Another Week in Review

Another week has come and gone, so I feel that I should update this again. Last Sunday I met up with my mother's cousin Rupert, his wife Fran, and little Benjamin for lunch at a restaurant over by where they live in Hampstead Heath. I was in for a pleasant surprise, as my mother's Uncle Bolli and Auntie Lorna, and Fran's mother were all there too. I had a good time visiting with them for the afternoon and enjoyed an excellent steak. I had never met Fran or her mother before, but both are very friendly. Afterwards, I briefly went over to Rupert's new place before returning back just in time for church.

I attended the evening service at St. Helen's church with some friends from the Christian Union here at Queen Mary. After the main service, there was an extra hour or so talk for students (of which there are quite a few). I enjoyed the service and talk and met many other students there. The church itself is one of the oldest in London, having been built in 1210. Formerly a Catholic and then Anglican facility (as well as where William Shakespeare attended church), it is now Evangelical, but it still has the beautiful old organ, which was played during service.

During the school week, nothing really that eventful occurred (that I can remember now). On Friday Whitney and I wandered around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The parks are beautiful (and massive - Central Park in New York size) and walking around through them was pleasant. It was rather cold and windy, however; during the later spring and summer when it warms up, they must be very nice to spend time in.

On Saturday I traveled to Oxford with the other USC students. We were supposed to take the 10:47 train, but basically everyone missed it, and 17 of us (out of 27) caught he next one out at 11:21. Once arriving, we wandered about looking for the restaurant where we were meeting John Sharkey, the USC England coordinator. Raphael, one of the USC students, knew his way around, since he has family there and has spent some time in the city, but none of us were sure where the restaurant was, so we wandered rather aimlessly. Eventually John Sharkey found us after someone phoned him, and he escorted us to the Lebanese restaurant where we ate lunch, courtesy of USC (though really us, since we paid the tuition). The food was good, but it came in little communal plates in successive waves. I was in the section with the hungriest people, and it became a race of sorts to get the best foods for the first few waves of dishes.

After lunch, we split up into two groups and took a guided tour of the campus (well, quasi-campus; Oxford does not really have a true campus like we are used to in America, as each college is self-contained and may be a few blocks from another). The buildings are very beautiful (and many are quite old). Attending such an institution would be a neat experience. After the tour ended, a group of about 10 of us wandered around the school and city for a few hours longer. We took the "Raph Tour," as we jokingly called it, and went and saw the beautiful gardens outside Christ's Church College (where many movies are filmed), but could not get inside, as it had closed to visitors by then. Instead, we wandered around more and went to a quaint little pub where a friendly old British guy worked the bar. I tried Strongbow's, a popular British cider, for the first time, and it was rather good (apparently it is popular with students because it has a good taste and is relatively cheap, but it is also the favorite alcohol of the British Royal Family). After that, we caught the train back to London.

Wars and the People Who Led Them

On Thursday, we visited Westminster Abbey, which had been my favorite thing from my last trip to England. As before, it was very cool exploring the cathedral, which has become more of a giant mausoleum than anything else. Pretty much any British person who accomplished anything in the last 1,000 years is entombed there; since Britons have done quite a bit during this time period, there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of people in there, with impressive statues and tombs commemorating them. The cathedral itself is also quite spectacular.

Afterwards, we went and checked out the Winston Churchill Museum and War Cabinet Rooms. At first we were kind of hesitant paying the rather hefty entrance fee (about $20), but it was totally worth it. The War Rooms are where Churchill and the top British leadership ran the government from during the dark days of 1940 and '41. All the original gear is there; once the blitz stopped, the rooms were largely vacated but left set up in case of future need, and after the war they were apparently forgotten. The Imperial War Museum came along and opened them up, created a nifty audio tour, and put in numerous dummies of Churchill and other British leaders and soldiers throughout, making it look as it did during use. The best part, however, was a massive section of the life of Winston Churchill. He has always been one of my favorite historical figures, but after the exhibit, Churchill moved up to about #2 or 3 on my all time list of favorite leaders. It really brought him to life; I had never known that as a young man, he had been a gallant soldier and won numerous medals for bravery under fire, and as a result, came home a national celebrity after the Boer War. I especially enjoyed the area where one could listen to the best of his speeches (the museum was very interactive). In my opinion, Churchill was the greatest orator of the English language (I would place 4 of his speeches in the top 10 all time speeches ever given: "Their Finest Hour," "Let us Go Forward Together," "The Few," and "We Shall Fight them on the Beaches"). I actually ended up enjoying the museum more than Westminster Abbey, which says a lot, since I love that too.

On Saturday we visited the very awesome Imperial War Museum. It was even more awesome than the previous two places visited, which is pretty difficult to top. The Museum is massive, and has probably the finest collection of military items in the world. Of particular note is its excellent condition Schweren Panzerjäger V "Jagdpanther", probably the finest tank built by the Germans during the Second World War and my favorite vehicle. It was practically invincible against Allied armour (though this one was actually disabled and captured by daring British tanks, which is why it is still around today). They have a ton of other tanks, planes, and other large objects. I took numerous photos, a few of which are shown above. There were also massive numbers of uniforms, weapons, and other cool things including a WW1 trench replica. I also really enjoyed a large section on military propaganda posters (a few of which are quite moving, including my favorite, "the Last Call"). I need to go back again (and maybe a third time - there is really so much there to look at). If you love history (especially the history of war), this place is simply awesome.

The Second Week Begins

On Sunday, Whitney and I went to church with Ruth and Jeeves, friends from the Christian group on campus. The church is a few stops away on the tube and is rather small - the people are quite friendly though and everyone seems to know everyone. They are also devout Bible believers. Afterwards, the four of us were invited over to eat lunch with one of the families from the church. We enjoyed a delicious British meal and spent much of the afternoon visiting with them. Overall, it was a good experience.

Monday saw another wave of classes. In the evening I went to a meeting of the debating society here on campus. I am not sure if I want to get involved in it, but it could be fun. It is a formal debate team that competes in events both locally and in other parts of Europe. I participated in the practice debate, which was on whether to abolish the English monarchy or not (I argued not). Since I do like to debate and argue things, it could be an interesting thing to pursue.

I had more classes on Tuesday. I also spent a great deal reading about the Crusades. They really are an interesting and entertaining period (if one has a sense of humor for events which at the time were quite serious but are comical today). In the evening, Whitney and I met up a few other members of the Christian Union and had a bible study, as well as spent some time afterwards visiting.

Only one more class remains before the end of the week for me, haha. I largely enjoy my classes, however, so it is not some great relief to be done with classes. Student participation in class seems to be highly encouraged here, more so than in the US, and I enjoy that sort of thing. Well, that is all for now. Danny McEntee, reporting out.

Star Wars and Museum Tours

Thursday, Whitney and I both have no class. We pretty much just hung around our rooms (I did a bunch of reading for my classes) for most of the day, other than a brief trip over to the group fair. That evening we went to the Christian Union's weekly session (the Christian group on campus, kind of like Campus Crusade). Afterwards, we went over the house of one of the girls in the CU and ate dinner with most of the group. I had a good time getting to know some of the members of the organization, as well as a German friend of one of the members who was visiting.

On Friday, we rode the tube over to the British Museum. We spent around hours wandering through the countless exhibits there. My favorite section is the Egyptian and Near East, largely since the huge pieces are there (as well as the Rosetta Stone). I was able to read and translate inscriptions in three different dead languages, which I found pretty cool. I got a few strange looks though when I spoke out the Achaemenid Persian, but then, it sounds very foreign to the modern ear. We also had our first fish and chips (and mashed peas) at a pub while we were here. Overall, a good day.

Today, Whitters and I traveled down to the County Hall, which currently has a rather awesome Star Wars Exhibit currently showing. The costumes, miniatures, weapons, and even full size items used in the movies (like a Naboo N1 Starfighter) were all there, as well as a few reenactors dressed up in the gear. It was a tad pricey, but worth it. We had an interesting time reaching there, however, since construction was being done on the tube.

We also planned to go on the London Eye, since it was very clear today. Just our luck - it is closed this week for repairs, which they do only once a year. We took some nice pictures of Parliament though, and then walked over to Westminster Abbey. Also closed (I kind of suspected this, though, since I think there is Mass on Saturdays). Once we got back, we did our laundry, which was rather interesting. Half the dryers (and many washers) are currently broken, so there was quite a pile up. Whitney and I camped out for like 40 minutes until we were able to get what we needed. Next time, I do laundry early in the morning!

Class Begins

I had my first day of classes on Monday. I started out with British Political System at 10:00 am, followed by The Crusades at 12:00 and the discussion section for BPS at 2:00. The British Political System does not seem as interesting as I thought (although we have only met once), but it should not be too bad. The Crusades, on the other hand, is going to be very cool. The teacher is a specialist on the subject and our homework is just to read books on the crusades (there is a little assigned reading of primary sources, but it is mostly up to us to just read whatever we feel is pertinent on the subject - something that I would do for fun anyways haha).

Tuesday saw another wave of classes. I had my discussion section for the Crusades at 12:00, followed by my 2 hour lecture of Liberalism, Past & Present, from 2-4. This course will also be very interesting, as we read and comment on all the great limited government, free market texts of the Enlightenment, such as John Locke's Second Treatise of Government and de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. I firmly believe in these beliefs on government, and, like my Crusades course, reading them really will not be homework for me, but rather, something that I enjoy. The teacher is also a fan of this way of thinking, which I think is very refreshing, since most college professors are socialists (especially in the UK - at least I imagine so, since the country is far more socialistic than the US, at least for now).

That evening, Whitney and I rode the a double decker bus down to Canary Wharf, the new commercial district of London (it is quite nice - it is pretty much all new and is where all the skyscrapers are). We went and bought cell phones there - the cheapest ones we could find. For £10 (+ a deposit of £10 worth of minutes) we got phones. It took us forever to find the cell phone store, however. At least it was an interesting place to wander around.

On Wednesday I had my final class of the week, Intro to Old English, from 11-1. Yes, I really am learning another dead language, known as Anglo-Saxon. It is the Germanic predecessor of English and seems like it will be a very interesting class (but also probably quite a bit of hard work). J.R.R. Tolkien (the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) was a professor of it and his fascination with the language and culture of the people led him to write his novels. In fact, most of the names of people and places from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are Anglo-Saxon. Frodo, for example, means "the wise one," while Saruman means "the trickster man." Even the location, "Middle-earth," comes from Anglo-Saxon "middangeard," which appeared in a favorite Saxon poem of his. Overall, very cool.

The Next Few Days

We met the rest of our British flatmates over the weekend. Aisha, Jenna, and Josh are all British and are quite friendly and helpful. Josh and Jenna are not around that much (or are in their rooms), but Aisha is always around and we interact with her all the time (she is really friendly). We went shopping on Saturday and walked down Mile End about 10 minutes until we reached Sainsbury's. I kind of dreaded purchasing food, since I expected it being expensive due to the exchange rate. In actuality, much of it was as cheap or cheaper than the US. This is because Sainsbury's offers Sainsbury's brand items for very, very cheap - it is like their version of Walmart. A can of baked beans for 10 pence (20 cents)? A bag of 6 English muffins for 30 pence? Count me in!

That evening we visited an Indian restaurant (as well as an English pub) with John Sharkey, the USC coordinator in the UK, and the rest of the USC students in London. The food was quite good (and paid for by USC, which was nice) and I had a lively political debate with a few of the other USC students. At one point, a drunk Irish lady barged into the debate, exclaimed how she liked Hillary Clinton (whom everyone in the debate did not like) and poured herself a glass of wine from one of our bottles. It was quite funny (and also very awkward), and the rest of her party was really embarrassed.

Sunday, we took a bus tour around London and saw most of the sites. That evening I went and saw I Am Legend with my flatmates at the local cinema. It was only £3 with a student ID, which is way cheaper than the states. I enjoyed the movie, but I know some of my female flatmates were a bit frightened through much of it.

The First Few Days

Well, I decided that making a blog would be fun and would let people know what I have been up to.

One of my friends from USC, Whitney, got into the same program, and we ended up with rooms directly across from each other in our flat (which is very cool, since we can talk to each other from across the hall). We have been doing most exploring and seeing things together, so that is the "we" that I refer to. The two of us flew out of LAX at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 2nd, with a layover in Amsterdam, and arrived at Heathrow the next day at about 4:00 pm. Whitney and I were the last two international students to arrive, so the bus (which Queen Mary provided) had already departed. Toby, the international student director at QMUL, was still there to meet us and he hired a cab for us at the university's expense and led us to our lodgings. There, we met Liam, one of our British flatmates. He is from a suburb of London and is quite friendly. He was the only flatmate when we first arrived.

Our rooms are quite nice. Whitney and I both ended up with corner rooms, so ours are larger than the other ones in our flat and have a large desk built into the wall (with loads of desktop space), large amounts of shelving space. We even have our own bathroom/showers! We share a kitchen and flat with 4 British students. The only real drawback is that the bed is somewhat uncomfortable, but not terribly so.

The next morning we ate dinner with the other American students (there are about 150 of us) and then went through a long orientation and registration session. That evening we rode the tube down to the Tower of London, where we boarded a riverboat. We spent the evening cruising up and down the Thames with the rest of the Americans. Unfortunately, the windows all fogged up so it was difficult at times to see things (and rather cold to be going outside on the ship's deck).