Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them!

After staying in Birmingham for a few days to catch up on homework, we moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon for the weekend for Shakespeare shenanigans. Shakespeare's birthplace has been a pilgrimage site for literary snobs for the past few hundred years, and if you don't like Shakespeare then don't go to Stratford.
It's a small town upon a river (hence the "upon Avon") with swans ready to maul you at a moment's notice. Everything seems centered around the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre, and is within a ten minute walking distance from wherever you are. This weekend we had tickets for Shakespeare's "shipwreck trilogy", or the plays whose plays are propelled by shipwrecked characters. The same cast participates in all three plays, which is impressive. The stage remains the same: boards to look like a ship floor, a huge tank of green water to represent the ocean, and a giant crane to move the set around. Things are, of course, added to the set according to the play. Everything is a modern interpretation, which means modern costumes and sets and the addition of lines (call the airport!) mixed in with the original script. A Comedy of Errors featured a militaristic seaside town, complete with soldiers with machine guns and a giant megaphone warning all foreign merchants to stay away or be killed. Twelfth Night took place in a dilapidated hotel recovering from a storm, and featured the shipwrecked twins crawling out of the water tank (made to look like a pool, complete with a diving board) and onto the stage. The Tempest, the only non-comedy performed, drained the water tank and made the stage look like a deserted island, where all of the characters are stranded.
While there were things I liked about all three, I think I enjoyed A Comedy of Errors most. It's considered one of the more difficult Shakespeare plays to perform, since it relies heavily on slapstick humor and the exposition is dull. Explaining that there are two sets of twins separated at birth with the same names can be confusing. Twelfth Night was not as funny, but had a more sophisticated plot and a fantastic set. The Tempest made excellent use of special effects, since it featured a magician as the lead, but at times hard to engage with the plotline.
After Twelfth Night we all went out for drinks at The Dirty Duckling, a pub where Shakespearean actors traditionally hang out after a show. And, indeed, the company was milling about in civilian wear among us.

Have Fun Storming the Castle!

After Friday's afternoon downpour we were blessed with a beautiful sunny Saturday in Conwy. After walking around town and to the bird sanctuary we decided to walk along the outer city walls, which took about forty minutes.

The biggest attraction, of course, was Conwy Castle. This is a pretty big castle from the 13th century, built by Edward I to conquer the Welsh. Brittany and I had fun tromping around the castle.

Tomorrow we shall return to Birmingham, where we will meet up again with the big group. This was a nice little weekend, though we didn't get much homework done. Hopefully it'll get done on the train back tomorrow! 

Wales and Dragons

Today is the first day of our free weekend, where we split off from the main group of seven-and-twenty in company (will touch upon this reference later in Canterbury). We traveled out of Birmingham  and will be in Wales until Monday.
As we were traveling on the train I could tell when we were entering Welsh country. Signs in Welsh began to appear until we couldn't recognize some of the names. We're spending the weekend in a little Welsh town, where we will hike and spend time looking at castles. The town is entirely walled in, and is extremely small (we tried to get lost and failed). We plan on making day trips to other neighboring towns in Snowdonia.

We tried to walk along the city walls, but then it started to pour. So we'll do that later.

As we walked around town we also realized that this is yet another literary place: that of William Wordsworth's poem "We Are Seven". Tomorrow we are going back to St. Mary's graveyard to possibly read the poem out loud.
Hopefully we'll get some homework done this weekend. We have to read a good chunk of David Copperfield for next week (and a paper to write).

Chilling With the Quakers

When I say that I am chilling with the Quakers, I pretty much mean exactly that. I admit that I had no experience with Quakers prior to this trip except through what I learned in my history classes. As an American I know that Quakers were not universally accepted in many Christian societies and that Pennsylvania was founded upon this Christian denomination.
After hectic London we traveled to Birmingham, and are staying in a study center run by Quakers. On Wednesday we will learn more about the Quakers, but here is what I've picked up from the few hours I've been here:

• Quakers call everyone "Friend". It's an old, old practice but still feels weird. 
• Simplicity is key. They don't believe in clutter, they don't like photographs of people (paintings they are okay with), and they try to keep things efficient. 
• There is no clergy. They don't like that. Service (which I haven't gone to yet) is completely silent and everyone acts as the clergy (when moved by the Holy Spirit). 
• It's very, very quiet here. It's nice, especially after London. 

So far I'm enjoying my stay here. London, while fun, just beat the crap out of us. I'm looking forward to catching up on David Copperfield (my favorite Dickens novel so far!) and writing more papers before my free weekend to Wales. 

10 Things You Learn From Living in London

1. Get a coin purse, or have something to hold coins in. I've never handled so many coins in my LIFE. 
2. Get an Oyster card for the buses and Tube. It's easy to load and it will make your life easier.
3. Learn how the self-checkouts work at Sainsburys and Tescos. 
4. You have an hour? Catch up on reading or write a paper. 
5. Learn to look right before crossing the street. 
6. You know how teachers used to make you diagram sentences in English? That's what the Tube map looks like. Learn how to read it. 
7. Always be prepared for rain. 
8. When the locals cross the road, you cross the road. 
9. Prets will save your life if you need a quick lunch or dinner before class. 
10. There is tourist crap EVERYWHERE. 

Determined To Prove a Villain

Today we traveled back to the Globe for a performance of King Richard III. The difference between this performance and the last one is that we were "Groundlings". What does this mean? It means we stand for three hours in front of the stage, so close that the actors can touch us, which they did several times throughout the performance. At As You Like It, the actor playing the fool kissed a Groundling girl, but no one was kissed today. Instead, we were encouraged to cheer for the king and were made fun of by the actors (I was apparently one of the "blessed wives" of the older gentleman standing next to me).

Posters for both "As You Like It" and "Richard III" outside the Globe. Needless to say, we enjoy Shakespeare's comedies more than his historical plays. 

Barty Crouch from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire played the Duke of Buckingham. The whole performance was enjoyable, though it was an all-male cast (very strange when it comes to Richard wooing).
Tomorrow we are watching "The Mystery of Charles Dickens" for the Dickens class.

Some British Slang

While people in the United Kingdom speak the same language as Americans (after all, we rebelled against their empire that stank mightily of mercantilism, something their own Scottish philosopher warned against), there is some slang that puzzles us. Eventually, we figured it out, but the slang reminds us that this is a different country with a different culture.
Chips: french fries
Crisps: potato chips
knickers: underwear
fag ends: cigarette butts
with bits: with pulp (in orange juice)
give way: yield
lemonade: sprite
I'm sure there are more I've picked up, but it does depend on the place.