The Week From Hell is Over

I've emerged from my biggest week of papers, tests, and the like. unscathed.. thank the Lord! Because of NYU deadlines to get grades by the third week into the term, every professor scheduled either a paper or an exam for this past week. Needless to say, the student body went nuts and we were screwed over with three 2,000 word essays, quizzes, etc. I had to write a paper on St. Paul's cathedral for architecture, a Charles Dickens analysis for literature, and a paper about the play Shun-kin for drama... but I did it, and I'm pretty pleased with the end result. I've always had a knack for banging out papers, so let's hope it goes over well with my teachers.

But because of all the work, it was impossible to update my blog as I would have liked... so let me try to recap the past week and a half!

Well, on Saturday the 21st I saw my first rugby game!! It was the Harlequins versus Gloucester, with the Harlequins being the beloved home team. Obviously, I knew absolutely nothing about the crazy sport of rugby, so I quickly wikipedia-ed the rules before I took off on the tube to get to the stadium. We had to buy a rail pass to Twickenham to get to the stadium, but once we maneuvered our way there, we were so impressed with the atmosphere. It wasn't the biggest stadium, but the fans were all waving flags and cheering and the Harlequin bear mascot was running around with all the little kids in the stands. Before long, I got the gist of the game and my friends and I have likened the sport to a mixture of soccer, football, cheerleading and hockey. It entails kicking, tackling, flipping and mounting. Also, the men have HUUUUGE quads, their legs are like tree trunks!! Here are some pictures of the game and the stadium (the Harlequins won in the end):








The next day (Sunday) I went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum right in Piccadilly Circus. I had been to the one in New York, but this one had lots of new and exciting exhibits that were all wonderfully weird. There was also this mirror maze that was literally comprised of over a thousand mirrors, and you had to try to maneuver your way out of it... not the easiest task, I'm pretty sure I collided with my reflection more than I'd like to admit. Afterwards I got dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and saw My Bloody Valentine in 3d at the local cinema (so disgusting! The blood and guts are even more disturbing when they're in taking form right in front of your face). Here are some pictures of all the aforementioned activities:

A ginormous sundae I got for dessert at the Rainforest Cafe.. no explanation needed!!

The crazy mirror maze!

Which is the real me? Hmm..

Me after that sundae! Actually, a replica of the fattest living man in the world. I forget how many kilograms he was, but it was a ridiculous amount.

A piece of the Berlin Wall.

Princess Diana made out of lint!


Made entirely of gumballs!

Tower Bridge, made of toothpicks!

World's biggest rocking chair!


That week, I basically locked myself up in my room and wrote my essays, all the while reading Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, which is 500 pages long, and verbose to a severely unhealthy level. Dickens got paid by the word back in his day, so he obviously took advantage and described everything to a ridiculous degree, taking 5 pages to describe brushing his teeth. I finally got finished with that, and wrote up all the essays. To celebrate the end of the week from hell, my Brit buddies and the girl gang all went out to dinner and went bowling on Thursday night in Leicester square. I hate to admit how terrible I am at bowling, but let's just say it took over three quarters of the frame to break 50. The Brits had no qualms about making fun of how terrible "us Yanks" are at bowling, and if this any indication of our athleticism they should have no problem beating us in soccer. Needless to say, I'm very eager to put them in their place, and we've been trying to find a good day to play a pickup game to settle this dispute once and for all.

Friday, my friends and I signed up on a list to get to go to the brand new Charles Darwin exhibit at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. It was huge and elaborate with tons of stuffed animals and lots of interesting hands-on exhibits about his studies and the way he developed "The Origin of the Species." He's a really groovy bloke, that Darwin.

Saturday, it was 60 degrees here in London! Katie Gaston and I took advantage of the glorious weather and walked around Upper Street running errands and got a bite to eat. That night, the girls all had an Ace Venture movie marathon and Cait baked a cake to commemorate the occasion, and we enjoyed laughing our arses off at Jim Carey's insanity, and indulged in some chocolate cake with vanilla icing... it made my life complete. We also made a trip to Trafalgar square and climbed up on the big lions!:

Trafalgar Square.

Mounting up on the beast...

Tada! Katie Gaston and I on the lion's back.
Cait and Katie Kocur.
Cait and I on the paws of the lion.

Hanging from its massive teeth!
Katie G and Cait in front of the pretty fountain.


Roomie picture!
Yesterday, I went back to the Natural History Museum to see the rest of the exhibits with Tom who had just got out of an interview for the gameshow "Total Wipeout!" It's this insane obstacle course show and if he's picked he gets to fly to Argentina for 6 days and star in an episode as one of the contestants... pretty dapper, I'd say. The building itself is gorgeous, and it was a great way to spend the evening. Then I ate lots of Mexican food at this awesome restaurant and walked around Trafalgar square and St. James's park and took some nightime pictures.

The inside of the museum with a big dinosaur and the like.

The outside of the museum, gorgeous!

St. James's park at night, right in from of Buckingham palace.

Buckingham Palace!

The Museum in Trafalgar square had a special Picasso exhibit going on, so they projected artwork by him up on the building. It looked awesome at night!



That brings me today! I went to my SHINE program at the local elementary school until 3, and worked with the 6 years (11 and 12 years old for the most part) and broke them up into reading groups and helped whoever needed a hand. It's really great getting immersed in the London education system, and the kids are a riot. They love my accent and treat me like a celebrity, and they always vie for my attention. I really like working with them, and I'm glad to be doing something productive and helpful during my time here. It makes me feel quite good, and it's my way of giving back to the city I've come to love so much.

It's already March.. I honestly cannot believe I've been here almost 2 months already. Everyone told me it would fly by, and now I know what they meant... although I hope so much it didn't have to. I know London will always be a most special place for me for the rest of my life, but what I wasn't counting on was how much London could actually bring out some of my best qualities, ones that weren't illuminated until I came here and was forced into a different culture and amongst so many different people. I've realized how well I'm able to interact and converse with strangers, and how organized I am when I'm forced to be. I really have to manage so much on my own while I'm here, and I surprised myself with how well I'm able to do that. I feel like I've gotten a taste of what real life is like, with real responsibilities and real grown up interactions with new people. They're skills I wouldn't be able to hone so well unless I did something like this, and for that I'm eternally grateful.

Well, I have class in about an hour and need to get my act together, but I hope this has gotten everyone up to speed about my goings-on.. and I'll be more regularly blogging now that school has eased off my back a little bit. Cheers!

British Term of the Day:
Stack it: To fall, trip, or otherwise embarrassingly teeter while walking. Similar to the American phrase "eat it." Example: Did you see that poor dame stack it while she tried to wipe food off her trousers?"