Day 29

Today was class in the morning, and most of the time we had a guest lecturer- Dr. Joan Beal from Sheffield University. My favorite was that Dr. Chapman has a Utah accent, so when he referred to her he said what sounded like “Dr. Bill.” Classic. I really enjoyed her lectures- she talked about some history of the language and the Northern English dialects which she knows a lot about since she is from the north of England. After class about 7 of us and Dr. Chapman went to lunch with her at a restaurant called Nandos, which was really good. We were talking to her and getting her expert opinions about stuff we have been talking about in class and such. My favorite (two favorites in one day!) was when she was talking about her work with the BBC. Apparently when they get a story related to linguistics they call her and have her give an expert opinion on the topic. Awesome!

So after lunch with Dr. Bill, Marissa (who also went) and I went to Westminster to meet Robyn and Mandy. We went to Westminster Abbey at about 3 and looked around and took a little audio tour. It was really cool to walk around and see all the important people that are buried here and also those that have memorials erected for them knowing some of the contributions they have made to the world. One thing I learned that I thought was cool is that every King or Queen since William the Conqueror in 1066 have been coronated at Westminster Abbey. That was pretty sweet. Then Mandy and Marissa left and Robyn and I stuck around so we could go to Evensong, which is a little service they have every evening. Since we were already there we were very close to the front of the line and got to sit in the seats by the choir. It was definitely a very interesting experience to sit through this service. It was so unlike any church service I have ever been to with all the sitting down and standing up and chanting. It made me think about all these churches that are hundreds of years old and how much they are based on tradition instead of continuing revelation. A very interesting and enlightening experience.

After this we met up with Mandy and Marissa again and went to Chinatown! One of our sights we have to do is to go to a non-English speaking neighborhood and listen to the people there. So we walked around and went to dinner. It literally feels like you are walking down a street in China (or at least not England) except for the English you can hear mixed with other languages and the cobblestone streets. But it was fun, and my favorite was the check after dinner all written in Chinese! After dinner we went over to the show of the night, Blood Brothers. It was the story of two twins- their mother gives one of them away at birth because she can only afford one. Then of course they become friends then enemies and it all ends with them dying. Sad! I hate it when plays end sad. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was ok. When I got back to the flat that night I had a package! So exciting. It is a birthday package from my mom (thanks mom!). I contains stuff for a fun birthday party which will be interesting since we will be on a bus most of the day on my birthday. But I am really excited, and you should be expecting some really good pictures.