A few weeks ago I went to see The Comedy of Errors at the Globe. OSAP had some tickets, and since everyone else had something going on, I went by myself.
This wasn't a big deal at all, but I'm glad that I had been to see the Globe before with my family or I would have been lost and alone on a Friday evening in London. I'm still not used to city life. It intimidates me. The play was fantastic; I laughed out loud many times, which was slightly embarrassing because my laugh is ridiculous and I was alone, so I probably seemed kind of crazy.
We went to London with OSAP a few days ago. During the Tube strike. Without the Underground, the traffic was absolutely obnoxious. It took us about an hour and a half to get through the city to our drop-off point. The lines for the busses were so long. And what did the strike accomplish? Nothing but irritating the entire population of the city. OSAP was doing the same tour that we did last term (which I think is lame and cheap and another reason why OSAP is frustrating) so I decided to tour around Westminster Abbey. Emily came with me. It's wonderful inside. Emily described it as an attic, which I think is great - there is just so much in there, that it's pretty crowded actually. But this doesn't take away from it's beauty, which is obviously appreciated. I got to see the tombs of Henry VII, Elizabeth, Bloody Mary, and Mary Queen of Scots, all of whom I have been studying about very recently, so that was exciting.
When we were taking a look around the Cloisters, I saw that the flag was raised on Victoria Tower. Rick Steves had just enlightened me about how when the flag is raised, Parliament is in session, and people can witness the debates. Oh Rick Steves, how I love thee. So Emily and I went to both Houses. Pretty boring debate topics, but it was neat to see inside. There were only about fifteen members in the House of Commons, and they were debating whether or not to add the Red Chrystal as a non-religious symbol for protection, along with the Red Cross and Red Crescent. It was really funny to watch them actually. Some had no interest whatsoever, and would get up and walk out whenever, some were very opinionated about it, and they joked around with each other the entire time. I loved it. And hearing the particular way in which they speak was interesting: the honorable gentleman this, my honorable friend that... There were many more members of the House of Lords present, but it was kind of the same deal, where some people weren't very interested. They were discussing something about Sri Lanka, but we came in during the middle of it, and to be honest, I have no idea what was going on.
Then Emily and I went to get a snack. We were going to go to the Tate, but we thought that we didn't have enough time. We were heading back to meet up with the bus when Clothilde texted me saying that we were meeting a half hour later. So Emily and I had tea at a pub. With scones and clotted cream and Victoria Sponge cake and sandwiches. It was very cute.
On Thursday, Emily and I went to a reading by JM Coetzee. I had never heard of him actually, but it was in the Sheldonian Theater, which I have been meaning to see inside, and so I went with her. The Sheldonian was designed by Christopher Wren, and it's pretty neat. It is where they hold matriculation every year. Coetzee read some exerpts from the third installation of his autobiography that is coming out soon. I had never been to a reading before, and it was kind of fun. He wrote it from the perspective of a third party who interviews people who knew Coetzee, who has died. I think that's a pretty creative way to write an autobiography.
All of the Oxford students have been taking exams for the past few weeks, and so there have been people running around Oxford in "subfusc", which is the uniform that they have to wear during exams. It is a tradition to wear a carnation during them as well, and they wear a white one for their first exam, a pink one for their middle exams, and a red one for their last exams. And after their last exam, they get "trashed", which means all of their friends throw water, champagne, silly string, confetti, etc. all over them. And so people will be walking down the street completely covered in ridiculousness. I think it's an awesome tradition.
I hung out with Karl and his friends last night, which was really nice. So Jin is from Korea, and she made sushi for us. It was excellent, of course. I love Karl and all of his friends, and it's a shame that I live so far away from them now because I never get to see them. I hadn't seen Karl all term, which I felt really bad about. He is friends with all international students, and they're all wonderful. It was great to see him and hang out with chill people.
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