Quiz Time!

I had a great day on Tuesday, a day packed full of new London-y experiences. I started off by hitting the British Library again for a new exhibit on Propaganda. I really do love the British Library. Not only does it house an amazing collection of rare books that you can visit for free any time you fancy, but it also brings in new exhibits fairly regularly that are inexpensive and very interesting. I've always been fascinated by government propaganda and so when I saw a poster advertising this new exhibit, I had to check it out.

The British Library

You're not allowed to take photos inside the exhibit, but the collection was pretty interesting. There were many different examples from propaganda from all over the world, organized according to topic. As you moved through the exhibit, you went along the different topics: Origins--explaining how propaganda has been around longer than the word itself; Nations--how states establish their legitimacy through propaganda used in education, on currency, in national monuments, etc.; Enemy--how we demonize other nations to get citizens to accept war; War--the extensive use of propaganda in war time used to maintain morale; Health--public information programs used to protect citizens from disease; and Today--21st century mass media propaganda. The whole exhibit was fascinating, and I was particularly struck by the Nation section (I'd never thought of national monuments as propaganda before) and the Heath section (again, I'd never considered health campaigns to be propaganda but they most certainly are).

The exhibit made me realize how lucky I am to be living in such a huge city where it's so easy to visit quality exhibits like this. Back home, we have to wait around for them to come to Seattle, but in a city like London, it's already here waiting for us. I'll most definitely miss this.

After the exhibit, I met my friend from work, Jess, for a canal boat ride at Camden Locks. Jess invited me to meet her for this little adventure back when the weather was warmer and more dry. But if you waited for good weather in England, you just might wait forever, so we decided to go for it even in the rain.

Camden is a really funky part of London 

About to board our canal boat

The boat was cute and we enjoyed the cruise. I love checking out little canal boats, especially the ones with clever names, and imagining what life on a canal boat would be like.

Jess and I on the canal boat

Rain pouring down the windows

There were some really posh stately homes along the canal.

Our destination--Little Venice

When the boat dropped us off in Little Venice, the rain was really coming down. So instead of touring the area, we pretty much headed straight for the tube, where we made a quick stop to pick me up some new cheap shoes (mine were soaked) and went on to meet our colleague Adam, my Fulbright friend Rebecca and her friends from Alabama who were visiting. Adam lives in a cute area of Southwark called Bermondsey and planned to give us a little tour of the area before we all met up with other school friends for a pub quiz. I was super excited about the pub quiz because it's such a tradition here in Britain, and I'd not done one yet.

That's the Southwark Cathedral and the Shard (the tall triangle building)

Jess, Adam, Rebecca and her fun friends from Alabama 

A handful of other work friends came down for the pub quiz, and I was really happy they came! I love seeing everyone outside of school. The pub quiz was fun but WAY too difficult for us non-UK folk! We were a big group, so we had to split in two and it was the Americans versus the rest of the world (we had English, Irish and New Zealanders on the other team).

The American team--aptly named "Merica Ya'll"

Me sitting with the "Everyone Else" team. Alison, Adam, Donal (hiding),
Charlie's boyfriend Andrew, Charlie, Me and Jess.

Time to get this sorted! 

They knew WAY MORE answers than we did! But then again, they grew up here... 

This is the "easy" round of TV shows.

Even though we seriously flunked the quiz, we had a lot of good laughs, and the evening was pretty fabulous. The best part was just spending time with some many people I adore!

Day with Dickens

It was a gorgeous day in London today. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and jackets were optional. This doesn't happen very often, and when it does, the whole city seems to take advantage of the blessing of good weather. Couple that with the fact that today is a bank holiday, which means everyone is off work, and you find yourself in a pretty busy place. And so I joined the ranks of about 8 million people spending the afternoon in Central London today. But even with the crowds of locals and tourists (and the insane pollen puffs that were blowing all over trying to ruin everything for us allergy sufferers) I really enjoyed the afternoon.

I started off down at Trafalgar Square where I popped into the National Portrait Gallery, which has been on my must see list for quite some time. I did a speed tour, checking out the highlights like the Chandos Shakespeare portrait (where he's got the crackin' gold earring), a bunch of cool Tudor portraits, and even some neat modern portraits of people like Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton's famous new portrait. They also had a video portrait of David Beckham sleeping which was kinda sexy and very, very creepy. I didn't really get it...

In London, people flock to patches of grass (no matter how
small) on a sunny day. Here some folks are soaking up the
sun in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.  

The National Portrait Gallery

Quick pic as I walk through Leicester Square

Next I headed up to the Bloombury neighborhood for the highlight of my day--a visit to the Charles Dickens Museum. The Museum is actually Dickens' last remaining home in London at 48 Doughty Street, where he lived from 1837 to 1839. It was here that he wrote "Oliver Twist" and "Nicholas Nickleby." Bloomsbury is sort of the literary capital of London, and I walked past this museum on a literary walking tour I took a couple months ago and have wanted to come back for a visit ever since.

The funny thing is I never particularly liked Dickens or the Victorians until I came to London. In fact, I remember faking my way though most of my Victorian Literature course at WSU. And aside from film versions of "A Christmas Carol," I really had no interest in Dickens for a long time. But after teaching "Oliver Twist" to my year 11 GCSE students and then later sort-of teaching them "Great Expectations" so we could read "Mister Pip," Dickens has really grown on me, and so have the rest of the Victorians. Now I'm finding the era to be most interesting (turns out its pretty hard not to like Queen Victoria after you learn about her fascinating life) and Dickens lived such an interesting life that I can't help but be fascinated by him as well, which is why I was so drawn to the museum.

First off, as I mentioned, the museum is really his home, and as lowly teacher who doesn't have much money, the only Victorian homes I find myself in these days are ones that have been converted to flats, which means they've totally lost their charm and the romance of the lifestyle is just no longer there. But getting to walk through a real Victorian home in all its decorative splendor, up and down all those flights of stairs, past the servants' entrance, through the dinning room and sitting room and drawing room and on and on, now that's something I've really come to love. The Dickens Museum is one of those fabulous Victorian homes, plus it's full of his old stuff! How cool is that!? Here's a little tour of some of the highlights I saw:

Some of his handwritten letters line the walls of the entryway. 

Entryway

The dining room. Dickens liked to host parties in this room with all his
contemporaries. He was quite the entertainer. 

The tour is self-guided through each room, which these
cool Dickens silhouettes guiding you along. 

Portrait of Charles and his wife Catherine in the sitting room.
They had ten children together, but Dickens separated from her
in 1858, which was quite scandalous with the public. He went on
to have a long-term relationship with Ellen Ternan, but his wife
Catherine remained faithfully devoted to him until his death,
even in their separation. 

The kitchen 

The kitchen

What's he doing in the kitchen? The Victorians often
kept hedgehogs in the kitchens to catch vermin.  

Dickens' study/writing room. That's the desk where he wrote "Oliver Twist"
and "Nicholas Nickleby"!!!

Dickens' writing desk!! 

Very exciting!

Love this painting! "Dickens' Dream" by Robert William Buss.

This is Dickens' speaking table he custom built. He would
stand behind this and deliver his readings to the public.
Apparently, he was quite fond of doing reading tours.
 

His chair!

The sitting room

The sitting room

Rose left on his grave at his burial

A lock of his hair...slightly creepy, but alright

His commode chair! Too funny not to share!

Dickens' bedroom

As a boy, he worked in a glue factory, sticking labels on bottles. These
are a couple of bottles from that factory. Dickens was famous for his concern
for over the terrible working conditions of the poor and the plight of the
poor in general, a result of his early years spent in poverty. 

These special items were all displayed in widows along
this neat wall, which was painted to look like Victorian London.

This window is supposed to be the inspiration for the window
Bill Sikes pushes Oliver through during the burglary scene. 

The Dickens' family Bible

Portrait of teenage Dickens and some of his early book collection.

Prison grille from the Southwark debtors jail his father was sent to,
which changed Dickens' outlook on society forever. 

Dickens' briefcase

I feel like visiting the Charles Dickens Museum gave me a real insight into his life and experiences. It was well worth pushing my way through the busy streets of London to get here today!