Up to my 21st

Hi all! Sorry for the long time between posts. As I'm procrastinating finishing up my personal statement for my last internship applications, I thought I might as well do something useful!

I think I left off on the 11th, a Wednesday. It's so nice to have Wednesdays off because Tuesdays I'm gone from about 10am-5:30pm since I have two classes and my lunch break isn't long enough to go home. So Wednesday is usually my workout and get some work done day, since, like tonight, I'm pretty beat on Tuesdays. Sheena, Danielle and I met up with Sheena's English friend Samara at one of our usual haunts, The Big Chill. It was nice to talk art with her (I believe she's into sculpture and such) and talk about the different school systems. She also had some good stories from when Sheena and her were in Barbados. We then went to another of our favorites, The Other Side for some food. We grabbed some dessert at the convenience store on the way back to Nido, where the owner loves us and gives us free stuff whenever we go in. This time it was one of those MASSIVE Toblerone bars. Toblerone and Ritter Sport will always remind me of when we lived in Munich. And Kinder Eggs! We also caught the end of a football match back at the cafe in Nido.

On the 12th I checked out the library at the North Campus on Holloway Road. They didn't have the art textbook I needed but I found it later on the other campus. Once the apps are in, I'll have to catch up on my Art in London research from that. After hitting up the library, I went to Human Structure and Function and had my first practical. Practicals are basically short labs where you have some work to do, fill out a worksheet, and complete a quiz at home afterwards to get credit for completing them. There are only two a semester so it isn't like a full lab class. This one was on the heart and we got to take out blood pressure and hook ourselves up to an ECG machine (with all the wires and graphing of your heartbeat) before and after exercise. After class, I went to The Sound of Music, which was amazing! I went with Alex, who is a theater major, and Jaime. The sets were gorgeous, the kids were totally adorable, and the singing gave you chills at times. And I realized that the Alfs are totally the Von Trapps-5 girls and two boys haha. Except for the whole singing, being Austrian, and nun/stepmom situation. Otherwise exactly the same!

Friday the 13th was your typical Friday-nothing scary!

Saturday was Valentine's Day! We had a GSE event during the day which was fun. We went to the National Gallery in the morning and then Michael gave us a really interesting history lesson about how Charing Cross is the official center of London that everything is measured by. He also told us the story of and how legend has it that "Charing" comes from from the French chère reine or "dear Queen", which is what Edward I called his wife Eleanor. He has crosses placed at each night's stop on the procession of her body from outside London to where Charing Cross is now, and the cross still stood there until the revolution. It's a pretty fascinating story-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Castile#Queen_consort_of_England.
We then stopped for Italian for lunch, and then continued on to cross the Millenium Bridge over to the Tate Modern. We were pretty wiped from the National Gallery so we only did half of the museum. Luckily, most of the major museums in London are free so we can always go back. Plus, we did the Tate Modern last time we were here. On our way back over the bridge I randomly ran into one of my friends from Nido. Small world in a city of 8 million people or so. I then headed back for a quick nap and dinner at The Other Side again as I was desperately needing to go grocery shopping at that point. Some of the girls took a trip to Bournemouth and met some of Samara's brother's friends a few days before this. They decided to come visit us in our neck of the woods on Valentines day. So a big group of us got dressed up and went out to this place called Barfly in Camden Town. The event photographer showed us that the actor that played Fogell ("Mclovin") in the movie Superbad had JUST been there and she'd snapped a picture. It was pretty funny since we had just watched Superbad the night before.

The next day was very busy spent out and about in London. I went with a friend to Covent Garden, which had a ton of street performers and markets since it was Sunday. We grabbed some Italian and then walked around some more and grabbed coffee. We walked to Trefalger Square and around Picadilly Circus before deciding to take the tube to Shepherd's Bush, which is this HUGE, ultra modern mall. We just looked around for a bit but didn't really shop. We then went to another Walkabout near Shepherd's Bush which was a lot bigger and had a stage and live music.

Last Monday I got up early to go to City Campus to finish shellacking my prints for printmaking. Then I worked at lunch and headed to the other campus for programming.
Tuesday was another long day. I got a little lost finding the Wallace Collection for Art in London, but it was really beautiful! It's a converted old house that holds a private collection. We were looking at the Rococo and Dutch art. It also has all sorts of armor and arms. I completed my first prints and they're dry now so I just need to buy some tape and I'll be able to decorate my walls with them! Then we had another GSE event: seeing the West End show The 39 Steps. It's adapted from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. It was pretty silly humor but the actors did a great job because there was only 4 of them playing something like 120 roles. Lots of quick changes and rapid dialogue! Tons of fun.

On my day off I did my usual gym, laundry etc routine. I made some plans for my birthday outings and invited everyone. I also was unsuccessful in my search for a roommate for next year when I'm a CA off campus in the Fairfax building, so I'll probably get a random person. A group of us also saw He's Just Not That Into You, which was really good! We met another one of the New York crew, Zoey, as well as a random friend of a friend that had been talked up, ANOTHER Sebastian.

Thursday was a frustrating day at human structure and function because we were only told how to access the lecture online AFTER our homework was due. Plus, pretty much the whole class didn't realize that we didn't have tutorial and that it was a "self directed learning day" until we all sat there for about 20 minutes. I did have a good conversation with someone in my class, so it wasn't a total loss!

Friday we went out touristing. We finally all got going and headed to The Tower of London. I think all the medieval history is absolutely fascinating and it's always cool to see the guards, Beefeaters, and guys dressed up like royalty. I loved seeing the medieval graffiti and original chopping block and axe. I'm glad I went again. Afterwards we tried this tasty Japanese noodle place, Wagamama. Then we walked around Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

And now on to my 21st birthday! The day before I got a note in my mailbox that I had a package. It was flowers, a balloon, and chocolates from my mom! The RAs kinda gave the "FLOWERS" box a look over and I explained it was my birthday. They said they had thought that SOMEONE forgot Valentine's Day, which was funny. I was online when it turned midnight so I got all sorts of messages and well-wishes. I got a birthday wake up call early in the morning from Morgan, Chris, Candi, John, and Sarah, which was amazing. A friend took me out for omelettes (yum!) for my birthday breakfast. I then went back to bed and celebrated in my laziness. I watched a movie with the guys before it was time to start getting ready for the festivities. I got a happy birthday chat with my family back home, so I got to celebrate with them for a little! Everyone started meeting up at my room at 6pm, and then we went out for Indian food which was really delicious. We then came back to Nido where I was surprised with cards, wine, and a CAKE! Luckily they didn't set off the smoke detector with the candles. We then headed out to Cafe de Paris in Picadilly Circus. Luckily we took someone who knew maps so we could get the night bus home. Overall, a WONDERFUL birthday and I felt so loved all day <3

Sunday I did absolutely nothing since I was still recovering. I skyped some more with Morgan, I love getting to see my friend's and family's faces!
Yesterday I was awoken at 9:15am by the stupid drilling and construction that seems to be going on right near our room. So loud! Then I had programming. Afterwards I booked a weekend trip to Dublin! I'm really excited and we're picking out our tourist attractions we most want to see. Then I finalized the last internship applications I'm applying to. I just need to finish off my cover letter and submit them all.
Today was Art in London, which brought us back to the National Gallery to see Neo-Classical and Romantic art. I gave a short presentation, so I'm glad that I have that done. I also finished the rest of my collograph prints, and next week we're doing color!

Not too many upcoming plans, tomorrow we'll probably go out and watch the Liverpool game. I hope you all are doing well at home! Cheers!