Slow moving Wednesday - 7/13

Sorry about the late posting today (for yesterday). I overslept today (for me - not for normal people) after an evening out with the faculty here on Wednesday. More on that later.

First of all, the morning was relatively quiet as tried to get everything prepared for my class. Some of the poetry I was teaching was new to me, in terms of teaching it that is, and there was a lot to get ready anyway. The reading list for today was much bigger than it probably should have been. However, sometimes like a kid in a candy store, I keep adding "just one more - because it's too good not to" to the list. Anyway, today's readings covered the first world war and the beginning of the second. We started with poetry by Rupert Brooke: "1914 I. Peace," "1914 II. Safety," "1914 III. The Dead," "1914 IV. The Dead," "1914 V. The Soldier," and "Heaven." These poems accentuated the patriotic feelings leading into the war and that some had throughout the war. Though World War I was particularly gruesome, and revealed true horrors in what mankind was capable of when the technology to wage war improved faster than the tactics used to wage it, and the technology was particularly horrific and terrible, there was still an underlying sense of the Arthurian ideals of nationalism, duty, and honor.

We then looked at poetry by Wilfred Owen: "Anthem for Doomed Youth," " Arms and the Boy," "Dulce et Decorum Est," "Exposure," "Futility," "Spring Offensive," and "Strange Meeting." Here is the much more personal view of the atrocities and the horrors of war. I even had one of the students tell me that she had dreamed of the vision that Owen describes so vividly in his poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est." Another told me (after Thurday's field trip) that she thought this class was likely to traumatize her with all of the depressing poetry and vivid images of the wars we experienced on our field trip.

I added in a couple of poems by Isaac Rosenberg: "Break of Day in the Trenches," and "In War." These two poems are a little bit more earthy in diction and style. They lack the more poetic polish of Owens poetry, though they express much of the same overall sentiment toward the war.

We completed our discussion of the war literature with several speeches by Winston Churchill that he gave near the beginning of World War II: 5/13/40 Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat, 6/4/40 We Shall Fight on the Beaches, and 10/29/41 Never Give In. This group of speeches rallying the British to the war effort, trying to coax the Americans into the war, and exhorting the British to hold on through dark times are all much more in keeping with the Arthurian ideals we have been looking at. In fact, Churchill even invokes some knightly imagery in one of the speeches.

After class, the faculty gathered for a brief faculty meeting to go over some plans as we near the end of the summer classes. After that, those who weren't otherwise engaged seeing plays, escorting family members, or doing laundry, went out to have a pint and a trip to Brick Lane for dinner. Well, the pint was well, a pint. We then chose one of the many Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants that line Brick Lane and had dinner. It was very, very good. I had a started of a vegetable samosa, and a main course of Chicken Madras. Madras doesn't just name a city in India, it also denotes a method of preparing food. Let's just say that the the only version hotter (in terms of spices) than Madras is Vindaloo. I like Vindaloo, but I opted for the Madras. Afterwards, we went out for another pint at a pub in London that has been a pub since the 16th century. It's called the Citie of Yorke pub. The decor is mostly Tudor, but the neat part is that it has been a hangout for many notable Londoners through the ages. The pub celebrates this fact by having portraits of many of them painted on the walls of the pub.

Several of the faculty members at the restaurant

the main course - naan (the bread), lamb Madras (the curry on top of everything and in the bowl), and rice -great!

me at the Citie of Yorke pub - that's a bitter in my hand - it's a local brewed ale

Forecast: Cloudy and blah - Tuesday 7/12

We had a cloudy, breezy, and relatively cool day here in London. Those of you living in south Georgia (and apparently other parts of the states if the news reports I get glimpses of from back home are accurate) may remember those. It will be about 3-4 more months before we get this kind of weather there again.

Anyway, Tuesday was the field trip day for the rest of the classes. That meant I had a fairly quiet morning, though I did have to call my bank. Apparently my notification that I was going to be in England hadn't been put into my file like I thought it had. The bank froze my account when I went to get a withdrawal from an ATM. It only took a few minutes to rectify, and the woman on the other end (once I got to a person that is) was very pleasant about it all. At least I am reassured that there is someone paying attention to my account, even though they should have had the record correct in the first place.

The afternoon passed fairly quietly too. That is until the field trips were over. There have been some issues cropping up in the dorms over the last few days, such as noise, elevator issues, and the occasional food item pilfering from the kitchens. We decided to hold a dorm meeting of the students in the dorm I am living in. It seemed productive, if one evening can be the proof; it was a quiet night in the dorm last night.

Other than the rather mundane administrative duties that I have here, Tuesday didn't have much going on. The excitement will be coming up in the next few days. I have a trip to Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, and a trip to the city of Bath (with its wonderful abbey and incredible Roman ruins) coming up on Friday and Saturday. In addition, I will be taking my students to two great museums on Thursday for our field trip. However, more on those when they happen.

A brilliant ending - Monday 7/11

Today was a class day, and all day I was looking forward to attending a play in the evening. The day started out quiet enough as I finished preparing for my class, and stopped in for a latte at the coffee shop. Then when the afternoon rolled around, I went to teach my class. Today's readings were three poems by Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach," "A Farewell," and "The Buried Life," and three poems by A. E. Housman, "Reveille," "The Lads in their hundreds," and "Soldier from the wars returning."

The general reaction, initially, was that these are very depressing poems. In many ways, that's fairly accurate. All of these poems reflect on the loss of a past more rural and agrarian society that has been overrun by the decline in moral values and religion, dare we say faith, that was an apparent result of the growth of the industrial age in Britain. All of these losses seemed to offer only bleak futures for each of the speakers of these poems. This idea seems to be at odds with the much more hopeful idea in the Arthurian material we have looked at. Arthur seems to offer at least a glimmer of future hope (the once and future king) despite the loss of everything in Arthur's present, including his kingdom, his beloved wife, his ideal of rule by law, his best friend, and ultimately his life - or did he? That question mark is what separates these poems that act as a transition from the Romantic period to the early Modernist ideas from the ideas of the Arthurian tradition.

Anyway, the discussion went along fairly well. Not all of my students agreed with the main interpretation presented in class, and that's okay. They were able to explain how they reached their own interpretations. That's the beauty of literary interpretation. As long as the interpretation is firmly rooted in the possibilities allowed and encouraged by the piece of literature, it is a viable position to argue.

When class was over, I had a little time to get ready to go to the theatre. I was a little apprehensive. I was going to see John Gay's A Beggar's Opera. It was going to be performed at the Regents' Park Open Air Theatre. I had been there before, and knew that if it was windy or raining, the performance could be very uncomfortable. However, the weather was perfect.

The play is an 18th century English reaction to the then growing popularity of Italian opera in England. To satirize this situation, John Gay wrote a ballad opera about whores and thieves instead of gods and goddesses. Instead of all of the operatic singing of recitatives and arias, he substituted bawdy lyrics into the melodies of popular opera songs, and turned the whole thing on its ear. I had only read the play before, and I enjoyed it in that form. However, seeing it staged with the gallows humor packed 3 or 4 jokes to a line, sexual innuendo stacked on top of innuendo (literally, sometimes!), a risque hint of bared bosoms, bottoms, and more than a "decent" amount of flesh for the 18th century here and there, it was a riot to watch. I laughed so hard that I nearly fell out of my seat about a dozen times. It really was a brilliant way to end my day. Now, to bed, and to await what tomorrow brings.

Quiet contemplation and Crazy fun - Sunday 7/10

Well, the title sums up my Sunday. The morning started out with some rest from the two trips to castles on the previous days. I read a little bit, prepped my classes a little bit, and generally took things easy. Every now and then, the old body needs that. Still, I had plans to go to Camden Market with a colleague on the faculty here. After a bit of confusion in the communications setting it all up, we finally headed out for my first ever weekend trip to Camden Market.

Now let me explain Camden Market for those of you who may not be familiar with it. There is a section of London, known as Camden Town, that has become quite a bustling market area. It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day. This isn't like any market, with a handful of stalls selling a bunch of off-brand goods. No, this is several blocks of stores along with stalls out front, and even whole alleyways (some multi-level) filled with goods ranging from the eclectic to the mundane. On weekdays, it is like a busy stretch of merchandise stores with the crowd fairly light - at least light enough to walk around without bumping into people.

On weekends, especially this Sunday, it was like a shoulder-to-shoulder (and in one incident an elbow to my ribs while stepping on my foot!) carnival, a freak show, and a rock concert all mixed together with the sights, sounds, and smells of the multicultural megatropolis that London is. There were people dressed in ways that I literally could not have imagined. One shop keeper (woman) was sporting light orange hair, with clothing that looked like a banana split had designed it, and so many tattoos and piercings that it was difficult to tell where her clothing began and the tattoos took over. Oh yeah, she was one of the "normal" looking ones! Add to that the range of goods for sale, the social mixing of goths, freaks, nerds, and old geezers like me, it was a true melange of the London experience. In terms of what is for sale, consider some of the following. Of course there are tattoo shops and head shops, and there are clothing shops that range from top-end goods, and leather coats, pants, dresses, and items that I am not really sure what they are for, frilly things and sturdy things, sportswear, and evening wear, and everything in between, all the way down to t-shirts. I have to admit that one shop had t-shirts that had me laughing out loud at the irreverence of their humor (i.e. dirty joke after dirty joke). Then again, there were the classic "I ♥ London" kind of shirts and the souvenir trinkets that come to Camden to die or be sold at ridiculously low prices. There are one of a kind works of art, jewelry, cosmetics, hats, crafts, etc. Basically, I think that if you could imagine it, there is probably a place in Camden Market that would have it. I even saw a robot-looking thing made of old electronic items that was blaring music from an old CD player that was its head. We only covered about a quarter of what there was to see, and we spent a couple of hours browsing. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there are also food stalls of an amazing number. In one stretch alone, we saw Moroccan, Mexican, Polish, Argentinian, Brazilian, and Indian food stalls, and probably others that I didn't identify, all next to each other adding their smells and the sounds of the sellers and buyers as well to the cacaphony of the music playing from every place.

It is kind of like taking a wild ride without leaving one's feet. It was a very good time, and it left me exhausted from sensory overload. I can't wait to go back next week!
     

Another medieval castle - Saturday 7/9

After yesterday's visit to the Tower of London, Saturday's excursion took me, eight students, and another faculty member to another medieval castle, Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is one of the current residences of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She spends much of her time, when not in London, at this residence. Still, Windsor is not all modern. In fact, it, too, has medieval roots from as far back as the Normans, just after William I conquered England in 1066. Windsor overlooks the Thames river, which has been an important "road" into the heart of London since ancient times. Consequently, a castle that controls who can travel on the river would be an important one. That's one of the original reasons this castle is here.

Windsor Castle is a type of castle known as a motte and bailey castle. That is, it has a centralised motte, or man-made hill, that is very steep. On top of the motte, there is a keep, or a large thick-walled building that is very easily defended because of its height and its physical strength. The White Tower at the Tower of London is a keep, and Windsor has a large Round Tower as its keep. The baileys are large areas of land that are enclosed by walls. These are the areas where all the other buildings of the castle would be constructed. Windsor Castle has three baileys, called wards: the upper, the middle, and the lower. The Queen's residence is located in the upper, most secure ward. The middle ward has many of the buildings necessary to serve the Queen as well as buildings associated with the garrison. The lower ward houses the large church (called a chapel) and other buildings associated with the town, which is essentially what a castle is. There is also a town around the castle, just as there would have been all throughout history.

I guess that's enough of a history lesson. Let's see some pictures.



We arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard



The gatehouse towers over the entrance to the lower ward



the outer wall of the Windsor Castle's lower ward



a view of the motte at the foot of the Round Tower at Windsor Castle

the large Round Tower of Windsor Castle

a section of the queen's residence at Windsor Castle

one of the Queen's Guard standing a post outside the queen's residence area of the castle

me, looking a bit windblown, at Windsor Castle

St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle - many kings and queens are buried here, including Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour

this is the outside of the castle's walls where it overlooks the town of Windsor

After our trip to Windsor, I had tea at a little restaurant in what had been a house dating back at least 150 years - probably much more. I had a classic English light sandwich, a Cucumber Sandwich. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like! More to the point, it was delicious. Regrettably, I forgot to get a picture of it. I was too hungry to wait, and the sandwich did not last long!

After tea, I strolled through the quaint town of Eton which is just across the river from Windsor. You might recognize the name of the town. It's the same as the name of Eton College, which like Winchester College  is not a college as we know it, but is instead a preparatory school for boys ages 13-18.

the pleasant High Street in Eton - a High Street is what we usually call Main Street

This is a very interesting place. It has been in continuous use for about 500 years. Today, it is a shop, but it probably started out as a fairly high status house.

After I returned to London from Windsor, I had a very nice meal at a vegetarian Indian restaurant. I have been convinced that Indian cuisine is among the best in the world.

my "starter" - Bhel Puri - very tasty, and nice and spicy

the main meal, Spring Dosa, which is a mix of vegetables and beans inside a very thin pancake (kind of like a crepe) with a selection of chutneys (the dipping sauces) that were all very flavorful - they ranged from mild to spicy, too

With a full tummy and a very long day exploring the castle, I returned to the dorm for a good night's sleep. I wonder what tomorrow will bring in this great adventure!

Beginning a castle weekend - Friday 7/8

After a quiet morning in office, I decided to go to the Tower of London. There were also several students in the program who wanted to go along, so we met up and headed to what was the heart of medieval London, the Tower. The tower is a large castle that was started right after William the Conqueror won England from the Anglo-Saxon king at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. In order to consolidate his power and to display his intent to stay in power, William had a series of castles built in the Norman French (where he was from) style all over England. However, he started in London. The part of the castle he had built incorporated several of the still standing Roman walls from Roman fort that had been in London and was finished about the year 1080. It was a tall tower painted white, and called appropriately enough, the White Tower. The name has stuck ever since. The Tower has served many roles over the centuries. At first, it was a garrisoned defense outpost and residence for the king. Then across time it has been a prison, an armory, a zoo, and now is a living museum and very well guarded repository for the Crown Jewels of England. It has become a symbol for London, and a symbol of the monarchy. It is still listed as one of the official residences of the monarch, though the Queen doesn't actually reside there. Still, to this day, the night before  a monarch is crowned, he or she stays in the Tower and then makes the trip to Westminster Abbey from the Tower, through the streets of London. Basically, the Tower is a poignant and lasting symbol of the traditions that the monarchy and England are founded on.

Now, here are some pictures.

the White Tower built by William I in 1080

EC Study Abroad - London students who went to the Tower of London with me

another view of the White Tower with a segment of Roman wall in the foreground and the Jewel House in the background

the chapel of the White Tower with classic Norman rounded arches

a recreation of what the king's bedroom might have looked like during the reign of Henry III when he built his palace in the castle, but not in the White Tower

a memorial placed at the spot where noblity would have been executed in the Tower - these included Queen Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, and others

this is the view from the memorial looking across Tower Green, inside the Tower of London, at the house that Anne Boleyn stayed in while waiting for her execution - today, these houses are used for some of hte senior members of the castles garrison and Queen's Guard - the Yeoman Warders

this is the infamous Water Gate, also called the Traitor's Gate - where the noble persons who were sentenced to death would arrive for their final stay at the Tower while awaiting their execution

Well, on that somewhat morbid note, I'll end this posting for today.

Friday - 7/8 - First posting

Friday's posting will be delayed until after I return from Windsor. The logistics of coordinating this trip for a group of students has eaten up the time I usually use to update the blog. I will update both Friday and Saturday blog entries when I return.