What's Been Going On, And Why My New Name is 'Karen, the Direction Queen of London'

Hello strangers!

I vowed to myself I would NOT go a full month before updating this blog again. And here I am, with two days to spare--plenty of time! I'm always in at the buzzer. :) Anyway, for the growing crowd of you who have been waiting patiently for my latest post (oh, I know you have!) my sincere apologies. It IS really ridiculous to think that since almost 4 weeks have passed, that means that over 1/4th of my time here (15 weeks) has gone by since I have been back here. Yikes. My goal is to bring you all up-to-date in a practical manner (therefore, no time for fun or jokes. Nope. None for you!) and then I will work harder to do more periodic ramblings, since we all know I'm at my best when off on a tangent.

The last, well, month, has been mildly insane yet generally pretty good. The short news is that Sylvia is *still* recovering, which is a good thing. She sounds well and has been a couple times to make some food orders (thank god...with no large grocery stores nearby and certainly no Sam's club, shopping for this crew is a mild nightmare in the central city) and check on things, etc. We keep missing each other, though, so I have not seen her for almost 6 weeks now. Chris, our 78 year-old cook from Cyprus who brings me special Greek food, has been here, and that is certainly a relief. He'll be back next week too, marking him officially here longer than Sylvia has been here this semester, which is kind of weird. I'm just rolling with it (what else can I do?) but at least now we have a routine down with the 'new' cook. And I get freshly made dolmades every other day. It's a win-win, if you ask me.

I have come to the conclusion that my experience here is largely bipolar. On one hand, the issues with Sylvia and the general day-to-day grind of living with 18 students (we had a case of food poisoning, for instance, that was scary, as well as the usual colds/forgetfulness/roommate drama, etc.) has been stressful and keeps me busy. On the other, just when I think I'm at the breaking point, I go and do something amazing, or we have an amazing field trip or side trip, or even just a moment (meeting James Earl Jones was one of those) that makes me so grateful to be here and love London even more. It's a roller coaster, highs and lows--let's just hope the whole thing doesn't turn ME bipolar in the process!

So, a short (well, we all know 'short' is relative with me) update on what I've been up to...

First week of March was 'Excursion Week' for the kids (they had to do a week long trip and a research project in the British Isles somewhere, while I got the week off) and my boyfriend Chris came for the week. It was GREAT to have him here, it had been a solid 6 weeks since I left, and we were able to hang out relatively stress free and do a little side traveling to boot (break week is my only time to leave the house overnight, so I was really needing a getaway). We decided to stick within England and did a little side trip to Oxford and Bath, and did plenty of sightseeing as well both there and back in London. Oxford was a great college town, but Bath is really something else. The actual Roman Baths were really interesting/cool, but the architecture there is the crown jewel. The majority of the town is all built from this light coloured limestone (oh yeah, I'm going with British spellings now) in the 1700s, and it's gorgeous. The place was the sort of country/style hangout for royals and the rich of London, and it shows. It also is close to Stonehenge, so Chris and I did a day trip to both Stonehenge and this quaint little village of Lacock, where all kinds of Harry Potter movies were made (or something like that). Stonehenge was really interesting...I thought I would feel something more there though, I don't know, more *awe* or something. But instead, all I really felt was cold...it was as cold there as I've EVER been. Poor Chris, we were both freezing our arses off, and the wind there was ICE COLD...but at least we saw the stones in a field, that no one seems to know anything about! (the audio guide was handy, but about every other sentence was like 'No one really knows the mysteries of Stonehenge...' well, fine then, what are you good for?). All in all, it was a great visit and I was sad to see him go, though Chris was probably relieved not to be Clark-W-Griswolded around London/England any longer (I tend to get a bit ambitious when I travel, what can I say?!)









In the time since Chris left (two weeks almost), I had two other friends from home come through town for random reasons, which was great in that it got me out and about (found some decent restaurants, OMG finally!) and my friend Dena and I saw the musical Billy Elliot, which was simply wonderful. I LOVE musicals so much and now I think I'm converted to loving those that involve fantastic dance sequences done by adorable boys as well.



This week was also epic in terms of amazing things. On Monday I went to see the play 'Jerusalem', starring Mark Rylance, who won a US Tony award in 2008, and won the Olivier Acting Award LAST SUNDAY for this role (I saw him in it the NEXT DAY). I don't say this lightly--it was probably the best play I've ever seen, and his performance was a tour de force if there ever was one. The play is a contemporary one, set in small town England, and Rylance's character is scary/fascinating/ruthless/sinister/pathetic and grandiose all at the same time. I love characters like that, who you want to hate but just can't. Fantastic! I then went on Wednesday to 'Waiting for Godot' with Ian McKellen--make that Sir Ian McKellen, and he too was amazing (strange play, but still really fun). Thursday the whole group and I went to Hampton Court, which was basically one of Henry VIII's pleasure palaces--sounds like there was a ton of partying and eating to be had there (typical feasts were for 600-1000 brown nosers). It was a really HUGE and very cool palace--too bad we aren't quite into spring yet fully here, but a great day trip nonetheless.



Finally, today some students and I went to The British Music Experience in the O2 complex (a big entertainment center, reminded me of the Mall of America plus a concert arena, which of course made me miss home!). While I haven't been to the Experience Music Project in Seattle, this was pretty fun, tons of interactive exhibits, and reminded me that at the end of the day I am a huge fan of UK musicians at the end of the day (I had nearly forgotten about my childhood love affair with Duran Duran! I love you John Taylor!).

While most weeks won't quite be like this, this one has to be pretty darn impressive--and gives you the sense too that I'm trying to pack in a lot before I go. While we are only at the halfway point right now (blows my mind), and it sometimes feels like I've been here forever, I know the next weeks will just fly by. My friend Julie arrives for a long Easter weekend next Thursday, then in a couple weeks after that we have break again and Carrie comes for about a 9 day visit. We're going to Paris or Barcelona as a mini side trip, but can't quite decide...(trust me, I am aware that these are the types of 'decisions' most people can only dream to have!). So I think both the students and I are getting keenly aware that the clock is ticking and it's time to make sure we pack in what we want before it's back to reality.

So, that's the update for now. Oh yes, the title of this post. So, I mentioned this to Chris, Dena, and my other friend Chris, and all can confirm this fact: I am the Direction Queen of London. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I often get asked for directions. Well, it is still the case--and now I have witnesses! Just after I told Dena about this, I kid you not, about THREE people asked me for directions within the next hour or so. Today I got asked about FOUR times between home and my field trip to Greenwich. The best part is that now I can actually tell people directions with relative certainty that I know where I'm going. It's quite funny to me actually, like I walk around wondering if someone slapped a paper with 'Ask Me For Directions' half the time and I just am missing it?! But what can I say--I guess there must be something about me that signals a keen sense of direction (which, I must admit, I do have). I suppose if Abe Froman is the Sausage King of Chicago (please tell me you get this reference) then I can be Karen, Direction Queen of London, can I not???

Anyway, that's it for now as I get ready to try to get to bed at a halfway decent hour and spend tomorrow grading. I normally would probably try to pack in something, but tomorrow is a work day only because I'm seeing Peter Gabriel LIVE on Sunday night at the O2 arena. Such is the life. Better enjoy it while it lasts...

More irreverence coming soon. For now...GO UNI PANTHERS!