Long Time

Well, it has been quite awhile since I posted on here, so I'll try to keep it short. Before flying home to Wisconsin for Christmas I went to London to spend a couple of days going to the museums there. I had planned to leave here on Friday morning then spend that afternoon at the Victoria and Albert and then all day Saturday at the British Museum. Thursday, though England started to get snow and therefore started to get panicky. I wasn't sure if my bus would be running the next morning. But luckily it was. So I was on my way to London. We were dropped at the bus station and then I had to find my way to the city bus that I needed to take to get to my hostel. It wasn't too hard to find and neither was the hostel, which was good, because I was hauling my suitcase along with me. So I got checked in and then headed out. I was staying just north of Hyde Park, so I walked through there on my way to the Victoria and Albert museum. It is really a ridiculously large park to be in the middle of a city. And to think that there are a whole bunch of these parks is just crazy. Really nice though. So anyway, on my way through the park I saw a really nice lake and the remains of the tiny amount of snow that they had gotten the night before. Then I ran into a huge statue of Albert and the Royal Albert Theater. I kept wandering and eventually made it to the museum. It was an alright museum just filled with all kinds of stuff. There was a pretty neat exhibit of fashion there. Some old stuff and then some stuff that students at a nearby fashion school were doing. Then lots of statues and such. I stayed almost until it closed and then headed back to my hostel.

Saturday I got up early so that I could wander a bit more around Hyde Park before starting the long trek to the British Museum. I know I could have taken a bus or the tube, but I like walking and getting to see all the sites. So I wandered by some fountains and Queen Anne's Alcove and past some horses that were doing some sort of training. Then I started off for the museum. I was walking down the main shopping district area, so there were stores everywhere. It took a lot longer than I expected to get to the museum, but eventually I did. It is an amazing sight when you first walk in and see the hugeness of the inside of it. The first thing I did was go to the special exhibit of Moctezuma that they had. You had to pay to get into it, but I spent two hours in there so it was well worth the money. (Most museums in London are free. This one is as well, it was just the special exhibit that had to be paid for.) After that I headed off to see the famous sites. I saw the rosetta stone first. I really thought that it would be bigger. Then I went into the Egypt room. It was ridiculously large and there was stuff everywhere. Same with the enlightenment section. It was really just overwhelming and gaudy. I found myself hating it. By the time I got to the British archaeology section, which I should have been paying attention to, my mind could barely take it anymore, there was just too much to take in. I headed to see the Elgin marbles last. Apparently they all used to be brightly painted when they were up in Greece, but, a classmate informed me, someone along the line in England decided they would look nicer white and scrubbed them all clean. There are still microscopic traces of paint on them so parts can be reconstructed on videos playing near the displays, but not off of it can be. Overall the museum wasn't that great of an experience. I think you need to go there just to look at one section and close your mind to the fact that almost all of it was stolen from the countries that it originated in, which is sad.

Sunday I headed early in the morning to the airport and went home. It was a long day of flying (London to Chicago to Green Bay), but I got to have mexican food when I got home, so that was good. It took me a couple of days to get unjet-lagged, but eventually that sorted itself out. I had a nice Christmas with the family and then went to Appleton for New Year's Eve with some friends. After New Year's I had to start working on my paper, but I really didn't get a whole lot done.

Wednesday I went to Olive Garden with mom, dad and erik and then went to the airport. There was snow again in England so I was a bit worried that I might have some flight problems. Getting out of Green Bay was fine, but when I got to Chicago they told me the flight the night before hadn't been able to leave Dublin, so there was no plane to take us there. They had leased a plane and a crew from another company, but the flight that was suppose to leave at 6:50 wouldn't be leaving until 10pm. Turns out we didn't actually leave until 11pm, which meant that I was going to miss my connection in Dublin. I was also on the most rickety plane I've ever seen. On take off one of the luggage compartments on the side opened. Then on landing on of the ones in the middle that drops down opened. I think it scared the crap out of the guy sitting under it. Then the bathroom door didn't really close right and the whole thing just had the ambiance of 1970.

We finally landed in Dublin and I went through immigration and then straight to the desk to see about rearranging my flight. They had already rescheduled me on a new flight, but told me to watch it as it might also be delayed due to weather. Apparently one of the airports in London was completely closed and the other was very backed up. So my flight did eventually take off, but about an hour later than they said. When I got off the plane in London I walked down the hall but ended up straight at the baggage claim. I got my bag and kept walking. Then I passed by the nothing to declare line of customs and never went through immigration. So I may be back in the country illegally, but I have a student visa, so all should be fine. Very weird though. I looked it up later and apparently there is some kind of deal with Ireland that you don't have to go through immigration when coming from there. So if you want to sneak into England, that's the way to go. Then I had to head up to the bus station. I had already missed the bus that I had booked, so I had to buy a new ticket, but the line to ask about reimbursing my old one was too long to bother with for 18 pounds. Anyway, I finally got back to my flat about 9:30pm on Thursday night, about 32 hours after I left. Almost double what I had anticipated.

Friday I went to school to try to get some work done. It had been closed on Wed and Thurs due to bad weather (half an inch of snow). I didn't get much done, but at least I was forced to stay awake and try to get back on a normal schedule. Friday night we had welcome back beer pong and I got to see almost everyone that I usually hang out with. So that was fun. Saturday was mostly a waste and today I tried to work on my paper again. It was suppose to be due tomorrow, but we got an extension until next Monday due to the bad weather. I think I should be able to finish it tomorrow, but need to finish by Tuesday at the latest as we have another assignment due on the 25th that I haven't even started yet and I also need to start cracking down on my dissertation reading. Well, I suppose that's all. Sorry it got so long. Here are the links to the pictures. Museums. Home.