Turned out I was in for a little more 'adventure,' handyman style, after I signed off the other night. Just as I was about to go to bed almost all the lights in our apartment went out. After quickly deducing that a fuse had blown and finding the fuse box we then had to set about getting the power back on. Unfortunately, whenever I flipped it back, the light flickered on for a moment and then went out again. We ended up calling the building manager and he somehow got the fuse to stay on. This time it stayed on until the next morning, which was nice since it meant we could go back to our evenings. The only downside was that it insisted on turning off once again just as I was about to get in the shower. So the barely established morning routine was thrown for a loop - showers in the dark, pulling the mirror next to the window to get some light, blow drying in the kitchen since those were the only outlets on - but soon I was out the door regardless. Wednesday we had a tour of Parliamentary archives in the morning and there was no way I was going to be late! Three of us left at 8:30 for a 9:45 tour just to make sure, its nice that there are some people with the same sense of punctuality here as me. It worked out really well, we found the Sovereigns' Entrance where we were supposed to meet, and a coffee cart right by Westminster Abbey. The weather in London continues to be gorgeous so we sat on a nearby wall to enjoy our tea and pastry. The day had definitely taken a turn for the better at this point and would only continue to improve. The tour of the Parliamentary archives was lots of fun and I definitely geeked out with a stupid grin on my face. In the archives, they hold the Acts of Parliament in their final forms, all of them. The room we got to see was filled from floor to ceiling and had ones going back past the Tutors including Henry VII, and his kids, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth! Not only that, but there was no glove rule, meaning we got to touch the documents. Most of them are rolled up like a scroll, ranging from an inch to a foot in diameter, and they contained all sorts of Acts, from the simple to complex. Sean and I unrolled one to look and still could not believe it was allowed. After that, we went to another room to see some of the American documents on record, including the copy of the Declaration of Independence that was sent to the House of Lords. Amazingly, it's in great condition and you could read it as you leafed through - literally touching history! After the archives, I headed back to the flat to squeeze in a quick run before our afternoon lecture; trying to take advantage of the nice weather we've been having. The guest lecture was by Professor The Lord Norton, Director of Studies for the Hansard Scholars Programme. He spoke on the British Constitution and helped explain how constitutional issues are being played out today. Due to the structure of British government, an active Parliament with a strong majority can easily make drastic constitutional change, very different from in the US. The lecture helped us to start making the connections between the classroom and current events. Afterwards, it was back to the flat once more to have a quick dinner and get ready for a night out. We were doing our first group social activity, a night out at the theatre near Piccadilly Circus. We saw 39 Steps, which I had never heard of before but turned out to be wicked funny; I'd recommend it. Afterwards, six of us walked home since the nights have been warm and beautiful lately. The lightheartedness and amusement of the play still hung in the air and the walk home was full of laughter. All in all, it was a great end to a good day.
Yesterday (Thursday for those of you keeping score) morning we headed back to the sovereign's entrance for our tour of Parliament & the Jewel Tower. Unfortunately there was no photos allowed so I can't share what I saw but it was awe inspiring. Some of us were discussing the differences between Westminster and the Capitol and I stand by my assertion that I like the Capitol more; I find it more simply elegant. Yet, Westminster is still quite impressive with its own sense of history. It's also interesting to note how much the building changes from one end to the other. The Sovereigns' Entrance and House of Lords is ornately decorated, lots of gold guild and opulence, while in contrast, the House of Commons end is much more demurely decorated. Afterwards, we checked out the Jewel Tower which was one of the few parts not touched by the Great Fire. A lot of what we see as London today is technically a rebuild from after the fire where something like 80% of London was destroyed. Afterwards, I headed down to LSE to check out their Freshers Faire. The line to get in was ungodly long, 3 blocks no exaggeration, but luckily the people I was standing near were nice and the time passed fairly quickly. Once inside, I navigated through the mob to the Ultimate table and am now officially signed up for ultimate frisbee, I might even get to play Saturday! I also checked out the gym while I was on campus. I got a reasonably good workout in, I'm only reasonably sore today. I was a bit nervous since it was my first real arm workout since I hurt my shoulder last fall. It's going to take some time but hopefully I'll get back to where I was pre-injury with time. When I got back to the flat afterwards, I decided to read on my bed for a while which quickly turned into a nap. Finally woke up around 9pm but was still exhausted so I ate while I did a load of laundry and then promptly found myself back in bed for the night. Turns out I needed the rest since I slept until nearly 9:30 this morning. Today we've had mostly off except for a quick lecture about Hansard, which has been nice since its beautiful out, possibly even hot. Tonight we may head down to the river for a free movie but whatever we do, it'll definitely involve being outside.
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