(no subject)
I have been really, really horrible about keeping you updated on my time in England. Whenever I can, I try to journal on a Word doc and save it in a special folder on my desktop, but now there are so many random entries that it would be just confusing to try to upload them all onto livejournal!
I just got back from Bath, the famous city in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and Persuasion! I declared earlier that I would like to retire in Scotland... I retract that statement and instead would like to retire in Bath! It was a beautiful Roman city built around the only hot springs in Britain. The Roman civilization was very cultured and bathing was a social activity. Bath rose and fell in popularity... but it peaked during the Georgian period, which was when Jane Austen stayed there for a few years.
This morning, we had the opportunity to visit the Jane Austen Centre, where we learned about her life and her stay in Bath. We also saw some of the costumes of the era (more specifically, costumes from some of the BBC films). From the giftshop, I bought a small printed parchment of a prayer written by Jane Austen and a little postcard with quotes from Pride and Prejudice for my mom.
I’m very determined to bring my mom to the UK at the next opportunity that arises. I think she would appreciate it. There is a certain mold of people who can really feel touched by the culture here. These are the people with quiet souls who can spot the romance and poetry in life. My mom is one of them. She introduced me to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. She taught me to enjoy the classics, like Gone with the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Little Women. She showed me how to buy good quality earrings at the jewelry counter and examine the soles of pretty shoes for durability and comfort. She fits the mold. I know I’m reading into stereotypes, but I’ve met a lot of people on this trip who are like us. Of course, I’ve also met a lot of people who… aren’t… which continues to astonish me. After watching this fantastic performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the London Globe Theater, I asked a couple of girls what they thought of it. “I thought it was a waste of my life,” they said. “The most boring two hours. Should have gone clubbing instead.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. You can go clubbing any day you want back at home, but to be here and to feel and taste the rich history and experience it all firsthand… that’s something special!
There are only two weeks left in the program, and I intend to make the most of the time I have left here. I've been doing that by jumping at every chance to take walks around town after dinner, having tea with friends at local cafes, walking around the River Cam, and taking plenty of pictures everywhere I go. Last week I went punting for the first time, which was really exciting. We took a route with less people and rowed down the River Cam, getting tangled in reeds and willow trees everywhere we went. We ducked under bridges, sang DIsney songs (from Little Mermaid and Pocohantas) embarassingly badly and enjoyed a beautiful summer day that was free of rain (which we've been blessed with very often this summer).
This week will be a little busier, because finals are coming up next week and we'll have to get all of the studying out of the way before this weekend, because we'll be taking a trip to London. I have a big term paper and a movie script to write as well. I think it will be fun, though. We'll finally be able to experience the true Cambridge University experience--and even then, it'll only be a little sample, because Cambridge students work about twenty times harder with huge papers for every class due each week and other projects all over the place.
I should take the time to talk about my favorite course: Film Studies. The professor started the film program in Cambridge University, and before that, he started film programs in four other universities in the country. He's quite reknown for his work, and it really shows in the lessons. I've never been a huge fan of class discussions, because I feel like the professor can impart much more wisdom than the students. I take on the attitude of "Shut up and let the teacher talk". But with this professor, you can contribute the most ridiculous things in the world, and he will listen to you and rephrase it back to the class and it will sound like the most intelligent thing you have ever heard. I am constantly scribbling in my notebook because I want to savor every word he says. He is that great.
The class is all about immigration in the UK, which I think is a very interesting subject because it touches upon areas that I constantly study about in my sociology courses back in the States. We watch low budget, well-made documentary-like indie films. These films are all on how immigrants travel to Britain for a better future, but fail to find it. It's rather funny because we travel to Britain with a presupposed idea of romanticism and beauty, and we are really not all that different from these immigrants. Taking this course, I like to think, pulls me back down to earth when my head is so stuck up in the clouds, thanks to the tea, picnics, and walks by the river. It reminds me that Britain is a country with both good and bad aspects, much like all places in the world, and that not everybody who lives here is as happy as I'd like to believe they all are.
Overall, I have been really content in this trip. I probably learn more about the history of Europe in one weekend trip than I did in an entire quarter back in high school. Plus I have met some of the coolest people here. I already told you about the girl who knows Matt LeBlanc... she's also a fencer on her school team and she used to be a professional golfer, but chose college instead of advancing her career. There's another girl who is a model and wants to enter the fashion industry, specifically transforming clothes from the runway to everyday wear. This other girl wants to become a filmmaker and she has been compiling the most amazing videos of random and significant shots of the trip so far. She's also a talented pianist and singer/songwriter and she led worship for a few of us on Friday. I'm almost regretful that I don't have more time with these people so I could get to know them better.
I'm going to spend the rest of the evening uploading pictures, so keep an eye out for them on Facebook! More later! Cheers!
I just got back from Bath, the famous city in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and Persuasion! I declared earlier that I would like to retire in Scotland... I retract that statement and instead would like to retire in Bath! It was a beautiful Roman city built around the only hot springs in Britain. The Roman civilization was very cultured and bathing was a social activity. Bath rose and fell in popularity... but it peaked during the Georgian period, which was when Jane Austen stayed there for a few years.
This morning, we had the opportunity to visit the Jane Austen Centre, where we learned about her life and her stay in Bath. We also saw some of the costumes of the era (more specifically, costumes from some of the BBC films). From the giftshop, I bought a small printed parchment of a prayer written by Jane Austen and a little postcard with quotes from Pride and Prejudice for my mom.
I’m very determined to bring my mom to the UK at the next opportunity that arises. I think she would appreciate it. There is a certain mold of people who can really feel touched by the culture here. These are the people with quiet souls who can spot the romance and poetry in life. My mom is one of them. She introduced me to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. She taught me to enjoy the classics, like Gone with the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Little Women. She showed me how to buy good quality earrings at the jewelry counter and examine the soles of pretty shoes for durability and comfort. She fits the mold. I know I’m reading into stereotypes, but I’ve met a lot of people on this trip who are like us. Of course, I’ve also met a lot of people who… aren’t… which continues to astonish me. After watching this fantastic performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the London Globe Theater, I asked a couple of girls what they thought of it. “I thought it was a waste of my life,” they said. “The most boring two hours. Should have gone clubbing instead.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. You can go clubbing any day you want back at home, but to be here and to feel and taste the rich history and experience it all firsthand… that’s something special!
There are only two weeks left in the program, and I intend to make the most of the time I have left here. I've been doing that by jumping at every chance to take walks around town after dinner, having tea with friends at local cafes, walking around the River Cam, and taking plenty of pictures everywhere I go. Last week I went punting for the first time, which was really exciting. We took a route with less people and rowed down the River Cam, getting tangled in reeds and willow trees everywhere we went. We ducked under bridges, sang DIsney songs (from Little Mermaid and Pocohantas) embarassingly badly and enjoyed a beautiful summer day that was free of rain (which we've been blessed with very often this summer).
This week will be a little busier, because finals are coming up next week and we'll have to get all of the studying out of the way before this weekend, because we'll be taking a trip to London. I have a big term paper and a movie script to write as well. I think it will be fun, though. We'll finally be able to experience the true Cambridge University experience--and even then, it'll only be a little sample, because Cambridge students work about twenty times harder with huge papers for every class due each week and other projects all over the place.
I should take the time to talk about my favorite course: Film Studies. The professor started the film program in Cambridge University, and before that, he started film programs in four other universities in the country. He's quite reknown for his work, and it really shows in the lessons. I've never been a huge fan of class discussions, because I feel like the professor can impart much more wisdom than the students. I take on the attitude of "Shut up and let the teacher talk". But with this professor, you can contribute the most ridiculous things in the world, and he will listen to you and rephrase it back to the class and it will sound like the most intelligent thing you have ever heard. I am constantly scribbling in my notebook because I want to savor every word he says. He is that great.
The class is all about immigration in the UK, which I think is a very interesting subject because it touches upon areas that I constantly study about in my sociology courses back in the States. We watch low budget, well-made documentary-like indie films. These films are all on how immigrants travel to Britain for a better future, but fail to find it. It's rather funny because we travel to Britain with a presupposed idea of romanticism and beauty, and we are really not all that different from these immigrants. Taking this course, I like to think, pulls me back down to earth when my head is so stuck up in the clouds, thanks to the tea, picnics, and walks by the river. It reminds me that Britain is a country with both good and bad aspects, much like all places in the world, and that not everybody who lives here is as happy as I'd like to believe they all are.
Overall, I have been really content in this trip. I probably learn more about the history of Europe in one weekend trip than I did in an entire quarter back in high school. Plus I have met some of the coolest people here. I already told you about the girl who knows Matt LeBlanc... she's also a fencer on her school team and she used to be a professional golfer, but chose college instead of advancing her career. There's another girl who is a model and wants to enter the fashion industry, specifically transforming clothes from the runway to everyday wear. This other girl wants to become a filmmaker and she has been compiling the most amazing videos of random and significant shots of the trip so far. She's also a talented pianist and singer/songwriter and she led worship for a few of us on Friday. I'm almost regretful that I don't have more time with these people so I could get to know them better.
I'm going to spend the rest of the evening uploading pictures, so keep an eye out for them on Facebook! More later! Cheers!