Can you hear me?

Being here in London right now is like being part of history. Right now England is having this huge snow storm, and it's something this city is not equipped for! Having lived in Utah for the past few years, when it started snowing here a few weeks ago, I went, "Shucks. I thought I had escaped the snow." But that's about as far as my concern went. Other people in the country, however, were starting to panic. It started snowing at night, and was actually really cool to see. It was really windy so from inside the snow appeared to be falling horizontally rather than vertically. In the morning was the big surprise: everything was covered in snow! There were probably six or seven inches on the ground. It was pretty to see, I took a few pictures and then retreated into my warm flat to cozy up with a book and enjoy the view on the other side of the window. It was a peaceful day. It wasn't until I ventured outside later to return a book to the library that I noticed the extraordinary events occurring. As I walked down the street I first noticed the large number of children walking around, which wasn't normal for that time of day. I realized that schools had been closed down, and found out later that over 1,000 had been! I also noticed quite a few shops and stores were closed. One of them had a sign on the front window that said "Closed due to lack of employees. Sorry for the inconvenience." Apparently lots of public transportation had been closed down and many people couldn't get to work! Literally, much of London just shut down. I was in shock! A city as big and developed as London absolutely paralyzed! And it really was. I couldn't believe that it was from these few little inches of snow, but it was! I began to realize the impact that our climate really does have on us. In Utah, even if a few feet of snow falls in a day, people still go to school and work and live life normally. Because they're equipped to do this. They have set things up so they can function in harsh weather like this. London, on the other hand, does not normally get this kind of weather. So even with it's presence, no matter how small it may appear to us, it was a big deal here, because the city didn't have the means, or the knowledge really, on how to handle it. It really was fascinating to see.

Another thing I actually really enjoyed about this snow storm, was the sudden massive number of snowmen that appeared around the city. I think every person in London made one! They were on the sidewalks, in the streets, in yards, and in every available patch of ground in every park. The day after the big storm I went running in Kensington Gardens. It was really pretty to see the entire area just pure white. And I loved all the snowmen! Because they were EVERYWHERE!!! It was really funny! But with over 1,000 schools closed down, what else did you expect the kids to do right?

Anyway, also during this week we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. This place was magnificent. It was huge and so pretty inside. Also there is a very large crypt underneathe, which actually was a little more light and lively than I was expecting a crypt to be. But there was something I loved about St. Paul's Cathedral: the WWII memorial. There was an area that commemorated the American service men and women who came to England during the war to aid the British and it's people. There were three stain glass windows, the first labeled Service, the second Sacrifice, and the third Resurrection. Each one had a picture displaying the action of its label and inside all three were the flags of all fifty states. And on the ground in gold it said: To the American Dead of the Second World War from the People of Britain." I thought that was so cool! This was a historic building that hundreds of thousands visit each year, and our nation's relationship is so important that they put this here for all to see. Even though we are two separate countries, we are all still people who need and help each other when the opportunity arises.

Something a little more playful was also in St. Paul's Cathedral that I really liked. It's called the Whispering Gallery. St. Paul's has this massive dome at the top that you can get into. To get to it you have to go up like 100 steps, which is a nice little work out. Then when you're in there, you can stand on one side of the dome, and whisper to someone on the other side of the dome, and they can hear you! When I first heard about this I was a little skeptical. It's a big dome. But I'm a believer now! It totally works! It was actually kind of creepy sometimes because you would be stnading there looking at someone across it, and suddenly you would hear your name whispered behind you. You would turn and when discovering no one behind you, would search around the domw to find who was looking at you. But it sounded like a ghost sometimes saying your name! It was really cool. I love St. Paul's!!!

Castles anyone?

This week was full historical enjoyment: some real, some mythological. But that just added to the fun! For our day trip we went to a national trust called Stourhead. It's basically like a reservoir, just without all the animals. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. A person could come to this place and forget that there's anything outside of it. It was almost mystical. There were caves, a massive lake, and buildings that looked like the pantheon. It was incredible. And, there was something special about it in particular for this group of girls. One of the buildings that overlooks most of the area, is the set of a scene in the recent "Pride and Prejudice" film. Most of this trip so far has been focused on historic sites that have decades of importance. It was nice to visit an area that holds some meaning, though argueably trivial, to youth of our age.

After that we went to Winchester. We first toured Winchester Cathedral, which was amazing. Here also is the grave of Jane Austen: it was the day for all romantic girls. I love having the chance to do what this program is giving me the opportunity to do. This past week for class we finished a Jane Austen novel; then we visited a site where one of her novels takes place; then we visited a site where a film of one of her novels was shot; and then we visited her grave site and the memorial that is there. It has been such a fascinating couple of weeks as everything I learn is connected to each other. It comes alive in a way that only physical action and personal experience can do. I could never learn like this from a book or a classroom.

Also in Winchester we were able to go to Winchester Castle, where the round table of King Arthur is! Obviously not real, but yet something we all knew and were excited about. This table was HUGE! It had a picture of King Arthur on top, and all 14 knights' names around it. It was so amazing to see. King Arthur has always been folklore, but yet seeing the table, a real massive round table, made it seem a lot more real. And now I've been inspired to go study King Arthur. That's the next book on my list.




Although we were in Winchester Castle, it didn't really seem like a castle in the middle of town, with no tower. And let's face it: a castle has to have a tower in order to be considered a castle... that's why where we went next fulfilled a dream I never even knew I had: we visited a real castle. Porchester Castle to be exact. It was SWEET!!! It was massive! Most of it was gone and broken down, but a lot of it was still intact. There was this huge small spiral staircase that went all the way from the bottom to the very top of the tower so you could walk around on the roof. I say huge because it was so tall and there were a million and a half stairs, but I say small because they have to be the smallest steps I've ever seen in my life in this small area where one person barely fit. I really felt like I'd gone back in time. I would have loved to take a pen and notepad there, sit for hours and just write a story. Or a song or something. It was the perfect spot to just let your mind wander and enter an entirely new world.

Now, this is a little different than what I've been talking about but something I found kind of interesting. There are some people around our age a few of us met and they invited us over for dinner one day. So we went and had the opportunity to get to know them and talk about England and America and the differences and similarities between the two. And one thing we talked about kind of made me laugh. In America, and especially as a theatre major, we're always trying to do the British accent. Now, from years of practice I thought I'd acquired a pretty good one and often wondered if I talked in it if the local citiznes wouldn't know I was American. So we happened to ask our hosts about this and if Americans doing British accents is a good facade. Apparently, if an American tries to do a British accent in order to blend in, it immediately marks them as American! And this reason is this: we often talk of a British accent, as if there were only one. And there are not. I'd never thought ot that. Britain has different dialects just as America does. Each region speaks the same language, but each slightly different depending on where they grew up. So when an American tries to do a British accent, they don't realize they're mixing together a number of different dialects! I was fascinated by this. Now I'm terrified to even try an accent in front of anyone from here! I have some studying to do now. It's become a life goal to learn one British dialect and learn it well enough to fool a Britain. Think it can be done? I'm still going to try.