I’ve been living in a smoke of words since arriving on Monday. A good smoke. Not a bad smoke. Not wild fires licking your home smoke, but the other kind. Sweet. Maybe a bit spicy. Edible, floral, make it what you will. Cities are made of words. Or, no, not just cities, such a claim …
Category Archives: English
Traveling like a Tourist
While I am certainly not as well traveled as most on CC campus, I have discovered over the past year that I absolutely hate feeling like a tourist. The idea of sitting on a tour bus, or merely shuffling around a city, a country looking at all the “places you have to go” seems so …
This is London!
A Taste of the Local Cuisine
Tuppence a Bag
My mother tells me that I went through a phase when I was little where the only movie I ever wanted to watch was Mary Poppins. Every day I asked her if I could watch it. I know the movie by heart. Do you remember the bird lady, who sits in front of St. Paul’s …
The National Gallery…Vermeer? Monet!
The Kitchen Maid, A Lady Writing a Letter, and, of course, Girl with a Pearl Earring. All amazing works by the Dutch painter during the 17th century, Johannes Vermeer. His paintings have inspired novels, other paintings, films, and even operas and music. So naturally, as we headed to The National Gallery in London, I was …
Writing Britain
I just returned from the British Library’s “Writing Britain” exhibition. The exhibition is a celebration of the country’s literary achievements stretching back nearly a thousand years, and includes books like the oldest surviving edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The exhibition is broken down into sections based on literary themes, such as the …
Here We Are.
I step up to the ticketing counter and heave my duffel onto the scale. “You on the Heathrow flight?” the agent asks. I’m digging through my bag for my passport—flustered—so I only nod. He tags my duffel, then asks, “You from London?” “What? No, California born and raised.” I slide my passport across the counter. …
British Lingo
Before I arrived in London, just the thought of being anywhere near where Shakespeare once walked was exciting–and it certainly is. But it turns out that the culture of the Londoners is fascinating me just as much. I feel as though I’m walking through some kind of fairytale land (with real double-decker buses and red …
Exploring the Train Stations
Before the class started, I had some time to explore London by myself! I went to King’s Cross Station and this is what I found!
