Its Been a Long Time Comin'

Sorry its been so long since I’ve posted, I kept meaning to, and then never did. Wednesday night I went with a couple of my history classmates and met up with my professor in Northern London, and went to a Turkish restaurant. I had a lamb sis kebab, and it was rather spicy, and really good. My professor got quail, and I got to try some, and it tasted pretty much like chicken, no lie. I liked it a lot, and it inspired some Wedding Crashers jokes. Going to this restaurant has also inspired me to want to go to Istanbul, however, since Congress decided to pass a bill saying the official stance of the U.S. government believes Turkey committed genocide against the Kurds during their civil war, I don’t think the Turks are feeling particularly amicable towards us Americans. A telling sign of this non-amicableness is that the Turkish Ambassador to the United States has been called home. So yeah, smooth move Congress.

Thursday I had another make-up history class, and Alison and I were finally able to give our history presentation, which was fantastic. After that I had the afternoon off, and Justin and I decided to go to the Tate Modern, and on the way I picked up some batteries, so guess what? Pictures again! Hooray! There is a link at the bottom of the blog. Anyhow, in general I’m not a huge art fan, but when it comes to modern art, I really missed the boat. So I have no idea why I decided that going to the Tate Modern would be fun. And actually, I did make it fun….because I made fun of the “art” so much and was incredibly sarcastic. For some of my wittier comments, see the captions in the photos. But I only got a few pictures before I was told that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, so that was a little disappointing. There were some things that I did in fact like and I even got a picture of the one I liked the most. Although, the one I liked the most for sarcastic purposes I did not snap a photo of. It was of a hand painted and numbered can….of the artist’s shit. No kidding. I was appalled that something like that could pass for art….although the funny thing is that the can is still sealed shut so no one really knows if there is poo in there or if the artist was just trying to make a statement. But judging from other pieces I saw, I’ve learned not to put anything past these “artist types”.

Friday brought yet another history class, but as it was the last one, save the final, I was kind of excited. We did review for the exam, and that’s about it, although it still took quite a while to get through…he pretty much laid out exactly what we were to write though, so that was nice. Friday afternoon I just kinda hung out until suddenly at 4pm I decided I would go to the British Museum because it stayed open late at night. And so I went by myself, and it was quite nice. I was able to look around at my leisure and not have to worry about anyone else and what they were doing. I saw a Korean Moon Jar, which are incredibly rare because they are so incredibly hard to make. What it essentially is is two rather large jars, only one is open at both ends, and fits on the others top opening to make one giant jar….its really hard to get the seams just right and most pieces don’t survive the firing in the kiln. I think its something like 1 in 10 make it out alright….and that’s by a master crafter! And what’s really sad, is that they take out all the ruined ones to a hole in the ground, smash them, and then burry them. That’ll be a field day for an archeologist in about 600 years or so. I also saw the Rosetta Stone, it was really cool, and I also saw the Elgin Marbles for about a second, but there were so many old Asian businessmen around with their cameras exclaiming wildly, that I just walked away rather quickly. I was in a quiet sort of mood. That and I didn’t realize what I was looking at at the time…haha…oops. I do intend to go back though, because only the first floor was open for some reason, and there are a couple other floors of interesting things. Notably, the mummies from Egypt that are upstairs. I also have to go back again though, because my British Life and Culture class is headed there, and while I can skip out on the class if I like, our professor is requiring that we go on our own at some point and write about 500-600 words on something we saw there and how we felt about it if we do decide to skip. So I’ll have to decide what I want to do…I may choose to miss the class and travel instead, and write a really short summary on some mummies!

Saturday was a relaxing kind of day, and I honestly can’t remember what I did until late that evening. A couple of the girls and I randomly decided to head out for a quick drink at our pub and it turned into a really interesting night out. I was hit on before I even got down the stairs to the pub, and then as soon as I sat down at our table (by 2 different people mind you). And I was the one wearing jeans and a tank top and zip-up jacket and ponytail. Everyone else had nice going out tops and skirts and dresses….not me…and they hit on me….I can’t understand it at all. But the best part was the third couple of guys to hit on us four girls, because they decided they would by us (and themselves) shots of jeiggermeister, and then a little later, another pint. It was fun, and the best part was it was free, and at the end of the night it was a, “Oh my friends are leaving, it was nice to meet you” and a quick wave and out the door. Haha…(sounds a little mean and conniving doesn’t it?…oops)

Sunday I also did a lot of nothing, though I did study for my final that I had on Monday morning, so that’s something.

Monday I took my history final and it consisted of two questions that I proceeded to write 8 pages on and it took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes to write…I’d better get a good grade on it!! Then it was home to the flat for a quick lunch and then back to Foundation House for my British Life and Culture class where we took a walking tour of Covent Garden and Russell Square. It was pretty cool, and we talked about rookeries and the Bloomsbury writers. After class it was back here to the flat to get ready for my European Holiday!! Around 4am I will be leaving for the airport and my 7am flight to Roma, and I’ll be there with Lauren and Elyse until Friday morning when I fly to Madrid to see my loves, Jenn, Emily, and Joanna. There’s going to be some extra fun there, because things always get insane when the 4 of us girls get together, plus we have a guide to Madrid from an insider (yay Jason). Alllso, Jason’s home stay mommy, Lola is now Joanna’s home stay mommy, so I’m gonna go have some soup (I hear its superior) and try to get some bad stories about him from her. Haha.

This is a Picadilly line Service to Cockfosters


Cheers!