Sing To Me, Angel of Music

SATURDAY
Kira, Brittany and I turned Saturday morning into Saturday market morning. We trekked out to Camden, hearing that it was worth the trip. Well, it kinda wasn’t. After going to Portobello Market and Borough Market, I think Camden was a disappointment (a first here in London). Highlight: Nutella, banana and strawberry crepe. Mmmm.
In the afternoon, Annie and I tried the whole tube thing on a Saturday. That turned into a disaster. All we wanted was to go to the National History Museum but due to closures and re-routing our trip, I got turned around and so it ended up taking us an hour to travel both ways using complex bus and tube sand walking systems. Blah. The museum was kinda cool, though, and we got Ben’s Cookies so that eased the pain. There was a dinosaur exhibit that I thought would be cool to check out. The bones were cool, but then I spotted the animated dinosaurs. After seeing the T-rex, I was out of there faster than you can say Stegosaurus.
Annie and I then tried out the yummy hole-in-the wall kebabs place on Queensway that my roommates raved about. It was really good.
SUNDAY
Church at Walthamstow, again. Sarah and I walked into primary and a sister started announcements and relaying the agenda for the day. She announced that after the talk, the BYU students would be doing singing time. News to us. Haha well good thing both Sarah and I have plenty of musical background to help us out. Thanks for the piano lessons, Mom and Dad, it’s gotten me through a lot of surprises. I also got to teach the older primary class. They are rowdy, to say the least, and so I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through to them while trying to maintain a happy environment. So I brought pictures on my laptop to show to them throughout the lesson. They sort of were quiet for those and so I think the lesson went well. On our way out the door, a sister took us to the kitchen and said that she had food for us. We were like, “Whaa? We didn’t ask for this. This is too much.” But she wouldn’t have it and informed us that they always have provided food every month for the BYU students and missionaries. I couldn’t get over it! I consider this a tender mercy. To top it off, it was cooked by African women, so it was delicious.
There’s a program, you could call it, here in the centre called kitchen crew. Pretty self-explanatory, we help prepare and clean-up meals. We do it for a week twice while we’re here. This week is my week and, let’s just say, we’re the best kitchen crew yet.
This evening, Sarah, Annie and I prepared for Dublin!! Fun fun things planned.
MONDAY
Today was the typical class and take a run in Hyde Park day. Except that evening wasn’t a typical evening. It was a PHANTOM OF THE OPERA evening. From the minute the auctioneer walked onstage, I was at the edge of my seat, waiting for the music to start and the chandelier to emerge. Instant goosebumps that didn’t leave for the whole show. We were only a row from the very top of the top balcony, but that means that we could see the whole production. Probably my favorite musical, now.

.:Phantom of the Opera:.
TUESDAY, Gromit. Porridge!
DAY TRIP DAYYYYY. Yes, they’re usually on Wednesdays, but everyone is leaving for their extended weekend this Wednesday, so we did the trip a day early. Today, we went to Runnymeade, the birthplace of Democracy. This field was where the Magna Carta was signed on 15 June 1215 and King John voluntarily let his powers be checked by the law.

.:Runnymeade (Magna Carta):.
The next stop was Windsor Castle, smack dab in the middle of this cute little shopping area. I’m not sure who of my readers has been to Windsor, but I’ll give an overview. It’s the longest-running castle in use (it’s still in use today but the Queen, but since she’s at her OTHER palace in Buckingham, it’s open to tourists). We got to see Princess Mary’s dollhouse, this mansion of a dollhouse decorated to scale. We also saw the State Apartments, where the royalty live and socialize. My favorite room was the hall where the Queen meets with important guests. The ceilings are gold, the chandeliers are dazzling and the wall décor was impressive. On display during this time were some paintings from the Royal Collection, paintings that royalty have commissioned or collected over the years.

.:some tourists at Windsor Castle:.
On the castle grounds was St. George’s Cathedral, the cathedral that houses the Order of the Garter. The Order is an elite group consisting of men who are only picked by the King or Queen to be in it. It started when a knight stooped down to pick up a young lady’s garter when it slipped down her leg. To those around who judged him, he stated: “Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense”, meaning “Shamed be the person who thinks evil of it”. Today, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and 24 other men are a part of it. I’m not quite sure what they do, but you can Wikipedia that. Anyways, these knight’s coat of arms are on their seats in the choir, so I got to see that. Another important thing about this cathedral is the people who are buried here: King Henry VIII and Queen Jane , King Charles I (I don’t know if his head’s with him), King George V and Queen Mary, King George VI and the Queen Mother Elisabeth, King Edward VII, and King Henry VI and Queen Alexandra.

.:St. George's right as the sun came out:.
Last stop for the day was Stokey Poges, a little town with a little church where Thomas Gray is buried beside his mother. Gray wrote “Elegy Written in a Church Courtyard”, and we went to that church courtyard and saw the memorial. The church has in its possession the surrounding acres of land, so it was turned into a beautiful memorial park. Hollywood tidbit: across the lake from this memorial was a golf house that has been in a few films, including as a casino in James Bond’s “Goldfinger”.

.:yes, it really is called that:.

.:the church memorial park (ignore the cone haha):.

.:Roomies at the memorial park (Leslie included!!):.
-->Arrin, me, Laura M., Anna, Annie, Brittany, Leslie, Kira <3
Good day, great pictures.

Artsy Fartsy

Friday, the sun decided to come out for an afternoon, so I took a walk through Hyde Park and take pictures! I'm not sure if my pictures can fully prove just how beautiful I think this park is. It's a favorite place of mine, for sure.
Here are some for your enjoyment.


crazy water fowl





Plus a few others not from the Park...

Dover Castle


British Museum


British Museum

Keep Calm and Carry On

WEDNESDAY
ONE WEEK UNTIL DUBLIN!!
Wednesday Weekly Wondrous (W)Day-Trip. Today we went to Dover (cue Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover”…yes, I had it stuck in my head allll dayyy). We went to the Dover Military Base on the white cliffs of Dover. Fun fact#1: the white cliffs of Dover are white because of the skeletal remains of plankton algae. We went to the four miles of secret underground tunnels where the Brits were stationed during WWII. They acted as underground hospital grounds, barracks, mess halls, and communication bases. This was also where D-Day was planned and executed. When the war was over, it acted as headquarters for preparation in case there was a nuclear attack on England. Fun Fact #2: Dover is the closest distance between England and France across the channel (~20 miles). Yes, I could see France from where we were. The coast was beautiful.

.:Anna & I @ Dover:.

.:Dover Castle with Sarah:.
Right next door was Dover Castle and I don’t know the significance of it haha. But at the top of the tall tower you could see all around the countryside.
We then went to Canterbury to see the cathedral and St. Augustine’s. Built mainly to be a burial place for royalty and the Archbishops of Canterbury, St. Augustine’s was a church that was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries.

.:Roomies @ St. Augustine Abbey:.
According to Dr. Cooper, Canterbury Cathedral is about equivalent to our Temple Square in SLC. In BritLit, we read “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, which was about pilgrims making a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Way back when, St. Thomas, the Archbishop of Canterbury and of England, was murdered in the cathedral because of a “misunderstanding” between himself and his friend the King. He was buried there in the cathedral and people would take pilgrimages out to his grave to be healed or to ask for specific things. Supposedly St. Thomas could perform miracles during his lifetime, so pilgrims wanted to take advantage of this power. St. Thomas isn’t buried there anymore, but a memorial stands where he was murdered.

.:Canterbury Cathedral:.
We had a few hours until the bus left for home, so Annie, Laura and I walked around the cute little shopping area by the cathedral.
When we got home, we watched “Phantom of the Opera” to prepare us for the musical. I’m really really really excited to see it.
I love Wednesdays in London.
THURSDAY
Post-class time, me and a few girls went to try to get tickets for “Phantom” for the same night, but there were only bad seats left, so we’re going Monday. AHH!!
After dinner, Annie and I braved Primark. Practically everyone has gone to Primark in our program and I needed a party dress, so we had to check it out. Primark is scary. It’s like Forever 21 on steroids with about twice the amount of shoppers. I got some cute stuff and it was all cheap, so that’s an advantage.
FRIDAY
Lovely London Day-Trip Day at The Banqueting House on Whitehall. We had an hour before they let us in, so Annie, Kira, Brittany and I took a walk through St. James’ Park. We got some peanuts from an old guy and we fed a squirrel. The animals in this park are a bit nicer than the ones in Hyde Park. At the end of the park is Buckingham Palace. The flag was up, which I think means that the queen is at home. I’ve never been so close to royalty in my life. What happens if you run into one and you’re not a UK citizen? Are you supposed to curtsy or bow or shake hands or smile and not make eye contact? I honestly don’t know what to do if I run into royalty. It’s weird to think about.

.:Buckingham Palace:.
The Banqueting House was where poor King Charles I was executed because Oliver Cromwell wanted no more royalty reign. It’s the first building in England built in the Renaissance style. The ceiling in the great hall was the focal point of the building, with elaborate paintings influenced by mythology done by Reubens.
Then it was time for another trip to the awesome British Museum. May favorite thing from this time around was the ancient Egyptian stuff. I also got to touch a really old coin in the money room and old Roman tablets used to pay taxes.
Friday night was SO MUCH FUN. There was a YSA (young single adults) dance. When we got there, it was pretty much just the Americans, but gradually other people started showing up. Even if it had just been us, it would still have been really fun. It was hilarious when “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus came on because the Americans just started freaking out and rocking out. We definitely didn’t try to blend in haha. The people in the program with me are so fun.

"If a double decker bus, crashed into us, to die by your side is such a heav-en-ly way to die"

Here's a leftover from last post:

.:Southall get-up:.

SUNDAY
The kids were a little rambunctious today, but church was good anyways.
Highlight of my day was eating that delectable ice cream cake at dinner. I have never been disappointed with any of the meals here. Good thing Hyde Park is nearby so that I can avoid the weight gain foretold by everyone’s bunk beds. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m walking around everywhere so that I’m starving by the time that dinner comes around or what it is, but I love the food here. I think it was my mom who told me that the food was really bland and gross, but I think things have changed since then.
Here are some favorites that I’ve had so far (notice that it’s mostly chocolate):
-Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bars
-gelato at Gelato Mio (cookies and cream and milk chocolate)
-Gifto’s Indian food
-DIGESTIVES (seriously, I could eat a whole pack in a day if I wanted)
-greek wrap at Borough Market
-dark chocolate chip and cherry muffin from Borough Market
-fresh-squeezed OJ and bacon from Café Diana’s
-Frog’s frozen yogurt
-McVite’s muffins
-Hob Nobs
-yogurt flavors: banana and chocolate chunk, strawberry, strawberry shortcake, vanilla, cocoa/vanilla crunch
-BEN’S COOKIES
-sweet corn from Southall
-anything with Nutella on it
-Rigaleto con Pollo from Zizzi’s
MONDAY
After class (everything happens after class…) since those of us in BritLit had read Oliver Twist, all of the group went to “Oliver!”, the musical version of the book. I thought it was light-hearted and fun, but it wasn’t my favorite. I liked most of the parts in the book and the musical followed it pretty well, but it wasn’t like, let’s say, Les Mis.
TUESDAY
Class. Then Annie and I finished an assigned walk through the not-as-nice area of London. Not much to discuss on that point. But when we were walking back to the tube, we found this cute little shopping area. A common goal of Annie and mine since we got to London has been to find cute boots. Annie tried on some cute boots that I was thinking were cute, but I wasn’t so sure about them. She thought they were too big and so she told me to try them on. It was love at first step. Mission accomplished.
After a bit of homework, a few of us took a break to try out Patesserie Valerie, a cute little dessert place. I got a chocolate mousse thing that was SO good. Add that to the list.

taking a dip in the melting pot

*Note: Sorry for the three big posts in a row. I’m just trying to catch up. Oh, and sorry if my posts are little lengthy/detailed, I just have all of this information being soaked up into my head everyday and I feel like I should put it somewhere or else it’ll go to waste. So my blog has turned into my memories box and you all have the privilege to dip your head in my Pensive (Harry Potter…).
THURSDAY
Annie and I had a repeat DP in the laundry room. I feel a tradition forming.
After dinner, we trekked to the lovely British Museum in the rain. I love that place. This time, Annie and I went to a collections room from George III and this Sloane guy. I want the cool things that I acquire from my life to end up in a cool museum someday. Bucket list.
We watched “The Holiday” that night, which is probably a bad idea because 35 girls in one centre + only 4 boys in the program + dating not allowed for 4 months + Jude Law = emotional girls. Yep.
FRIDAY
DAY OFF!!! I woke up for breakfast, read a little in bed, went running in Hyde Park, wasn’t ready for the day until 12. Fabulous. The roomies originally planned to have afternoon tea at Kensington Palace then take a tour of the Palace, but then it started raining on us and we were cold and the tea place was closed until the next day and we were hungry. So we went to Zizzi’s Ristorante and had some fantastic Italian food given to us by a cute Italian waiter. They took forver to take our orders, to give us the food, to give us the dessert menu, and to give us the check, so we ended up sitting and talking for 2.5 hours, or so. It was a lot of fun and we avoided the hail and rain.
That night, we wanted to leave the centre but we needed to be studious, so we found this cool Starbucks off of Oxford Street and did some reading there.
SATURDAY
…is a special day...The whole group did a trip for our Culture and Communities class and took a trip to Northern India and Pakistan, aka Southall, England. I’ve never really been exposed to the Indian culture before, so I had a bit of a culture shock, but in a good way. It was one of those just immerse-yourself-an- absorb-all-that-you-can days. First stop: the Sikh Guduwara. Upon entering their temple, you must take off of your shoes, cover your heads and wash your hands out of respect. I used a scarf that everyone said made me look Polish, so I kinda stood out more. How we greet everyone there is: “Sat sri akalji”, or God is the Highest and may he be with you, or something close to that. The Main Hall is where their Holy Scripture is, written by each of the ten Great Gurus. It’s elevated and covered by a tent out of respect. They don’t believe in worshipping idols, but they instead pay respect to the scriptures that they consider sacred by touching their heads to the ground in front of the scriptures. When you walk out, you put both of your hands out to receive a type of mixture of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. Sikhs do this every day whenever they have time and forever long they have time for. I really thought it was cool how in every Sikh temple throughout the world, they serve food during the day for free, feeding thousands out of charity. On top of that, the food is good.
Something that I respect the Sikhs for is the fact that they put a big emphasis on families and chastity. They have a lot of respect for their temple and for how they worship God and all of the people we came in contact with were just sweet and welcoming.
The group also had to individually go to another Sikh temple along with a Hindu temple. The Hindu temple started out the same, with the removal of shoes and the hand washing, but it was an entirely new experience.
We had the liberty of wandering around Southall for a few hours, so I got a henna tattoo and some sweet corn. Then we ate some really awesome Indian food at Gifto’s. I physically have a hard time handling spicy food, but it was so good, so I was suffering and not suffering at the same time.
I'm really happy about the diverse cultures that I'm able to fully experience here in London. Apparently, only about 52% of our area is native born, so we're surrounded by culture. And I love it.
Jolly good, mate.

Look at that peacoat, tell me he ain't broke

MONDAY
After classes, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. After seeing Young Victoria, I’m in love with anything that has to do with Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. We’ve done so many museums that after awhile I go: Huh, that’s cool. Then move on. A few things, though, still catch my eye and I stand there for awhile and think about how cool this place is. My favorite thing about this museum was probably these cool sensor things in the pond in the courtyard. They show a video pixel image of you when you walk by them. Pretty cool.
That night, Anna, Annie, Arrin, Karalyn, Laura, Leslie and I got standby tickets to see Les Miserables (bless you, international student ID cards). I saw it recently in Oregon done by Broadway Rose, but I had forgotten the plot and the music a little bit, so it was like just seeing it for the first time. And what an awe-inspiring “first” experience it was! I love love love love musicals. Love.
THE TIME BETWEEN MONDAY AND TUESDAY
I had this dream where there was this annoying ringing sound that really bugged me and I wanted it to stop. I wake up to Arrin saying: “Guys. Get up. We gotta get out of here, now.” It was the fire alarm. If we were in a real fire, I would have just slept right through it, I’ve discovered. Arrin saved us all. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a real fire, just the lady who lives in our building shut her kitchen door with the oven on and open. It got hot enough to set off the alarm at 2 in the morning. Oh, the adventures at the London Centre.
TUESDAY
We went to the Sir John Soane Museum. Correction: We experienced the Sir John Soane Museum. This renowned architect collected this mass amount of stuff throughout his life. From pediments to statues, paintings to a sarcophagus, he’s got it all. In his will, he wrote that he wanted his house left just the way it was and to open it up as a museum. His dying wishes were fulfilled. It’s so packed full of stuff that we had to put our bags in other bags so we don’t carry it on our arms and knock things over. Intense.
WEDNESDAY
On this travel outside of London day, we went to Brighton Royal Pavilion. This is where George IV built an elaborate palace out of a humble farm house. And when I say elaborate, I mean elaborate. He had John Nash style with an Asian influence design with golds and yellows and reds and dragons and pagodas. Very cool for a design junkie like me. The dining room had this MASSIVE chandelier held to the ceiling by a dragon breathing fire and cascaded down with crystals and smaller dragons. My favorite room was the music room. The décor was daunting. Another very large chandelier came down from a gold-plated dome. The carpet was lush and the wall painting were scenes from Asia. That’s not the half of it. George went all out.
Whilst in London, I enjoyed seeing the Atlantic Ocean from Brighton Pier. That’s the second place in London where I would live.
Being “queen” of the Culture Community, I got to go to the front of the bus and give a speech about Battle Abbey and the Battle of Hastings on the way there.

Let me enlighten you.

On 14th October, 1066, the Normans went up against the English in Hastings during the battle that concluded the Norman Conquest in England. The Normans won when Kind Harold of England was killed by an arrow going through his eye. Gnarly. Pope Alexander (III?) told the people that they should build a church so that they could pay penance for how many people they killed in the war. The High Altar was built over the spot where Harold was killed on the field in Hastings. Then the poor church was destroyed during the time when King Henry VIII decided to dissolve the monasteries since he became the head of the Church of England. So all that’s left, all that we saw, were two walls and the basement. The countryside was so beautiful and peaceful. A breath of fresh air outside of the inner city London. There were some random sheep on the battlefield and so, of course, Kellen wanted to herd them.



.:Brighton Pier:.



The next stop is almost not worth mentioning. Ok, it was a cute little town where the accents were really thick and the streets were made of cobblestone, so I should give it more credit. Rye’s the name, quaint’s the game. I ate my first English pie mmmm.
I love the countryside probably more than the city. Well, no, there are pluses and minuses for each. But I really love the country. It really felt like the England that you see in Jane Austen movies.
I kinda like it here.

OPPPAAA!!

THURSDAY
After classes a few of us girlies walked to Hyde Park, a favorite place, to feed the ducks. Bad plan. I stopped to take a picture of the pond with the birds and I turned around to see a horde of hungry, ferocious birds walking towards me. I felt like Deborah in “Night of the Living Dead”. No joke. I look over to see some of the girls standing on the bench throwing bread to hundreds of huddled birds. They had to escape by jumping off the back of the bench. And we ran for it. And they followed. The birds here aren’t afraid of anything and so they will fly as close as possible and make you shriek and duck for your life.
FRIDAY
London Study Day!! Today, we waltzed out into the rain towards Westminster Abbey. You’d think that I’d get sick of seeing churches since they all have the same structure and idea. But they are so different and interesting in their own way. Westminster Abbey was cool because of the people buried there. It’s stuffed full with tombs and memorials. Included among this array: Issac Newton, Darwin, lots of kings and queens (Mary Queen of Scots, William the Conqueror, Elisabeth I, etc), Handel, Geoffrey Chaucer… This is also where the coronation chair is located since this is where the coronations take place.
The group went to another favorite place of mine: The National Gallery.
That night after dinner, we went shopping down by Oxford Circus with the girls. We hit up Gelato Mio (again) afterwards. Some of the people here are really in love with Gelato Mio. Like me.
SATURDAY
This is another reason why Annie and I are friends: our dialogue Friday night…
Annie: “Yeah, let’s go running in the morning. What time did you want to get up for that?”
Me: “Uhhh, I want to sleep in, so whenever I wake up.”
A: “Ok, around when do you think that will be?”
M: “Uhhh I dunno probably around ten…? That’s probably when I’m going to set my alarm. We’ll see, though, I’m pretty tired.”
A: “ok…well I might want to get up before then, but yeah let’s not go too late.”
Saturday morning=I was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 9 am and Annie slept until 10 am. Haha, I love you Anne Spackman.
Annie was originally going to go to London without me, but now I’m here with her and we pretty much own London together. Something that I love doing here is when Annie and I take turns playing and singing; one will play and sing the easy part, one will sing the harder part, then we switch. I’m so relieved that there’s a piano here. Not just for my sake, but because of the fact that there are SO many talented pianists here. We compare and talk music and you can hear the piano throughout the whole centre whenever anyone plays.
Anyways, so Annie and I went on an accidental 4+ mile run today.  It was a good run, as usual. In the afternoon, we went to the British Museum, a fav of mine, and saw some legit mummies and sarcophagususss.

:.British Museum:.
Get what’s so awesome about studying in London: we went on a walk through London for homework purposes. Really. We are assigned to walk through London then write about how we feel about what we saw. I’m thinking that Brother Shuler is going to get sick of me being so repetitious in my papers…”I love London a lot I love London a lot I love London a lot I love…”
On our “Walk of the Scholars” we saw the University of London, where Darwin lived, and the British Library. We then paid a visit to Platform 9-and-three-quarters at King’s Cross Station. Ever since we got here and on the tube maps I see King’s Cross Station, I’ve been dying to go. We must’ve looked like hardcore tourists because a man asked us: “’ello, ah’ve goht a question for ya. Ah you possibly looking for plahtform nihne and three quartahs?” (best written representation of a British accent ha)
Coincidentally, when we got back, people were watching Harry Potter 6. Can’t pass that up, of course.
Since I’ve been at college, my grandpa has sent me and my roommates pizza every once and awhile during the school year. How sweet is he? We were talking before I left for London and he was joking about how it’s going to be difficult to send pizza to me in another country. So when I got an email Friday from him about receiving a surprise around 6 to 6:30 on Saturday, I didn’t think it could be pizza. It was pizza. I can’t believe him. And since I have about 7 roommates here in London, I kept it all for myself and Annie hee hee hee.
SUNDAY
I love Sundays here. Since I live with the same 40-something people practically every hour of every day, I don’t get very much Michelle time. Which can be problematic since I need my space sometimes. Sundays, everyone leaves for church early except for only a few people, so the centre’s quiet and I get the bathroom to myself.
Church was way good. I played the piano for Primary and sat in for the older class. The primary is way small. Actually the ward is way small. There’s probably ten to fifteen kids total each week. WAY different than the Meridian Park mass ward.

.:Me, Sarah, & Laura coming home from church:.