Well, it's been another great week in London. We bid a very fond goodbye to Nigel, our wonderful friend who put us up for over a week. Thank you Nigel!!! Friday, we moved to temporary digs at a hotel in Hillingdon, the tube stop just before Uxbridge. Not exactly luxury accomodations, but at least we're not spending a fortune on trains and tubes every day or making the 2-hour-plus journey each way between Bromley South and Uxbridge.
We continue to be enthralled by the city of Uxbridge. The downtown is both modern and quaint, and has two shopping centres and at least 10 pubs, all within 5 minutes walk -- unless you've been drinking, of course! And the people are very nice and welcoming. Once they hear our American accents, they are anxious to help us, or tell us how much they like Americans, or how much they enjoyed their visit to America, or like today, when one older gentleman regaled us with tales and how he loves Yanks because "they spent a lot of lives defending us" in World War II. Wonderful place to people-watch.
I am anxious to get to my first real classes Wednesday: Research Methodologies from 2 until 5 PM, then"The Making Of Shakespeare" from 6 to 9 PM. I got to meet my classmates and also my research professor Thursday, and everyone was really nice. It should be an intense and exciting next few months, and I'm looking forward to it!
Brunel is such an interesting campus, too, with all the international students speaking so many different languages. It's really fun listening to so many forms of communication, then going to the library and listening to the same conversations at different volumes!
Speaking of the library, it's pretty high tech. There are over 500 computers there, and connections for that many more. The Postgraduate Room is open 24 hours a day by special ID-card only, and you check out a book by swiping your ID card over a reader, then putting each book in a space below the reader, where it reads the title, checks it out for you, and asks if you're finished - all in about a microsecond. Amazing!
My reading list is considerable, but what really will take the work will be the projects that arise from class discussion. This is really going to be a challenge, because the research begins, in Renaissance scholarship, with the paper itself, and also covers how it was printed, who printed it, and why one edition may differ from another edition. The details really matter in this type of research, and it's going to be different from anything I have ever done before.
Looking forward to getting into our apartment next week (hopefully Wednesday), and getting our budget set, so we can see some West End shows next weekend. Did you know that Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) is playing Prospero in The Tempest? We'll try and see that one, and maybe one or two at the Globe before it closes on October 2. Lots to see, and lots to do!
After we finally move in, I am going to get myself a button that says, "I am NOT a Sodding Tourist!" and wear it around town! Cheers!
Between your blog, and reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", I am longing for a trip to England!
ReplyDeleteHope your apartment comes through soon, and you can settle in and get to work on what you came for:
Study in joy and good cheer, in accordance with your intelligence and heart's dictates.
Rashi (1040-1105 A.D.)
P.S. Would give ANYTHING to see the Tempest with the two of you!
Much love,
Kirsti