"Konnichiwa!" said the chicken

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I am writing my inaugural post from my new apartment for the fall, or shall I say "condo"? :) (So obviously it took me longer to move in here than I predicted in my last post.)

I have been staying at Erin's house for the past week or so while I was in the process of getting everything out of her crawl space and moving it to my new room, plus working 40 hours a week. It has been sad to have Erin and her family out of town, but it was kind of nice to get to move on my own time (meaning, I didn't have to do it all in one exhausting day...) and I had somewhere to stay while doing so.

Staying at Erin's by myself was an adventure to say the least. One time I ended up at my coworker (Mindy)'s house. Then I slept at Erin's 3-4 nights by myself. Last night I was going to stay there, but there was a howling wind that went through the house and then the rain, thunder, and lightning started, and I drove to my brother's house. Unfortunately because of BYU's honor code, I couldn't stay with him. So, after debating whether or not to call someone I know, I decided *duh!* I have an apartment/bedroom that I might as well go stay in- there are other people who live there, so I won't be alone (which was really my worry.)

So I stayed my first night here last night. Because it's the beginning of fall, there were people outside until about 11 talking, etc. but they finally calmed down and I fell asleep pretty early, though I was awakened at about 3 am by lots of lightning and thunder and I was glad I didn't try to brave it at Erin's that night.

While staying at Erin's, I had an evening ritual which I sort of wrote about before. I tried to get there before it got dark (yes, Kyle made fun of me for this...) and would then go around the house checking all the doors and closets before turning off the lights, closing doors, and going downstairs. I'd turn on the TV so the silence wouldn't freak me out. And then I'd pack my overnight bag- everything I would need if I got scared and had to bolt out the front door at a moment's notice, with time only to grab my keys, phone, purse, and duffle bag. Of course, if I was really scared, I probably would not think to grab the duffle bag, but that's besides the point. Then I'd lay down on the couch, turn off the lights, watch TV until I was really exhausted, and then turn it off and quickly roll over and try to sleep. This worked pretty well.

Yes, I am afraid of the dark. And I am still somewhat afraid of thunderstorms at night. Yes, I'm 20 years old. I have come to terms with this, so judge me all you want! I am a bona fide chicken!

On Friday night, Katie (my roommate from Fr. and So. years) slept over and we ate Wendy's and caught up on everything that's been happening in our oh-so-exciting lives. It was fun.

Yesterday Sara (from London!) came over and we hung around. She was exhausted and it was hot and I was boring, so our visit wasn't all that exciting. But it was nice to see a London face again! I miss London so much!

Anyway. New Student Orientation was Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week. It is extremely exhausting, but I love getting to meet the new students and do all the BYU things. It is kind of nice to start off each school year with all the inspirational (though somewhat cheesy) movies/presentations BYU does for the new students. I have 40 students this year, and I am excited!

Somewhere in the last 8 days, my credit/debit card was lost for 3 days. I always keep it in the same place, so when it wasn't there, I worried. Finally, I called a frozen yogurt place I remember going to with my brother, and they had it! It is so unlike me, but I guess I put it down on the counter or something. Really weird. But I got it back! With no fraudulent charges on it! One of my coworkers said it was one of those tender mercy things... I suppose it was.

Ummm what else? I have a picture or two from NSO, but my camera cord is in the car and I'm definitely not going out to get it.

So I found out my new ward (congregation) meets at 8:30 am! OY!!! So early! I went to church with my brother again today because I didn't want to force myself out of bed that early just yet.

Oh, my condo! Let's talk about that. It is seriously across the street from campus, which is so much nicer than Glenwood, which was about a 25 minute walk away. It has 4 private bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, kitchen. It has a washer/dryer, dishwasher, fireplace, and comfy carpet. And covered parking- assuming I figure out how to get a parking permit one of these days. It's pretty new- the living room and kitchen both have wood floors. And there's a storage closet and a small attic space. Hurrah! I'm so very excited! I spent Saturday setting it up and getting things set, and though my room isn't huge, the closet is pretty good sized and the room is mine. And that's really what matters. I think I'm going to like living here a lot :) Oh, and those other 3 private bedrooms? 2 Japanese girls and 1 Taiwanese girl. They are all really good friends. One of them seems to speak pretty good English- not sure about the other two. One of them is on the phone as I type- one thing about it, they don't have to worry about me eavesdropping, that's for sure.

Though I was/am kind of nervous about living with three best friends who are from a different continent, they all have seemed very nice and considerate, so I'm sure things will be fine. And they seem to take good care of the apartment- it always seems very clean, etc. So that will be good. Speaking from [a little too much] experience, it could be worse...

Alright- well, I think I'm going to go to bed now. Just thought I hadn't written in a while so I better give an update. I left my glasses in the car and already took out my contacts, so I'm typing this with my face about ten inches from the screen and my eyes are getting tired. Megan and Chad are driving to Erin's tonight to stay for 12-18 hours or so and then Erin and Co. come home tomorrow. I have to buy cinder blocks, groceries, and possibly cheap fabric to hang up for curtains because the blinds just seem so boring. Exciting, exciting!

until again,
mollie

Return to the Bubble. I mean, Provo.

Hello there!

First, just so you know, I posted pictures for all the posts I said I would do so for. (That was a confusing sentence...) The point is: scroll down and check out all my pictures from the last week or so of London!

Second, after my last post, I spent three days in CT. I visited the [high] school and Mrs. Bing, the beach, the river, Friendly's, the church building, and other various Cromwell/Connecticut must-sees. I also helped my mother clean the church building, and applied for an absentee ballot at the Town Hall.

I took a picture of my sundae at Friendly's- the best- Nuts Over Caramel with Hot Fudge. Mmmmm!

I took pictures of the river (bridge from Middletown to Portland)

I took a LOT of pictures at the beach, but I only posted a few of the ones I liked; even though they all probably look the same to you, they are a little bit different. I also snagged a picture of my mom poking a jelly fish. The beach was really jelly fish-ee that day, with big purple scary-looking ones, so we didn't really even get to wade. I put my toes in, and that was about it. I got stung by a jellyfish when I was little and didn't want to repeat the experience. The beach was beautiful though. Our family isn't really big on the sand and salt-water scene, but we went after dinner one night to walk on the beach and put our toes in, and watch the sunset. And it was wonderful.

I loved being home. The weather was perfect and reminded me so much of London- it was like 75 degrees, humid-ish, but sunny and nice. I loved it. Seriously.

Home. Mmmmm.

On Wednesday I made my way back to Provo, though there were a few flight problems that made me remember/only solidified my belief that traveling is no fun. I don't like traveling by myself. I don't like the jet-laggy-ness of flying, but I handle it better when I'm with other people. Being by yourself is kind of weird.

I got back to Provo at 2 am on Thursday and then went to work at 8 am that day. I didn't get to see Will because I got there after his bed time and I got up before he woke up. I was excited to go back and see him! I got off at 5 and went to Erin's for a while (which is where I was staying.) I pulled up with Kyle (who was kind enough to drive me home [Bryce was kind enough to drive me to work in the morning]) and Will was in the window. He saw me and got this huge smile on his face and started jumping up and down. Through the window, I hear him screaming "Mollie's here!!!!" It was pretty much adorable. Cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I opened the door and he jumped on me and said "Aunt Mollie!!" It may have been the best thing that's happened all year. He's seriously adorable. Moreso when I'm not the one cleaning up his pee.

I spent the evening playing with him and showing up the things I bought for him, and I went to Erin's girls' night. Erin has girls' night once a month with women in her ward. They went to TGI Friday's for dessert. I just wanted something to drink. I ordered a slushee thing after the waitress told me it was $1.50-$2.00. I enjoyed it, until I got the bill that said $3.75. Ok, that's not a LOT, but it was just annoying that the waitress was so inaccurate in telling me how much it was. I should have expected that I guess...

Anyway. Sometime I'll have to post a picture of Will in his "Knight Clothes" (gotta love the pun) that I bought at Hever Castle. They're CUTE. Then I went to work all day Friday again, but it was better because I wasn't so tired. It was nice to see everyone again! Peer mentor training is kind of exhausting because you're learning so much at one time- but it always makes me excited/nervous for the school year to begin! The students are coming on Wednesday- that's so soon! I'm excited though!

After work on Friday, I came back to Erin's and we had pizza for dinner, which was yummy. They were busy packing for vacation on Saturday morning. They left at 6 am. Will came over and climbed on me and got up in my face and said "Aunt Mollie, you can come with us to California." I told him I couldn't and that I had to stay to go to school. He just kept saying "Yes you can come with us. No, you don't have to go to school. You can go to school in CA." I just got here and then they left! Sad!

I am now staying at their house for a couple days before I get settled into my apartment. Last night I had a couple coworkers come over and we watched a movie and ate pizza. When it came time to drive them home, I got too freaked out to stay by myself and I went and stayed with one of them for the night. I got up early and drove back to get dressed for church, and then went to church with Kyle, who happened to be speaking in Sacrament Meeting! Hah! What are the odds?!

So after Sunday school, I went back to Kyle's house with Josh. Kyle couldn't leave because of his calling. I drove back to Erin's and washed the car. And made a pie. And took a shower. I watched some TV and then went to Kyle's for dinner. We swapped dinner for pie. Mmmmm.

I came back to Erin's and am trying to see if I can stay the night tonight. So far, so good. I'm on my way to bed soon. I checked all the rooms and closets while it was still daylight and came downstairs. I turned on a light, which I'll probably leave on. While trying to turn on that light, I accidentally turned on the garbage disposal and almost wet my pants- it scared me really bad.

Anyway- so that's where I'm at right now. Work tomorrow! We get out relatively early, so I think I'll probably get most of the rest of my stuff out of storage and move in to my new apartment tomorrow. Hmmm.

I'm mostly writing because I'm bored- obviously (if you're still reading) you'll know that I don't really have anything worth saying...

until again,
mollie

Day 52 of London: "Goodbye!" and "Welcome Home"

Today was the day I left London! So sad!!

I got up at 5 am, got picked up by the shuttle with 5 other girls. I took a picture with the sign of the London Centre- so sad to be leaving it, even though I'm smiling- hah! The shuttle took us to Heathrow. I checked in and walked around the terminal for a while because they don't list your gate until an hour before the flight. I sat down at Gate 3 (out of 25) to take a rest for a while. My flight got listed at Gate 25. I made my way there... I got there as everyone was boarding. (Seriously, getting from gate 3 to 25 took about 25 minutes...)

I took my seat in the last row, window. It was fine- 8 hours seems like a lot, but I really didn't mind it at all. My flight left at about 9:30 London time. We flew in and when we got close to landing, I took a bunch of pictures of NYC out my window- one of them is posted here. I got in to Newark at 11:45ish CT time (or 4:45ish London time). I took forever getting through customs because the people in front of me were all foreign and they make a big deal about that (seriously: fingerprinting, picture taking, etc.) It took forever for only two people to go in front of me. I got up to the window. The guy took my passport, asked me where I'd been. I said the UK. He said "Studying?" I said "Yes." He said "Did you bring any food?" I said "Candy." He said "No fruits or meats or anything?" I said "No." He handed me my passport and said "Welcome Home." and sent me on my way.

Indeed.

So I made my way to my luggage, picked it up, and made my way to the arrivals hall where my parents were waiting. We left and stopped in Terrytown to eat and made our way home to Cromwell! I got home late and was tired.

I came up to my room and showed everyone my goodies/spoils/souvenirs. My parents got some type of cable tv (not exactly "cable" I'm told- but it's something that gives them about 10 times as many channels as they had before...) so I went downstairs to check that out. So many options- it was overwhelming!

Finally at 9 pm I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and came up to bed.

Goodbye London- I will miss you dearly.
Hello wonderful Connecticut.

And tonight, I'm sleeping in my fabulous bed.

-mollie

Day 51 of London: The Lasts

Today was our last full day at the Centre and it was pretty sad.


I:
-went to breakfast
-went to get things settled for the party later that night
-went to St. Paul's Cathedral and went down the crypt and up to the top of the dome- it was amazing- and it was a beautiful, clear, wonderful day so we had an incredible view. I took a picture of the steps so you can really get an idea of the size of building.
-ate lasagna for dinner
-conducted the closing party, presented the professors with gifts, watched the slide show of the two months... (way to go Lizzy!)
-ate cookies
-packed up all my stuff
-went to Queensway one last time- and spent my last pounds
-went to bed, tired, but not able to sleep

the end.
mollie

Day 50 of London: Exams and The Phantom

Today's events included:

-Taking a Shakespeare exam from 9-11.
-Taking a Women's Q exam from 11:30-1:30.
-A trip to the British Library- unfortunately my picture looks a little strange, but oh well.
-A trip to Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station
-Indian food on banana leaves for dinner
-The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre- there's a picture of all of us, and then a picture of me and Adreanne at Picadilly Circus! (London's Time's Square-ish)

Day 49 of London: Westminster Abbey and Studying

Today's events included:

-a visit to Westminster Abbey (shown in the pictures). There are a TON of famous people buried here- and it is really big, but it is crammed to the gills with memorials and graves and statues, etc. My favorite part was possibly the grave of Elizabeth I or the Coronation Chair, which was really cool. It is the chair in which every English monarch has been crowned since the 12oos. It is cool. Really cool.
-lunch at a bagel place
-studying at the Centre
-the third crime scene for our street, of the two months we were there: a woman's cat was mauled to death by three pitbulls- I took a picture of our view of the crime scene, as well as our view of the old man across the way. In true "Friends"' style, he is our "ugly naked guy".

Day 48 of London: I Got Nothin'

hello there!

it's really late and i need to go to bed. but today i got up and went to my last day of classes for the semester! hurrah! then i took a short nap and i went to a review session for the Women's Lit class, and then started working on my paper for that class. I took a break for dinner- we had stir fry stuff and rice, which was good. The host husband guy announced that the Georgian protest on the corner had gotten pretty heated (more police showed up, with barricades, etc.) and he recommended avoiding the block for the rest of the evening, lest things get further out of hand. We watched a bit of the Olympics on TV.

Then I went back to the library and worked somewhat unenthusiastically (interrupted by a thunderstorm!) until turning in my paper at midnight (when it was due). I wrote about the arguments of Mary Wollstonecraft in "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" and John Stuart Mill in "The Subjection of Women" and how they relate to Thomas Hardy's book "Tess of the D'Urbervilles".

I thought it came out decent, but we'll see how it goes.

I came up to my room and couldn't find my way to the bed because it was so dark.

I know I still have to catch up on the other days, but, I just thought I'd write something so I don't get more behind. Both my papers are due and it's out of my hands now! I have to study for and take two finals on Thursday and then I'm done! And "free to move about the country"!! So excited to get to leave the Centre again.

Tomorrow we're going to Westminster Abbey, then there's a Shakespeare review at 3, and I imagine I'll spend much of the rest of the day studying for finals. Boo.

until again,
mollie

Day 47 of London: Papers and (Motion) Pictures

Bonjour!

Just writing similar to yesterday's post- need to record it so I can write in more depth later. In the mean time, you can try to fill in the blanks of the day, it could be fun.

Today I:
-went to classes
-wrote a Shakespeare paper while listening to the chanting and police whistles of the protesting Georgians
-ate chimichangas for dinner
-watched the Olympics
-went and saw Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, which is as wonderful as it sounds
-shopped at LillyWhites (or some place with a similar name- kind of like a Bob's clothing store in CT)
-danced on a Tube platform
-missed my Tube stop

the end.
mollie

Day 46 of London: Last Sunday

Hello again,

Just offering the basics for my records right now- I'll come back and add commentary, don't worry.

Today I
-went to church
-almost died on the Tube (a woman with a stroller got stuck at the end of the escalator. Hilary and I were directly behind her and were trying to keep from trampling her as people behind us were trying to keep from trampling us. it was scary...)
-went to primary
-met a little girl who answered every question with some form of "we should help people"
-met another little girl who raised her hand and then answered "i don't know" to every question
-got hugged by a little boy i don't know very well
-got licked by a little boy i don't know very well
-was wanted by all the children- it was weird. they flocked, i'm telling you. and when they weren't getting my attention, they were jealous
-had two children refuse to pray unless someone, specifically me. helped them
-tried to corral 6 extremely squirmy children- it was a zoo today
-got a card from the primary leaders
-took pictures with the primary children
-slept most of the afternoon
-ate cheesy cabbage-ee soup for dinner
-had banana pudding
-had our last devotional, which was of course testimony meeting
-sat around talking too late

Finals week is crazy, what can I say?!

The pictures are of us at the train station at the other end (Penge East), us at Victoria Station in London sitting on Platform 3, waiting for the train, then there's me with all the primary kids, then there's Bradley- he's just too cute not to post a picture of...

-mollie

Day 45 of London: Buckingham Palace and Rain

Hello there!

So today was my last Saturday in London! Knowing that I wouldn't probably have another chance to have a free morning, I decided I better go to Buckingham Palace. I skipped breakfast and slept in until 9 and then got ready to leave for Buckingham Palace at 10. Buckingham Palace is actually not that far from where we live. It would probably take 30 minutes to walk there. But, I took the Tube as I was lazy and didn't have the time to spare. I originally set out with Sara, Hilary, and Summer, but we got separated and I went on by myself.

I got there at about 10:30 and even being an hour early to see the changing of the guard proved not early enough. I stood by the gate, by I was still three deep in a sea of people, behind a humongous group of people who did not speak english but all felt the need to have their umbrellas up and poking people and blocking the view the whole time. The big processional comes in the gate around the green in front of the palace gate- it's kind of confusing to try to explain. But anyway, they come in all dressed in their "bearskins" and red coats and they had cavalry officers there as well. They march in through the gates to the palace and in front of the palace there is a huge gravelled area where the soldiers all stop. A marching band also comes in.

Apparently (and I didn't know this before hand) the band plays whatever it wants. I knew the ceremony was 40 minutes long, so I just assumed the band would be playing national or patriotic songs of some sort and was surprised to hear jazz music. According to the official website, they play all sorts of things from movie themes to Broadway hits, etc. Then, as far as I could tell, there was a lot of walking back and forth. A soldier and escort took the flag across the green, then brought it back. They marched into place and then marched back. It was all very rehearsed and formal, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing for most of it.

I took some pictures though, and I'll have to get those up soon. I'm just at least getting some text down (which I will later probably also edit and add to) for you (and me, so I don't forget.) After the ceremony was over, I took some pictures of the green and the statues and the Palace, which is really humongous. You should read about its establishment here. It's pretty interesting. Did you know that the Queen's children were born at Buckingham Palace and as tradition holds, they post a plaque on the gates of the Palace announcing the birth (or death) of anyone in the royal family- even though now they have the ability to make phone calls and update internet sites.

After the Palace, I walked through Hyde Park back to the Tube stop and bought myself a cup of hot cocoa (do not use the word "cocoa" while trying to order though- it is strictly "hot chocolate". The lady had no idea what I was saying until I used the correct term, though it might not have helped that she was clearly not from England and spoke little English as it was...) It was a rainy, chilly day, so I was happy to have it. Yum! I made my way back to the Centre and upon walking up to my street corner, I saw a large mass of people holding flags and signs and chanting, blocking the sidewalk. Ladies and gentlemen, there is a protest going on on the corner of my street! The corner is right across from the Russian embassy and the protesters are Georgian- Russia just started invading/bombing Georgian territory and they were not happy about it. It was a sight- my first real protest!

I made my way back to the Centre and then took a nap for a little while, watched a movie, and worked on some things for Freshman Academy.

At about 5:00, I went out to dinner with 5-6 people at Nando's (the place I have previously mentioned) for dinner. It was really good! After that, I came back to the Centre and decided I better do laundry since it was the "open to all" day and I needed Sunday clothes. So I went downstairs to the laundry room with my computer and did some work and other things which turned out to be very productive because no one else was down there to bother me. It was actually quite enjoyable- I felt like I had found a little hiding spot.

It's late, so I need to go to bed.

-mollie

p.s.- Happy Birthday Evan!

Day 44 of London: Cabinet War Rooms and Lone Free Ranging

Bonjour ladies and gentlemen!

Today we went to the Cabinet War Rooms. The Cabinet War Rooms were built in the basement of the Treasury in 1938 to provide a secure place for the Prime Minister to conduct matters of the war for England. It was originally a bunker that was built with a steel reinforced roof and when Churchill was made Prime Minister in 1940, he declared that it would be the place from which he conducted the war. The most famous room is the Cabinet Room where the war cabinet met routinely throughout the war. They had some audio recordings of journals of the head commander who wrote about worrying about the German invasion that seemed imminent for about two weeks in September of... 1943? I'm not sure on the year, sorry about that. You kind of get the sense of uncertainty and scariness of not knowing whether your country is going to be invaded, knowing you're the one that is supposed to stop it.

There were also bedrooms and a kitchen and under the cabinet war rooms, there was "the dock" which was another level, which was basically a hallway with beds on either side. The hallway's roof was too short to stand-up straight.

One of the interesting things was the first secure phone line that was connected to a small room with a private telephone for the Prime Minister to speak to the President of the U.S. This room had a lavatory sign on the outside with a little tab that permanently said "engaged"- people thought it was simply the Prime Minister's private bathroom. I thought that was kind of amusing.

They also had a wooden box with metal plates that had weather statements on it. Because there were times when no one was allowed to leave the bunker during air raids, etc., they used this wooden display box to inform everyone of the weather. When we were there it said "Warm and breezy."

Churchill and his wife both had bedrooms in the cabinet war rooms though it was reported that Churchill only slept three nights actually in the bunker.

The map room was really cool and it had maps of the world plastered to all the walls, and if you got close enough, you could see all the tiny pinpricks marking where ships and military forces were located during the war. There was also a room for the secretaries/typists. There were something like 6 full-time typists and worked a full day and then took sheets and found a bed down in the docks to sleep on before coming back up in the morning. They had to be available at all hours because Churchill often worked odd hours, besides the fact that the war didn't really wait for them to sleep.

In the war rooms, they have a little exhibit about "how to make-do and mend" or something similar to that and it talked about the war effort and how everything was rationed, including clothing and fabric. Thus the "utility clothing" idea came into focus as excess pleats or pockets were eliminated and patterns were stream-lined to save cloth. They showed pattern books and also had examples of this clothing. Another part of the exhibit was a TV clip from the war era, showing how women recycled items to make clothing. They showed a woman who made a (rather ugly, admittedly) dress from her husband's old military coat. Or another who made a dress from old curtains. It was really interesting. They had a wedding dress and a bridesmaid dress on display that had been made from retired parachute.

After utility clothing, a new style began to emerge after the war. (Can't remember the name of it...) When things started getting longer and skirts started getting fuller simply because they could. It was interesting to see the transformation and how things went in and out of style and how the war effort really did affect everything they did.

In an annex off the Cabinet War Rooms (which wikipedia reports was only a small portion of what was originally a series of rooms and tunnels covering more than three acres) there was a large room that housed the Churchill Museum. The Museum had tons of sound clips and movie clips and all sorts of things to read and look at to learn about. I thought it was really interesting. The more I learn about Churchill, the more I like him and the more I think it really is amazing that he was able to bring England through the war with relatively little negative consequence.

I think I may have read absolutely everything. They had some of his clothes and uniforms on display and they talked about how he was very focused on his wardrobe in public situations because he knew that reporters and newscasters would use his wardrobe to characterize and distinguish him. Thus he always wore a hat and had a cigar in his mouth, generally. He was also seen on frequent occasion wearing jumpsuits that he could step into and zip up the front to cover whatever he was wearing. He said they were really handy for painting or doing other things comfortably. He had them made in all different fabrics and colors and they earned the nickname "siren suits" because it was reported that part of the reason he had them made was because he could throw them on at any point should he get suddenly caught in the middle of an air raid.

After winning the war, England was enthusiastic about Churchill, but he was not re-elected and this upset him. The museum seemed to indicate that this was because Churchill had, at that point, begun to focus on Russia and the Soviet Union and England was tired and wanted a break for peace. Churchill was in politics though until his 80th birthday I believe. They had video clips of his funeral and procession and it was interesting to see all the people, etc. It is reported that Queen Elizabeth attended and she was thus the first monarch ever to attend a funeral of a commoner. I thought that was interesting.

They also, of course, had a big exhibit on his painting. The more I see of Churchill's paintings, the more I realize that he was really good at it! He said it was a stress reliever and I believe the museum said he painted more than 400 pictures- that's a lot! Churchill was also apparently kind of obsessed with his books and liked to have them, even though he might not get to read every single one. He kept stuffed animals on the shelf to keep his place when he took a book out and this was to entertain his grandchildren.

They also had a humongous table that went diagonally across the whole room. It was like a big computer or TV screen on the top and had a rectangle for each year from 1928-1960. If you touched a year, it came up with all the months, and if you touched a month, it came up with all the days of the month, and if you touched a day, it came up with any recorded appointments from Churchill's schedule, world events for that day, and sometimes journal entries from Churchill's personal records. That was pretty cool. I'm sure my mom already knows this, but on her birthday, the summit of Everest was reached for the first time.

Anyway. After the Churchill museum, you returned to the Cabinet War rooms and ended up out back in front of the Treasury building. The problem with the museum was that it had a self-guided audio tour. This means that people who aren't interested whip through in about 30 minutes and those who are get separated from those who aren't. So, because I spent so much time in the Churchill museum, I got disconnected from the people I was with, but I was fine with that because I need a lone free ranger day anyway. I took 2.5 hours to get through the Churchill museum. Yeah...

After the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum, I found my way to 10 Downing Street which was actually only a block away from where I was! I walked over there, but there was construction work blocking off the street, so everything was blocked off and the best I could do was take a picture of the sign that said Downing Street. (For those of you who don't know, 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the Prime Minister, now Gordon Brown.)

After that, I walked back in the other direction two blocks and found myself at the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. I went and took pictures for a little while of both of them. Some of the people from the program were going on the London Eye together at 1:30 but I didn't go. The London Eye can be seen in a couple of my pictures of Big Ben- it's basically a really huge ferris wheel with little glass pods that have benches inside. The ride around the wheel takes 30 minutes and you get a good view of downtown London. It was 14 GBP and I didn't want to pay $30 for a ride on a ferris wheel, though I understand it was a lot cooler than that. But it was also cloudy, and I didn't want to pay $30 for a cloudy view. And, I think the older I've gotten, the more afraid of heights I've gotten. I'm not terrified like my mom is, but I seem to be a lot more stressed about heights now. And I didn't want to pay $30 to feel nauseous and be too afraid to stand up and look out the pod windows. So I didn't go.

After taking pictures at Westminster Abbey, I made my way to the Tower of London (way not near where I was). Yes, I'd already been there this trip, but I had to return for unspecified reasons and had to get special permission to return to the grounds. It was actually kind of cool- I felt pretty special. After taking care of business at the Tower of London, I found a little place to eat. I got a chicken leg, fries, and soda for 2 GBP which I thought was a darn good deal and I was proud of myself. It was really greasy though. I took a picture of the 7 Up can because it's a little different.

After my lunch, I came back to the Centre and took a nap before dinner. We had fish and chips for dinner, but because I had already filled my grease quota for the day with lunch, I skipped it and had a sandwich instead, which was pretty good.

That night we turned on the Olympics and watched the opening ceremonies for a while, which was fun. I was downstairs and checked the mail and came across a letter addressed to "Christ of Latter-Days" (clearly someone's abbreviation of the name of our church) which I thought was pretty humorous, though apparently not very many other people did...

And that was 08-08-08!

until I write about Saturday,
mollie

Day 43 of London: Harrod's and Lear- both Kings!

hello there all!

Today we had classes in the morning and then I decided to go do something off my list- go to Harrod's. Someone aptly described it as a "Shopping Museum". I had never been, so I decided I better go. And, as my title denotes, Harrod's is The King of Shopping. It is a humongous (like, city blocks) store with every designer you could possibly think of, plus a wedding section, perfumes, shoes, a fromagerie and a charcuterie, a giant "food-court" kind of place complete with bakery, and a room of chocolate.

And when I say room of chocolate, I mean big room. There was chocolate everywhere. There were boxes along the walls and in candy counters and stacked up on every surface in the room. It was amazing. I may have drooled. They had a box of chocolates on display- how much do you think it cost? No really, a big box of chocolates from Harrod's- each chocolate individually wrapped like little presents inside a velvet lined box. How much do you think it cost? Hundreds of dollars, maybe? No!! The official price: 5,000 pounds. A $10,000 box of chocolates. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I hope they were made of gold with diamond paste inside or something... that is an absurd amount of money to pay for chocolates!

There were chocolate gold bars and truffles and chocolates of all different colors and chocolate in boxes and in bags and in baskets and jars and glasses and any other place you could imagine it! I will not be able to give the chocolate room justice. It was heavenly. I bought 5 little chocolates for 2.5 pounds, but I'm ok with that- it was my Herrod's splurge.

We saw the clothes and I took a picture of their fancy lay-out. Everything was so posh and it was one of those stores where I felt like a little kid- all I could hear in my head was my mother saying "You can look, but don't touch!" I wanted to touch everything. They had a really cute jacket, for 600 pounds. Or a really cute headband with feathers (created to look like a flower-ish) on it, for 250 pounds. And everything was like that. Tons and tons of really expensive designer clothing and purses and wallets and everything. It was like a museum!

And then we wandered upstairs and found, wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, CHRISTMAS WORLD!!!!! They had Christmas music playing and christmas trees set up and decorated everywhere. They had all sorts of ornaments, though most were really fancy glass ones that came in about 5 billion different colors but were too fragile to buy to bring home. They had kids stuff too though. They had tree toppers and ornaments arranged in nice color schemes for the not-so-creative among us. They had glass reindeer and lifesize Santas and little Christmas village houses and candy garland and boxes of Holiday Poppers. It was amazing. We were pretty much grinning from ear to ear. Christmas in August! Hilary was joking that this would be her "happy place". Whenever you gotta think of a happy place, think of Christmas World in Harrod's. I have to admit, that's a pretty good one.

I didn't want to leave! It reminded me of home when our house is all decked out and the family (as much as it can be) is assembled and eating and stuff. Christmas!!!!!!!!!! GAH- I seriously Adore the Christmas season. It, by far, is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas!!! I was seriously so excited!!! I love Christmas so much!

Ok- I'll stop gushing about Christmas World. But seriously- it was amazing. I think I almost liked it more than the Chocolate room, and that's saying something.

After Harrod's we came back home and I had every intention of starting/working on 1 of the 2 papers I have due next week, but I fell asleep and woke up at dinner time. I have been exhausted lately- the first 6 weeks of this trip were fine, but these last two have been killing me! I'm always so tired!

For dinner tonight we had salad, broccoli, and a chicken/cheese/tortilla casserole that was really good- but there was no bread tonight! Sad!

After dinner, we hurried and got ready and made our way (as a group) to the Globe Theatre to see King Lear as "groundlings" which meant we stood in the pit for 3 hours, with 300-400 other people. We got there early enough that we got to lean on the stage, which was just high enough that your arms could be crossed at your shoulders and rested on the stage. There was a rectangular door on the wall of the stage where we were standing, parallel to our standing bodies, and an usher came over and told us that during the storm scene, the door was going to open, so we just had to be careful. (When I get pictures up, my description of the door will make a lot more sense...)

Ok, so the lady told us people were going to be coming out of the "secret" door/compartment, what she didn't say was it was going to be a man wearing nothing but little shorts, covered in blood and dirt from head to toe, with hair all crazy and matted, holding a rainstick and creeping and crawling around like Gollum (sp?) from LTR. We seriously screamed like little school girls and jumped out of the way and one of the girls may have almost wet her pants. We were scared.

So, as you can imagine, though the play isn't exactly happy, in this performance they enjoyed their blood and guts and the scene when Gloucester has his eyes plucked out by Goneril and her husband pretty much had my stomach churning. It was beyond disgusting, and even though I know it's fake, I still thought it was gruesome to a very large degree. *shudder* Eewww!!!!!

The play was good, but I was glad to get to sit on the Tube on the way home. It was quite an experience though! Standing right at the edge of the stage, and having people crawl out right in front of you from the "depth" (as opposed to width or length) of the stage!

We got back at 11:30 and on the way home I tried to get a good picture of St. Paul's Cathedral all lit up- it was hard though, and most of them came out blurry- I'll post my best ones when I get the chance.

Anyway- so that has been our day! Exciting!

It's really late and I'm really tired, so I have to go to sleep now.
Tomorrow we're going to the Cabinet War Rooms as a group at 9 am, then I don't know what's happening after.

love to you all,
mollie


p.s.- all the pictures should be pretty self-explanatory. The last one includes me making an unattractive face because I was so surprised that Lizzy held my hand right before the picture was taken. (It's Lauren, me, Lizzy there.) In the picture with the trap door, that's Becky, Lizzy, and me.