Today is tuesday/Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday. In Britain today is pancake day!!!! So naturally I went down to the House of Parliament and saw some of the Lords and Ladies and press corp have a pancake race.
A pancake race is actually the most amazing event ever. Everyone has a frying pan and a cooked pancake. Each player must flip the pancake 3 times to a height of at least 3 feet while racing around a track. If you drop a pancake you start over. You play with relays. The first team to finish gets to go home with all the glory!!!!!!!
Like I said the most amazing thing ever. What could top that race? Well their outfits. Most of them were in suits with dress shoes running over drizzle-covered cobblestones with chef hats.
Also I used my fiddle for good. I came home and found a group of guys playing in the lobby. Next thing I know I find myself asking if I could play with them -- "my violin is upstairs...". I was tired and nervous, etc, etc but I still got it. And preceded to play for the next hour. Fun! And made all these neat friends because of it. I'm a newb when it comes to jamming but I guess it's all about sticking your neck out there and going for it.
Goodbye sleep and free time!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Basics
So apparently exactly what I'm doing in London is still a mystery to this blog. Just keeping you on the edge of your seats, I am. (That sentence makes much more sense in a cockney accent.) I am studying with Oberlin professors in Bloomsbury, London. My school is actually on the same street and a block down from the British Museum. It is also around the corner from the Cartoon Museum, which has Chairman Mao residing there.
I am taking 3 class: Colonialism and British Identity (everyone takes this -- taught by Anu Needham and Steve Volk) Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge (Volk) Theatre of London (Donna Vinter, a teacher at the center)
I am taking 3 class: Colonialism and British Identity (everyone takes this -- taught by Anu Needham and Steve Volk) Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge (Volk) Theatre of London (Donna Vinter, a teacher at the center)
All I want is food and creative love
Brown rice with a bit of crunch to its fluff. A stir fry of carrots, green pepper and tomato. The tomato is slightly overcooked so it blends into the sauce -- vegetable oil, light soy sauce and a hint of dark soy sauce -- and into the rice. Couple this with some loose-leaf green tea I brought all the way from San Fransisco. God I love cooking. It really makes the days sing, even if they have no reason to.
My week has not been the best.
Someone stole a week's worth of bread (so a week of lunches) from a marked container of mine that was in the communal freezer. I actually knocked on all the doors of my kitchen-mates. All sympathetic, all claimed their stuff had been taken by mysterious (potentially drunk) people. Right. Revenge? Who knows.
Also my time management skills went kaput this week! That's because I went to 2 theatre productions and a party. In my defense I did not go out Sunday night. The British government worries about theatre attendance in young adults. So "A Night Less Ordinary" program gives money to theatres so they can give free tickets to me and anyone else under 26 who has enough patience to wait 10 minutes on the box office phone queue. I probably have about 7 shows lined up. Plus I see a show every week with my theatre class.
My free show, called Unbroken, was a theatrical dance piece about sexuality. It was at the Gate Theatre which in the words of my theatre teacher is the size of a postage stamp. I'd say 2, maybe 3 stamps.
The tech design was brilliant. There was a scrim right in front of the stage during the whole show. The space was set up proscenium style (it's a black box) and there was a row of ungeled (i think) ERSs pointing at the audience. The ERSs go out. The opening scene was a monologue with a light directly above the actor who is speaking to a voice over. Suddenly the stage is fully lit with 2 people -- the original man and a woman. All the stage lighting was done dancy (haha no face lighting for YOU!). Shin kickers, backlighting, and "sidelighting" (from florencents). Usually only one source was used at a time. The stage was 20'-0" long and 3'-0" deep it seemed. There was music playing almost the whole time.
It consisted of scenes between the 2 dance-actors who played different characters in relationship with each other who all knew each other. EX scene A: the married couple, scene B: husband and his secretary, etc. And every scene they had sex. Or I should say dance sex. They only kissed once in the whole show and they used the fluidity, intimacy, physicality of dance routines... speeding them up, breathing heavy, to have sex. And some dialogue. It was so personal in that theatre of a 70 person audience. But this was NOT porn. So don't get any ideas. It was about fucking and making love. What people want and what they get and feel. Period.
My theatre class show was War Horse. I cannot even begin to explain the epic show that was this production. It was about a horse who gets sent to WWI, who he meets there, who he leaves behind. Look it up and see the epic designs. It's playing at the National. They used puppets for the horses. Actually, amazing. I want to make puppets and be a puppeteer when I grow up! P.S. this show had 3 years of production time. Wow.
The party was excellent. It was 2 girls' (in my group) birthdays and we had a Old Ladies in Las Vegas party. So drinking. And before that my museum class went out for drinks to loosen our tongues from the inhibitions brought on by seeing Freud's house museum. And then Mag and I checked out a pub that was neat in the neighborhood near the party. What can I say, we like alternative kids and Camden Town is the place to find them. I will make sure to never have a hangover in class again. (Then again everyone in class had the potential for a hangover as well.)
Last weekend I went to the Victoria and Albert museum (so much stuff), and visited Paul and Dana in Cambridge. I had high tea and had 2 leather belt made for me there. The scone and Assam tea were excellent. The belts look quite smart.
Hope you all are well, ray
(Thank you Rusted Root for my title.)
My week has not been the best.
Someone stole a week's worth of bread (so a week of lunches) from a marked container of mine that was in the communal freezer. I actually knocked on all the doors of my kitchen-mates. All sympathetic, all claimed their stuff had been taken by mysterious (potentially drunk) people. Right. Revenge? Who knows.
Also my time management skills went kaput this week! That's because I went to 2 theatre productions and a party. In my defense I did not go out Sunday night. The British government worries about theatre attendance in young adults. So "A Night Less Ordinary" program gives money to theatres so they can give free tickets to me and anyone else under 26 who has enough patience to wait 10 minutes on the box office phone queue. I probably have about 7 shows lined up. Plus I see a show every week with my theatre class.
My free show, called Unbroken, was a theatrical dance piece about sexuality. It was at the Gate Theatre which in the words of my theatre teacher is the size of a postage stamp. I'd say 2, maybe 3 stamps.
The tech design was brilliant. There was a scrim right in front of the stage during the whole show. The space was set up proscenium style (it's a black box) and there was a row of ungeled (i think) ERSs pointing at the audience. The ERSs go out. The opening scene was a monologue with a light directly above the actor who is speaking to a voice over. Suddenly the stage is fully lit with 2 people -- the original man and a woman. All the stage lighting was done dancy (haha no face lighting for YOU!). Shin kickers, backlighting, and "sidelighting" (from florencents). Usually only one source was used at a time. The stage was 20'-0" long and 3'-0" deep it seemed. There was music playing almost the whole time.
It consisted of scenes between the 2 dance-actors who played different characters in relationship with each other who all knew each other. EX scene A: the married couple, scene B: husband and his secretary, etc. And every scene they had sex. Or I should say dance sex. They only kissed once in the whole show and they used the fluidity, intimacy, physicality of dance routines... speeding them up, breathing heavy, to have sex. And some dialogue. It was so personal in that theatre of a 70 person audience. But this was NOT porn. So don't get any ideas. It was about fucking and making love. What people want and what they get and feel. Period.
My theatre class show was War Horse. I cannot even begin to explain the epic show that was this production. It was about a horse who gets sent to WWI, who he meets there, who he leaves behind. Look it up and see the epic designs. It's playing at the National. They used puppets for the horses. Actually, amazing. I want to make puppets and be a puppeteer when I grow up! P.S. this show had 3 years of production time. Wow.
The party was excellent. It was 2 girls' (in my group) birthdays and we had a Old Ladies in Las Vegas party. So drinking. And before that my museum class went out for drinks to loosen our tongues from the inhibitions brought on by seeing Freud's house museum. And then Mag and I checked out a pub that was neat in the neighborhood near the party. What can I say, we like alternative kids and Camden Town is the place to find them. I will make sure to never have a hangover in class again. (Then again everyone in class had the potential for a hangover as well.)
Last weekend I went to the Victoria and Albert museum (so much stuff), and visited Paul and Dana in Cambridge. I had high tea and had 2 leather belt made for me there. The scone and Assam tea were excellent. The belts look quite smart.
Hope you all are well, ray
(Thank you Rusted Root for my title.)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Pictures of Mexico and Germany
Check out these links to see my pictures of Mexico and Germany!
Winter Term 2009
Barra de Navidad
Lake Chapala
Eating
Guadalajara
Mexican Art
Mexican Art 2
Nature
Pyramids
Tonala
Winter Term 2008
Amsterdam
Berlin
Bielefeld
Brussels
Hameln
Hannover
Munich
Soll and Kufstein
Vienna
Winter Term 2009
Barra de Navidad
Lake Chapala
Eating
Guadalajara
Mexican Art
Mexican Art 2
Nature
Pyramids
Tonala
Winter Term 2008
Amsterdam
Berlin
Bielefeld
Brussels
Hameln
Hannover
Munich
Soll and Kufstein
Vienna
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Tube is your best friend...a best friend that will betray you.
Where’s the measuring cups? Something smaller than a pint glass? Teaspoons? Tablespoons? Oh, here’s a shotglass.
I think that is best way I can describe the excellent adventure that is eating here. Tonight I am trying my first ambitious meal – brown rice and vegetable tikka masala. I have never cooked any kind of rice without a rice cooker before (p.s. The rice turned out wonderfully!). But I cannot take all the credit for the masala: they sell the sauce bottled in all major grocery stores.
Yet there are other adventures to be had in the kitchen. I am currently battling for space in the shared fridge. Apparently diet coke is more important to the 4 other American girl students (whom I have yet to all meet) than allowing me to store any amount of food. Also the constant tirade against people stealing my food. It’s an army of two in kitchen 407 – Ray Gergen and a blue permanent marker.
Enough about food. Why haven’t I written recently? I have been up to my eyeballs in sleep deprivation and orientation, so SORRY. The first day (6.2) was not much to write home about – paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! We oriented at the center, which is in the backyard of the British Museum (AH!). Anu, Steve (from Oberlin), Donna and the librarian all seem like incredibly knowledgeable and quirky people. So I am very satisfied to have them in my hair for the next few months. Donna, the in-house head staffmember (I cannot say “administrator” because they are very proud to be managed solely by the teachers themselves), is friends with a hilarious police officer who came in to tell us about safety in London. Apparently there is a lot. But obvious problems did arise during the talk, namely that the sergeant would not admit to there being any bad parts of London because that would be saying is brothers/sisters in arms were not doing their jobs. Also I can play anywhere on the street as long as I’m not so bad that the neighbors call in a noise complaint. (Did you know that they made fake cans you can store valuables in?) Later on they gave us money to eat out and make friends. I think the friends groups may already be set, but at least the food was good. (Did I mention there’s an Asian place near me called New Culture Revolution. They make their own noodles!)
Day 2 (7.2) : Visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. What a beautiful place. It was very interesting visiting there after seeing so many cathedrals in Mexico. Wow catholic cathedrals whether it be through flashing Christmas lights or a person’s weight in gold leaf are quite overdecorated! England, being a protestant country when the cathedral was in its final rebuilt (4th), unfortunately there was a Catholic sympathist phase. Aka the cathedral (like most) is very psychizophrenic in design. Plain white limestone to gold leaf and huge, glittering mosaics. I climbed to the whispering room. Too many people to hear a whisper on the other side of the dome. Climbed to the top to see the views. I love looking at the Thames and seeing the reconstruction of the Globe next to so many office buildings. London is a mixed up place indeed.
When I got back to my tube stop there were all these people in costumes ranging from sheep to gangsters to people in New Zealand flags and flip flops (in the 40 degree Fahrenheit weather) screaming KIWI KIWI KIWI and drinking. The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is on 7 February. It’s not an official independence day and it’s only celebrated in England by Kiwi’s (not really in NZ) but it was sooooo awesome!
Day 3 (8.2/Today): Market day! We visited the East End/Tower Hamlets where we went to Petticoat Lane Market, Old Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Columbia Road Flower Market. Bought cheap vegetables and ogled at the various food stands (ethnic and raw vegetable ones). Wow. Did you know that Brick Lane (I just finished a book by the same name set there.) has a CURRY FESTIVAL??? It’s also known as the Benglatown of London. We saw this amazing street artist who played guitar, sang, played a harmonica, and a little tiny drum set. AND he was good. Wow.
To close…. I’m doing much and yet I’ve only gotten here. The socialization aspect is pretty okay with the Oberlin kids (there are some really solid people on this trip) but the socialization aspect at the dorm frankly sucks. I’m stuck on a floor with only kids from one program and they all go to Bucknell and have been here for a month. So I don’t really have a chance. Sigh. I bombard them as they walk to their doors. I don’t think it will lead to meaningful relationships but I guess I now have someone to talk to over the roar of the microwave.
p.s. So far I've had okay luck with my public transportation. I have a monthly pass for all underground, overground and buses in zones 1-2. Yet the first day I rode the tube, it would not read my pound coins and the train stopped between the first and second stop for 15 minutes because of signal failure. (Donna believes "signal failure" is really a blown out light bulb that is only allowed to be replaced by a specific worker. It is the most common explanation for late trains.) I am supposed to expect much more blown light bulbs, along with the "wrong kind" of wind, rain, snow and sunshine to delay the trains (wrong kind coming off of a news paper article claiming "if only the snow were the right kind...there would be no delay").
I think that is best way I can describe the excellent adventure that is eating here. Tonight I am trying my first ambitious meal – brown rice and vegetable tikka masala. I have never cooked any kind of rice without a rice cooker before (p.s. The rice turned out wonderfully!). But I cannot take all the credit for the masala: they sell the sauce bottled in all major grocery stores.
Yet there are other adventures to be had in the kitchen. I am currently battling for space in the shared fridge. Apparently diet coke is more important to the 4 other American girl students (whom I have yet to all meet) than allowing me to store any amount of food. Also the constant tirade against people stealing my food. It’s an army of two in kitchen 407 – Ray Gergen and a blue permanent marker.
Enough about food. Why haven’t I written recently? I have been up to my eyeballs in sleep deprivation and orientation, so SORRY. The first day (6.2) was not much to write home about – paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! We oriented at the center, which is in the backyard of the British Museum (AH!). Anu, Steve (from Oberlin), Donna and the librarian all seem like incredibly knowledgeable and quirky people. So I am very satisfied to have them in my hair for the next few months. Donna, the in-house head staffmember (I cannot say “administrator” because they are very proud to be managed solely by the teachers themselves), is friends with a hilarious police officer who came in to tell us about safety in London. Apparently there is a lot. But obvious problems did arise during the talk, namely that the sergeant would not admit to there being any bad parts of London because that would be saying is brothers/sisters in arms were not doing their jobs. Also I can play anywhere on the street as long as I’m not so bad that the neighbors call in a noise complaint. (Did you know that they made fake cans you can store valuables in?) Later on they gave us money to eat out and make friends. I think the friends groups may already be set, but at least the food was good. (Did I mention there’s an Asian place near me called New Culture Revolution. They make their own noodles!)
Day 2 (7.2) : Visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. What a beautiful place. It was very interesting visiting there after seeing so many cathedrals in Mexico. Wow catholic cathedrals whether it be through flashing Christmas lights or a person’s weight in gold leaf are quite overdecorated! England, being a protestant country when the cathedral was in its final rebuilt (4th), unfortunately there was a Catholic sympathist phase. Aka the cathedral (like most) is very psychizophrenic in design. Plain white limestone to gold leaf and huge, glittering mosaics. I climbed to the whispering room. Too many people to hear a whisper on the other side of the dome. Climbed to the top to see the views. I love looking at the Thames and seeing the reconstruction of the Globe next to so many office buildings. London is a mixed up place indeed.
When I got back to my tube stop there were all these people in costumes ranging from sheep to gangsters to people in New Zealand flags and flip flops (in the 40 degree Fahrenheit weather) screaming KIWI KIWI KIWI and drinking. The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is on 7 February. It’s not an official independence day and it’s only celebrated in England by Kiwi’s (not really in NZ) but it was sooooo awesome!
Day 3 (8.2/Today): Market day! We visited the East End/Tower Hamlets where we went to Petticoat Lane Market, Old Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Columbia Road Flower Market. Bought cheap vegetables and ogled at the various food stands (ethnic and raw vegetable ones). Wow. Did you know that Brick Lane (I just finished a book by the same name set there.) has a CURRY FESTIVAL??? It’s also known as the Benglatown of London. We saw this amazing street artist who played guitar, sang, played a harmonica, and a little tiny drum set. AND he was good. Wow.
To close…. I’m doing much and yet I’ve only gotten here. The socialization aspect is pretty okay with the Oberlin kids (there are some really solid people on this trip) but the socialization aspect at the dorm frankly sucks. I’m stuck on a floor with only kids from one program and they all go to Bucknell and have been here for a month. So I don’t really have a chance. Sigh. I bombard them as they walk to their doors. I don’t think it will lead to meaningful relationships but I guess I now have someone to talk to over the roar of the microwave.
p.s. So far I've had okay luck with my public transportation. I have a monthly pass for all underground, overground and buses in zones 1-2. Yet the first day I rode the tube, it would not read my pound coins and the train stopped between the first and second stop for 15 minutes because of signal failure. (Donna believes "signal failure" is really a blown out light bulb that is only allowed to be replaced by a specific worker. It is the most common explanation for late trains.) I am supposed to expect much more blown light bulbs, along with the "wrong kind" of wind, rain, snow and sunshine to delay the trains (wrong kind coming off of a news paper article claiming "if only the snow were the right kind...there would be no delay").
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Finally London
Row upon row of townhouses line the streets on my way from the tube stop to my room on Manresa Road. I have a tiny little single, with a very thin bed, petite dresser, and a bathroom that gives new meaning to the phrase spacial management. Somehow when I unpacked everything, it all fits (even though I am a big, bumbling American). It snowed a few days ago so it is rather cold. Yet I find it hard to mind, it is so beautiful here. The mixture of architecture -- I have never been more excited to breath in the different shades of rust, brick and glass that this intensely urban place provides. My walk anywhere is windy, every turn bringing on another little pub or wedding shop or hospital or tiny house.
Certainly just coming from Mexico does distort my vision. Everything is so clean here. I have never obsessed over infrastructure yet the fact that it is maintained here and trash is picked up and sidewalks are not death traps, is wonderful. It took me most of the month to see the diamond in the rough in Mexico. It has taken me 32 hours to find it here.
Background is needed. Why is this friend/niece/daughter/girl I sort of know writing about London? I am attending Oberlin's Danenberg-Oberlin-In-London Program (you can't make these sorts of acronyms up). I am living in Chelsea in an international dorm. For the next 4 months, I will be an explorer of London, England, Europe and life in general. This blog is your window onto my journey.
I can only hope it will be an entertaining (if not exhilarating) view.
-Ray
Certainly just coming from Mexico does distort my vision. Everything is so clean here. I have never obsessed over infrastructure yet the fact that it is maintained here and trash is picked up and sidewalks are not death traps, is wonderful. It took me most of the month to see the diamond in the rough in Mexico. It has taken me 32 hours to find it here.
Background is needed. Why is this friend/niece/daughter/girl I sort of know writing about London? I am attending Oberlin's Danenberg-Oberlin-In-London Program (you can't make these sorts of acronyms up). I am living in Chelsea in an international dorm. For the next 4 months, I will be an explorer of London, England, Europe and life in general. This blog is your window onto my journey.
I can only hope it will be an entertaining (if not exhilarating) view.
-Ray
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