Aug 01, 2009
Karen emerges from one of the classic red London phone booths.
1. Travel in groups, just in case one of you misplaces the student letter that is required to get through customs. We'll vouch that you are in fact a UCLA student.
2. The Underground is not always underground. It opens up and runs by the motorway at times.
3. Stand on the right side of the escalators; people on the left get to run past you.
4. Instead of "Thank you," a lot of Londoners say "Cheers."
5. To pronounce both "Gloucester" and "Leicester," take out the "ce" sound. So it sounds like "Glouster" and "Leister." Also, it reads "Tottenham," but you say "Tot-num."
6. Everyone takes pictures with the iconic red phone booths, so don't worry about looking too silly.
7. Power adapters are some of the most complicated appliances to figure out. Wattage, voltage, amps? Two prongs, three prongs, 220 wattage UK outlets? It's nerve wracking trying to bring yourself to plug in your computer. Our punch line to the "What can go wrong?" question is now a simple, "It'll blow up."
8. People are allowed to drink alcohol outside the pubs and bars on the streets. It creates a great atmosphere.
9. Do you know the Muffin Man? Well, to our disappointment, he in fact does NOT live on Drury Lane. We checked.
10. By comparing our itinerary with a brochure, we believe that the production of
Hamlet we will be seeing stars actor Jude Law. Same time, same theater ... we're all sort of freaking out and hoping it's true! [
Editor's note: Oh yeah. It's true.]
Aug 03, 2009
The snacks I bought from Boots. The "melting bubbles" Aero bar is the oddest.
Professors
Post and
Braunmuller are a comedic force to be reckoned with. I wasn't looking forward to the mandatory orientation meeting last Saturday (how many times do we have to argue about what banks/credit cards work best overseas!?), but they quickly won the students over. Like when Professor Post asked us to stay safe from danger and fights in the dodgy parts on London, but Professor Braunmuller followed it with "Historically, I think it's UCLA, 11; London, 2."
It's obvious that they care not only about the Shakespeare material we're set to cover, but the entire program — they are determined to expose us to culture and make us "citizens of the world."
As far as London went today, five of us hit a variety of places. We started off on Tottenham Court Road, where we stopped at Boots, which is a sort of fancy Rite-Aid in London. The snacks here are an odd mix of the familiar (the brand logo for Walker's is exactly the same as Frito-Lays) and the odd — Aero bars promise that you can "feel the bubbles melt." But they're so tasty!
Now, a trip to the toy store!Aug 04, 2009
The London Eye Ferris wheel, Parliament, and Big Ben.
Monday night, we saw our first play of the trip, The Winter's Tale at The Old Vic theater. It was a really surprising adaptation of the play, with more of a modern twist than what you expect from traditional Shakespearean productions. Instead of wearing flamboyant period costumes, most of the actors had on suits and dresses of solid colors; only during the "pastoral" scenes in the country did the costumes get more decoration with color and flowers. But I think it actually added to the play, because with the plain costumes you could focus more on the action and dialogue, rather than being concerned with what everything looked like.
After the play, on a whim, a group of us decided to walk back to our hotel rather than take a double-decker bus or ride on the Tube. It was going to be a bit of a long haul, but we stuck to it. After a few corners, we were passing the London Eye, lit up with blue lights. It was amazing to see ...
but not as amazing as ...Aug 04, 2009
Wow. I thought I had sore feet last night, but today really
pushed it over the brink.
After class, three other students and I headed out into
London. We knew that we all really wanted to see Westminster Abbey, so that's
where we started. Actually, we started at Big Ben again, because even though we
had seen it at night, it really is beautiful in the daytime as well! So we got
a little sidetracked there, but the Abbey is basically across the street (or
around the round-about) so we didn't lose any ground.
Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace.
Afterwards, we walked to Trafalgar Square, where the
National Gallery is — we actually have a class assignment to complete there, so
we only took some photos of it, rather than going inside. And since it was so
close, we decided to walk down The Mall and head towards Buckingham Palace. I think
it was the most pedestrian-friendly site we've been to so far, because parts of
the road aren't accessible by car.
You know you want to see the palace guards...Aug 07, 2009
UCLA students Ting, Caty and Karen in the new rain ponchos they bought at the open-air Globe Theatre.
Wednesday night, we had our second play to see,
As You Like It. The exciting thing about the performance was that we were to watch it at the Globe Theatre. For the first part of the play, half of the students would become "groundlings," where they would stand at the front of the stage, right in front of the action. At intermission, the second half who had been seated in the galleys would switch, giving everyone the opportunity to both stand and sit.
But what no one was counting on tonight was the rain.
Read on for the sopping-wet details.
Aug 10, 2009
Kids splashing in the chilly Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
Saturday was our first entire free day of the program (or, if I go with British spelling, "programme"). No lecture, no section, no exam, no performances. Just the city of London open and ready to explore.
Read on: *almost* Buckingham Palace; the Camden Town markets; Notting Hill; Kensington Palace; and the Princess Diana Memorial Gardens.Aug 10, 2009
Shakespeare's Birthplace, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
After
coming from the bustling city of London, the change of atmosphere in
Stratford-upon-Avon is striking. Ask students in the program to
describe London, and you'll hear a lot of adjectives like "loud,"
"crowded," "busy," and "non-stop." But in Stratford, it's more common
to hear "quiet," "relaxing," "quaint," and — my favorite — "green."
Students walk along the footpath to the obelisk.
For
our first day in Shakespeare's home town, fellow students Lauren,
Bryan, Donald and I walked around the streets late Sunday afternoon.
And we were surprised to see one thing most of the shops had in common
— they closed so early! We're talking doors locked up by 5 p.m. Very
different from the late-night pub culture in the city. So instead of
heading for a pub, we headed to Shakespeare's birthplace for some
pictures of the Bard's home.
On Monday, our second day, we had
lecture and class until around 4 p.m., same as we did in London. But
afterward, instead of splitting off into a bunch of little groups and
riding the Tube to Westminster Abbey or walking to Covent Garden, a
large group of us followed Professor Post into the hillside of the
town. We took a roughly two-hour hike through fields and up grassy
hills to a huge obelisk overlooking the countryside.
Read on...
Aug 12, 2009
In Shakespeare's backyard.
Tuesday's lecture included a presentation by the head of the men's costume department for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The woman who spoke to us, Emma, had just inherited the department, but is in her 14th year with the RSC. She brought in two costumes that we were allowed to inspect, told us about the tricks of the craft (like elastic keeping shoes in place instead of laces), and gave us a few teasers about last night's play,
Julius Caesar.
In between lecture and the play, five other students and I decided to spend the day out in Stratford, primarily at Shakespeare's birthplace. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures, so I couldn't take a photo of the Shakespeare figure set up inside the entrance, but just think of the animatronic pirates or Abe Lincoln at Disneyland and you'll have the general idea (only this one didn't move). I even started referring to the place as "Shakespeareland," because the exhibits were decorated with miniature props and replicas, while a DVD commentary played in the background. But a copy of the First Folio, containing all of the Bard's plays, was 100% real, and we obsessed over it from behind the glass.
Being able to walk through the two levels of Shakespeare's house was one of those moments where you know you're being a huge geek, but can't help it. We searched for names etched into Shakespeare's bedroom window and were giggling all the way through his parents bedroom. And at the end, we all took the time to sign the guest book, joining the tradition that has been around for hundreds of years — visits to Shakespeare's childhood home began way back in the 1700s!
Read on: The Bard's grave, and Julius Caeser.
Aug 16, 2009
Bryan buying ice cream from the ice cream boat.
Caty posing, Donald working.
On Saturday, we found ourselves faced with a huge block of free time between class and lecture. So five other students and I went out exploring more of Stratford. Here are some of the things to do before heading out to The Courtyard Theatre for the final RSC performance:
1) Buy ice cream and slush off the ice cream boat. Bryan said it fulfilled one of his life goals.
2) Have mini-photoshoots around the various sculptures, statues, and fountains around town.
3) Make the boy row the girls around the River Avon. Caty later decided to show Donald up using her mad kayaking skills to take us back to the dock.
Read on: We try to fathom Cricket, and learn about the Plague.Aug 17, 2009
Saturday night, we saw our final RSC performance, As You Like It, at The Courtyard Theatre. We saw the same play put on at The Globe in London, but because that one was mostly drowned in the rain, I was really glad for a repeat performance.
The tickets for each of the plays we've attended are always randomly distributed amongst us students, so I was super-excited to finally have a seat in the front row. Even being on the side of the stage is good when there's no one's head to block your view.
And the RSC did not disappoint. I mean, yeah, it's not like they could ever outright fail when it's the RSC ... but still. I think this production may be my favorite of the trip thus far. They kept a lot of the songs from the play in their performance, and the actor playing Jaques, the exiled lord who has the famous "All the world's a stage" monologue, had a really good voice. He also had one fingernail painted blue and was rocking the guy-liner — it was like As You Like It: The Rock Opera.
Read on: We get pulled into the show.
Aug 19, 2009
Outside the theatre before Hamlet, with Jude Law in the poster behind them: Karen, Patty, Caty and Lauren.
Although our adventures in
Shakespeareland were all fun, I feel excited to be back in the hustle and bustle of London. We've only been back for about two days, but the two days have been filled with tons to see.
Click to enlarge: A view of the movie theater where the sixth Harry Potter movie recently premiered.
On Tuesday night, Byran, Donald, Lauren and I decided to see a movie in Leicester Square. I was most excited about the whole thing because not only did we decide to go see
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but we decided to catch it in the very theatre which held the premiere about a month ago. In fact, the entire Empire Theatre still has the decorations up. As a devoted Harry Potter fan, I was beside myself with geekiness.
Wednesday night also proved to be a good experience in the West End as we caught our second to last play of the trip, Hamlet, starring actor Jude Law. I bought the program to prove it was him, because I know several friends back home won't believe me. I thought his portrayal of the melancholy Hamlet was done quite well. Considering Hamlet spends most of the play contemplating murdering his uncle, for Jude Law to get the crowd laughing at lines such as my favorite "Excellent, excellent well. You are a fishmonger," made it a very good production.
Read on...
Aug 20, 2009
The fanciful replica of The Globe Theatre, filled with a stuffed-animal audience and theater troupe. Click through to
the full blog posting for an enlargeable photo.
On Thursday, a few of us decided that we really wanted good combination of fun, sticker-shock, and fantasizing. So we went to Harrods.
For anyone who doesn't know, Harrods basically a Nordstrom mixed with a Barneys mixed with a five-story mall. I sort of wanted to move into the home furnishings department and never come out.
There's a Krispy Kreme in the tremendous food hall. There's one floor filled with toys, one section for accessorizing your pet, and endless clothes. I liked the toy department the best because they had a replica of The Globe Theatre filled with stuffed animals watching a play. None of them had to wear ponchos though ...
Read on...
Aug 21, 2009
Karen tries to make her way toward the Hogwarts Express. Silly Muggle.
Friday was the first of our two free days and we spent most of it out in various parts of London.
To start with, Bryan, Donald and I hopped the tube and went all the way to King's Cross Station where I finally got to cross Platform 9 ¾ off my list of Harry Potter-related things to do.
Even though I know the signage and the cart are mostly for show, I think it's fantastic of the people in charge to have come up with the idea — there were two smaller kids behind us staring in wonderment at the cart disappearing into the wall.
Afterward, we picked up our friend Lauren and then went to the British Museum. It's something we've been meaning to do for awhile, seeing as it's literally around the corner from our hotel, but somehow it's only near end of the trip that we made it over. I loved seeing the mummies and the Rosetta Stone.
Read on: You knew it was coming ... Abbey Road.
Aug 24, 2009
Karen at the Eiffel Tower.
For the second day of our free weekend, some of us decided to do something a little out of the ordinary. Nine of us left the security of England and headed over to Paris, France for the weekend.
We woke up at 4:00 in the morning so that our tour group could pick us up from the hotel and take us to the Eurostar station. I'm still a little baffled as to how we crossed the water into France, but we made it.
We started with a panoramic tour of France, snapping pictures of the Moulin Rogue, the Arc de Triomphe and various statues that are literally found at every turn. Because Paris built its more modern, suburban, and financial districts at the edge of the city, we were able to see the sites quickly and uninhibited by less historical landmarks.
Of course, one of the bigger highlights of the day was spending a few hours at the Eiffel Tower. Sure, they've got a replica in Las Vegas, but seeing the real thing was a treat. We got tickets to the second deck included in the tour, so we were able to see Paris stretched out for miles all around us.
From there, we headed out of the city for about 20 minutes so that we could visit the Palace of Versailles, home of ruler Louis XIV. The palace is enormous! And everything that is gold is not painted that color — it is real gold.
Read on: Lots of golden pictures, and Paris' own mini-Statue of Liberty.
Aug 25, 2009
On the Millenium Bridge in Londond. Left to right: Donald, Patty, Caty, Karen.
As the program winds to a close, we've done our best to cram in some last-minute events.
On Sunday before
Romeo and Juliet, since we had to walk to The Globe from the St. Paul's tube station, we decided to take some time before the play to snap pictures of St. Paul's Cathedral and of the Millennium bridge. And there was just something fitting about having our last play,
Romeo and Juliet, also be the last performance by its current cast and production team. As they tossed roses to the crowd (my friends Caty and Donald each caught one), it gave our program a bit of its own curtain call.
Read on: A last look around.Sep 02, 2009
I open this final post with a mild plea for the reader to bear with me for a bit. It's hard for me to not sound overly sentimental when I look back on my experiences in London and Stratford.
For one thing, I have wanted to visit England since 5th grade, so I can literally say it was a long-time dream come true. I knew, as a graduating senior from high school, that college would be my chance to study abroad, something that attending UCLA offers in abundance. And when I first stepped into Heathrow airport and minded my first gap on the Tube, I knew that I had to make everything count.
I achieved everything I wanted on my to-do list. I visited the big sites like Piccadilly Circus and Big Ben and slipped in my geeky inclinations at Platform 9 ¾. I brought home touristy souvenirs plastered with the Union Jack, took the obligatory pictures with the red phone booths, and perfected my impression of an English accent. I even snuck over to Paris for a day — when can I ever do that again?!
But there were also things that I didn't expect to happen that happened.
I didn't think I would enjoy Shakespeare as much as I did. I think that while in a lecture hall, staring at the words on the page, everything seems so dead — just a bunch of words some guy wrote. But when you can go see it performed, not just by some high school drama class, but by the likes of the theater company at The Globe and by the Royal Shakespeare Company, you realize that Shakespeare knew what he was doing as a dramatist.
I didn't expect to meet people who I know I will stay in contact with for, at very least, the rest of my time at UCLA. On campus, you're only together for three months every quarter, only a few times a week, so you really only have a shot to talk to a few people, maybe one or two of whom you'll add on Facebook.
Read on...
Karen Louth is a 20-year-old English major from Fillmore, Calif. The UCLA senior and Daily Bruin columnist has three things on her personal to-do list during her first trip to England: "1. Seeing Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and Piccadilly Circus; 2. Visiting Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station; 3. Coming home with the English accent I am determined to pick-up."
