In Which I Find Gainful Employment

Hello All! Yes, it's been forever since I've posted. Consider me approbriately shamed faced. In my defense, London has decided to lead a biological and viral attack on my immune system in the past few weeks, culminating in a nasty 24 hour bug at the beginning of this week. I tell you not to earn your pity (though I'll take that), but so that you don't think I'm just being lazy. I've been at war people!

Enough about my health issues. So, it has been a busy busy time in the past few weeks. On the academic front, I got back my first essay with a pretty decent mark on it. Considering I hadn't written a real essay in four months, not too shabby. Hopefully the next one will be better. In my Early Modern Britain class, we have moved on past the Tudors and on to the Stuarts. And here we thought H8 was self-indulgent: his Scottish kin had the poor treasury working overtime. And, because I do believe my professor has a flair for timing, we are studying WITCHCRAFT this week, right in time for Halloween!! I am very very excited. At the library, which has become my new favorite haunt (couldn't resist), I found a book called The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of England by James Sharpe. I'm only 15 pages in and its addicting stuff. Now if I could only be so motivated to read the absolute sea of packets on 'self-fashioning: civility' that I have for my Early Modern Cultural History class. *sigh* As for my Empire and Commonwealth class, we've spent the past two weeks learning about the American Colonies. It's interesting to note that when I was lectured about the American Revolution in my state-side University class, it was given a very negative view. Essentially we were taught that the colonists were being whiny, and we should have just paid our taxes and shut up. Instead a few greedy and wealthy men were able to manipulate an entire country into revoulting against a mother country they held near and dear to their heart. Meanwhile, our lecturer in jolly old England was much more kind about the whole Revolution thing, and presented a more even handled interpretation, citing reasons on both sides of the Atlantic as to why Revolution happened. Wouldn't one think it would be the opposite?

On the social front, the good times keep on rolling. Last Tuesday an attempt was made to go to Ministry of Sound again, but the club was so crowded we didn't get in! We were even on the guest list, but to no avail. Nevertheless, we picked ourselves up, brushed off our knees, and headed over to the Dover Castle for a few pints. Determination, I do believe, overcomes almost any obstacle. This past weekend our flat threw a Karaoke Party, which seemed to be well received by everyone who attended (a nice selection of our friends from neighboring flats). I wouldn't say we were the most in tune band of singers, but we definitly had enthusiasm. And just so you don't think that my social life MUST involve partying, on Saturday we took a nice trip to the National Portrait Gallery. It was a girls day out, our flatmate Matthew having selected to stay in and do some work. I think he took a nap. The trip was fairly successful: Laura was able to see some mad Romantic poets and the like, Francesca got to see the early Tudor Kings & Queens, I got to view some Stuarts, and Tessa took in a sampling of the contemporary pictures along with a few dead white guys. This weekend we're thinking about branching out to some other museums, if only because I have the floor plan of the NPG memorized...

And finally, to get to the topic of this post: I got a Job!! I will be a waiter for an event staffing company. Not exactly earth-shattering, I know, but my first gig is at the Science Museum, so that should be interesting. And the main objective of the part-time job, the paycheck, will be nice too.

And to wrap things up, I must say I have THE BEST flatmates in the world. When my germ-ridden body and home-sick heart had me feeling rather low, they threw me a USA-themed dinner to cheer me up. It was complete with pictures of Bush, McCain, and Obama on the wall, a view of Pittsburgh, American slang on the white board, and a revised version of the preamble of the constitution on the kitchen door. I love my flatmates!!!

The Not Forgotten Project

Yesterday was a throwback to summer as I spent the entire day volunteering for Westminster Archives. The Not Forgotten project that I helped to work on during my internship is finally taking on life. Different primary schools from around the area participate through day long workshops, learning about World War I and the four soldiers featured in the project. Each school focuses on one particular soldier, and yesterday's class happened to learn about the soldier I spent the most time researching, Pvt. Thomas Highgate. It was an exhausting day, having to be at the train station at 7:20 am, but definitely well worth it. Below is the view from the train window as it sped away from Charing Cross.

I spent so much time digging up the facts of Highgate's life that it was quite validating to share the story with other people. The day ended with a short walk to a park in Sidcup, the town the school was located , to see the war memorial that bears Highgate's name. The class gathered around while (on the left) Peter, my former boss and the Education Officer from Westminster Archives, and (on the right) Simon, the head of the Bexley Archives, led the talk.

Again, we couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Which was quite fortunate, considering as soon as I posted last time about the beautiful sunny weather the skys opened up for about a week straight. Since the sun was actually OUT I couldn't resist taking a few shots to prove that sunshine does indeed exist in England. This scene is right behind the War Memorial at the Sidcup park.

Otherwise, life has been rather straight forward here. Loads and loads of reading, which I will continue on with Popular Religion in Sixteenth Century England once I finish this post. Try not to be jealous. Francesca and I did go to Portebello Market on Saturday, which was a fun way to spend the afternoon. We also hit Oxford street so that Ces could get a few items to complete her outfit for cheerleading initiations. (The theme was 'American' so I helped dress her up as a sorority girl.) It threatened to rain the entire time (did I mention I'm in London?), but we lucked out and it held off until right before we got home. I was slightly naughty and got another scarf (fun circles this time!) and some cheap pearl costume jewelry at Portabello. I threw my CV into a few different places at the job fair on Tuesday, so hopefully I will be able to afford to continue to buy scarves in the future.

Now, I must needs get to my reading. My seminar class today has me slightly intimidated, so I want to prepare prepare prepare for next week. Ah, the life of a student.