Hullo chaps! Now that I finally have my internet connection up and running, I thought I’d share my life in London so far. I am living in downtown London right by the British Museum. That means that I can go and see artifacts from Egypt, Greece, and various other places which Britain has at one time possessed. As part of our initiation to London, we had a bus tour of the city. Our tour guide, Suze, was not very politically correct, but quite entertaining. For instance, she commented that the “…[middle] easterners are bringing in all their nice cars, like Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, and that sort.” Disclaimer: Please note that Suze does not represent the UNC school system, Robertson Scholars Program, or my personal worldview. We also attended “King Henry IV Pt. II” at the Globe Theater. I had the privilege of seeing part one at the Globe in July on the way back from Sierra Leone. If you happen to be in London anytime soon, I highly recommend that you attend a performance of either of these plays. The actor portraying Falstaff was incredible. Who knows, he may even be in a blockbuster film in the near future. After all, Tommy Lee Jones was in the audience at the Globe Theater when we were there this week. Maybe he was scouting the actors in the performance, or possibly he just wanted to see me. Or he could have just been on vacation.
On Tuesday we started classes. The art course I am taking never meets in a classroom. Among the art pieces we viewed, one was on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. A plinth is basically a large stone pillar on which statues usually reside. According to Wikipedia, the plinth was originally supposed to hold a statue of William IV except there were apparently insufficient funds for the endeavor. Thus, after residing empty for a while, a decision was made to allow artists to put up their own works. Right now a ship in a bottle is on top created by Yinka Shonibare, the first black artist to have a piece displayed. The ship celebrates the naval Battle of Trafalgar (for which the square gets its name). Interestingly the part Nigerian artist also references slavery by using a traditional West African cloth for the sails. After a glance at the sails, I was immediately reminded of the sheets we used in Sierra Leone in various hotels. Luckily the accommodations here in England are much cleaner than those hotels. During this informative art class I was informed that the statue of George Washington here in Trafalgar Square is actually on soil imported from Virginia. Well, that has been the first few days so far. The weather has been rainy, cloudy and cold. In fact it may snow next week. I bet my wonderful sister is so thrilled about the chilly weather she has to look forward to for a whole year…now I know why the Brits frequent pubs so often.