Les Miserables (13 July)

After class today I grabbed some lunch and then went to see Les Miserables. I have never seen it or read the book, so I was very excited to see it. I was not disappointed! I’m pleased that it’s such a well-loved musical because the message is so good.

Also, I want to share with you something I learned about in class today. Have you ever wondered why the English spelling doesn’t make much sense? Yes, you have. Everyone has. Well, this confusing spelling came about because the printing press came to England in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift, a period of time in which most of the English vowels altered, often becoming more lax. Before the printing press, one word could be spelled 30 different ways—there was no standard. But printing presses bring standardization. Because this standardization came along in the middle of the shift, the vowels were in limbo and many of the spelling decisions were random. (There are other factors, too, but this is a main one.) So next time you’re frustrated with English spelling, replace your frustration with a deep gratitude for the rich history of your language, okay?

Westminster Abbey (12 July)

Today was a big deal for me because I had two class presentations—both mine just happened to fall on the same day. So, I gave a 10-minute presentation on a book I read for my history class and a 10-minute presentation on the Mancunian variety of English. All went well and I’m happy to have them done!

After class we went to the Globe Theater to see “Much Ado About Nothing” only to discover that something went awry and we didn’t have tickets. I was really disappointed. We went to Westminster Abbey instead—a worthy alternative!

The Abbey is beautiful. It is so historical—all the crownings of English royalty have happened there since 1066! And the royal wedding was there not too long ago. While there, I got to see so much, including the graves of many famous English monarchs, like Queen Elizabeth and Henry VII. My main quest was to find William Wilberforce’s grave and I did with the help of a kind man. I also got to see the graves of Oliver Cromwell, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Tennyson, Samuel Johnson, Dickens, Handel, Newton, Darwin, and many more. It was really neat to see them all together. There were so many nooks and crannies in the Abbey . . . it was impossible to see everything, even though I was there for a few hours.

There was a monument for William Caxton, the man who set up the first printing press in England. He brought it over from Germany or the Netherlands around 1475. I was excited to be close to this event because I’m a nerd and I once took a class called History of the Book. But whether or not you know it, you should all be grateful for this printing press because it was very important in the development of your language.

I stayed for the 5:00 Evensong. Because I was one of the first people in line, I got to sit very near the choir. Actually, I was directly behind them (if you can imagine how the choir is set up in a cathedral, there are two rows of singers, each on two sides of the nave aisle—the choir is in two halves and they face each other). There was a row of old, beautifully carved wooden chairs behind the choir seats and that’s where I sat! I could see the singers’ music and watch their conductor.

Evensong was beautiful. I especially liked the bible readings this time. The Old Testament reading (Psalm 33) totally went along with my train of thought as I was walking through the Abbey. I was fascinated by the fact that I was surrounded by the graves of famous people—yet they were all reduced to bones and dust. Some had ridiculous amounts of ornate carvings and statues around them, but what’s the point? Now we remember a few documented stories of their lives, but we don’t know who they really were. And all the pomp and privilege that comes with being buried in Westminster Abbey doesn’t matter that much. After all, “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength” (Psalm 33:16). Our status in life doesn’t matter—only our status before God. “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:18-19). I found these verses a very fitting conclusion for my time in Westminster Abbey. 

Outside Westminster Abbey--it was huge

With Bro. and Sis. Gardner. Big Ben (the bell) is in that tower.

Tower of London (11 July)

After class today we all headed to the Tower of London. In a book I was reading about English history, I learned about many of the people who were imprisoned in the Tower and was excited to see it. I was surprised to find out that it’s not really a tower . . . it’s a castle with two layers of walls around it. The inner wall has various towers in it, and they were all used as prisons. In one of the towers, I saw where Sir Walter Raleigh had been imprisoned. I also saw a display on methods of torture—always an uplifting sight.

The highlight of the Tower of London, however, is the fact that the crown jewels are there. The crown jewels include various crowns, scepters, and swords belonging to many of the kings, queens, princes, and princesses of England. Needless to say, this place was under high security. There was an insane amount of jewels there. In one scepter was a diamond nearly the size of a small fist. It was cut from the world’s largest uncut diamond, which was 3,025.75 carats. Yikes!

I found it interesting to learn more about the coronation ceremony. I realized how much of it connects back to Biblical times. In fact, I found many connections into the covenants web chart I was making for the past few months for work. Here are some of the items I saw: robes, amulet, scepter, crown, sash, anointing oil, altar dishes (for communion), salts, fountain (water), punch bowl (wine), christening fonts. I’d say that all of these items relate to covenants.

The Tower Bridge across the Thames

Okay, now you can be jealous. At night I went to the musical Wicked. It was wonderful! I’ve known the music forever, but didn’t even know the complete story. It was very well done and I enjoyed it so much.

A musical sabbath day

Today has been great! At 11, Lori and I went to an Anglican mass at Church of St. Stephen the Martyr, a small local parish. One of my purposes for being here is to understand the people better. I figure I can understand them if I go where they go. It was a special mass today because a baby was getting baptized. I had never seen a baby baptism before. The music was incredible, including three Latin pieces performed by a quartet. They were the most moving part of the mass.

Then we headed over to our Sacrament meeting. It was lovely, too. We're going to the Hyde Park Ward. There are lots of Americans in the ward . . . I can't quite figure it out (Lori and I were wondering if it's the ex-patriot ward?).  But I think they maybe have organized a ward for the people that move here temporarily and for visitors.

Anyway, at night we went to a fireside at the chapel - the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra is here! Funny. They did a lovely job.

I love to see the temple (9 July)

Today was beautiful and low key. I had an excellent workout with Chrisse this morning and I even got to work for about 3 hours. I finally got some things done!

Then at 11:45 I headed out to go to the temple. I was pretty proud of us . . . we're really learning how to get around the city. The London Temple isn't actually in London. It's more out in the country. So first we had to take the tube to the train station, buy our tickets, hop on the train for nearly an hour, get off, get a taxi, and walaah - we're at the temple.

With Laura at Victoria Station, waiting for our train

Waiting for our taxi. I felt like it was sister missionary transfers!

We actually arrived early, so we had some time to mill around the beautiful grounds. I went on a little walk all by myself through the woods on the grounds and it was so peaceful.

I loved seeing those words, "Holiness to the Lord" above the temple doorway. Something that's holy is consecrated for a sacred purpose. The work in the temple is consecrated to God, and the work helps us to consecrate ourselves to God.

I really enjoyed my time at the temple. I especially liked experiencing a piece of the sacrifice some people make to journey to the temple. Two hours and 15 pounds was not a bad price for us to get there, but it was more than the Provo drive-up-the-street. I'm so thankful for the temple.

The trip home went smoothly and when walking back to our flat, some of us stopped at an Indian restaurant. The international food here is very authentic because London is so multicultural. It was good food and we had a great time. Now here I am, typing away, and very excited for the Sabbath day tomorrow.

Oxfordshire (8 July)

This has been one of the best days of my study abroad! Sara and I left at 8 to go to Oxford. We took the underground and then a bus to get to Oxford. At first it was raining really hard for our walk to the tube stop and the bus stop. But the rain was letting up at the end of our two-hour bus ride to Oxford. We had both prayed for a beautiful day and it worked!

We arrived at 11, got our bearings, and went to St. Mary’s Church. There we went up into the bell tower and got a great view of the city. So let me tell you a bit about Oxford. There isn’t a university campus—the university is unique in that it is comprised of about 35 different colleges of various prestige and size. One of the bigger colleges, Christ Church, has about 450 students. The students in a particular college to not all study the same things—the college more identifies the people they’re with, the sports they place, the social activities they are involved in, etc. Each college has a green (grassy area) surrounded by a square of buildings that include offices, student housing, a church for each college, and more. Then there are separate buildings for different areas of study (like the physics building, for example). Students from all different colleges can study physics and would spend time in that building. Anyway, it is a little different from any other university. From the bell tower we could see many of these colleges and they all are made out of beautiful golden-colored stone constructed in the Gothic style.

From the bell tower you can see the All Souls College and a reading room building (left)

At 12:00 we met up with Kayleigh Terry, one of the sisters I served with at Temple Square. We went to lunch at the Eagle and Child pub, where Tolkein and CS Lewis would meet and talk about their ideas with eachother. Then we went out in the city. It was so fun to have Kayleigh as our guide—she was born and raised in Oxford and she knows a lot. She could take us to all the cool places, through alleyways, and we didn’t have to worry about a thing! It was so relaxing. We didn’t even realize how much we had been walking because we were enjoying it so much.

We went to parks and saw quite a few of the incredible Oxford colleges. They’re not open for visitors to go inside, except for Christ Church College. You see, that’s where part of Harry Potter was filmed—the Hogwarts staircase and the Great Hall. So, it’s a big tourist attraction here. We got in for free because Kayleigh pulled some strings. We also got to go and talk to someone from her ward who works in an office there. I asked some of my burning questions about being a student there. It sounds like a different way of learning, but it’s very effective. 

Keble College with Kayleigh. I loved this brickwork!

With Sara inside the All Souls College courtyard

The courtyard of Church Christ College

Inside the Christ Church College Great Hall (from Harry Potter).

We saw the outside of the Bodleian Library, which apparently has copies of every book published since a certain year (the storage vaults extend beneath the city streets). Because this is the 400-year anniversary of the translation of the King James Version of the Bible, they had a special display with many old books. It was right up my alley! I got to see a 1611 KJV Bible as well as other documents that have been influenced by the KJV, like the original manuscript of George Handel’s Messiah, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, hymns by Charles Wesley, Jonathan Swift’s writings, and John Donne’s sermons. I was in old-book heaven.

We walked around more, saw Oxford Castle and then Kayleigh took us back to the bus stop. (By the way, it was a double-decker coach bus we rode the whole way!) It was so lovely. When we got back to the coach station it started to rain again. It really was incredible that they whole time we were in Oxford the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect.

I learned so much from Kayleigh and it was a refreshing trip. It was fun to be off with just one other person and to get to know Sara better. Success!

A rainy day (7 July)

I really love my classes here, but I wish they were longer. Two hours is so short! But I’m enjoying them. Today Dr. Anderson asked me to explain to everyone my thought process as I translated an Old English statement. It was fun for me to do this because I always think about how I think and how I could teach it someone else. I love what I’m learning.

After lunch I went with some people to a free museum, Victoria and Albert Museum. It was HUGE! We hardly even had time to get started. But I did get to see some awesome sculptures (a Bernini!) and some exhibits about Japan and China. While I milled around, I thought about why we go to museums—what is the value in looking at artwork and old things? I think that it helps us understand people. As I walked around this museum, I tried to think about what I was learning about the people who lived in the times and places I saw artifacts from.

Then I went with Sara to try and get train tickets to Oxford tomorrow (but they were way too expensive—we ended up getting bus tickets). We got some groceries and went home to eat. After eating we rushed off to meet with our whole group in the open air theater in Regency Park. We went to a play that turned out to be a very suggestive version (apparently other BYU groups have gone before and it has been clean). So we left in the beginning. Some of us went to the grocery store with Dr. Gardner and got lots of ice cream and toppings. We took it back to our flat and had a grand ol’ time making ice cream sundaes.

I stayed up late trying to organize my trip to Oxford the next day.