Lasy weekend my roomate went to Edinburgh, but since I'm going there in June, I decided not to tag along. Instead, some friends and I went to Chelsea and hung out there and on Saturday I went to a dance club with another friend.
This week has been busy and a lot of fun. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! It's already April 11th, which I cannot believe! Last Monday, I went to a performance of Kafka's Monkey. It was a very interesting one-(wo)man play based on a story by Franz Kafka. It was really interesting, and the actress was extremely talented. She has to portray an ape that had learned to walk and talk.
Something really interesting that I learned is that my host dad, Ed, was in a band in the 80's. He plays the guitar every once in awhile, but I he works in the film industry and I wasn't really aware of his musical talent. Apparently, his band sang the song "Turning Japanese"...and he has some awards hanging around the house. It's strange, but he doesn't really talk about it, unless we ask of course. Coolio!
On Tuesday, I tagged along with the modernist class when we went on a guided Jack-the-Ripper tour. Our German tour guide, Paul, was an excellent story teller. I learned more than I ever thought possible about Jack-the-Ripper and walked all over parts of London that I hadn't been before. It was so cool! On Wednesday, after my extremely long Contemporary Britain class, a group of us went to the Queen's Theatre in Piccadilly Circus and purchased half-price, student standby tickets to see Les Miserables. It was so amazing! London is one of the theatre capitals of the world, and the standards are very high. I was completely blown away, it was amazing!
On Thursday, my AAS class spent all day at Hampton Court, which used to be the summer home of several monarchs. It's a really beautiufl place and huge! We took a tour through the buildings and gardens, and then went through the hedge maze before the catching the train back home.
Since this weekend is a bank holiday, London is absolutely swarming with people and lots of the tube stations are closed for repairs. It's very inconvenient to us, but at least they didn't close our closest station at East Finchley, just everything north of us. It makes getting around the city really difficult though. We decided to visit the National Portrait Gallery near Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, and then we went to our friend Selena's house in Kensal Green because her host mom is away on holiday this weekend so we had a dinner, cheese, and wine party. On Saturday we went to the Portobello Street market, which is huge and really fun. Selena and I kept singing the song "Portobello Road" from the old Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I have to say though, none of things in the song were available for purchase...since I don't think Botticelli has come up with anything new in the recent past.
Today we are actually staying home for the rest of the day because we are having a delicious Easter dinner with out family. I hope you all have a fabulous Easter!
Here are a few pictures: Chelsea, Hampton Court, the Canals...
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