The One Where Alex and Stacey Are Lost For 6 Hours

This was certainly an adventurous week. I came to grips with the fact that I tend to over think things. A lot. So I decided to attempt to have more of a "fly by the seat of your pants" attitude, especially on Saturday. Things I learned with this attempt: I am awfully stubborn, especially when facing defeat. And when I have to accept defeat, my pride is hurt. Big time. More to come on this...

MONDAY

Bek and I went to the Museum of London and the Guildhall Art Gallery.

Olympic Torch, Museum of London

I love being at museums when they are uncrowded. Walking into an empty hall or gallery is exhilarating for me.

Roman Coliseum, Guildhall

TUESDAY

Homework, ice cream with Bean, then Soho with Austin and some of the friends that I've made from the YSA ward. We got Chinese steam buns, which were wonderful and warm, especially with the brisk, damp English air that seeps into your bones, no matter how many layers you have on. After this excursion to Soho, we went to Institute, where the lesson was on charity. It was such a good reminder of such an important principle and attribute that I desire to possess. Please enjoy one of my favourite quotes from President Monson of this subject:

Charity is having the patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is the impulse to categorize others.

WEDNESDAY

There aren't many other ways I would rather start my morning than by visiting St. Paul's.

View from the lower level of the dome.

Some days, you just need some good ole Thai street food from Borough Market.

 We had the opportunity to attend the Ai Wei Wei art exhibit and the Royal Academy of Art. Wei Wei is a modern artist/human and political rights activist from China, who has been banished, jailed, and is now living with a very limited passport/visa, and is only allowed to leave his country for brief periods of time. He faced execution several years ago for his opposition as displayed through art, but the Chinese government lifted this order, due to pressure from the rest of the world who support Wei Wei.

Ai Wei Wei art exhibit at the Royal Academy of Art

The materials here came from the ruins of the earthquake that plagued China back in 2008. Supposedly, the government has knowingly built many of the schools and other public buildings poorly throughout the years, to save money. The earthquake killed hundreds of school children across the country; Wei Wei took the rebarb from the ruins of these schools, straightened it by hand, and created this.

Ancient vase (from the Ming Dynasty?) that has been painted over with utility paint and modern logos. 

Bike chandelier

  

THURSDAY

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! After classes, some of my colleagues and I had the opportunity to tour the "Freedom Form Torture" headquarters here in London, which was very interesting. Following this and dinner, I attended Institute, after which some of us went out into the city, following (from a safe distance, mind you) the path of the protesters. It was crazy! I have never seen so many law enforcement vehicles and officers in my life. The purpose of the Million Mask March was to protest the government: freedom from gov. censorship, no more war, we don't like our leaders, etc. The usual protester stuff. People will never be 100% pleased with who is leading the people. But that's because it's people leading the people, and as we all know, we are human. We make mistakes. We are not perfect. Something that is good for one person may not be good for another. If the government is truly violating a human right, I am all in favor of speaking out in an attempt for change. However, rioting, burning police cars, hurting others, etc. because you feel like you pay too much in taxes is NOT the way to do it. But maybe that's just me.

FRIDAY

Day trip! Newstead Abbey and Beth Shalom (House of Peace) Holocaust Centre

Trish, our tour guide at Newstead, tells us the eerie story
of Lord Byron and his infamous goblet made from the
skull of a deceased monk, that had been found in the
garden.

The National Holocaust Centre was heavy, but I was so happy to have had the opportunity to visit. We were fortunate enough to have a Holocaust survivor from Germany, Ruth, speak with us for a while. It was such a neat experience. As sobering as it was, it also instilled hope for the future, that we can learn from past mistakes and misdeeds, and move forward with an eye to improvement in the world and how we treat others.

 

SATURDAY

After spending the night outside of Nottingham, we traveled to Chatsworth House. For you Pride and Prejudice fans, that's supposedly the model of the home of Mr. Darcy.

I bet none of y'all knew I was the bridge troll from every story with a bridge troll in the history of ever.

The weather was so crazy! Super windy and rainy...so
much so that my umbrella broke.

Hanging out with the sheep and thinking about life.

Bletchley Park: the location where many codes during WWII were cracked. Think "The Imitation Game." Also, the home of the most magnificent outdoor chess board.

"Sometimes it is the very people who no one imagines
anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."
-Christopher Morc

Recreation of "Christopher"

Taking names and cracking codes...a day in the life.

Playing on said chess board.

I am the humblest of winners. Can't you tell?

So. Saturday night, I wanted to go to a bonfire party I was invited to. It was a little bit of a trek out of London, but I decided to have this "fly by the seat of your pants" attitude, and just go for it. Life's too short. We'll figure it out. We'll get there. Darling Stacey accompanied me (I'm so glad she did), and we ran into one closed door after another. The plan had been to get to Victoria train station, meet up with a group who knew where they were going, then go to this party. Well. We missed the train by 54 seconds. We got on the next one, and tried to find a bus that would take us to the location. After visiting 4 bus stops, missing the bus we needed to take, visiting another 3 bus stops, getting on a bus to take us to a point where we needed to transfer, missing our stop (ending up an hour away at a hospital in the middle of nowhere), getting the wrong directions from a bus driver, ending up at a different train station, getting on yet another wrong bus, and being dropped off, yet again, in the middle of nowhere (not even at a bus stop!),  walking a ways back to the train station, waiting for the next train, then, eventually, getting home, I was rather discouraged. As we waited for the train to take us back to London, we both laughed, and cried, and laughed some more. We spent 6 hours trying to get to this party. And, apparently, at one point, had been just a 10 minute walk from the location, but we didn't know, since neither of us have cell phones that work over here. I was so sad. And it wasn't even so much that we missed the party, more of "I just spent 6 hours in some town I don't know trying to find a party and I'm cold and tired and hungry and there are no facilities anywhere in sight." At many times throughout the night, Stacey and I said "if this bus doesn't come by this time, let's go home." Or "we'll try this, and if it doesn't work, we'll go home." We were both so stubborn and determined to make it to this party, we just kept going. And it truly hurt my pride that we didn't make it; it was a very humbling night. But, I am still so glad it happened. It's hard to explain why, but I just am. Hence why we laughed in between our sobs. Sometimes, even when things go horribly wrong or life gives you every reason not to, you just need to laugh.

Laughing on the inside because I go back to the states in one month from tomorrow.