even enjoy your vice of choice in pubs and bars anymore! Obnoxious.

Look, I know that this is a habit you have. I know that if I had to step outside every time I wanted a glass of whiskey, or a hot chocolate, I'd be kind of annoyed. And I'm not judging your habit, despite the friendly little jab at the opening of this letter. Look, you know the statistics about smoking, and you still smoke. That's fine with me. I know the statistics and I still chow down on a Krispy Kreme way more often than I should (especially now that I'm living near a Tesco that stocks them 'round the clock). We all make our choices in life, right?

Here's the thing though. Could you PLEASE stop walking and smoking? It's flippin' obnoxious. When people are standing outside a building or pub smoking, that's one thing. I can avoid it. It's obvious – people are in a group, there's smoke, I get it. But when you light up up while walking down Fleet Street on your way to your job, your smoke flies all over the place, swirling around. And you've walked these sidewalks before – there's nowhere for me to go. I can't escape your smoke. You're making me smoke, and it's really annoying me.

Oooh, and you know what's even worse than the smoke? The ASH IN MY EYE. That's right. One of you was kind enough to flick your cigarette mid-smoke, I guess to get the ash off the end, and since you were walking ahead of me, that ash went somewhere, and that somewhere was MY EYE. It did not feel good. It pissed me off. If I wasn't so busy trying to determine whether my eye was on fire, I would have tackled you from behind, NFL-style.

So, to sum up: I have no issues with your decision to smoke. Some of my closest, dearest friends smoke. But they have the courtesy to not blow that stuff in my face, even accidentally. Can you maybe work on doing the same?

Hugs and kisses,
A S K 

Sunday

25

October 2009

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Brick Lane

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I live very close to Brick Lane, which most people who aren’t from London will recognize from the myth of great curry (if they recognize it at all). While there are loads of Indian and Bangaladeshi restaurants on Brick Lane, they’re pretty mediocre, although they offer cheap prices. There’s also a passable Mexican (more like Tex-Mex) restaurant there as well, which I experienced Friday.

At night, especially on the weekends, it reminds me a bit of what I’d imagine Williamsburg would feel like if they effectively shrank Bedford Avenue. Not so much because of the feel of the restaurants and such, but because of the people – a lot of London’s version of hipsters. A lot of drunk people. And the occasional mini cab attempting to drive through what is essentially a pedestrian thoroughfare at that point.

On the weekends during the day its full of a ton of different markets. There are these amazing food stalls with cheap and very tasty food – Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Moroccan, Ethiopian. Everything. And loads of stalls where people sell their homemade wares and other things. Plus vintage stores (which are there during the week as well) seem to expand and pop up in different spaces. Today I found a coffee shop that has really comfortable seating, makes a decent cup of hot chocolate, and just has a generally relaxed atmosphere. It may become my new study locale on Tuesdays and Thursdays (i.e., the days when I don’t have to go to campus).

Just above where the main part of Brick Lane ends there’s an arts and theater space that shows first run movies but also has free jazz on Sundays and hosts other events. 

It’s great to be so close to such a vibrant neighborhood.

Sunday

25

October 2009

1

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It’s been a month? Really?

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I moved here just over a month ago, and I’ve been able to do a lot in that month. I’m really enjoying my program, and I’m loving this city. There’s so much to do and see, and I’m lapping it all up.

This week I went to Cambridge, which is a town filled with these amazing old colleges. Seriously, they’re celebrating their octocentenial. 1209-2009! What was going on in NYC in 1209? Were native americans even there yet? I genuinely don’t know. The town is larger than I expected, and full of twisting streets and loads of pubs. We visited two: The Anchor (which is on the river) and the Eagle (where Watson and Crick announced their DNA double-helix “discovery”). There’s also a great market right in the center of town. Because my friend Dan and I went on a Sunday, we were able to see the chapel at Kings College for free, as we attended Evensong and heard the amazing Kings College Choir. Damn. They’re really, really good. The trip was the first of about 20 I really want to try to do before I leave here – pictures are below.

This week was busy, with a few extra lectures (one on post-war mental health for civilians, one on LSE essay writing and one on risk assessment in health care). The work load is still manageable, but I haven’t been assigned an essay yet. I think for all three of my courses I’ll get the questions in about a week and have a week or two to write them. I’ll have to get on it early, because my first visitor is coming! I’m so excited – Allegra is coming in November, and we’re going to head down to Barcelona for a weekend. I’ve never been to Spain – if you’ve been and have suggestions of things we must see, let me know!

Wednesday was suit night in my building. We’re kind of silly, so a few of the guys dressed up in suits, us ladies went with dresses, and we sat around drinking and playing poker. Excellent.

Saturday, however, was the most ‘cultured’ of my days this week, even including the trip to Cambridge. I met up with Suzanne in the morning (it was overcast and spitting rain on occasion) and we took a tour of the West Cemetery at Highgate. It is gorgeous and overgrown and creepy and PERFECT for right around Halloween. I’ve attached some pictures. My camera was acting up (spooky!) so I didn’t get great ones inside the crypt. Oh. And there was this eerie moment where a leaf was just spinning in the air. At first it seemed like it was maybe hanging from a spider web thread or something, but then the wind shifted and it moved in a way that suggested it was just stuck in a pocked of air. When I started to walk as the tour moved, it got right up in my face. I like to think one of the spirits wanted us to remember where exactly we were.

Finally, last night I went to Royal Albert Hall to see the Carmina Burana. It’s such an amazing piece of music. And it was performed in what is actually a pretty smalll performance space, with FOUR HUNDRED SINGERS. And a huge symphony orchestra. So amazing. SO amazing.

And now it’s Sunday again, and I need to study. But I got an extra hour in the day thanks to the surprising time change. Back to GMT.

Sunday

18

October 2009

1

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American Football, British Education

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Last night I ventured to Sports Cafe – the place in London where one can go to watch all sports, including American football. It’s also a great place to go if you’re interested in getting picked up by creepy British (or American) men. I was there for the football. The USC and Notre Dame alumni associations took over one of the bar areas for the game last night. It was excellent. Epic. Fabulous. Primarily because Notre Dame lost.

Today I’d hoped to go to Hampton Court Palace; however, due to work on the railroad my friend Dan and I decided to head up to Cambridge instead. There are actually many colleges that make up what we in the states think of as Cambridge; you can check them out here. What’s crazy is that the first of these colleges was started in 1209. No, that’s not a typo. That’s EIGHT HUNDRED years ago. We wandered through the adorable (and surprizingly large) town, stopping at a great market in the center of town. We also caught the King’s College Choir at the Evensong service at the chapel. The chapel was finished by King Henry VIII about ten years before he changed the nation’s religion. It’s pretty spectacular:

Last week I also joined Kate, Richard and Kate’s sister Lee for tea at the National Dining Rooms at the National Gallery (in Trafalgar Square). For a reasonable price you get a quite lovely spread. Ah, clotted cream. It’s like butter with a side of butter.

I’ll have pictures of the latest adventures up in a few days; now I have to go to bed so I can be up for my marathon Monday – four hours of class followed by a departmental lecture and then drinks. Yes, I’m managing to fit studying in amongst the travels and cultural outings. Luckily for me, I never have two days of school in a row, which means as soon as I make it through one day I can (in theory) sleep in the next.

Sunday

11

October 2009

1

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Salted Caramel Truffles. Yes please.

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Friday night I visited another of the museums that stays open late. Suzanne and I met up at the Victoria and Albert museum. That place is crazy. It’s in a gorgeous building, and is a bit of a cluster in terms of artifacts. We spent about an hour there and only saw three exhibits – well, two and a half. There was one temporary exhibition we saw, and it was adequately creepy: Telling Tales. The fashion and jewelry sections were also amazing.

Yesterday Becky and I went to the Chocolate Unwrapped event, which is part of Chocolate Week. For a fee we got to taste loads of amazing artisinal chocolate. The Paul Wayne Gregory Salted Caramel Truffles were some of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted . . . aside from these crazy good lemon-filled dark chocolates I tried later on. Really, only one stand was a bit of a miss; the rest were indulgent and ridiculous. I know I’ll probably eat a Cadbury bar later this week or next, but man. It’s so fun to be reminded of the really wonderful flavors that are out there. Sesame and lime milk chocolate candies, dark-chocolate quince treats, rich and gooey brownies.

Yeah, it was good. Really, really good. So good that I walked the 3 1/2 miles back to my apartment to try to burn off at least one of the truffles. Oh man.

Today I ran off a few more, as I participated in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. It was a great course, and I hit my personal best (2:05 and change) but am feeling really tuckered out. I raised money for Brainstrust; if you still haven’t given but want to, there’s still time! Just post a comment and I’ll e-mail you the link to donate.

Week two starts tomorrow . . . hopefully my legs will allow me to get to campus.

Friday

9

October 2009

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Week 1 – Check!

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I’ve attached below some pictures of the neighborhood, campus, and THE QUEEN.

The week was full of a lot of everything. A lot of class, a lot of reading, a lot of wandering the city. Yesterday it really started to feel like fall; it was bright and sunny but had that feeling of the sun being a bit lower in the sky. It’s chilly in my apartment – the heat only stays on for two hours at a time – so I’m getting a lot of use out of my sweatshirts, scarves and hoodies.

Classes are good. The lectures are great primarily (in my opinion) because they are true lectures – there’s really no Q&A piece. And you all know how much I loathe Q&A in most situations…

Tuesday I went to a lecture that was ostensibly on the penal system. I think the lecturer’s thesis was interesting, but I was so focused on staying awake (and on the fact that the seats seemed like a huge fire hazard) that I missed a lot.

The seminars are a bit different. They are supposed to only have 15 students (although the dissertation one has everyone in the program, or 28 of us), and are the appropriate place to discuss the readings and the lecture and go deeper into the week’s topic. One of my seminars has an amazingly obnoxious person in it – someone who starts sentences with “well, obviously” and continues on by stating something that is an opinion an by no means obvious or factual. That is possibly my least favorite type of comment, followed closely by the “let me tell you a story I want to tell so I can feel like I contributed but has no bearing on the discussion” comment. There were a couple of those in my seminar today (that’s right, I have a seminar on Friday mornings), but not nearly as bad as the obnoxious person from earlier in the week. Actually, he’s in my program, so I’m lucky I don’t have all of my seminars with him.

I’m done with my required readings for week two (that’s what happens when I have two days off during the week), so this weekend is for fun in London! I’m sure I’ll study some on Sunday to prepare for my four hours of lectures on Monday, but in the meantime I’m going to enjoy some of the uniquely London events around town.

And Sunday is the Royal Parks Half Marathon. If you want to contribute and still haven’t, there’s still time!

Finally, the Queen. She was at St. Paul’s for this: UK Armed Forces Memorial. Apparently two of the three princes were there (Charles and William), as was the Prime Minister. But I timed my walk home well – I got to the barriers about five minutes before she exited, and was able to get a few pictures.