Mixin' Up the Salad

In addition to the homesickness (which is, thank the Lord, beginning to wear away slowly), I've noticed a problem with being here. You see, I have "inter-role conflict" as the organizational behavior business people would call it. I am a student, an intern-to-be, a tourist, and a London resident during a regular weekday. In the morning, I go class, prepare for my internship, visit sights in the afternoon, and sleep in my flat in the evening. Some of those seem mutually exclusive (i.e. tourist and resident). At first I was running into a bit of trouble balancing each mode of living, but I have begun to settle enough that jumping from role to role is closer to routine than before. Now when the internship starts? Oh my. Be preppared for more "woe is me" tales. :)

I created another facebook album for pictures I took this past week. We've done quite a bit, so I'll start at the beginning and work my way forward. The picture link is at the bottom of this post.

Okey dokey, for our British Life and Culture lecture, we listened to a seasoned actor drone on for over an hour on Tuesday and then visited the Museum of London on Wednesday afternoon. The Museum of London showcases artifacts from the beginning period of London (hunter/gather) all the way up to present-ish (18-1900s). I didn't know the Romans had such a presence, but apparently they were definitely major players in the first and second centuries.

On Thursday afternoon, I went to the Science Museum with a gal from my flat (the others went to Indiana Jones, but at $14 for a ticket, I opted out). There were some neat things there like space, genetics, and the beginning of steam power, but apparently we skipped over a bunch accidently. We'll make it back there sometime since it's near Imperial College.

And on Friday, we rested...at least in the afternoon.

That night we went to Leicster Square to the half-price ticket booths because one of the gals was really interested in seeing Spamalot. Eh, whatevs. When in Britain, do as the Brits do. We got tickets for the play for £25 (those same tickets would have been over a hundred in New York), and went to the Corean Barbeque (yes, spelled with a C, no idea why) for supper. Man, my tastebuds aren't quite up to that ethnic level. Instead of normal things like rolls or chips like they usually bring out, we were served bean sprouts and seaweed. Huh, ok. It was interesting. Figuring I could find something edible, I ordered a seemingly simple dish of rice, vegetables, and ground beef. Yeah, not so much. They poured seasame oil all over it! Ugh. And there was a random fried egg in it too, which was one of the things I could eat. More seaweed, bean sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, and other unidentifiable veggies greeted my eyes and palate. Oh, and the "traditional Korean tea" was gross. Not recommended. (I guess I don't do well with authentic Asian cuisine)

Anyways, after supper we rushed over to the show at 8:30 and grabbed our half priced seats. Spamalot is basically taken from the Holy Grail movie with some additions for the musical parts. It was neat to see, if only because I saw it in London. Basically, I liked the non-Python/non-crude parts. Ah well. I'm hoping to keep shows to about one each month to control costs. These shows take place in London's West End which is basically like Broadway in the US. Cool stuff!

Today we were at the Tate Britain and Tate Modern. The Tate Britain originally began with a huge donation of art but became too large so the Tate Modern was built in 2000. Tate Britain houses British art from 1500 - 1900, while Tate Modern is 1900 - Present. I enjoyed the Tate Britain quite a bit as I like all that old timey stuff, but the Tate Modern just wasn't my style. Well, modern isn't my style. I can't seem to wrap my head around modern art-- honestly seems like a waste to me. I know, crude and uncultured. But you look at all the time and money invested into that stuff, and I just wonder what other uses it could be put to (i.e. starving children, etc.). Ah well.

Quick side note about the Tate Modern: The event of the afternoon was the making of a, get ready for it, giant salad. Yes, salad, the green, leafy dish women tend to consume. Employees chopped up the ingredients and tossed it over a ledge onto a waiting tarp which was shaken and raked (with actual rakes) and then served to the 400+ crowd. Everyone got a heaping plate of salad! Wow, that will definitely be something I remember as highly random. Strange stuff, indeed.

Tomorrow we're off to Hever Castle outside London, so I'll be getting some info/pics up about that later. Ah, and the flat pics are not up because I want to take 'em during the daylight and with my flatmates all here, so they might be ready on Tuesday. Not sure, though.

Again, thank you for your prayers-- things really are starting to look up. The process is slow, but as time crawls along I can feel living here becoming less difficult. Today is Saturday; I have been in London one week, 11 left to go. Things can only get better from here because this past week should have been the most difficult of them all. Thank you Lord for getting me through! Every morning I thank Him for helping me through yet another day.

Ok, here's the pic link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068677&l=38f99&id=36107967

Enjoy!