Well, the entire Literary England course...oops

Hey all. (aka mom and dad!)

It's been awhile and for that I apologize. This has been...interesting. I wish that I enjoyed it more, though there were sections I found more interesting than others.

We began in Manchester. It actually seemed like a super cool city, very bustling and lots of cool architecture. We studied Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South which Calli has called a poor man's Pride and Prejudice. Our hostel was relatively nice and right on a canal. Internet was exorbitant. That's really all I remember. Oh! Except we saw a spinning demonstration for how loud and gross the mills were and they showed the shuttle going back and forth super fast. It made me think of Wanted and how stressed I was during that particular part of the movie.

Then we went to Grasmere, which is in the Lake District. If I could recommend one part of England to anyone, it would be the Lake District. Maybe because it was in the fall or whatever, but it was absolutely gorgeous and perfect. We went hiking, learned about Wordsworth, played Ultimate in this horrendously muddy field, had time alone, ate copious amounts of the world-famous Grasmere gingerbread, and just plain enjoyed being in nature. It was wonderful.

Next was Stratford-upon-Avon where Shakespeare was born.
That's really all that happened there.

Now we are back in London and here comes the exciting part.
1. Dani King came to visit
2. While Dani King was visiting we stumbled upon the premiere of 'Che' in Leicester (Lester) Square that Benicio Del Toro was attending along with Steven Soderbergh (director of Crash)
3. This inspired us to go to the premiere of Easy Virture starring Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, and Ben Barnes. We waited for two hours in the hail. But Oh my goodness, I met Colin Firth and he touched me by accident. Coolest thing ever. Also, Jessica Biel was super nice and really funny. Count me a fan.
4. On the way home from said premiere, Calli and I get on the Tube and I see this (cute) guy who looks familiar. Oh right, he's familiar because he's William FREAKING Moseley! (Peter from Narnia) Also, I have a huge crush on him. It was the coolest Tube ride ever. We didn't approach him or anything because he just looked like he was trying to get home. But oh man. So freaking cool!
5. Went to the Quantum of Solace premiere in Leicester Square. Got there early, got into the gardens. Saw Daniel Craig, the two Bond girls, Judi Dench, the cool FBI agent from Casino Royale, the new villain, Elle Macpherson, Jack White, and Prince William and Prince Harry.
6. Am starred out.

Today I got to see Drew which was fun. I was definitely feeling a bit of homesickness so it was great to talk with him and hear about his crazy military life.


Tomorrow is our final day as a group together. Then Calli, Matt, and I head off to Vienna, Prague and Budapest! Then Whitworth, then home! Can't wait for all of it.