Hello Mates!
It’s been a very exciting first week here in London! We are living in a flat on Earls Court Road with the 18 other ACM participants. Since we have all bonded in Florence, the adjustment of living together has been easy. We enjoy cooking, talking, and hanging out together. On Friday night, we had our first ‘progressive dinner party’ between the six rooms. Each room had a different theme and prepared a food dish and beverage. Our room’s theme was Mexico. We prepared a delicious punch and quesadillas.
[Photo: (left to right) Katie, Carmen & friend, Lauren, in Holland Park]
As for schoolwork, we are taking two classes. For our architecture and history of London class, we observe the city firsthand by going on many guided walking tours with our professor. As for theater class, we have already seen three plays in one week! Each performance is carefully selected to allow us distinct theater experiences. Each theater caters to a different audience. For example, the up-and-coming Young Vic Theater attracts a young and hip crowd with their eco-friendly theater environment (our tickets were wooden coins that had to be returned at the end of the show). Our favorite play was After Miss Julie starring Natalie Dormer (she stars in Casanova as well as the Tudors).
This week in our London Architecture class, we explored the Southbank area of London. For our introductory sessions, we saw the London and Tower Bridges and the Museum of London. We will be visiting the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey this coming week.
Our flat is located in a very trendy area. It is only a 10-minute walk from Holland Park, which, according to our guidebook, is known as the most romantic park in London. On Thursday, we went with our friend Lauren to spend a peaceful afternoon in the park. The park contains many different areas, including a playground, a field, and multiple gardens. Much to our surprise, we found peacocks in many of the gardens. We named our favorite peacock Charlie (below).
Contrary to the London stereotype, the weather has been sunny and beautiful! We hope this weather continues.
Until next week, Cheers!
Carmen and Katie
*Katie Caffrey is a junior psychology major with a linguistics concentration from Oak Park, IL. She is currently splitting her semester abroad between Florence and London where she is studying both art history and theatre.
*Carmen Stubblefield is studying abroad in Italy and England on the ACM Arts in Context Program. She is a junior psychology major from Oregon, her favorite foods are pizza and ice-cream.