DAY THREE

 

Right, so I usually post in the mornings following the day that I’m writing about, but I have a pretty early morning tomorrow, so I’m gonna get it out of the way now.  Well, I say early.  It’s really about 8 o’clock.  I’m just lazy.

Today was fairly busy itself.  First day of class.  The class is not really a class, but more of a really large English class.  That means that its a public forum for opinions and everyone gets an A.  I love it.  Today was orientation though, and so the Great Poobah inspector of London came in and gave us the usual rundown on how to stay safe in London.  He fancied himself a comedian, but the information was really useful.  Jason and I got lost on the way to class, because there is no accurate map of London anywhere.  I defy you to find one.  We did find this really good Oxfam bookstore.  That’s like Goodwill for you bloody Yanks.  I bought a collection of Bertolt Brecht’s plays, and Jason wanted to buy a Smurfs book I think.  In any case, he was still delirious over having snapped a photo of this unicorn statue on top of a church and about how good the zoom on his camera is.  Small things in life, I suppose.

After class we trolled about in the British Museum for a while.  I like the London Museum more because the British Museum was so big and clean and posh and important.  We did some mummies though, including Cleopatra’s.  I wasn’t that impressed with her, because she looked like a big potato sack with a vaguely humanoid shape.  Still, it was cool that it was Cleopatra.  The Rosetta Stone was pretty awesome, too.

Lastly, we saw Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at the Royal Nation Theatre, starring Madame Hooch from Harry Potter.  It was LOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGG.  Too long.  Even our theatre teacher said so.  I still liked it, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open the whole time.  I’m a horrible person.

In summary, some things to keep in mind:  Always make sure that the tube stop is labelled clearly on the map and don’t assume that the stop is called something because its on that street.  If you made up a name for someone whose name you can’t remember, don’t let that person find out about it.  Jacket potatoes with beans are incredible.  The Brits love beans on EVERYTHING.  And so do I.

Cheers for beans, books, and the British Museum!

— Henry