Well folks, the lights are strung along the streets, the air smells of winter, and the Christmas trees are up. The ice-skating rinks have been opened and the Christmas markets are set up and busy. There's even a chance of snow. So yes, it is officially Christmastime here in London! and it's awesome.
I only have 11 days left until I return home and I think I'm in denial. I can visualize myself getting home, hugging my family, and enjoying a Franklin Christmas, but I cannot imagine not being here anymore...so strange to think about. So of course these last few days are jammed packed full of last minute activities (aka: things I should have been doing in London earlier, but had put off). I feel like I have converted back into a tourist.
This last week has been busy as usual! Besides classes and internship, I have also gone to see Harry Potter! So much more fun seeing it actually in England, with scenes filmed in places I have just been. I also had the opportunity to go to the Chelsea football match! My mom's friend Marianna (who lives here in London) was able to get us tickets and they were fantastic seats! We were on the lowest section, almost eye level with the field and only 10 or so rows back. Attending a football match (soccer game) in England is an experience unlike any other! They go crazy for their team. There was one section in the stadium that cheered and chanted the whole time. Nonstop for 90 minutes. That is dedication right there. It was a great game, Chelsea won 2-1, scoring their winning goal in the last 4 minutes! Couldn't have come home without seeing a football match and it was a great night!
I also experienced my first school riot this week. The UK government is tripling the cost of tuition for university students, so they have been protesting this change for the last couple of weeks. However, they have now encouraged the secondary school (high school) students to get involved and protest too, since they will be paying this tuition soon. So on Wednesday (the day planned for students to protest), I was at my internship at Hornsey and a student pulled the fire alarm. The entire school came out to the basketball court and there was mass chaos. The principal was yelling through a megaphone, trying to create some order. She suggested that the student council members meet to come up with an effective solution and allow the students to sign a petition. This was received with boo's and yells and many girls started walking away, planning to leave the school. Teachers were encouraging them to stay, saying "you will only hurt yourself, think about needing to do well on your graduation exams!" etc. Some girls listened. Others did not. Since Hornsey is a gated campus, the girls had to jump the fences. They ended up damaging one of the gates and then reeking havoc on the houses in the neighborhood around the school. One teacher was sent to the hospital with 3 broken ribs. It was insane. The rest of the day was filled with girls yelling and chanting in the hallways, students jumping the gates, and teachers trying to create order. The ridiculous part is that most of the girls had no idea what they were protesting! Most of the year 7 students just stood there, holding hands, and looking very scared. On a humorous note: we found out that some students thought that they were protesting because they were going to have to pay for William and Kate's wedding, some thought that they were protesting for better food in the cafeteria, and some thought that the Queen was coming to their school. Just goes to show how poor the communication was. The high school students met up with the university students from all over the city and they marched and protested the whole day. We found out later that the Police held the protesters for 10 hours! Also, a girl was trampled to death in the chaos. And another student was arrested for throwing a fire extinguisher over the side of a building, trying to hit policemen. Surely there must be a better way to get your point across.
A group of us went with our neighbor Roger to a Piano Quartet concert at the Goldsmith's hall, which he was able to get us for free! The hall is immaculately decorated, with gold everywhere. I have never seen a concert hall like it. And of course the music was amazing! There was a pianist, a violist, a violinist, and cello player and they played as if they were one person. All of the notes melting together into masterpiece after masterpiece.
Celebrating Thanksgiving in a foreign country was a bit surreal. I had my internship that day (since obviously the British don't take off a day of work) and it was rather fun explaining Thanksgiving to the people I work with and the students in my classes. It is shocking how very little they accurately know about America. Of course, I could probably say the same for American students when talking about Britain. After work, I came home to help the heating-up process. I forgot to mention that preparation and cooking for our Thanksgiving began on Monday! We needed to feed 40 people and we only have one tiny oven. A daunting task to say the least. So delegated dishes to different people, they were cooked, and then refrigerated. The problem was that we had to heat them all back up the day of! We ran a little behind, but overall the food was a success. There was plenty of food for everyone (even seconds) and I think everyone had a great time. Thanksgiving could have so easily turned out badly, with everyone being sad about being away from home and missing their families, but that didn't happen. Everyone was in a great mood and I don't think I have laughed that hard all semester! It was such a great time of food and fellowship, a Thanksgiving I will never forget! :) We even had a British tradition thrown in, with the "poppers" at the tables. You pull each end and it makes a loud pop and there is a paper crown and little toy inside. We also had the living room decorated for Christmas, with the tree up and bows tied all over the place. It feels so much more homey here at the Daniel House and I love it.
I went to Covent Garden on Saturday and it is decked out in Christmas decorations (including a giant Rudolph carved from a bush and huge ornaments hanging from the ceiling). They have live street performers doing crazy stunts and tents set up everywhere full of food, clothes, and anything else you can think of. My favorite thing was that they had a place where you could pet reindeer! So great. I felt like a little kid again.
Today I went to Harrod's, the largest shopping center in London. And they have gone all out for Christmas! They have an entire floor dedicated to Christmas decorations, toys, gifts, ornaments, etc. Kelsey and I spent well over an hour enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and exploring the many floors. You could literally spend an entire day in Harrod's and still have more to see!
As you can tell, I am thoroughly enjoying my holiday season here in London. I have not done it justice whatsoever, but trust me when I say that there is no better place to be during Christmas! (except for maybe at home...) Which is so very close! I have loved my time here in London very much, but I am also ready to get home and be with my family and friends. Only 4 more days in London and then a week of travel in Italy and then I will be on a plane back to the states! So hard to believe. Please be praying for travel mercies for everyone here and that we all stay healthy. Now to go bundle up and brave the cold to go see Billy Elliot, the musical. :)All my love!
Dickens Christmas starts the day after you get home. They were waiting on you to return! Bring home some of that Christmas cheer...with a British twist. Counting the days... Love you! Mom
ReplyDelete