Passing the Time

Monday's Art & Architecture lecture was short. So, I went back to Seething Wells, had some lunch, and made plans to go into London for some exploring. I went to the British Museum with two friends, and it was completely overwhelming because there is so much to see!


The most important thing I wanted to see was the Rosetta Stone. It's weird to think how big of an impact this stone had on understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics. You wouldn't think it was so important just by looking at it, but it just goes to show that appearances are deceiving.


We also saw Greek and Roman statues, Egyptian mummies and artifacts, Middle Eastern relics, and a section on the history of clocks and watches. It was pretty neat to see the evolution of different types of clocks and how the inventions of the pendulum and of gears were incorporated.


We walked to Covent Garden and did some shopping and people-watching. There are always at least a handful of street performers on the piazza. So, you can never be short of entertainment.

We made our way back to Waterloo Station, and just as our train was scheduled to leave, an announcement was made that there had been a fatality at Wimbledon. All Southwest Trains service was delayed, which meant that we were essentially stuck in the city for a while unless we wanted to find a bus. We were all hungry at that point and decided to walk along the river to find a restaurant for some dinner. We ended up going to a place called Giraffe and ate very delicious burgers. By the time we got back to the train station, there was limited service running, but we were able to catch a very packed train that would take us back to Surbiton.

The British government is running into financially hard times, and they are limiting services, such as health care, that used to be readily available. People are losing not only their jobs, but also their hope. Some people can't deal with the stress, and so they feel like throwing themselves on the train tracks is their only option. It is such a sad state to be in that so many people just want to give up on trying.

After such an exciting Monday, I needed a quiet day, which thankfully Tuesday provided. We discussed Thursday's performance of Much Ado and then our readings of Doctor Faustus in my Shakespeare class. I walked back to the flat with a classmate, and we had some really good discussions about life. The evening was filled with paper-writing, and so, here I am... Tomorrow is another day with all the promise of a new adventure!

Cheers!