Notting Hilly About It

So today we decided to check out the Notting Hill Carnival, which was going on yesterday and continues today. It's really close to where we live, and we went not really knowing what to expect or what it was celebrating. It turns out (via Wikipedia) that it has to do with celebrating the multiculturalism of London, starting after some race riots with Caribbeans and Africans in the 50s. It's expanded since then, but you'll see from the pictures that the style is still heavily influenced by those cultures.

We didn't stay for long, and there were massive crowds (about a million attend), so my pictures are not great. There was no place to get above the crowds to get a shot, and my natural height didn't help much either. I hope you see how beautiful the costumes were, and get a sense of the energy at the place. Oh, yes, after the pictures I'll tell you the adventure of getting to Donna Vinter's (program director's) house last night for the party.

Pretty, aren't they?

Anyway, Donna Vinter. Last night, we had to get out to Gunnersbury for her party, and we negotiated the tubes fine getting there. This was me, Mallorie, Molly, Torrey, Kayla, and Sam (not Sam from our flat, a different Sam). But when we got there, we met up with one of the Professor's also attending and followed him for the first part of the journey since he'd been to the house before. We overtook him, confident we were on the right road (since her house was about 10 minutes from the station) and then, some 15 minutes later, realized we were lost and the Professor was gone. Sidenote: I have a GPS, but the map looked so easy that I didn't bring it. Foresight I have not.

For the next hour, we wandered around looking for this house, because the map provided to us by Donna Vinter had three streets labeled, so when we weren't on those streets we had no idea what to do. We asked people, one of whom (a bus driver) told us we were on a certain street that was clearly labeled otherwise. In the end, we found the house, but didn't stay too long at the party. It turns out that the Professor we initially followed went the wrong direction. It was then I remembered that when we were leaving the station with him, he remarked, "This path used to be a lot narrower." When we found the way we were supposed to go from the station, the path was very narrow. I'm an English major who didn't recognize blatant foreshadowing. To use a tired meme: Fail.

But the party was fun, I met a couple of my professors and talked about getting lost, so it was worth it getting there. Tomorrow classes start (at 11 am, wooo), so I'll be kept even busier for the next few...well, the rest of the time I'm here.

Oh, and if you read the blog and haven't made yourself known, leave a comment! If you need a topic, discuss the wittiness of my title. Or bemoan the punniness of my title. I love feedback.

All They're Missing Is The Accent

So I have some very British pictures for you today from the coach tour around London, which was enlightening if a little long (3 hours, only two brief stops). With no more ado, I will tell the story with pictures.

So first off the woman running the tour basically had the bus stop in the middle of the road to give us all a chance to get this shot, of Big Ben in the London Eye. I took it to the best of my limited ability, and I will go ahead and apologize for unclean or bad shots; most were taken out of a moving bus through a dirty window. I know, excuses excuses.

Not a great way to start showing the sights, but I don't quite remember what this building is...something to do with the government. If someone recognizes it (embarrassing for me, I know) let me know, because it's driving me nuts. Very nice building, though, isn't it?

Ugh, I was so happy when I took this because I thought it came out well but now it looks smudgy and foggy and terrible. It's Churchill, obviously, and I like how he looks like he might fight that building. Not on the beaches, though.

This is the statue of Prince Albert outside of the Royal Albert Hall, which I've already been to (but not got pictures of). We stopped here, but I couldn't get closer since the bus wasn't stopped for long. Shame it wasn't sunny, since Albert gets quite shiny, but there you are.

Just a quick note about the old woman running the tour, who was constantly narrating and pointing out shops and sights and all sorts of little oddities. I can't remember all of them, but she went on rants about the government and how they waste money and such, and she was quite entertaining. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

And here's the hall itself, which I could not get far enough away from to take in the entirety. I think this was the nicest corner, though. I'm pretty sure.

Okay, I know this picture is awful (unless you have a thing for traffic lights, in which case, you're welcome), but there's such an interesting story. See the man on the plinth behind the light? Apparently they let people who signed up go up there for an hour at a time and do whatever they want. This guy, unfortunately, was just getting photographs, but the guy going up after him had a soccer ball so I bet people do some weird stuff. What would you do? I was thinking interpretive dance, but I would have to have time to work out my routine. Planning, people!

And now to Saint Paul's Cathedral, which make up the rest of the pictures because this was the last stop and opportunity for photo ops. It's Sunday morning, so of course those bells were going, and going, and going, and they were loud. Beautiful building otherwise, though.

I like to pretend that this picture is of a much smaller building, but I've shrunk through some wizard's doing and this is my perspective.

And there's...Queen Anne, I believe, doing her thing.

So I've just got back from all that, and I'm taking a little rest and reading Shakespeare (Venus and Adonis) for the first class Tuesday. Well, right now I'm updating the blog, but let's not break the fourth wall. Is this breaking the fourth wall? I guess not exactly, but I never get to use that expression.

There was a "School Disco" last night at the International Students House, which I and my flat went to only to find out that the "School" part meant they required you to wear a school girl's outfit. I didn't pack mine, and neither did anyone else, so that was a bust. Oh well, we have quite a few more nights to go!

The garden party at the program director's house this evening, and I guess I'll be going to that at some point. Tomorrow is a free day (bank holiday) and the Notting Hill Carnival, so expect more pictures. I hope you enjoyed this, once again, sorry for the bad quality pictures and general lack thereof.

Au revoir.

I Have Batteries (And What That Implies!)

Good afternoon, or good morning if that is more appropriate.

Today was a free day, so we went on an afternoon trip to the Tate museum to see the JMW Turner exhibit. By we, I mean Molly, Torrey, and myself. The exhibit was really interesting, Turner has this fascination with decay and mixing ancient and contemporary visuals. By the end of his career many of his paintings were full of indistinct shapes and impressions, but it wasn't quite impressionist, though. My favorite was this, Apollo and the Python:


This doesn't really do it justice; the canvas was huge. It references killing Sin in The Faerie Queen, as well, I think, dealing with regeneration of evil (smaller snakes emerging from the body of the Python). Okay, I know it's not helpful to give my random thoughts on the painting, sorry.

And then we got to a huge exhibit of Victorian paintings, and they had soooo many good paintings. Millais, Drape, Leighton, Stubbs, but there were so few I was even a little familiar with. I'll have to spend more time there; we are all planning on it, I think. Oh, and my absolute favorite painting I saw, by Hogarth:

Satan, Sin and Death from Paradise Lost

My favorite epic poem, my favorite scene, I almost lost it when I saw this. I might have to gather 10 friends and steal this Soderbergh style, seriously. Anyway.

Okay, now for the pictures I took. Here is the Tate:

Beautiful building, beautiful day

I'm beginning to untangle the underground. Armed with my Oyster card, I can figure out how to get almost anywhere. I'm pretty proud of myself.

So tomorrow's the coach trip around London. I will have more pictures than ever, so tune in!

Oh, The Money I Won't Pay

So today was the orientation, bright and early, at the Florida State University building. And oh my goodness, the amazingness of this semester is just beginning to dawn of me.

First, I don't have an early morning class. I only have one afternoon class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and two afternoon classes Thursdays and Fridays. And then there's the free plays. I'm going to run through them, so get ready. War Horse, Arcadia, Mother Courage, The Pitman Painters, An Inspector Calls, Endgame, The Power of Yes, and Enron. That's not every including all the class-required plays.

Okay, for the longer trips. We get a coach tour of London next Sunday, a boat tour to Greenwich Sept 5, tour of Southwark and Tower of London Sept 11, and a tour of Parliament the next day. Sept 18 we get a trip to Oxford, then October 2 a two night trip to Stratford, where we get to see 3 plays. At some point the program director mentioned taking some of us for a hike somewhere, so I signed up for that. Then the coup de grace, a week-long trip to Ireland the first week of December. All of that is completely free. There's only three trips I'm not going on, one because it's restricted to the class involved, and the other two are involved with other classes and I'd rather have a few weekends to explore London.

So I'm still mulling over all that, and have to go.

Now Museum, Now You Don't

Okay, so today started eeeeaaaarly. I woke up and was unable to get back to sleep, a problem I have been without since birth. So I tried to figure out how to do the dishes, which is something I can't do in the US, so my attempt here...would have been funny to an outside observer, probably. So I washed dishes by hand, and it was cathartic, if nothing else. Then I spent the morning reading the History of Ireland, and walked short distances in the area around the flat. Everyone wasn't awake until noon, but I didn't want to go to Regent's Park because I didn't want to miss the trip to the museum, and I of course did not know when people would be awakening to go on said trip. But I have to read this History, so time spent doing it now is time for later, so it works out.

Anyway, first thing is first: I don't have pictures of the museum. I still don't have batteries for my camera, because I'm stupid. But it's not a big deal since I'll probably be back to the museum once a week, so I'll get pictures. Went through the Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egypt sections, though not thoroughly (i.e. reading every single sign in every room). I'll go back on my own and do that soon, though.

We (myself, Sam, Kayla, Molly) walked back and got lunch/dinner at Prete a Manger, and yes, it was delicious, Jenny, thank you for the recommendation. Now it's back to reading about Ireland. If I could change history, I would consider making sure that the English and Irish never meet. I think my book is really focused on the riots and rebellions and violence, but I think there should have been a wall between the islands. Those folks did not get along.

So orientation tomorrow!

Jet Lag Fun

I'm pretty committed to writing in this blog every day, but I'm guessing some of those entries will only be for my benefit a few months from now when I'm looking back. This is one of those entries, because this was just one of those days where I was tired, and doing uninteresting things like unpacking/stocking up on the things I need/going to a short meet and greet with the Oberlin students. So just to tell you upfront, this information might not fascinate you.

So the morning basically consisted of reading Castle Rackrent, which is not a good thing to read if you're tired. Unless you're enthralled by Anglo-Irish abuses of Catholics in the late 18th century. I myself am not, but I got through it.

Then off to explore a little, finding the pharmacy, and good restaurants. Question: where is the best place to get batteries? I feel like I can't predict where they'll be, and I haven't found them yet. I haven't looked too hard, I suppose.

Meeting the Oberlin students was fun, cause they outnumber us 2 to 1 and so we would lose any melees. We wouldn't necessarily lose a dance-off, though, because that's quality not quantity.

Okay, I just spent 2 full minutes trying to think of how to judge a dance-off between two differently-sized groups. I wouldn't want that job.

The walk to the teaching site is about a mile, and I'm definitely gonna need to walk it again and memorize it. No point taking the Tube in good weather, since it takes the same amount of time either way. The teaching site itself is a labyrinth of twisting staircases and narrow hallways, but I'll figure it out. Oh, and classes start next Tuesday. The full orientation is on Friday, and the whole Grinnell/Oberlin group is going to a Prom Concert in the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday. It's Russian music, and it should be good.

We have Thursday and Saturday off, and tonight we're going to go find a pub to call our own for the remainder of the semester. It might take a few nights; this group is picky. Tomorrow we're going to the British Museum and I know I want to visit Hyde Park and read a book somewhere in it. Just to be in London, in Hyde Park, with a book, might be all I need for the next few months. London is great, something for me to get used to. I feel like it's tangibly living and breathing sometimes, like when the window is open there's another presence in the room. I don't know how much of it I will see, but I'll try to see as much as I can.

But anyway, those are the facts of my day.

Arrival

I made it to London with almost no problems, which was a big goal for me planning this trip. My adventure occurred as follows:

The flight left from Atlanta on time, and I got my exit seat. Leg room the whole way, though elbow room was hard to come by. There was a crying baby across the aisle, but I was mostly annoyed at the cliche of a crying baby. I mean, I could have been annoyed by something more creative? Anyway, the in flight movies consisted of many choices, since British Airlines basically has every type of show or movie you could want. I mean, their back catalog had these old classics and indie movies...I kind of sound like I'm doing an advertisement for British Airlines. If you want to pay me, British Airlines, get in touch. Anyways, during the night I watched Insomnia (the one with Al Pacino and Robin Williams, if there are two versions) and did not realize how ironic it was until it was over. By then, the irony had depreciated.

We arrived early (!) and it was raining. We got shuttles to the terminal and I went to immigration, where I stood in line for less than 5 minutes and had my passport looked at for less than 10 seconds. Easy as pie. I just had to be careful not to speak and reveal my true American identity, because then they would never let me into the country. Anyway, my bag came through fast, and then I literally turned around with my bag and saw the sign for the Heathrow Express. Oh, I hadn't met anyone else at the airport, but it turned out not to be a big deal. Good for me to do it myself, since I'm usually so lost in any city. It was 20 pounds for the Express, but the convenience was great. Got into Paddington, and it was then I had my first true 'fish out of water' moment. Lots of people going different directions, lots of signs pointing everwhere, and though I knew what I wanted, I didn't know where to start or exactly where to go. So I went to a ticket station, and tried to get a ticket for "Great Portland Street," whereupon it said it couldn't get me a ticket for that station. Then why list it, ticket machine, why list it at all? I walked around for a few more minutes trying not to look like a lost, aimlessly wandering tourist (I suspect I did not succeed) and then saw a big freaking sign that said "London Underground" over a set of staircases leading down.

Uttering an annoyed grunt, I went to the ticket stations down there, and finally got a one way to Great Portland Street. I'll get the Oyster Card, but at that moment I hadn't slept in a while, I was carrying heavy luggage, and I was surrounded by a large, jostling crowd, so time was a factor. But I got my tickets, found the Circle Line, and had my first of many battles with the London Underground. Why, London Underground, does the Circle Line Eastbound train take you to Baker Street from Paddington when the map has Paddington EAST of Baker Street? I assume I haven't mastered some sort of British bizarro logic, but I will. On the train, I started getting giddy at the fact that I was moving towards Great Portland Street, I had all of my stuff, I had succeeded!

Not quite, I exited the station and found myself in the middle of a large, busy intersection where, for whatever reason, the cars were on the wrong side of the road and there were no street signs. I was puzzled initially, until I saw that the British put their street signs on the sides of the buildings. I really want to make a point about how this is wrong, but it's about as arbitrary as putting them on poles, so touche, Britain bizarro logic.

Then I reached the flat, where I was shown up by a guy who marveled at my lack of luggage. Then I saw the flat, and it was beautiful, and on the fifth floor, and here are pictures because I love my readership and lack the necessary skills to describe things.

My room, but not my bed. My bed is only partially shown.

This is the full view of my bed. Fully stocked, and with a dresser to the right. I had already unpacked.

The shared bathroom. There is another one with a shower, and another one without a shower. Swanky.

Part one of my view. Doesn't do it great justice.

Part two: electric boogaloo

A little nook in the hallway. I like it because it has collected many books from previous residents. Plus, nook.

Now the good stuff. That's the living room; look at that TV! Free! Now for the dining half...

Dining room and other good view. But where will we prepare food to be eaten in the dining room, you query?

Here. Not pictured: the refrigerator and washing machine to the nook in the right. Sorry, I missed them when I went through taking pictures. But what's that to the left?!

The native flatmate, Torrey. One of them. I'll probably have pictures of the others as time goes on.

So, after the photo session we went to get phones, and I got a go phone with pay as you go with 10 pounds on it, and it all only cost me 15 pounds. I doubt I'll be using it outside of an emergency, since I can Skype. But it's good to have it. Then, I picked up some basic stuff and then the supermarket (Sainsbury's) where I picked up more basics for the next couple of days. Not too expensive, but I'm sure I can do better if I plan it. I will next time, today I just had to get something.

Rainy most of the day, but rain hasn't gotten old yet. It will soon. We're all pretty sure classes start next Monday, though we're not sure. We'll find out tomorrow. We haven't met anyone else from Grinnell, but we will tomorrow, supposedly. Anyway, I have to do some clerical work now, but I'll keep my masses of readers posted on my goings on. I hope this has been entertaining. You can probably tell how tired I am just from reading this, but don't judge. Crying baby.

Pre-departure

This blog is basically for people who know me and want to see and read about what I'm doing in London. I'll try and update as often as possible, and I'll include pictures if I remember to take them.

Also, I'm sorry about the title, I tried to think of something clever but then just decided to smash "London" and "Mandeville" together. To be fair, the cleverest thing I thought of before that was "London Dawg."

Since right now I'm not in London but in Nashville trying to pack, I'll get back to that.

Expect this level of focus for all my pictures

Hopefully the next entry, detailing my renewed battle with the travel industry, will be more interesting. I leave tomorrow evening from Atlanta. Until then.