Greetings from London!
The weather has had its sunny
spots but, for the most part, it has been rainy and grey here. This has
obviously not come as a surprise to anyone...it being England and all.
Nevertheless it has been a bit of a pain at times.
After a long flight we arrived
at our residence at the London School for Economics at about ten o’clock in the
morning only to find out that our rooms would not be ready until three. We left
our luggage and wandered about Southwark for a number of hours like the Zombie
Apocolypse, every once in a while stopping to admire something vaguely
interesting. It was drizzly, it was wet, it was pretty much a bummer way to
start the trip. The kids were real troupers, I have to say, and didn’t
complain. I heard some whining at one point and was about to call the person on
it but I think it was me.
The next day we had our first
class and then spent the afternoon exploring parts of the city and visiting the
British Museum. This was the first time I had been back the BM since the new
dome and the extensive renovations. It was beautiful for the most part, but
they also moved the Rosetta Stone. For
generations you could look clearly upon the stone which was placed at a
forty-five degree angle for easy reading. Now it is in a glass case.
I remember when I first
visited the bust of Nefertiti at the Neus Museum in Berlin and commented on how
the Sun Queen gazes down the length of the museum to look upon the Greek personification
of the sun Helios. I am a sucker for great museum design. The Rosetta Stone,
the key to our understanding of the ancient Egyptian written word, is placed
predominantly in a class case with its lettered side facing....the gift shop
full of Rosetta Stone crap.
Shaking my head at the shame
I felt at this crass marketing ploy I proceeded to purchase a Rosetta Stone mug
and a Rosetta Stone memory stick. But I did it under protest.
I took the kids through the
Egyptian, Greek and Roman portions of the museum and rattled off what I knew.
This was a voluntary activity for them so they were not obliged to follow me.
Some trailed off rather quickly, but I was surprised that a good many of them
remained at my side, asking good questions. It is times like this where you
very much recognise the honour of being a teacher.
I couldn’t help but think of
the ten year old me who was forbidden to speak about ancient Egypt at the
dinner table because I just wouldn’t shut up about it.
While we were going through
the Greek section one of the kids asked me why we couldn’t see the Elgin
marbles. “But we did see them. Remember the room with the sculptures from the
pediment of the Parthenon that we discussed awhile ago?” “But, sir, there were
no marbles in that room I specifically looked!”
No. I didn’t laugh. But I
almost pooped my pants keeping it in.
The food at our residence is
very English: lacking in imagination and very filling. I have the choice of
eggs, eggs, eggs, potato pancakes (hash browns), sausages, bacon, eggs, deep
fried toast (I am NOT making that up), beans, eggs, chocolate croissants,
butter, and eggs. If I pay extra I can have an apple. I have basically eaten my
fair share of potato pancakes for a lifetime.
For dinner is usually pretty good, with your choice of vegetables of
corn or peas. Yay corn! I have had Yorkshire pudding, roast beaf, lamb, and
various forms of hamburger. I may be mistaken but I think chicken is illegal in
England and peas are the law.
Oh...and did I mention the
concept of mushy peas? Sweet Jesus, how the hell did these people every manage
to build and empire?
We took the kids to
Westminster Abbey, which generally creeped them out. They couldn’t get over the
fact that so many people were buried in the place. They had a point when they
noted that it sucked to be buried under a coffee shop where people sit on your
grave and bitch about the high cost of cappuccino.
One evening we went on the
London Eye. I have to admit I went as a reluctant participant. I have been
known to agree with Prince Charles’ position that the Eye was too dramatic a
change to the traditional London skyline. I also felt that it was a low rate
touristy thing to do.
However, I take it all back.
It is a sleek production. Our group of sixteen had a “room” of our own and we
spent the next thirty minutes or so watching the city open up in front of us.
The kids had a great time, photos were taken, and I absolutely enjoyed seeing
London from a totally new perspective.
It is very difficult to
achieve internet connections in this leg of the journey. We do not have access
to the wifi available at the residence because I suppose they think we are
going to break it or something. So, we have resorted to using the free wifi at
a nearby restaurant called Leon and the Starbucks next door. We are rarely
available, except for brief moments of ten or fifteen moments when these places
are open because we are either in class or doing some part of the itinerary.
When we have free time, these places are closed.
One time I resorted to
replying to an email from my employer while standing outside in the rain on a
closed patio while trying to keep my ipad dry.
So, this explains why this
first blog took awhile to arrive in your hands. Hopefully things will improve
in this department. I am told things will be better in Paris.
The day is drawing to a close
here and I must do some marking before bed check. We have another Global
Journeys tour joining us today which is made up of eleven boys. My girls have
already started putting on the makeup and sexy clothes so I have to be diligent
for the next few days in order to avoid breeding.
After all, pouring rain, many
miles from home and a course involving poetry is a dangerous mix.
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