This morning was our last day of class - hooray! I've really enjoyed the classes, and I feel like I've learned a great deal between our discussions, analytical papers, and seeing shows. But at the same time, who isn't glad to be done with classes, right? :) I do have one more paper to write, due at midnight tomorrow, but that's the last bit of homework. We do have finals, which I think is lame on a study abroad, but I guess the teachers don't think it's lame. The other BYU study abroad staying here in the same flats doesn't have finals, but no, our teachers think it's still necessary. Boo. We have one tomorrow and one Wednesday.
Aside from being the last one, class today was exciting for another reason. Turns out, Rodger and Lance have been frugal, and the pound has stayed weak/gotten weaker since we've been here, so there was money left over from the program. What does that mean? They handed out cash in class today!! 60 pounds for each of us - that's like $90. AWESOME! Plus they bought lunch for us today - gourmet real Italian pizza. Which I couldn't really have anyway, because I knew it'd make me feel sick, but oh well. I did have a little 2-inch square of one just to try it, since I haven't had pizza in nearly a year. Oh my gosh, it was SO good. Real basil leaves, fresh mozzerella (how do you spell that??) and cherry tomatoes, on a perfectly thin chewy crust. I thought I'd just eaten heaven in pizza form. Buonissimo! Tomorrow, I think we're getting even more cash, which we're supposed to use to go see a final show. I hope I can, I'm just worried that going to see a show Thursday night when I have to leave the flats at 5am Friday morning to catch my flight might not be the smartest of ideas. I'll probably do it anyway - might as well, right? I can sleep on the flight.
After lunch I headed straight to the Houses of Parliament, something I've been meaning to visit this whole time. Visitors are allowed to sit in the galleries and watch the government do its thing, and I really wanted to do that. So, I sat in on the House of Lords for an hour or so. As I read through the information pamphlets, I realized that England's government is more similar to ours that I realized! Granted, they have a monarch, and the House of Lords isn't elected (although the House of Commons is), but functionally they're very similar. The Houses of Lords and Commons work a lot like our House of Representatives and Senate - they debate bills, and have to come to an agreement on it, and then it's sent to the monarch for a final seal of approval, just like we send it to the President to have it signed. (Although in England, the monarch hasn't withheld approval for over 200 years - it's just symbolic anymore, really.) They also sit according to parties (although, since the House of Lords isn't elected, they aren't all necessarily affiliated with one party). Whichever party gets the most representatives after a general election forms the Government (like how we have a majority party, only here they have more power) and the party with the second most representatives forms the Opposition - their job is to question and regulate the Government - checks and balances, right? I can't help but feel a little sorry for the third and final party...they don't really get anything special. One interesting thing that I learned about the House of Lords that's very different from our Senate or House of Representatives is that the House of Lords is "self-regulating". Essentially what that means is that nobody is in charge - no speaker of the house to call on people to speak or decide when it's time to move on to something else. They do have a Lord Speaker, but all he/she can do is offer advice. Funny, right? Because of that, there were definitely times during the debate I watched where everyone was talking at once (including some poor people trying desperately to restore order with cries of "my Lords, my Lords"). It always quieted down eventually, but with nobody to bang a gavel and call order, sometimes it took a few minutes. Anyway, I thought it was really interesting to learn a little more about how the government of this country functions.
After Parliament, I went to a little restaurant that got really good reviews online, and ordered fish and chips for dinner. I can now officially say that I've eaten fish and chips here in England! Holy cow, the portions were monstrous!!! I kid you not, the piece of cod on my plate was at least 8" long and 2 1/2" in diameter. It was HUGE. And the pile of chips took up the other half of the huge plate. I still can't believe I ate all of it - I'm still stuffed, and that was like 6 hours ago. It wasn't the best food I've ever eaten; honestly, the fish and chips at that little place in Oregon we went to with Grandma were better. But hey, it was London fish and chips - that makes it great, right? :) And for how much food I got, it was a good deal too. The whole meal was just over 7 pounds, which is pretty much the cheapest you can eat here in a sit-down restaurant.
After dinner I went to a show: Kabuki featuring Ebizo Ichikawa XI. He's the heir-apparent to the most prominent Kabuki family line in Japan - they've been around since the late 1600s. Kabuki is very much a hereditary profession - the sons of the stars continue on the tradition of their family's specific style of Kabuki. Oh, PS, Kabuki is an ancient, stylized Japanese theatre form: painted faces, elaborate costumes, musical accompaniment, etc. It's VERY Eastern, and takes a while to adjust to, but it's really cool once you accept that it isn't Western theatre and stop trying to impose those rules and standards onto it. I feel very privileged that I was able to go see it. It's not often that Western audiences get the chance to see authentic Japanese Kabuki, and the fact that I got to see the heir-apparent to the most prominent title of the profession is just amazing. AWESOME! I actually bought a program for this one, and I'm glad I did. I mean, I briefly studied Kabuki my freshman year of college, but I didn't remember much, and the program had a lot of good refresher information. (PS, you have to buy programs at every show here, they don't just give them away. They're usually between 3 and 5 pounds ($4.50-7.50). Gross, right? Usually you can get a free cast list if you want it, but if you want the directors note, historical background, explanations of interpretations, or any of that good stuff, then you have to pay. Another interesting side note: during the interval (intermission) nearly everyone buys a drink. Incidentally, that means that every theatre has a bar - usually one on each floor, ground level and each of the balcony levels. It also means that intervals last for painfully long - at least 20 minutes. At the bars, there are often little snacks for sale too - bags of nuts, crisps (chips), chocolate bars, and the like. However, without fail, whether or not they sell those little snacks, they sell ice cream. Little baby tubs, about 1/3 of the size of the miniature Haagen-Dazs or Ben and Jerry's you can buy in the grocery stores. With little baby spoons. I think it's so funny. Why ice cream? Who knows. Maybe it goes really well with alcohol and I just didn't know, because I don't drink.
OK, the end, because my computer is being retarded and refuses to charge for more than a few seconds without me tugging on it and adjusting it. Grrr....
Cheers, everyone!
In front of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament!
0 comments:
Post a Comment