Week 12

Since it was a sunny (and relatively warm) day on Monday, I decided to go down to Buckingham Palace to see changing of the guards. They change at 11:30, so I got there a little after 11. It was already PACKED! I wasn't sure exactly where I would have the best view, so I was wandered along the gates until I ended up between both guards.

At 11:30, a marching band of guards playing started down the street and came behind the gates. I wasn't really sure what was happening the entire time; there was just lots of flatfooted marching and yelling. From what I could gather, there are the 2 guards out front, and about eight that stay in barracks inside the palace. They come out and change when the front guard changes. The front guards didn't change until about 11:45, after the band had played a couple songs. Once they changed, there was more yelling and marching, and the band led the old group of guards up the street (I think they reconvene at St. James' Palace). I was actually surprised that I had no idea what was going on; I expected it to be straight forward and pretty short. I guess that's why it such a big deal to come see it; it's very ceremonial and long. I'm very glad I was finally able to see Buckingham Palace not only up close but not covered in snow. 

When the ceremony was done, I walked all the way around the palace and visited the gift shop (yes, there is a Palace gift shop). I expected to see the back of Palace as I went around, but it's really pretty hidden. It was such a nice day I didn't mind the exercise!

This is a Canada gate-I thought of you, Nan!

I returned back to the flat and worked on homework for the rest of the day. I have seven papers due finals week, so I've been trying to chip away at them slowly.

On Tuesday, we went to the Jewish Museum, near Camden Town, for media and society. Before we went to the museum, Mo bought everyone breakfast! It was second breakfast for me, but I got an omelette with chips. Yum. I'm really going to miss my teachers taking me out to lunch back at JMU. It was very interesting to learn about the history of Jews in London (there is a large population in East London). Unfortunately, their treatment was great in London, but there was a large community which formed. I learned that a lot of comedic theater comes from the Yiddish theater that started in East London. I learned a lot, but it's always hard to read about the terrible treatment of an entire group of people. After we were done, I popped over to the Camden Market to get one of these babies: 

Gluten free and vegan cookie sandwich. SO. GOOD.

For CBD, we went to the Museum of Brands in Notting Hill. Half of the museum was just a general overview of brands from the 1900s to 2000s, broken up by decade. You can learn a lot about a culture by the products they use. The other part of the museum was the progression of specific brands throughout the years. It was cool to see which brands have stayed the same, namely Johnson's and Band-Aid. Once finished, we were free to leave. I spent the night working on papers more!

The store next door

This drove past us like 5 times

American flag in the window, too!

On Wednesday morning, we went to the Museum of London. It was sad that it was our last day with Judy, but she eased the pain by buying us drinks and food at the cafe there. We didn't spend too much time in the exhibits there, she just wanted to show us a few important things from the 20th century in London. There was a thing about the Olympics, so I got to watch clips of the opening ceremonies. Having learned about and lived in London, it definitely makes more sense now! I've been looking for a children's book about London to have in my future classroom, and I got one at the gift shop! It's really cute, and informative. 

Wednesday afternoon was sad too: our last class with Rachel! I'm going to miss going to galleries every week and hearing her insight. This week, we went to the temporary Lichtenstein exhibit at the Tate Modern.

                                        

For some reason that I can't really explain, I really like Pop Art. There's something so simple about it that makes me like looking at the pieces. It's the type of art I can see myself having on my walls. The exhibit showcased pieces from Lichtenstein's entire career, but my favorites were the ones like the one above, from the mid-60s. 

On Thursday morning, I went shopping at Primark and H&M as one more European clothing hoorah. I also went to Food for Thought, a vegetarian restaurant. I got AWESOME Jamaican stew, which was gluten free and vegan, as well as a gluten free and vegan scone. The flavor of the scone was good, but it was pretty dry. 

In film, Steve taught us all about writing a screenplay. We have to adapt the first 15 minutes of a film from a book for our final. Definitely terrifying. I understand how it's supposed to be done, and he was really helpful with answering our many questions. That's definitely the paper I'm the most nervous about doing. I'm adapting Looking for Alaska, one of my favorite books. I've always wanted it to be made into a movie, so I already kind of know how I want the beginning to be set up. It's still really intimidating, though.