June 19, Day 28

I owe a severe apology to anyone who has been following this blog. It's been about three weeks or something since my last post, which is pathetic seeing as the purpose of this blog is to keep you constantly updated on my experiences, what I've been up to, and what I've learned. So, I'm incredibly sorry, and wish that I knew of some neat way to make it up to you; unfortunately, this post will have to suffice.

So today was a pretty lazy day. Same 'ol boring breakfast as every other day. (well really it wasn't THAT boring, it's just getting pretty boring typing what I ate for breakfast over and over because I always ate the same thing). After getting coffee from the Nerro, again, and getting a pain au chocolat, I waited around until we had a little critique before the day was ours.

*rant warning*

To be honest, I hated the critiques. I didn't like any one we had. They didn't help me learn anything. That could have a lot to do with me not having any works in progress to share with my peers... but before I even flew abroad to Europe I figured I'd be doing a TON of learning not only from my Photography instructor, but from my peers as well. And not just through feedback on my work, but what feedback they give to each other- I know I learn a lot by listening to the way other people see and view things. Having gone through real critiques now since my freshman year in college, there is a distinct different between successful critiques and unsuccessful ones. There are certain ways a formal critique should go, and ways it should not. Unfortunately, all of our little 'critique' meetings I think first of all don't even deserve the title of being as such, and second basically ended up with the students standing before one another saying 'tell me what to do', 'point me in the right direction', 'i can't figure out how i really feel about this'. I cannot begin to explain how frustrating that was for me. I guess I was the only one who came on the trip with expectations and a plan, which apparently i was the only one who got the hint that we were required to have some idea of where we wanted our work to go before we even got on the plane to travel. How can art be art if the artist is lost? How can art be art if the artist needs others' opinions and ideas to be able to take the first step forward? . From the very get-go I was kind of alienated for having the ideal that this would be a learning experience along side a travel experience, whereas the common ideal that everyone else had, as far as I could tell, was a sight-seeing tour. Long story / rant short, I found myself exhausted from boredom and completely, if not more than before, uninspired after any 'critique' we had. (DISCLAIMER: this problem I experienced could have a lot to do with the fact that this was the first time any "class" like this has ever been offered / taught, and it was my instructor's first time ever leading and teaching a "class" such as this... or maybe when I enrolled for the "class" I just didn't get the hint that it was more of a fun touristy sort of thing..?)

[end_rant]

So after the critique, we had the entire rest of the day to ourselves, I mean it was our last day in London. I decided to spend some time on myself, and by that I mean I shopped for myself hahah. Any shopping I had done most every time before this day was specifically buying gifts and things for family members and what not. (I never felt obligated to buy gifts, it's just something that I've always loved to do. I love finding the perfect present for a specific person; a gift that only they would really connect with and like. I get it from my mom. Thanks mom.) So I subwayed and shopped around all afternoon. With others of course. I ended up buying clothes from H&M and Urban Outfitters (at least I can say I got them at the stores in London? Sorry, I couldn't help myself.) Half of the group went on another ghost tour later in the evening. I unfortunately had to skip it because I had to shower, and I wanted to shower before my long plane ride the next morning. (Yes, I hate showering so much that I literally have to set special time aside in my schedule for me to actual go through with it). I'm kind of upset I chose to shower over the ghost tour, because while on the tour, half of the group got to see Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter films. That was the one Harry Potter site that I didn't get to see and experience. I'm still upset. Well, at least I get to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the end of July. That'll show 'em. (I had found this news out the last time I skyped with my mom ^_^)

After showering the few of us who didn't go on the tour took the underground to the stop we were meeting the rest of the group at after their ghost tour was over. On one of the subways, I, once again, had kind of separated myself from the others, just enjoying myself. These two gentlemen got on the train and were speaking in a different language, and after just a few words I was immediately able to identify that they were French. I was really excited about that, because before having actually been to France, and abroad at that, most foreign languages all kind of sounded the same to me; they all sounded like a muddled confused mess of words. Now, after having spent so much time in France, and abroad in a country where being trilingual is just another thing, I feel like my ears have become way more sensitive to words, fluctuation in tone, etc. That was just a little 'proud moment' I had, and thought it necessary to share. So I hope you liked that little bit.

We eventually all met up for dinner, ended up going to a random subway stop to supposedly find some good choices for restaurants, and ended up choosing probably the most random subway stop, and maybe even the worst one to find a restaurant at. What I find most humorous is no one really even cared that much to get back on the subway and try and find a better place to find a restaurant. hahah. I guess it was getting late anyways, plus we were all tired. Half of the group chose to just eat at a nasty looking street noodle bar, another part of the group didn't even end up eating and just took the subway to some other site that they had not been able to see yet (get it... a SITE they hadn't SEEn yet? SITE-SEEing... hahah..), and then me and one other girl ended up finding a semi-nice italian place to eat at. With it being my last night in London, I was looking forward to something comparable to The Last Supper. Just kidding, I think saying that may have been a little bit sacrilegious- not my intention, but hopefully you understand what I was looking forward to. Our dinner was decent, I had some good tea at least. After eating we went to London's little Platform Nine and Three-quarters setup at the nearby train station and took photos by it. We had to hurry home because by this time is was around 11:30pm, and the underground stops service at midnight. I was booking it to the train, and I even said to another 'I am willing to leave the rest of them behind if it means I don't have to walk 20+ miles back to the hotel the night before I take an eight hour flight back to the states.' Hah.

We made it back just fine. Definitely had the most interesting subway ride of the entire trip. Up to this point I had never been on the subway so late at night, and I guess for good reason. It was loud, and full of obnoxious drunks. Also, there were a handful of people sitting just drinking, which was odd to me, because I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have an open alcoholic beverage in a public place like that in Europe. Interesting. I guess the youth takes over London at night. Once back at the hotel I did my little online check-in, tried to organize all of my paperwork, suitcase, clothes, thoughts, etc. I did most packing, or so I thought, before even leaving for dinner with the intention of going to bed early and getting a good night's sleep before the long flight. Too bad I had more to really finalize and do before bed, and didn't end up ready to go for the morning until about 1am. Keep in mind my alarm was set to go off at 6:05am. That's 5 hours of sleep. Not ideal before an international flight, especially not ideal having been ill after traveling internationally before. (Yes, I was fairly nervous for the flight, thinking that motion sickness and jet lag were the causes of my previous being sick after flying to another country.)

By this point in the trip, I was so ready for home. Ready to be around familiar faces, and surroundings. Ready to have clean, free bathrooms, an abundance of iced drinks and air conditioning. Ready to have my own room. Ready to be around those who share the same interests and humor. Ready to be back with my family.

June 18, Day 22

Same morning, different day. After finishing before everyone else, as usual, I left for my morning routine, as usual. I walked all the way to the subway station just to realize I had made a very silly mistake- I left my oyster card (the card that you load money on to scan to get into the subway) on my bed in the hotel room. After laughing at myself, I figured by time I either wait in line and buy a new card, or walk back to the hotel then back to the station, I would have been to where I was going and back. SO I walked all the way to Caffe Nero. It's not a very long walk, I just like being on the subway alone. Pls, I knew I couldn't go wrong with starting the day off with a nice morning solo walk in London for coffee. It was quite relaxing. One I was back I waited around until our last 'History Lecture' over the history of bacon because the class is called 'European Study of Bacon'. (If you've only read just this post on this blog, then you probably took me seriously. It's a Photography class, and a Photography focused trip.) I learned a handful of new things in the lecture, and afterwards we headed out for the Photographer's Gallery to see a Sally Mann exhibition- something I was STOKED for.

Sally Mann is someone I discovered on my own a while ago when I started really researching photography on my own and photographers that I liked whose work I really connected with. Amongst Sally Mann were photographers such as Toni Frissell, Rodney Smith, Elliot Erwitt, Garry Winogrand, and a few others I can't think of at the moment. I came across these photographers through google image searches of black and white photography, and it's these photographers' work that really stood out to me and that said similar things to what I strive to say through photography. One photograph I found that I particularly liked was Sally Mann's "Candy Cigarette" which looks like this:

If that isn't a strong, compelling, statement-making image, than I don't know what is. Plus, it helps that it's a beautifully printed photograph, with a fabulous composition and range of tones.

Regardless, I went and saw her exhibition 'The Family and the Land", and here's a link to the Photographers Gallery's website, and a place where you can read about the exhibition (*PS the link won't open in a new window... beware): Click me to read about Sally Mann's exhibition on the Photographer Gallery's website

I walked around the exhibition just grinning, thinking about how cool it was that I was standing before a photographer's work whom I look up to and aspire to shoot and print like. A very unique feeling indeed. At the little Gallery shop I bought a book entitled "The Americans". This is a book put together by a famous Street Photographer, Robert Frank. I learned about the book, and Frank, when I took a History of Photography course while we were going over Street Photography (I hate Street Photography why would I ever buy a book about it). I can't really explain it, but here's a pretty good description of it: Click this to read and learn about what Robert Frank's famous book, The Americans, is all about

(I love giving all of these fun and helpful links... I hope you like them as much as I like providing them for whomever is reading this blog)

Frank's portrayal of America and specifically those who reside in the country is something I often find myself thinking about. One of my favourite things to debate about with myself is the entire paradox of freedom, and maybe even possibly the paradox of life in itself. I won't go into detail really- that could be dangerous for your sake, meaning that it would extend this particular entry about two pages longer than it really should be. I'll save you the time.

After the gallery, we had a quick lunch, hit up a street Chinese place... it was kind of nasty, but satisfying at the same time. We then headed to some other place, some sort of company called 'Autograph'. They're like a developing archive, and we met with a lady whom Armon had met before. She has worked with Autograph for over ten years or something. Basically what they're doing is developing and storing an archive of specific Photographers and what not. I was kind of confused about what they were doing and why we were there, but it was still interesting I guess. I don't really have much else to say about that visit.

Something amazing happened this day (yes other than seeing Sally Mann's work right before my eyes.) As we were walking down random alleys back to the station to head to another local exhibit, we came across a BANKSY uhm, painting I guess you would call it. If you don't know who Banksy is, shame shame on you. He's a renowned British graffiti artist. He's the most creative graffiti artist ever, in my opinion, and is also very controversial and loves pushing the government's buttons, which I also love. You can read about him and see some of his astonishing work here, on wikipedia: I'm clicking here because I want to learn more about who and what this 'Banksy' character is (There's another link, you're welcome, but seriously just search 'Banksy' in google images or something, and the creativeness will seep out of your computer screen and onto your desk or lap or whatever. Really. He's amazing) So anyways, once I saw it I freaked out- like I couldn't even say words. Armon was just as excited as I was, and apparently no one else on the trip really knows who he is (SHAME ON THEM BEING INVOLVED IN ART AND NOT KNOWING WHO BANKSY IS! I"M ASHAMED OF MY GENERATION!) So I got a photo next to it, I'd provide the photo, but Armon has it on his camera somewhere. That was a great experience. I found a Banksy. So rad. 

After that ordeal, we went to a HUGE student / grad student all types of Photography show in Liverpool. This show included students from all of the art colleges of London. So that's how big it was. Unfortunately I didn't really get into it because I wore bad shoes this day, not knowing how much walking we were going to be doing, and was sick of walking around by the time we got to this huge show. I remember seeing a few interesting things, and I also remember seeing a few things that reminded me why I hate associating myself with the whole Photography movement from time to time. (I probably saw a huge colorful digital highly manipulated and cliche print of some sort with an idiotic subject and even more thought-less title.) After flying through the whole show, I met up with another peer, and he and I headed back to the hotel. (By this point everyone was pretty much on their own for whenever they wanted to go back and whatever they wanted to do). Once back in the South Kensington area, Matt and I went to the gourmet burger kitchen again. It was good, again, and we actually ran into a handful of students wearing ku shirts who apparently had been studying abroad in Italy for a month and were stopping in London on their way home. That was random. After dinner, it was Kacie chill-time back at the hotel. Tea, chocolate, and blogging, and I eventually got to skype with Ma, Pa, and the Kid sis for a bit, so that was nice.

Got to bed early, as usual, and by early I mean before everyone else on the trip maybe except for one, because everyone else was generally out and about upon the streets of London at night looking for a cool fun bar or club. Whatevz. 

June 17, Day 26

Same breakfast as always! And if you’ve forgotten what that is for me, it consists of one croissant, 2 mini blueberry muffins, a small cup of orange juice, and one or two cups of tea depending on what I feel. After finishing before everyone else, as always, I headed out on my morning routine, also, as always. I met the group at the station like normal and we headed out for the Tate museum. I wasn’t looking forward to yet another museum, and didn’t really see anything that I really liked. We were given two hours or so to check out the museum and I was done and had seen everything I’d wanted to after half an hour. So I sat in the café and had some tea and watched a video about the sculptor that they had an exhibition for. After an hour and a half, we left to have lunch before going to the Tate modern museum. We took a bus boat across the river to a stop near the Tate modern. This was THE MOST incredible boat ride I’ve ever taken in my life. Why you ask? Simple. That’s because we passed underneath the bridge (I forget what it’s called) that’s seen in the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- the footbridge that the death eaters attack whilst muggles are walking across it. I had someone take a photo of me with it in the background, of course. That was just really awesome to see. First Hogwarts at the Lacock Abbey, then the Great Hall at Christ’s Church in Oxford, then the famous footbridge magically torn apart by the death eaters in London. Harry Potter world scavenger hunt- complete. I can die happy.

We ate at a pizza place and got some delicious gelato afterwards that we ate while we walked to the Tate modern. Once in the museum, I definitely enjoyed myself. This was without a doubt my favorite museum from the entire trip. I saw They had an entire wing dedicated to Surrealism. I saw two Salvador Dali paintings, a Picasso, some Man Ray pieces, and other various infamous surrealists. On the floor just above the surrealism wing, there was a special exhibition entitled ‘Exposed’. It was extra to get in, but TOTALLY worth it. It was an entire Photography exhibition about surveillance and street photography snapshot types of photography. Absolutely up my alley. I saw so many photographs that I love and many pieces by photographers that I admire. I saw work by Henri Carter-Bresson, Robert Frank, Weegee, Friedlander, Paul Strand, and other famous photos by photographers I can’t think of. It was an incredible collection, and later I found out that the Exposed Exhibition is the first entirely Photography display that the Tate modern has ever had. Again, excellent timing! (I’m pretty sure Armon, my Photography instructor in charge of this trip, knew about this exhibition. There’s no way we just happened to be there in the time frame that it is being shown. Ha) I lost track of time in this exhibition- now that’s saying something. Usually I fly through museums. I looked at the time when I entered, and when I looked at it again a little more than half way through I realized it was time for us to be regrouping downstairs. (Well that doesn’t say anything about where my passions lie at all.) After leaving, I bought a book on the way out at the little shop. I bought a Street Photography book that really goes into depth about what makes a photograph a ‘Street Photography’ photograph and what not. I’m saving it for the plane ride(s) back and can’t wait to read it. After leaving the museum I sat outside for awhile (Armon told everyone they can have an extra hour in the museum and I had already walked out so I didn’t want to go back in.) and enjoyed the time in the sun under the uncanny blue skies and sunshine. I love people watching, and if you love people watching, you should travel to a different country, because the people watching in a different country is significantly better than the people watching in your home country. 1) you will never recognize anyone or see anyone you know and thus will never be interrupted. 2) you sometimes can’t understand the languages being used by the people you are watching, and are given the opportunity to guess and translate their words however you want- this can be quite funny, and definitely squeezes a chuckle or two out of me when I participate (as if that’s a rare thing). 3) Also along the lines of not understanding the country’s language and that being spoken, you are given absolute entire freedom of interpretation; it’s like a guessing game or charades. Very fun to try and figure out what people are having conversations about when you can’t speak the language they’re using. (Yes, they speak English in England, but it’s completely normal to hear at least two other languages other than English throughout the course of the day. When I was sitting alone outside the museum, there was a group of old ladies behind me speaking in German, and a middle-aged couple at the table next to me mumbling in Russian. I love hearing Russian.)

We got back to the hotel, and I hung out in the room with the television like I do every night. I watched the France vs. Mexico game (good job Mexico, France played like crap) and curled my hair with a straightener (an incredible feat, especially with a tiny travel-sized straightener only meant for straightening). After some time, everyone else, like always, went out to the bars and what not. While everyone was getting all spiffed and dressed up (which I don’t understand why it’s even necessary to get dressed up and wear nice clothes when you risk a stranger or even yourself spilling some sort of nasty drink on your good clothing) I got on the interwebz. I had the computer for awhile, seeing as everyone else was not going to be back for quite some time, and was able to skype my Ma, Pa, kid sis (and her new ukulele), and even Mister Strider Pants Man. I miss that cat and I can’t wait to chase him around the house again when I get home. While skyping my fam, I got the wonderful news of our family summer trip plan for this summer. We will be traveling to the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter and what not in Orlando Florida at the end of July. I am STOKED. It’s also going to be extra fun because it’s just the family this summer. No significant others (sorry zach hahah, but you’re not the biggest HP fan anyways. Plus you smell. Just kidding. I don’t even think you read this blog.) It’s going to be the first time in a few years that it’s solely our family traveling, and that alone is something that I’m extremely excited about. It also could have a lot to do with having been traveling around for an entire month with a bunch of strangers and longing to just travel with my family or people I know again. Ha. After a long, good skyping, I returned the computer, and got ready for bed. I found the Sixth Sense on tv- a classic in my heart, and the first official scary movie that I ever saw. My mom and I rented it when I was 13 or 14, and thus inspired my love for scary movies. (I guess my obsession with horror films is your fault mom, so good job. JK LOL) I could seriously quote that entire movie. I was watching it in the room alone saying the lines before the actors said them. If you know any movies where you can do that, try it, because it’s incredibly amusing. Just make sure no one else is in the room with you, because then you just become an annoying arrogant loser person.

My ipod headphones are kind of broken. The wires are kind of breaking and they’re really testy and it sucks. Nonetheless I got them to function just fine for me and went to bed listening to Sufjan Steven’s Seven Swans album, my favourite of his, and it put me right to sleep. (In a good way, not the boring way.)

Oh- one last thing. When I was coming back to the hotel on the subway (we kind of got separated as a group, but it didn’t matter because we all knew where we were going and how to get there), I witnessed a classic fun-loving English person conversation. It went like this: Oh, and try to imagine this in English accents- that’s what really makes it. (duh)

(Lady sitting next to an open seat offering it to the woman standing next to her)
Woman 1: “Oh- would you like to sit?!”
Woman 2: “Ah, nah, that’s quite alright.”
Woman 1: “Oh sure.”
Woman 2: (after pondering the offer some more) “You know I had a big milkshake with my lunch… got to burn off all of those calories after that! But thanks anyways, Cheers!”
(laughter)

I love English people. There always just so cheery (no pun intended) and kind and happy. They’re always watching out for one another, and I really adore that. They’re just always having a jolly-good life.

June 16, Day 25

Normal breakfast, as always. Today was another free day. I never really have a plan of what I want to do on free days (I think that’s been pretty clear). After breakfast, I took the subway alone one stop west to the street that houses Caffe Nero. I’m going to miss the tube so much. It wasn’t until today that I finally really figured out how the system actually works; I figured out that the trains come from different direction depending on where you’re headed and I found out how to tell which side of the actual train will be opening to get off of the train, and I also figured out how the platforms work and which side you need to be on in order to head to whatever direction. Maybe that sounds simple, but it’s something I had never really paid attention to when I was with everyone else. I definitely prefer to be alone, because I’m honestly more aware of what’s going on around me, and I think that’s true for anyone really. So I got coffee. I always order a grande vanilla latte with half the amount of vanilla. At Caffe Nero, their sizes are small, regular, and grande. So I get a large. For a large, they will fill a shot glass entirely with the syrup you ordered to put in your drink. That is way too much for me, so eventually I decided to be brave and be picky about my drink (like you mom HAHA JKJK) and ask for specifics. One thing that kind of makes me sad about Caffe Nero is that though they do dose freshly ground espresso before pulling shots, there is no tamping involved with the baristas. It’s all done in their machine apparently. A little sad, but whatevz. Also, another thing about coffee in England, actually in Europe as a whole, is that when you want your coffee to go, you don’t ever say ‘to go’. In Europe, you order it for ‘take away’. I think it’s really funny, and feel very European ordering by saying, ‘grande vanilla latte with half a shot of vanilla for take away, please,’ minus my American accent. So I got coffee, hit up the Cornish bakery for a delicious pain au chocolat, and stood and waited at the station for the group to show up.

We headed out to Birmingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. I didn’t really have any idea what that was, I just knew that it was free and was something for me to do and see while I’m here in London; thus, I tagged along. (By the way, I’d like to mention that the weather was exceptionally beautiful this day, much like it had been the past few days. Sunshine and saturated blue skies with large white fluffy clouds is an absolute rarity for a place like London, and the weather had been just that on this day and quite a few others. We had great timing coming to London.) We arrived at the gates to what I would assume were to the palace, but I’ll never be sure because it was SO crowded- an excellent opportunity for some street photography. I mostly took photos of other people taking photos, always fun. It was also the first time in awhile I had my camera on me, so it was nice to be in my element shooting again. I eventually went though another roll of film, and that marks 8 rolls I’ve gone through so far on this entire trip. That honestly doesn’t seem like a lot compared to my fellow classmates’ over 3,000 digital pictures. 8 rolls at 36 exposures is 288 photos, which for film is A TON. Also, that’s 288 photos of what I have planned for my photographic series from this trip, with the exception of a handful or so, not 20 photos that may work for my project than the rest just touristy things. It’s been quite relaxing to leave all of the cliché touristy shots up to everyone else throughout the trip. I don’t have to waste my time on them because everyone else is taking them for me. Hah. We didn’t stay there too long, mostly because we couldn’t really see anything that was going on, but we did occasionally see a big band cross the street then an entire group of horses and guards all decked out in their british garb.

I headed back to the hotel alone, because from there the majority of the group departed for Stonehenge, and two others planned on going out and about with each other as they usually do. On my way back I was informed that apparently we bought a weeks worth of internet, but no one was really supposed to know and they were keeping it on the down low so that it wouldn’t be abused. So while everyone was gone, I had some internet time. I caught my blog all up and got to skype for awhile with Ma and Pa. Other than that I just hung out and watched tv and ate chocolate. Kind of lame to spend my time in London alone, but sometimes it’s nice to just sit in one place and veg in front of the tv for a few hours.

After some time people trickled back to the hotel, and eventually we went out and ate at Zizzi’s again, the itialian restaurant some of us had gone to a few days ago. Definitely the worst dinner ever- I got the ‘risotto verde’. The colours and textures of the meal were great, but it was SO bland. I honestly think they forgot a crucial ingredient in the dish. It was just risotto with peas and green beans and zuccini and lima beans and a lemon wedge… absolutely no falvour. I was disappointed. Oh well. I went back to the hotel and got some more alone time. I found the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift on tv and watched the entire thing in honor of the boyfriend. He likes movies like that, and that one specifically. It was kind of sad watching it though, I admit. I’m sure it will be nice once Im back in Kansas to know that he’s only 3 hours away from me in Wichita rather than being an entire day or something away across seas on a different continent.

It was a nice relaxing day for me. I got a lot of rest and individual time and was prepared for another museum day and a day full of being around the group. I also can’t really believe that I’m going home in 3 days. This trip is nearly over. Psycho.

June 15, Day 24

Same breakfast as always. Funny story though- a few days ago one of the girls came down to eat in her pajamas, to which the hostess said, "Do you really find it appropriate to come to a restaurant in your pajamas?" She had no choice but to go back upstairs and change. The hostess wasn't being mean or anything, it's just completely inappropriate and along the lines of offensive to those who live here in Europe. Over my time here, that's one thing I've really enjoyed about being here- people care about their appearance. Though they may not have a blinding white smile with perfect teeth, they really take time to be presentable any time they leave their home. I love it. Europe is so high class compared to America- even when it comes to the food. Though, America wins when it comes to luxury, namely bathrooms and hotels.

My new roommate and I headed out before the rest of the group to hit up Caffe Nero before heading out. For the sake of time, we took the subway west one stop to put us right on the street that the coffee shop is on. I needed a good coffee in the morning.. I knew it was going to be a long day. After meeting the rest of the group we headed out to our first gallery stop- the Saatchii Gallery. There were a few interesting things here, there was an installment in a room that looked like a pool of water when you looked down over a balcony, but I later found out that it was oil. that was kind of odd. There was a room full of hundreds of speakers all connected to a self-playing programmed piano- sound art. That was interesting to watch. Then there was an installment of a bunch of fake people gathered in a corner. That was really funny, because at first I thought 'what are they looking at' and 'why are they all crowded around that's stupid because no one else can see'. Then I found out that they weren't real. Ha. I took a photo of it. I'll get that up sometime if I remember. We went to some other museum that I can't remember so clearly I saw nothing interesting. We went to a famous museum called the White Cube, which was literally a white cube building in the midst of the city scape. There were a few boring sculptures in there and then downstairs there was a huge dark room with an enormous wooden cubism installment. The entire thing was painted with glow-in-the-dark paint. Pretty trippy actually. You could walk through the sculpture. It was fun. Randomly they turned on these like spotlights and it blinded everyone in the room. They had to recharge the paint though. Funny. After that we were only given half an hour for lunch at picadilly circus (picadilly circus = times square in NYC)... I just had a quick sandwich and tea at a little corner store. We went to a couple other tiny random galleries that I didn't really care much for, and eventually we stopped at anther White Cube location. There were sculptures here and some wall pieces. Unfortunately I hated everything they had at this location. I don't understand why some people get involved in art only for the sake of making people gasp or question whether what they've done is art or not. (The sculptures on display were entirely inappropriate and no where near art, unless you consider the process of sculpting them the art aspect of the work). Anytime there is a sign that warns that there is explicit sexual content and viewers must be at least eighteen years to see the work, my interest is absolutely lost and replaced with despise. I despise anyone who finds it necessary and even the slightest bit honorable and worthy to create anything pertaining to porn-like subjects and tag them with the title of 'art'. It does nothing but remind me how disgusting the human race really can be every now and then. And what's even worse is some people agree with the artist and consider whatever they've done art, and even enjoy looking at it. How repulsive.

Enough ranting. We got back to the hotel and I just hung out alone for awhile. I actually completely emptied out my suitcase and reorganized and repacked everything while watching the Brazil vs. N. Korea game. I just waited to hear back from everyone about dinner. A few people wanted to get like.. turkish food. Turkish, indian, greek food... Not really my thing at all, so a few other and myself just got subway. We all headed back to eat at the hotel. Just hung out and watched tv, and eventually I left to shower and get to bed because i was bored and wanted some alone time. Hah.

At this point I am seriously desperate for quality conversation. I mean sure every now and then I'll participate in the infamous 'that's what she said' jokes and what not, but honestly the dirty raunchy humour and conversations are really starting to get on my nerves. Also I'm tired of hearing 'fail' used in every single context imaginable. Whoever started the trend of using that word as an adjective to describe a situation or event that has occurred should be shot. I hated hearing that all the time before this trip, and I know I have had a status or two on facebook about how tired I've gotten of hearing 'epic fail' all the time. I've also heard an occasional 'I know, right!?' which bothers me just as much unfortunately. Some insecure idiot started that phrase. When people say 'I know, right?' in response to something someone has said, they are first agreeing with whatever was just said, then questioning their agreeably and looking for the acceptance of the other person; therefore, they are insecure in their own opinion and need to have someone else be on the same page as them and need that confirmation that their opinion is acceptable. Pathetic.

More ranting, sorry. It's gets hard being surrounded by one's pet peeves for so long, not to mention also being surrounded by strangers overseas in an unfamiliar country. It's nice to know that in four days I'll be home, surrounded by people I know and trust, will have unlimited internet access on my own computer, will have ice and air conditioning at my leisure, and will get a room to myself and will not be woken up throughout the night.

I look forward to going home, but I am still having an enjoyable time here as well. It's bittersweet, really.

June 14, Day 23

I feel like my hair has gotten really long. That's something I've noticed over the month of being overseas. It's been fun to watch my hair grow. It probably helps that I don't have curly hair anymore.. so with my hair being straight all the time no matter what I do definitely makes it look longer than it may have looked in the past.

I slept so well. I was so happy. So glad to be in a new room. I don't really have a problem with snoring as long as I can find somewhere else to sleep. What really bothers me is when you ask if someone snores, and they say no, then you end up in a room at night with them and they snore like crazy. I'm pretty sure if I snored I'd let people know up front. This is one instance where I don't really like surprises. Doesn't matter. I fixed the problem.

We had a normal breakfast then headed out to the British Museum, which was the destination for the day. Even though I've gotten entirely tired of museums, I still enjoyed myself at this one. (I've come to find that going around museums alone works best for me, because I get tired of waiting on other people to move on). I saw a HUGE Michelangelo drawing, only one of two that exist now. that was pretty incredibly. I don't love Italian Renaissance paintings and drawings or whatever, well I guess I do after thinking about it, but it is pretty powerful and a neat experience being in the presence of a piece of work created by an artist who is considered a master. I also saw a lot of chinese woodcut prints and what not. Those were interesting. Lots of beautiful chinese landscapes and trees and things. One of my favourite things that I saw was the ancient egyptian mummy displays. They had a mummified person, and all of these bones and decaying things. They had all of the tools and such used in the process of mummification on display. Pretty cool stuff. Seeing all of the bones and things reminded me of how much I enjoyed Physical Anthropology, well the lab at least. I'm looking forward to dominating the lecture section of that class this fall. Just sayin. There was another room in the museum called the 'clocks and watches' room. It was siiiick. It was just full of every single kind of clock or watch ever created. They had a lot of clocks taken apart so you could see how they work and everything. The entire room ticked and tocked and rang. Very cool.

We grabbed a quick lunch at a pub and after eating I headed to a Caffe Nero I had spotted earlier and sat and waited there for two others to meet me to just venture around for hte rest of the day. I just sat outside and enjoyed my delicious latte. Once I met up with the other two and we headed out. I had no idea where we were going, but I tagged along nonetheless. After arriving in Liverpool, I eventually found out that we were looking for a Photo Gallery that we were going to be going to the next day... so I said 'see ya' and headed back to the hotel. I don't want to go to a gallery twice. That's stupid. So I rode the subway back alone. too bad my ipod died, but I realized how much I love the subway. it's just so fun and fast moving and everything. It also made me realize how polite the people here are. Everyone watches out for everyone else on the subway. I saw a middle-aged woman give her seat up to an old lady. Men always come back down stairs to help a woman they passed with a stroller, and will carry it down the stairs for them. Boys won't take a seat unless the train has started moving and they've asked the women around them if they want the seat. It's awesome. I love the people here. Once I was back I had some chill kacie time. My favourite.

We went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant which I was nervous about at first, but ended up being quite good. After eating I walked to the Caffe nero a few blocks west from our hotel only to find out that they were closed. Everything closes early here, and by early I mean shops close around 7pm, and coffee places close generally at 9pm. Restaurants usually close a bit later because people eat late here (which is nothing new to me, my family has always had late meals) and pubs and bars close even later, but that's normal everywhere. Even though Caffe Nero was closed, I had a nice peaceful evening walk in a nice part of town. (The area where we're staying seems to be quite nice and seemingly expensive).

Overall, it was a pretty easy-going day, even though I went to yet another museum. I had to prepare though.. there are about seven museums on the schedule for tomorrow, so I made sure to get to bed at a decent time.

((SIDE NOTE: Justin Beiber music video on the telly. That's for you, Katrina.))

I love my new room. It's quiet, spacious, clean, and organized. I can't believe I go home in less than a week. I'm just finally starting to get used to being abroad and in London. Though, I do look forward to free refills, iced tea, iced drinks, large clean bathrooms, air conditioning, etc. (And family of course)

I miss church so much. Not having one that I really like in Manhattan sucks, and having been abroad for a month, I haven't been able to go. That's something I can't wait to get back into once I get home. I miss Sunday mornings at heartland with my family soooooo much.

Speaking of church, after reading a verse marked by my mom before bed I just kind of opened the bible to a random place and found this verse:

"Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." -Acts 18:9-10

Not that I've been afraid of being harmed or attacked or anything.. I just found that verse unique to my situation. Comforting for lack of a better word. I just loved how perfectly it fit in with everything. Kind of made me realize that closing off to the people I've been with isn't necessarily a good thing. Just because I don't want to really associate with them 24/7 doesn't mean that I can't havve a decent conversation even now and then.

June 13, Day 22

Today was an open day, so I had a relaxing normal breakfast, then spent all morning allowing everyone else to decide what they wanted to do. While they were doing so, I traded rooms! I officially am in the only non-snoring room where my roommate and myself are the only girls on the entire trip who don't snore. Finally, I'll have a nice sleep-filled night.
Everyone was deciding between going to Stonehenge and Oxford, or both, and eventually decided on Oxford- which made me excited because that meant I could tag along. Also, I knew that Oxford meant HOGWARTS!

We took a train to Oxford, then took a fun double decker tour bus to wherever we wanted. The top level didn't have a roof, and I took a 6 minute or something long video of just driving around from up there... I probably won't get that up until I get back home (sorry). Anyways, the only stop I really cared about was Christ's Church, which is where the Great Hall from the Harry Potter films exists. I've already uploaded some photos from that on facebook. That was a pretty fun experience being in the Great Hall and everything. I will say though, it did feel considerably smaller than tey make it seem in the films. That could just be the fact that in the films there are four large tables with benches for the four houses of Hogwarts, and the normal set up church dining hall consists of six or so large tables with a billion chairs and lamps and sets of silverware and what not. Plus, there was a huge line of people circulating through the room, so I'm sure that added to the tininess. Hah. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful church, and really awesome to be in the room that they've filmed Harry Potter. Hah. After touring the church, we walked a bit down the street and hit up a shop that Alice Lidell, Lewis Carroll's obsession, and inspiration for his infamous story Alice in Wonderland, would often visit as a girl to get sweets and candy and whatever else. The store has since then been converted into an Alice in Wonderland little shop with classic souvenirs for sale. I bought a little teacup and saucer, and I'm praying that I can get it back to the states in one piece. We rode the bus a bit longer after that, just around, then we stopped at a little downtown / shop-infested Oxford area and did some shopping. I sat at an outside cafe and enjoyed some traditional english tea and waited for everyone else to get done with shopping before we headed back. I really wish tehre were more cafes back home. That's something I'm going to really miss. I love just sitting outside with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoying myself; everyone loves doing that here, and I feel that we don't have places like that back in the US because people are so concerned about time and money and what not. Things are just so much more nonchalant and relaxed here in Europe, and I could really get used to it. Though, don't get me wrong, I do love my fair share of fast paced lifestyles- I mean, I do work at a coffee shop. Ha.

Our train back was incredibly crowded- more people got on it than seats available. Thankfully I sat in the first open seat I saw and didn't have to stand in the aisles like many on the hour and a half ride back to London. Once we got back to South Kensington, I went with two others to enjoy some fine London dining for the first time on the trip. I had a steak. It took forever to get out food, so you know it must have been a good steakhouse. It was delicious, and I miss good steaks and mashed potatoes. After we got back to the room I hung out and played the waiting game for the internet. I chilled and had 4 cups of tea and what not. (I don't understand how people can skype for more than half an hour. I run out of things to talk about, and honestly get tired of it after awhile. Kind of like the way I feel when talking on the phone.) Eventually I got a computer, and was able to at least skype Zach for a bit (my family was busy with church things, so I guess they're excused). After ten minutes not either of us had much to say. Hah. Typical really. I was excited to go to bed having a new clean room and a new quiet sleeping roommate. No more community room!