Me in Trafalgar Square with the 90 foot tall Christmas Tree.
The past few days haven’t been terribly exciting I’m afraid. The biggest news is that I have finally finished all my classes, which means I am only 4 exams away from coming home. I’m oh so glad that classes are over, but it is so weird to have all your professors tell you to have a nice life. I mean, its the right thing to say, I don’t suppose I’ll ever see any of them again, but it is still an odd thing to hear. The worst part was, of course, those awful teacher evaluations they make you do. I know they help the teacher, if people actually take the time to fill them out and do them properly, which few seem to do, but whatever. My History of London professor had us start class half an hour early, but then she bought us all hot chocolate to make up for it and ended up letting us go 40 minutes early. It was great. She also told us about the book she is writing, it sounds terrifically interesting, I’m going to buy it when it comes out, if I remember in June. And it comes out in America.
Otherwise I haven’t really done much the past couple of days, I’ve just been taking it easy. Tuesday I was going to go exploring with Monty and take some more London pictures, but it was cold and rainy so I bagged that and stayed at centre between classes. I watched movies all afternoon, it was great. I finally saw The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with Dame Maggie Smith. I’d been wanting to see it for a while, but hadn’t been able to lay my hands on a copy, and there was one at the centre. When that finished I still had 3 hours, so I sat back down and watched Mrs Brown, with Dame Judi Dench. I had seen it before, but it seems to get better every time I watch it. It was a nice way to spend a cold, wet afternoon, although it would have been better either on the couch in my living room with our big tv or curled up in bed on my tv with a cup of tea or hot chocolate. Still, I enjoyed it.
Wednesday afternoon when classes finished I did go exploring with Monty and took tons of pictures. I got him with the National Gallery, one of the Lions in Trafalgar Square, the Horse Guards Building, Clarence House, Buckingham Palace, St James Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Clock Tower. Tomorrow I am taking him to the Tate, St Pauls, the Millenium Bridge, Tate Modern, and perhaps other places. After I got done taking pictures I came back to the res hall, because well, I was tired and cold. Wednesday afternoon I just goofed off, did some grocery shopping, and then a few of us watched 4 or 5 episodes of Will and Grace that someone had here. It was a nice night.
Today after classes finished up Steph and I went to Waterstones and picked up copies of the new JK Rowling book, The Tales of Beetle the Bard. I already finished it, it is pretty cute. I enjoyed it and it was a nice break from the stuff I’ve been reading here. Then this evening we went over to Trafalgar Square for the tree lighting ceremony. Apparently every year since 1947 the people of Oslo have given a tree to London to thank the British for helping them out during WWII. It was a nice little ceremony that lasted about 20 minutes. The Mayors of Westminster, London, and Oslo were all there. A couple of choirs sung, the Salvation Army band played, the mayors gave quick speeches, and every one sang a couple of Christmas carols. It was a nice way to spend the evening. Then I just came back, had a cup of hot tea, read a little and relaxed.
I’ll be home in 9 days. Get excited.
Tags: Classes, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Mrs Brown, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, Tree Lighting
