London is still pretty awesome. It’s about to be my third week of classes though, and I’m starting to realize how much work I actually have to do…but I can’t complain because I guess that’s technically why I’m here. The other day for my British Political Drama class we had to go see the play Dr. Faustus at The Globe Theatre. I had to read this last year for class and it wasn’t my favorite, but the play was alright, minus having to stand for two and a half hours. The theatre itself was amazing and of course I forgot to bring my camera. For anyone who doesn’t know, The Globe is where Shakespeare performed all this plays and has no ceiling- so it’s basically an outdoor theater. The inside is painted beautifully but I won’t bore you with the details.

The beach is all rocks with a pretty big pier that includes an arcade, rides, bar (called Victoria’s Bar- they love me here) and a restaurant. It’s here that I learned cotton candy in England is called candy floss. The cool thing about Brighton is there’s so much more to it than the beach. It has a cute town with tons of vintage shops, cafes and restaurants along with a ton of graffiti everywhere (but artistic graffiti, not random names and symbols).

I wish we had been allowed to take pictures of the inside because he had the most insane dining room and entertaining room. In the middle of the dining room hung a HUGE chandelier that weighs one ton. Yes. One. Ton. I suggest you Google the Royal Pavilion chandelier. George IV was influenced by Asia (even though back in the day people rarely traveled to Asia) so there’s a lot of Asian-style paintings on the walls. In his palace he had separate corridors hidden in the walls for his servants to go through so his guests wouldn’t see them. A lot of people criticized him for the extravagance of his pavilion, and Queen Victoria supposedly hated it even though she lived there for a while after King George IV died.

One thing I’ve noticed about London (including Brighton Beach) is there are a lot of parks and gardens everywhere. Which makes me wonder why New Jersey is called the Garden State- I’ve seen maybe two parks in New Jersey and zero gardens. Another thing I really like about London are these nifty signs that are on the ground of most street crossings:

It’s so hard to remember which way to look before crossing the street and these signs have definitely saved me from being flattened by a bus. So thank you London.

I should really start doing more blog posts a week because I’m having a hard time remembering everything I’ve been doing. Here’s a conversation that sticks out though. The other night I was at a bar and after I told someone I’m from San Jose they asked me if I knew the way to San Jose. This was weird because no one in the states ever asks me this when they learn I’m from San Jose (Do You Know the Way to San Jose is a song for anyone who didn’t know). I either get confused looks until I explain San Jose is an hour south of San Francisco (I think this still doesn’t mean a lot to most people), or I get asked if I’m a Sharks fan (I could care less about hockey). This person then proceeded to ask me if I was “a Mexican” and made a comment about everyone from California being illegal…so I told him I’m half “a Mexican” and very legal. Brits are strange sometimes and don’t really censor themselves. Which I also found out after channel surfing and coming across a naked woman running around, with nothing on her body blurred. They also don’t censor any words on TV, which makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience.

I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting but I should probably go work on one of the many projects I have due soon.