Some of you will recognize the Arrested Development reference! Anyways, its also true, things are very quickly winding down here in London. I feel like it is almost beyond my control…like whether I am active or not, the hours will tick away until when I have to leave. In less than 4 days I will be on a plane bound for Morocco to start my last big trip of the year! SO, until then I have been, and will be doing, as many things around here as possible. This of course includes final assessments at school, intermittently between sightseeing in London.
I would like to talk about some of the remarkable things that have happened in the past week or so. Last Monday, we had our last Guest Lecturer for our required class. At the beginning, we were insulted by the NYU staff when they offered us a survey on how to improve the course for next semester…as if they would consider our opinions. However, I was in a great mood besides that because they had saved the best for last…the guest speaker was a member of Parliament! Ironically, he should have probably spoken first, because his lecture was all about the ways American and British politics work similarly and differently. It probably would have enlightened non-politics majors if they had heard it at the beginning, but now in the last session, most people were bored out of their minds and dreaming of their impending return home to large SUVs, measuring pre-made cake mixes in imperial increments, and paying in US dollars. I am also thinking about these things, clearly. Overall, we have not had a better speaker however. His speech was well thought out, not rambling, and very well spoken. He also said some things I didnt know as well.
On Tuesday, I had my final classes in Politics of the Middle East and Shakespeare. Tragic, but I have to say the last hour after the break in Shakespeare was pretty excruciating. I was glad to be done with those two, and moved quickly over to the NYU academic center to have a pre-arranged phone interview with Senator Johnson from South Dakota. I had applied to work for him next semester, and we had a nice talk, but I was warned by the staff at GWU that he will probably pick South Dakotian…Dakoteon….Dakotite….Dakodegon? A person from South Dakota. After the phone interview (how posh to be calling the US and not worry about the charges) I rushed back home to meet up with a group of students who had signed up to go Ice Skating at the National Natural History Museum through NYU. We took the tube own to London’s “Museum Mile” where the V&A also lives. It was an outdoor rink, just outside the giant and awesome Natural History Museum, same place where they had fashion week in September. There was music, lights and a small market that we completely forgot about. I have to say skating is always fun, no matter how old you get!
Wednesday I went to SHINE and then headed home to work on final assessment essays…urgh. Thursday was more interesting, apart from it being the LAST DAY OF CLASSES and my last class in History of South Africa. This was because our History of South Africa Professor had missed a class due to illness, so he booked a table for us at a nearby Turkish restaurant, and after class we all headed over to enjoy a final lunch together, discussing South Africa and our time in London. All the beverages were paid for by Professor Judd! Afterwards, we went to our Modern Britain class (many of us take both), but unfortunately it was not our last, we have one more this week.
Friday was also a boring day, I spent most of the day working on papers again, but in the evening I took a city bus over to East London (which really is not nice, especially at night), to visit the Burberry Factory Outlet. This is an interesting story…in London, there is a term for working class people who pretend to be upper class by buying expensive things they can not afford (Like Burberry). They call these people “chavs” which apparently I am now, because I bought a few things at Burberry that I definitely could not afford. Not just for me, gifts as well. $45 for a scarf? It was a good pound day versus the dollar, leave me alone. When I got home, I was told we were celebrating a birthday that evening, and had to leave early simply because I was so tired after my long day!
Saturday and Sunday I reserved for sightseeing in London. Saturday, I spent walking around the city visiting all of the major shopping areas just in time for Christmas decorations and sales. I visited the two main department stores in England: Harrods and Selfridges, both of which were overwhelming in terms of size, variety, and price. I also walked down shopping mecca streets like Kings Road, Brompton Road, Sloane Street, Oxford Street, and Regents Street. On Regents Street (which was closed for pedestrian Christmas shopping days), I visited Britain’s largest toy store, Hanleys. This was also overwhelming, 6 floors, 40,000 toys (self proclaimed), and a ridiculous amount of people. There was even a bouncer to limit the number of people going in! The rest of London was covered in lights, garland, and some traditional decorations. I was not impressed however, I would give New York a higher rating for their decoration scheme. The biggest tree in London is always located in Trafalgar Square…and has historically been a gift from Norway. Well, I think Scroogway must be feeling the credit crunch too, that tree was the most pitiful thing I have ever seen. Overall, it was a nice day, but thoroughly exhausting.
Sunday was another sightseeing day in London. Very productively, I woke up early to go on the train from Waterloo out to Hampton Court Palace! This was originally Henry VIII’s palace, built almost 500 years ago. It was a great time, walking around and seeing the outside of this very authentic castle. There were stone courtyards, a fancy clock, dark passageways, etc etc. One tour focused on Henry’s castle, which was built as one of many for the great King. The, another tour took you on the “Queen’s Palace”, which included socializing rooms, bedchambers, and more. Lastly, another tour took you through other Kings’ versions of the palace, especially the Georgians who redecorated and expanded the palace. Everything was decorated and there was an audio guide tour that I used when I thought necessary. The particular weekend I went, they were opening the “Tudour kitchens” which showed how Henry’s massive entourage was fed as they travelled the country. Massive stone fireplaces, a full butchers shop, and a large wine cellar were the best part. Outside, are traditional gardens, but since it is December a little imagination was necessary to make them seem as grand as they should have been. Lots of good pictures, and the sun even came out for some reason. Hampton Court Palace is also famous for its authentic MAZE which is smaller than I thought it would be, but even more fun than I was told. It is like in the Shining, made of tall groomed pine bushes, and railings so you cant cheat! The key is to always go right when given the choice. I went back to London as the sun was setting, and I had hoped to also make it to visit the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Westminster Parliament Houses, but everything had closed by the time I got back. The seasonal German Christmas market was open however on the South Bank, so I took a walk through there before tubing it back home for the night. I finished my Shakespeare essay!!
***BREAK, rest your eyes!
