“Dear Boss, ….Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”

This week was filled with events out of the ordinary…On Monday, November 7, we went to the museum for Shakespeare class to look at the artwork from the period during Shakespeare’s life to see what the influences were like. Most of the artwork was religiously centered and it is amazing that some of the stuff has survived for so long in such quality.

Then the next evening, Tuesday, after my internship I made my way back to Vandon after finishing early. The weather was cold and the rain was spitting…the darkness combined with the light clouded with mist made it an eerie night in London’s East End. We had a walking tour through the Whitechapel area where Jack the ripper once spread terror through with his gruesome murders. Our tour guide, the same one we have had all semester is so animated and is a great story teller and actually appeared in the movie Love Actually. His stories and songs brought chills to my bones as I imagined the horrific murder scenes and the psycho who committed these murders, and all the speculations about who was Jack the Ripper or the Whitechapel Murderer. A particularly sinister letter received by the Police possibly from Jack the Ripper himself is quoted below for your pleasure:


Dear Boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck.


Yours truly
Jack the Ripper


Henry V…in Guildford. Wednesday night I left straight from the Hoxton Trust and headed to Waterloo station to catch a train to Guildford. As I waited in the queue counting down the seconds til the train left….time quickly running out and the line moving slowly…Finally, I get my ticket and begin running toward the platform (all this with multiple bags, heals and a dress on, so basically very clumsily) and as I get to my platform I double check it is the right train…it is! So I sprint to the closing door thinking if it shuts on me it will just open back up like on the tube, no such luck. These doors just keep closing…on me this time; luckily a man standing near the door pushed back on the door allowing me to slide through…I did receive a good bruise down my right side, but I made my train. Once onboard I attempted to find a seat but it was so full so I resorted to sitting near the bike stowing area where I read my book and wrote in my journal for the next hour until finally I reached my stop. As I make my way out of the station I tried to find my bearings…looking at my map and the one near the station I head out thinking I know where I am going. Soon I realize I went the wrong way so I back track and end up asking multiple people before someone points me in the right direction. Once I know where I am supposed to be going I keep thinking I am lost, however, I actually managed to find the theater. The show was one of my favorites since I have been here; it was an all male company and they had interpreted the play in a unique manner. It was a group of soldiers who were bored so they decide to do some Shakespeare’s Henry V to pass the time. It was hilarious at time and the lighting was great…plus between scenes they would sing so it just made the show very entertaining and this helped a history play move along nicely because they tend to drag on. Overall the show was amazing!

The Week That Flew By

In my continued efforts to catch up on all the events…I have yet again fallen behind. Either I neglect my blog or my own personal journal; this is a dilemma I have yet to find a solution for…So to continue on where we previously left off. I last left you with the adventures I encountered in Dover, so we will begin the following day, 17 October 2011.

It is a typical Monday in London. I get to sleep in a tad and kind of meander about until two o’clock when I have Shakespeare class. Now class was not memorable, but the class outing that evening was. We attended a play this evening, and it had a very prominent star in its cast. Ralph Fiennes was Prospero in The Tempest. Ralph Fiennes??? Where should you know him from? Well I will clue you in…he is a romantic in Maid in Manhattan, evil in Schindler’s List, a Duke in The Duchess, and probably what he is most famous for recently is his role as Voldemort in Harry Potter. In the play we saw he did not look as creepy as he does in Harry Potter though, he does have a nose, real eyes, and actual lips. Now where to begin with analyzing this play…hmmm…well the acting was amazing in my opinion and I enjoyed listening to the speeches. However, the production as a whole was very different from anything we have yet seen. The producer of the play has been a producer of musicals for quite some time now, and he created a Shakespeare musical form of The Tempest. When watching the show you would forget you are watching Shakespeare because the emphasis was not on the beauty of the words written, but instead on the lighting, sound effects and creating musical dancing numbers within the actual written play. I would have loved to see the same actors put on a minimalist set like at The Globe Theatre.

Tuesday and Wednesday are days spent in Hoxton, one of my favourite areas of the city, since it provides more of a small town feel in the incredibly large city of London. Outside of my internship I was eagerly trying to get ready for Fall Break by doing laundry, contacting the car rental company to ensure that everything would go smoothly and trying to figure out how to pack a whole week’s worth of warm clothing into a backpack. The solution to this dilemma was to wear the majority of my bulky clothing and pack the smaller layers.

That was probably the quickest overview of a week I could possibly do. But next up is the adventures Fall Break provided for our crew...some are good while others induced tears...

Walking Where Time Begins

I know I have not posted in some time, but that is due to a schedule that is becoming ever increasingly busy. So here we go…beginning to play the catch up game.

Last week well…where to begin. Ah yes, I left off with my race in the park. That Wednesday October 5^th I had my internship again and after that the Shakespeare class attended Tartuffe by Moliere. I was quite excited about seeing this play because after reading the script I was interested in hearing the witty banter ensue. However, I was disappointed with the show. I think since I have started taking this class I have become highly critical of performances…in class we examine what we see on stage and compare it to the text and what we thought should have been done with the script. This critical eye of plays is very new to me since I normally just sit back and enjoy the performance knowing I most likely could never do what they are doing. Anyways, back to Tartuffe; the play is filled with hilarious conversations between the characters, and most of it is intellectually comedic. In the performance though I felt like they dumbed it down for the audience and tried to get laughs from cheap or crude humour instead. Also the set and lighting was distracting to me…too many mirrors. Onto Thursday, I have classes from 9:00 to 4:00 basically, (or as it is said here 9:00 to 16:00) but the good news is I found a group for my advertising class project, so that was a relief!! Friday I showed Dan and Fish around Hoxton (the area my internship is located in), we ate good food, found yummy fruit, and bought groceries for our Saturday night dinner which Dan prepared. The rest of the weekend was spent indoors resting because the cold that has swept across London got a hold of me. Dan did cook for Fish and I; the menu consisted of cheeseburgers which were very good, sweet potato wedges, some cucumber salad thing, and a blueberry cheese desert…now the desert was interesting not like a sweet desert but more savoury and the cucumber salad was very different from anything I had ever had before so I’m still on the fence about it.

Now we are up to October 10^th which is a Monday and that consists of Shakespeare class!! So we had class and discussed our mutual dislike of Tartuffe, and then that night we went to hear the King James Bible being read. It was beautiful. The set was simplistic so it would not take away from the powerful stories being told. They read the stories of David, and I just loved it.  

Tuesday and Wednesday…internship time again, and this week consisted of lot’s of marketing research about the mugs, designing, and getting in contact with our contact at the mug retailer. In other words, it was a bit stressful and I was still feeling under the weather, but I survived!!

October 13^th, Thursday…a day filled with classes from 9am to 4pm. The morning classes are dreadfully boring at times, however, unlike last week Fish and I were determined to sit in the back so we took the stairs at

Goodge Street

tube station. For those of you who don’t know that is a spiralling staircase of 136 steps plus some…which creates an intense burn in the muscles. But we were successful and claimed the back row of the classroom ensuring at least a bit more of an entertaining class! Now onto my afternoon advertising class, I have a group for the class research project but they have some severe trust issues with new members. Hopefully I can prove them wrong. And in the evening I am attending a performance of the Royal Philharmonic at Cadogan Hall, and it was beautiful…I just sat back closed my eyes and enjoyed the music washing over me. The violin soloist was amazing yet very scary at times because she became so intense with the music, and it seemed like she was trying to conduct between her solo…but I loved every minute of it and think I may go back and hear another performance!

Now onto Friday…the reason why this post has its title. We went to Greenwich which is literally where time starts! We took a boat along the Thames to get there and oh my word was it very chilly on the river. When we arrived we hiked to the top of this massive hill and at the top you can visit a museum filled with telescopes and other interesting devices having to do with time and space. But the main event was being able to walk along the Prime Meridian! Cobie and I once again lost the group, big surprise there…I feel like I always lose them because I get distracted by things, but eventually we found them and ventured onto the National Maritime Museum. I loved the museum, but then again I love the ocean and boats and basically anything to do with a salty body of water. I’m planning on going back to check it out in more detail because everyone was hungry and they wanted to go get food and who could blame them…however, I didn’t want to leave but I could spend all day there haha so I tore myself away from the boats and trinkets found in the ocean and headed to lunch. We ate at the “best tex-mex place in London” well if that is the best they have…that’s just sad. The food was ok at best, but I think growing up in Texas has spoiled me with good Mexican food and ruined my ability to accept mediocre Mexican food. After the meal, I decided I would cook up some real yummy enchiladas and chocolate tres leches during our weekly family meal on Saturday. We went to a crafts and antiques market where I bought a very bright green hat for fall Break and looked at all the vintage clothing and interesting trinket the vendors had to offer…Now exhausted from the excursion of the day we headed back on the DLR which is and I nearly fell asleep on the way home, and I did take a lovely nap when I got back to my bed!!

I am so sorry for the delay in posting since some of these events took place nearly a month ago, but better late than never…there is more to come as I catch up on all the adventures I have had.  

Stratford upon Avon Weekend

I know I haven't written lately, but the internet and my computer do not seem to get along well here, so I have given up on my laptop for the time being and I'm resorting to one of the computers in the lounge. Anyways, they are testing the foundation of the building right now and just so happen to have scaffolding set up in front of the door to my room...no room or peace for a while but that's a great excuse to go exploring :)

This past weekend the Central College Study  Abroad group went to Straford upon Avon. The drive there was so beautiful., I have never seen such green rolling hills. Everything was picturesque. On the drive there we stopped at Blenheim Palace...the house was beautifully historic, but it was the gardens and paths around the grounds that put me in awe. I can't describe the beauty accurately but I know it is by far on of the prettiest sites I have ever seen. It made me stop and just still my mind which if you know me is something that's really hard for me to do. After having a few hours to explore we hopped back on the bus and continued on our journey to Shakespeare's hometown. When we arrived we went on a walking tour to become oriented with the town and learn about it's history, and I visited William Shakespeare's grave!! (morbid? yes, but also super cool) After that I had my first experience with fish and chips in a pub near the site of Shakespeare's home.
The next day we went to a quaint town about an hour away called Burton on the Water, and it was probably one of my favorite experiences so far this trip. There were many cute shops and places to have a cream tea, but instead I wanted to follow the river...random I know but it led me on an adventure haha which I love. Finding a route to follow this little river wasn't exactly easy, but it was so worth it. Daniel (a guy in my program) and I found this little path that ended up leading to the river, and the first surprise was finding a basket of apples with a note telling people to take them. The apples wern't fully ripe but it was free food and I can't pass that up. We continued on this tiny dirt path along tranquil scenery while its raining on us and then we cam across a fork in the river and the end of the path, but this would be another location that just put me in awe. I'll post a picture soon hopefully. We started heading back into town but decided to hike up to the top of this hill which was massive in my opinion. When you reached the top you could see the town in the valley and the rolling farm land surrounding the town. The countryside of Britian is perfect; I could never get tired of looking at the views. After all the walking or hiking I had my first cream tea which is so good that you just know it's terrible for you, but after all the walking it seemed fine. That night we saw Macbeth, I thought it was pretty good, but my seat was really uncomfortable so that distracted me from the play some. We went to the Dirty Duck afterwords, the place most the actors in the plays go after the show, and partook in British pub culture.
The next day we left Straford upon Avon for good. I'm going to miss our bed in breakfast, the beds were super comfy and the owner was very entertaining during breakfast. Since I finished my breakfast everyday I won a date with my favorite famous person, I should be getting my gift certificate soon...On the way back to London we stopped by Oxford and looked around for a while and I got to see where they shoot scenes for the Harry Potter movies and watch some rowers on the river. The campus isn't what I expected but was still amazing, and come to find out graduate school is cheaper there than in the US...maybe a future option to consider. Well that was the weekend. It was packed full of aimless wandering and getting to know the people in my program, and in my opinion very enjoyable.