Here we go!

Sunshine was neatly nestled in bed with me this morning when I woke up. Despite having cooler days in the fifties last week, it managed to hit eighty today. Something about the sunshine adds a new dimension to the cityscape. Suddenly I can see the imperfections in old stone buildings and the chimneys that sweep the sky while in stark contrast, new steel buildings gleam with some sort of youth. I'm still grappling with the history of the place. Seeing the old black cabs and the double decker buses makes it extremely easy to pretend it is the 1930's and I am merely walking down the street. But London's history goes way beyond that. It presupposes all modern ideas while encapsulating the most upbeat and bustling environment I have ever been in. Part of me feels my thoughts are very overdone, but I think I have to deal with them before I can truly appreciate the city.

I went to the Globe Theatre last night and saw a performance of As You Like It. I stood the entire time as the groundlings did in the 16th century. The ground had been cemented over, but it was easy to imagine the upset of the crowd during a poor performance and the dirt floor filled with crushed peanut shells. Halfway through the show, a plane flew overhead and that is when I started thinking about how London really is an amalgamation of old and new. Here I am watching a performance of Shakespeare where the accents are not being forced and the understanding of the text is self-evident, and all of a sudden I am pulled back to the real world. All in all, the show was fantastic. I've never enjoyed Shakesspeare more.

Classes started on Monday. They only meet once a week and each class is 2.5 hours. Lots of the other kids are surprised by the small size of each class and aren't used to discussion based courses. They are basically like UPS ones, so I will be fine. There will be quite a bit of reading, but other than that they shouldn't be anything I can't handle.

Tonight, we are going on a trip to an Ice Bar (everything is made of ice, that whole bit). I figured I couldn't miss out on it since there is only one in London and it is IES sponsored.

I've made some travel plans for the month. On Friday I am going to visit Bath which is where the Roman Baths are and Jane Austen lived there for awhile. I am going by train and it should be a nice little jaunt. Later in the month is a trip to Stonehenge and I am very excited to see both places.

On a side note, if you ever come to London you must experience Ben's Cookies. There is one right next to South Kensignton Underground Station and it was probably the best cookie I have ever had (Milk Chocolate Orange, if you were wondering).