Iowa in London??
January 30, 2003 - 1:20 pm
I have officially had all of my classes, so I guess it would be appropriate to give some feedback on them. I mean, school is the excuse I'm using to be in Europe. Here's my schedule:
Monday:
10 am - 1 pm : Metaphysics
2 pm - 5 pm : British Cinema
Tuesday:
9:30 am - 12:30 pm : Shakespeare Text & Performance
5 pm - 7pm : Movie Screening for British Cinema
Wednesday:
NO CLASS
Thursday:
9:30 - 12:30 pm : Media, Culture, & Globalization
Friday, Sat., & Sun.:
NO CLASS
That's my week of class. The movie screening every Tuesday isn't really class though. The teacher doesn't even come. I also have regular trips to the theater, since that's a main requirement for my Shakespeare class. I have only had Metaphysics once. The first day it was supposed to meet was cancelled, because the professor had to go to the states. His father was ill. The professor is actually the director of the whole NYU in London program, so we get a lot of his attention and we can give advice about what we like and what we don't like about the program. He's American though, so no British accent there. The material for the class is extremely interesting and intense. I will definitely have to be fully alert and attentive during class, otherwise the stuff is going to fly over my head. Metaphysics is philosophy, and it basically is the study of what's real and what isn't. On the first day we already got into a discussion about challenging whether there's a God or not. Personally, I have trouble with stuff like this. I typically don't believe in something unless there is documented truth and science behind it. My mind works in a 'cause and effect' sort of way. Nothing just happens. That's why I have such a hard time with anything dealing with religion. It's so hard to believe in the unknown. So, I think I'm really going to enjoy this class. It might help me understand things better. Or at least give me a few new perspectives on things.
My Shakespeare class is AMAZING. I'm sure that I've already conveyed that though. In other words, you can probably tell that I love the class. The teacher is adorable, which I believe I mentioned before but I have to say it again. She reminds me of my dad's mom in a way. However, she is more approachable and warm than my dad's mom is. Whatever, new subject. All we do in class is talk about Shakespeare and analyze his plays. The class was made for me. Tuesday night we went to the Albery Theater and saw "Macbeth." The actor Sean Bean played Macbeth. It was really neat to see someone semi-famous. If you don't recognize the name, he was the bad guy from "Don't Say a Word." He is also in the first "Lord of the Rings." He plays Boromir (he tries to steal the ring from Frodo, but dies in the end). Anyway, the show as a whole was really good. I really like the story of Macbeth. However, Sean Bean didn't do the best job at portraying the disturbed lead of Macbeth. His soliloquies sounded really memorized and not real. The part I liked most was a part that actually isn't in the original text. It is the coronation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth when he is crowned as king. This whole scene was done without words, so in a way, it could have been in the book. It really questions whether or not you are supposed to imagine Macbeth getting crowned this way or not. The scene had a very morbid atmosphere. I actually got chills.
Media, Culture, & Globalization is SOOOOO horrible. The professor is from India, but he's been in London for a very long time. So, his accent is extremely thick and confusing. I can't understand half of the things he says. The material is so unbelievably dry anyways, so I usually don't pay attention. I hate it so much. The class is three hours long too.....grrrr. Today in class all I did was write out lines from "Romeo and Juliet" in my notebook. That's what I do when I get bored in class. I'll make neat designs on paper using lines from the play.
British Cinema is all right. I can't tell whether I'm going to like this class or not. The teacher seems very stuck up, and she's intimidating in the way that she'll disagree and attack you whenever you try to voice your opinion. The movie we watched this week was incredibly boring. I don't even know the name of it. It's something like "I Was a Fireman" or something like that. It is a docu-drama that's about bombs and fires and blah and blah.
I really wish I didn't have to take the globalization class. I don't know how I'll survive that class all semester. The classes only meet once a week, so maybe I can keep that in mind.
Yesterday was my day off, so I tried to get some things done. I really needed to take a couple books back. I found the bookstore on Charing Cross Road the other night while going to see "Macbeth." I had also found out that night that there is a musical production of "Romeo and Juliet" playing until February 8th. So I wanted to get a ticket to go see that before it closed. Those were two things that I definitely wanted to get done yesterday. I went to Blackwell's (the bookstore where I got the books) to take the books back. It was very successful. Then I walked down to Leicester Square to try to find the Piccadilly Theater (where "R&J" was playing). I found it very easily. On my way through Leicester Square I discovered that there is a statue of William Shakespeare in the park there. It was nice. After finding the theater and talking to the lady at the box office, I decided that I would get a student rush ticket some other night instead of paying full price for a ticket. The tentative plans for right now is that I will see the show next Tuesday or Wednesday night. Lisa might come with me. I would really rather go alone though.
So, after that, I decided to check out one of the many theaters in the area. I went to the WB Village Cinema and bought a ticket for "About Schmidt." I had an hour or so to kill before the movie, so I went to this mall-wannabe. I had some hot chocolate at Starbucks, looked around in some souvenir shops, found an adorable shop with the cutest handbags, found another adorable shop with the cutest hats (I wanted this red fuzzy one SOOOO bad, but it was 15 pounds, so I had to put it back. Maybe next time), and then I left. Actually I did go to the restroom while I was inside. The only reason I'm mentioning this is because I had to pay to use it. I didn't have the correct amount of change though, so a janitor let me in for a little less than the total amount required. So stupid that I had to pay, so stupid.
The movie. I have wanted to see this movie for a while now, so I was excited. I just watched a Jack Nicholson movie on tv the other night, so I couldn't wait to see him. I'm such a sap, because I started to cry as soon as the lights dimmed in the theater. I was just so happy to finally be in a real movie theater again. It'd been so long! Then the movie started, and one of the first things mentioned was a reference to Des Moines, Iowa. It caught me off guard (especially being in London) and I started to cry again. Basically the whole movie made me cry. It was so much more depressing than I thought it would be. I was really angry in some parts though. I absolutely hated Hope Davis's character. She played Jack Nicholson's daughter. I wanted to strangle her the entire movie. She was so rude and was such a brat. I hated her. HATED HATED HATED
For those of you who don't know, she was in "Home Alone." She played a rude French ticket agent. It was an extremely small part, but that's how I remember her.
In conclusion, I would like to mention that I wish I could get in contact with Bart. I know he reads this, because he's commented a few times. I've emailed him a couple times, but he hasn't emailed me back. I sent him my phone number already...NO phone call...I asked him for his phone number...NO phone number...grrrrr......frustrating...c'mon, Bart!
