Class today was just going over our research paper topics. Yet again, we had a new lecturer, and she went over the basics of writing a research paper, many of which I already new. They really focus here on critical thinking, which involved looking at both sides of an argument and giving research to support or deny a claim. Lots of reading involved. I have decided to do my paper on the effects of hypnosis and if it is effective in helping people get over habits like smoking and excessive drinking. Hopefully there will be a lot research out there already to help me make some kind of claim. I’ll need to start looking things up soon.
After our very short class my psyc friends and I went shopping, as usual. It’s pretty much the only thing you can do when class gets out so early, because all our other friends are still in class. I had my Primark trousers in my bag to return them, but it would turn out that I carried them for naught. I would not be going to Primark today.
My psyc friends yet again had something they wanted to do, so I was lucky to run into my API friends very soon after. They wanted to go to the Roman street market, so we figured out where it was and made for the tube. On our way we stopped by a wonderful French bakery and got sandwiches for lunch. Mine was a salami baguette with a bottled water. They also had berry tarts there, my all-time favorite dessert, but because we were going on the tube, it didn’t want to carry one with me. But one day I shall return!!
We got on the tube and made our quite long journey to the Roman street market. The market is on the far end of Roman street, so we had to walk from the tube a very long way to get there. On the way we stopped at a park to eat our lunches, which was wonderful. I know salami sandwiches are Mary’s favorite, but I think I need something with more substance and vegetables for my sandwiches. It was still very good though.
We finally made it to the market and walked along it. It was mostly stalls selling very cheep women’s clothes. Alas, I am male, and found very little of interest there. I was looking at one dress while the girls were looking at other dresses when the owner of the stall came up to me and asked “Are you looking for a particular occasion?” and I said “Oh no, I’m here with them.” pointing to the girls. He followed by “Oh, no worries, but you never know who you’ll get around here.” It was all pretty funny, and Allie would end up buying a very fun dress there.
After the market, Lindsey decided to go back to the dorm because she didn’t want to come to our next destination, the British Museum. Our assistant director schedules a museum for us to go to every week. Something strange about London is that the museums are free, but you have to pay to get into the churches.
We took a double-decker bus back to the museum. It was a very long bus ride, so I can’t even imagine the walk. I measured my walk from Tuesday and it turned out to me 2 and a half miles! But enough about that. We rode the top of the bus for a really long time, back into the center of London. And all along the way I looked a business men’s shoes. I am telling you, 95% of them were wearing black, long toed, pointy leather shoes. It was insane! All of them! I saw them everywhere! I’ve never seen a trend like this in America. It is just a sign that I have to buy some before I go home. Every well dressed man here is wearing them. Even the old guys. Sorry to keep going on about this but it is kind of mad (crazy).
Anyway, we took a quick stop to a Starbucks before we went to the museum, as we were still early. Mango is a very popular flavor over here, and I got a frozen mango drink that was very refreshing. We sat in front of a big glass window and people watched. Something I haven’t talked about yet are British schools. Pretty much all the children go to schools where they have to wear uniforms, and if you take the Harry Potter uniforms and remove the robes, you have what most of them wear day-to-day for school: sweater with school crest, tie, button up, slacks. The girls will sometimes wear some kind of dress, or it will be like the boys but with a skirt. British school is also a lot harder than American school, but I’m sure you’re not surprised. In Britain they can drop out of school at 16, because that’s pretty much senior high school level for them. After 16 they select 5 areas to study other than math and English, which prepares them for college. So by the time they get to college, many students are already well acquainted with their subject matter. Masters programs here are only a year long, but they are much more intensive and scary.
So we got to the museum, which is huge, and free to get into. We met with our assistant director, who told us some of the interesting things look at, then set us loose. She told us that this was basically a museum of all the things the British Empire stole from across the world, but let’s not think of it that way. I was amazed when I started walking through the galleries to find myself standing in front of the Rosetta Stone, the huge black stone that it written in two forms of ancient Egyptian writing and classical Greek, which taught archeologists a ton about Ancient Egyptian writing. I have been looking at this stone in pictures for years, as I have been obsessed with ancient cultures, particularly Egyptian and Greek, sense I was little. And there it was, right in front of me. It was a very exciting moment. I also saw actual mummies and their sarcophaguses, as well as a bunch of very famous Egyptian wall paintings that I have seen in dozens of books. And it was all there for me to see, and for free.
There was an entire wing dedicated to Greek and Egyptian artifacts. Many of the Greek items were from the Parthenon in Athens. There were a lot of wall sculptures that lined the Parthenon and many statues of the gods. Again I was amazed at what people can do with stone. I have no idea how they had the patience to carve all of those figures, but I’m certainly glad it wasn’t me who did them.
There were items from Rome and China and Japan that were all fascinating. I could have spent days in there. There was also a huge reconstructed library of George III “the last king of America”, which was filled with rare books and a whole assortment of priceless artifacts. And did I mention that the whole thing was free? I highly suggest it to anyone visiting London.
In the gift shop I saw a CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!! for my Harry Potter club. In the shop they were selling the chess set Harry and Ron play with in the first movie at Christmas, which was based off of a set kept in the museum.
After the museum we went to dinner at a noodle place with very spicy chicken, but it still tasted good. We got back to the dorm and yet again I was completely exhausted. I talked on skype for a bit and went to bed. Thank goodness I don’t have to be anywhere until 12:00 tomorrow!
British word of the day: off-license = a liquor store. Not that I’ve been to one, it’s just really different.
man you are seeing some cool things.
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