The Nerdy Day

It's just a matter of hours before I leave my dorm and head to the bus terminal, which will take my to the airport, which will take me home. I've been here for 98 days now; it's time to go home.

I figured, though, now that the last papers are turn in, our last British tea was had, and I'm just waiting for the time to call the taxi, it'd be a good time to catch up the blog with perhaps one of the most fun days I had in London just this past weekend.

I caught a morning train up from Brighton to meet up with my friend Laura, arriving pretty early in the day. We dashed out of Victoria Station and made our way past Trafalgar Square as we headed towards the West End to purchase theatre tickets later that night. Once they were procured we began our day of nerdy activities and headed for the Underground.

We got off at St. John's Wood and walked up to one of the places I wanted to visit most since finding out I had been accepted at my university for study this term -- Abbey Road.



We got to see the studio from outside the graffiti-covered wall as musicians entered and exited the building to work on recordings. It was really cool, and seeing all the signings on the wall made everything feel connected. We then crossed the road, treading the same place The Beatles had 40 years earlier. It was really surreal.







The next stop was a trip to Abney Park Cemetery, a Victorian cemetery that inspired Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard book.



It was mid-afternoon but the sun sets so early here that we ended up wandering the graveyard mainly in the gloaming. It was beautiful.











It was fantastically old and surrounded by a park. All the graves seem to be getting overtaken by nature, vines and roots climbing all over every headstone, overgrown bushes sprouting from graves, broken and toppled stonework from the gravestones. It was gorgeous. We ended up staying long enough that we were treated to a beautiful view of the moon as we walked through the dark and loamy earth, our breath coming out in puffs from the cold, faces stinging in the wet air.

We then made our way back to the West End to see Hairspray at the theatre. It was absolutely brilliant, such a great performance. Laura and I were really happy with how fun it was.

After all that I had to sadly depart and come back to Brighton because of homework -- final essays needed to be written and I was behind.

I finished them, of course, and turned them in on Wednesday so that I could take the last day off and enjoy myself. I caught up on sleep and finished packing Thursday and now… I'm just waiting to leave in the matter of just a few hours. I suppose I'll be writing again on the other side. I'm so glad to be going home.

Seeing the Sights

As I enter my last two weeks here in Brighton and the UK in general, I've been trying to appreciate it a little more as far as the history and scenery go. Even if I'm constantly frustrated with the postal system, the transportation issues of the major cities I've travelled to, and the bitter cold that no one raised in the desert could ever learn to love, I still have to admit that it is a beautiful place.

Last weekend I visited London with my friends who I had spent time with in Germany. It was great seeing them and even though it was threatening to snow that weekend, it turned out to be gorgeously sunny in the city notoriously known for being grey and dull.



We visited Buckingham Palace on the way to the Tube station since the line we were going to use was down for repairs. It was a good time of day to be there because the sun was hitting the gilded edges of Big Ben's tower and made the Houses of Parliament that much more beautiful to see rising up to create that eerie skyline they make. We also heard Big Ben strike one, which was a bit of an accidental treat on our detour.



Those classically touristy areas, though beautiful, are always busy. One thing I appreciate in Brighton is that there's all this common beauty nestled in the city without all the crowds of London gathered around.



St. Paul's Cathedral's architecture is beautiful and just one of the old-time churches in the area. It's currently fenced off near the bottom because of falling masonry, a building that wasn't as well taken care of as it ought to have been, evidenced also by the extremely dark bricks. Its stained glass windows are hard to catch light through, but when you do it's gorgeous.



There are tons of small public parks here, all of which were blooming with English flowers and rose gardens just a month ago.





The streets in Brighton are lined with narrow houses, duplexes and flats, lots of empty properties because of the monetary crises going on, but with lots of character nonetheless.



Of course, one of the most beautiful and recognizable things about Brighton is the Pier. It's a proud coastal town and many of the places you go here like to boast that fact. And why not? It's beautiful, especially at sunset.



This was taken from the Main Pier, but on the right you can see the remains of the West Pier, which burnt to just its framework some years ago. They left the barebones architecture and it is now part of Brighton's recognizable ocean skyline.

There's this amazing hour or so during sunset that, if you visit the pier, you experience something unforgettable and moving: the evening dance of the starlings. Thousands of small birds take to the sky and fly in organized lines, clumps of hundreds of birds at a time, circling around, seemingly dancing in the sky. It's a bit surreal and certainly breathtaking. Beautiful to take in.





And then there's the North Laines, my favourite part of Brighton, and the part I'll certainly miss most. It's just small shops, owner-operated restaurants and boutiques, hand-crafted goods, a place of renewal and reuse, and the streets that contain the best food I've had here. It's hard to capture the liveliness here, or the spirit in the streets.

Even if I'm ready to go home, and I'm winding down this grand adventure, I've appreciated Brighton's best moments, too, and the sights it's allowed me to see. I'll miss it, I think.

Remembrance Day at Trafalgar Square

On the eleventh hour
Of the eleventh day
Of the eleventh month
The guns fell silent

This past 11 November was the 90th anniversary of the Armistice of WWI.

I spent my day that day travelling once again to London for the Two Minute Silence at Trafalgar Square. After the event, Katie and I paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum to see the newly opened WWI exhibition, In Memoriam.

Again, I'll just lift this update from my journal because there's little reason to change what I've said when I've already laid it out there.

Today was a beautifully sunny day in London. That alone is worth noting.




John Hurt reciting this remembrance poetry:

      Do Not Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

      --Mary Frye

This reading was followed by a public watching of the three remaining WWI veterans place wreaths at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in England. Whilst the veterans looked on and reflected during the Two Minute Silence, the crowd in the Square was silent, too, watching one of the veterans refuse to let his helping servicemen lay his wreath as he felt it was important to try to do it himself. They followed this with The Last Post, the British and Commonwealth version of Taps, poignant and painful. They finished this all off with Amazing Grace sung by the Welsh Boys' Choir and placing paper poppies and dedicated poppy wreaths into the fountains at Trafalgar Square.







British Legionnaires in charge of The Poppy Appeal.


It was an amazing experience, even with the technical difficulties of the event, the religious-soaked messages of hope (rather than emphasizing non-biased views), and the very little sleep we got. It was truly memorable. I'm glad I went.



Unfortunately the Imperial War Museum's being cleaned/worked on so the façade is covered. Pity because it's absolutely beautiful. But still, look at those cannons!


The entrance is really spectacular. The floor is crowded with machinery from WWI and WWII: tanks, subs, buses, armoured cars, and planes above.


Independent from the museum, these patrons were kind enough to let me quickly photograph them. Nerdy historical costuming is the best kind.

Another great experience. It was really beautiful. I'll carry it with me for sure.

Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night

Ah, Guy Fawkes Day.

Considering that this English holiday celebrates the 1605 plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament in protest to the Catholic king, I'm not surprised by any of what I saw, in retrospect. Rather than try to explain it all again, though, I'll just paste in my journal entry from the night and tack on a handful of videos from the night.

Turn your speakers up as loud as they'll go and you'll maybe experience half of the ridiculous amount and level of noise present in the streets that night. It was absolutely deafening. Crazy.

OGGIE OGGIE OGGIE!

OY! OY! OY!

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”

Coolest English experience I've had to date. Surplus of videos to come. Here's my explanation of the night that I has with Megs over AIM.

how was Guy Fawkes celebrating?!

Fun!
COMPLETELY MENTAL.
The whole sky's rumbling right now still.
It's their fireworks night.
And literally bonfire.
HUGE BONFIRES.
They burn effigies of people.
And denounce Catholics.
And shout things like BURN THE POPE!
And BURN IT! BURN IT ALL!
It's really amusing.
And... confusing.
I don't think I'll ever get it more than I do now.
They have groups that go in costume...
All different Bonfire Societies, usually with a theme.
There are the Mongols, and pirates. Brass bands, a Trojan horse, Moorish dancers, Jedis with lightsabres. People in blackface, and people in blackface as African tribes, and people in Catholic pope/priest/holy wear, and Native Americans they a-a-a-a-a at, and WWII uniforms.
It's like the least Politically Correct event of all time.
They burn giant crosses, and big effigies of Guy Fawkes, as well as whomever they're malcontent with including Gordon Brown this year and the meter maids, George Bush the last.
OH. The most bizarre costume, in my opinion: UNION SOLDIERS from the American Civil War.
It was... yeah... I don't even know.
Really fun.
CRAZY FUN.
Barbarian fun!

Hallowe'en with Neil Gaiman

Naturally, I should pick up from where I left the catch-up process before I left in all senses -- London.

The first time I set foot in London this trip that didn't include an airplane hanger was on Hallowe'en, a holiday the British don't find worth much celebration. This whole idea was a bit of a shock to me as I've always loved Hallowe'en the best of the holidays for multiple reasons: my birthday's near it enough to warrant costume parties each year, it's a holiday that celebrates getting free sackfuls of candy from strangers, and it's a bit macabre. You can imagine my delight, then, when I found out that I was going to be able to celebrate my Hallowe'en in one of the world's best-known cities attending a reading by one of my favourite authors, Neil Gaiman.

A couple friends of mine, Katie and Lisa, rented a room in a hotel that night and got all dressed up to see Neil Gaiman at the UK release of his newest book, The Graveyard Book. Both Katie and I dressed up as 'characters' from his stories -- she was Coraline from the book of the same title that is currently being made into a film, and I was a babycake.



We got decent seats in the balcony in an event that sat 600 and we tucked in for a fantastic narration of Chapter 5: Danse Macabre, followed by a signing. It was an exciting moment for me for a few reasons: I got to meet the Neil Gaiman, I got my roommate's favourite Gaiman book signed (for whom I have to thank for getting me into Mr. Gaiman in the first place), and Neil ate one of the cookies I baked for him (a GF spicy chai cookie). And about my costume he said, "That… is… perfectly disturbing. I love it." It was nerd-heaven.





The night ended well enough and when we woke up the next day we ran around doing more nerdy things, seeing some sights we were looking forward to viewing in London. Admittedly, it wasn't the mainstream tourist stuff -- all three of us had been to London before and hit all the notable landmarks on walking tours. We became fast friends with the Underground system and were on our way to seeing the sights of the city.



Of course we went to Platform 9 3/4 -- what kind of proper nerds did you think we were?



We also went to the British Library, the British Museum, and Kensington Gardens, of course. It was pouring, though, and it was hard to enjoy it completely. Plus, how could it ever live up to the night before? Haha.

Soaked through, we made our way home and recovered for a couple days before decided it had been far too long since we had had frozen yoghurt. Katie and I grabbed Janine and dragged her along with us for a nice day out.





All of this was just a bit before the next holiday celebration, though -- Guy Fawkes Day!

Starting to play catch-up

Hmmm, an update, finally!

I haven't been up to much in the past month -- and at the same time, I have. I didn't really get to doing anything, though, until Hallowe'en weekend, but then I've pretty much been busy every weekend after, or thereabouts.

Right before it all, though, was an exciting epicurean adventure: sushi on a conveyer belt. I hope you'll forgive me for being a bit… tipsy… but the sake was strong that night, and warm, and it was cold outside, plus I had just finished a presentation. It was my 30-somethingthed hour awake and it was a night of relaxation.


You see, school had been consuming me up until Hallowe'en weekend, I even made a photostrip documenting it, kind of, at a friend's request. She asked what I was doing and I replied, 'consuming literature.' I decided to be literal.



It's been more of that, really, lately. Lots of schoolwork, mainly just loads of reading, with final papers looming in the horizon. I'm in my last three weeks, though, so I'm trying to push to get it all done and fit in a small trip before the end.

We did manage to visit a proper teahouse, though, the other day, and make a feast of the scones, clotted cream, jam, and tea. It was amazingly delicious. And I felt so British! Pinkies out for fancy tea time!





We were then able to follow it all up with some photography expeditions around Brighton, capturing bits of the city we've lived in for the past 2 months. I hope to do more of that before the end. I want to be able to reconstruct the city a bit for when I get home and show everyone all my photos.

I'm hoping that popping in here will motivate me to play catch up so I can share what I've been up to, including going to a book signing in London and doing the tourist thing there, experiencing Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, observing Remembrance Day, and spending time with friends. I'll be commuting back and forth to London from Brighton all weekend with my German friends who are flying in, but after that, no excuses!

Oktoberfest! Prost!

A long overdue post, for sure!

I just got back into England late Tuesday evening after a crazy, fun, amazing visit with my good friend Iris, a resident of Munich. She was kind enough to host me while I visited and took me around the city, sticking by my side to help me get around since I don't really know a drop of German. I was really grateful for that. It was fun, too, because she was translating and teaching me how to say things the whole time. Such a patient person!

I was visiting at a fantastic time, of course, because it was the middle of Oktoberfest and the whole city was bustling with activity. On top of that, one of our friends came and visited us over the weekend and we all got to have a walk around the festival on one of its most crowded weekends there is.

We went up in a gigantic ferris wheel to see the city while there and it was a breathtaking view of Munich.



It was impressive from so high up, as was the entirety of Oktoberfest. It seemed like there wasn't a free square foot of space on the main grounds. I didn't even get a shot of all the different sides, but this is about only half of the festival.





If you look in the above photo, you can see the enormity of the city's statue of Bavaria, the region's patron saint. We ended up walking over to it after the ride to get some breathing room on the grassy knoll where she resides. It was really impressive -- and it should be since it's one of the biggest bronze statues in the world, weighing in at just over 95 tons.



We ended up running around the city after that, being silly, because the Oktoberfest was just too crowded that Saturday. We couldn't even get into a beer tent that day, which is apparently the only place you can purchase beer at Oktoberfest. It's a really misleading from the media I've seen; I thought there were places you could just run up and grab a beer at throughout the fest. It was all right, though, because Iris took me down to the festival on Monday to try to get into one and we did!


(don't mind the apparently extremely disgruntled German woman who Does Not Approve in the front there)


The tent was downright enormous! I was shocked!

Iris' mom gave us tickets for beer and chicken that she had received from her workplace and so we enjoyed a plate of delicious roasted chicken and I got a Great Big Beer -- I'm not kidding here, they sold the special brewed, high proof Weizen by the litre only! It was delicious, too!



It was a crazy atmosphere that supposedly only gets crazier at night, but we had rides to ride, places to run around to, and things to see since we went there on the day before I left. We happily toasted one another once the drinking song was played (oh, and they place it so often to keep everyone ordering more beer!), which you can download here; if you listen you can hear the German woman next to me and then all the clinks at the end as we toasted one another with our behemoth glasses of beer.


You can hear Iris' fantastic commentary throughout most of the thing. ;) I dropped the camera, of course, but hey, it was still fun trying to record it! Their coasters are so much faster than ours! We also went on this awesome ride called The Insider, a spinning coaster type ride that had two-seated cars that roated back and forth, upside down and around, so that you were being spun at least 3 directions at once. Let me tell you how fun that one was after my litre of beer! Haha!

I had so much fun in Germany, just spending time with Iris and Stacy! And Germany… I think I'm in love with it! I'll certainly have to go back there someday! It's truly an amazing place, perhaps one of my favourite places I've ever travelled to.

Since I've been back I've been taking it easy mostly, just going into town to enjoy frozen yogurt and fresh made hot chocolate at Katie and my favourite place in town, Lick. I have a small update with photos to make about that eventually, but until then…

Prost!