Tweed on Tweed on Tweed

April 8^th:

EASTER!

So the morning started with Easter Mass of course. Mass is still mass, and Easter is still Easter, but this Easter Mass was not quite the celebration that I’m used to. A lot of that is just due to the atmosphere and community of the church that I found. Still, it’s Easter Sunday, and I was determined to make it special.

About 6 of us in my program all pitched in to have a nice Easter brunch! We had flowers, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, different kinds of pancakes, hash browns, fruit salad, and chocolate eggs. We all had work to do, but we made an effort to have a nice brunch, and it was so nice! Even for those that weren’t really celebrating Easter as the religious holiday and miracle, I think everyone there really appreciated the little taste of home.

 April 9^th:

Easter Monday

Easter Monday here is a bank holiday, and almost every Easter Monday there is Point-to-Point. Point-to-Point is a horse racing event that is meant to raise money for the hunt. So Neenz & I took a train out to Basingstoke where Tim and Ginna Claire picked us up. Monday was spent in the countryside of England. First we had a nice pub lunch that was a treat from three dads. Usually they would picnic before Point-to-Point but it was rainy, windy, and cold!!! Because of the weather there weren’t as many horses racing, but we still watched two or three complete races.

Now this was an experience! The horse racing itself was really cool, and Tim’s parents (especially Mrs. Carpenter) were so friendly, talking about the races and everything. The whole atmosphere, even the weather, felt very British! There seemed to be an unofficial uniform of hunter rain boots (excuse me-wellies) and tweed on tweed on tweed! There were tweed hats and jackets everywhere! 

 There were some stands that we looked around too, and one of them was just selling chickens and quails! We watched as a man stuffed two chickens in a box for the couple that just bought them.

After we had enough of the rain, Tim decided we were going to drive until we found a country pub. So we drove. And drove. At this point we’re really driving around the countryside just trying different villages for a pub. Eventually we found Woolpack Inn.

After the pub, we went back to Tim’s flat where he cooked us a delicious stir fry, and we watched Notting Hill! The three of us girls hadn’t seen it before, so Tim insisted we watch it. It was cool to watch the movie and recognize all of the different places! Plus it’s a good movie. Tim has been so generous and kind, welcoming us all as his friends and just helping us experience London!

April 10^th:

Back to class…

So we do take classes and do work here I promise! Tuesday morning was the usual, GST and then Theater. For lunch I went with Dr. Hall and four other girls to Hummus Bros. Elon has given Dr. Hall some money, and he’s using the leftovers in his budget to treat us to meals in small groups. So Hummus Bros is a hummus restaurant-clearly-that is delicious! You get a plate of hummus with the toppings that you want and 1 or 2 pitas. Delicious. I plan on going back.

After lunch, KJ, Neenz, & I headed north to Golders Green to do research for our project in GST. We wandered around, researched in the library, and then headed back into the city to find dinner before our play that night. While wandering around Southbank center looking for food, it started to rain and then it started to hail! The hail wasn’t that large, but it was definitely ice falling from the sky. So that was an experience.

Tuesday night we had our 7^th play for our Theater class, She Stoops to Conquer. This is a National Theater play, and it was good! Not my favorite but still a lot of fun with some really bizarre characters!!

April 11^th:

One month until my birthday!

Wednesday morning was lazy as usual, and then I adventured one stop down on the Tube line for a little taste of home: Subway! There are Subways everywhere, but this was the first time I gave in and had a sub! It was just as good as at home, and they even had American cheese!

Wednesday afternoon, my art class went to the Tate Modern for the Damien Hirst exhibition. We’ve studied him in class, so it was really cool to actually go to his exhibit! He’s a contemporary artist, really famous, but I’m not really a fan. I can appreciate his themes, I even like some work here and there, but I personally think he’s kind of arrogant…and disturbed. He does a lot with animals in formaldehyde. I highly suggest you look up his work, though be prepared, he’s unique. He rubs me wrong though, as an artist who wants to make a lot of money and get away with bizarre things just by calling it art. Oh well, each to his own, right?