Class and Bonfire Night

Hi everyone! I just got back from my Friday night class. I must say, class on the weekend really isn't that bad. On Friday, we meet from 6-8:45 p.m., with an hour break. On Saturday, class starts at 10 a.m. and lasts til 5:30, with two thirty minute breaks and a two hour lunch break. If we have class on Sunday, it starts at 10 a.m. and lasts til 3, with an hour and a half for lunch. I have class for two weekends in a row, and then I'm off for two weekends. So after this weekend, I only have two weekends of class left in this semester! I'm one of two Americans in my classes. The other American went to Yale, and it's nice to have someone to exchange weird looks with when people in our class make an English joke that we don't get. (That happened tonight!) The weather is slowly but surely getting much colder. It felt like November today...cold and windy. I'm not a fan of the sun setting so early, but it'll be worth it in the summer when the sun doesn't set til 9:30 or 10 p.m. Tomorrow night is Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, which is a big holiday in England. In the early 1600s, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to burn down Parliament (anyone recall the Gunpowder Plot from history class?), but he was caught. Every year on Bonfire Night, big bonfires are held where people burn stuffed dolls representing Guy Fawkes. Tools and I are going to go to a big bonfire tomorrow night at the Rugby Club in Stratford.

Tooley and I just got off of the phone with our good friend Jennings, who is in law school at Ole Miss, and a huge George Bush supporter. We were telling her how open people are in England about their dislike of George Bush and Tony Blair. (I have no idea who the English actually do like politically...the newspapers are always complaining about every President, Prime Minister, and electoral candidate). I think it's a European thing, because when I was in Italy last summer, I saw anti-George Bush graffeti in Florence! Jennings is coming to visit me in England this summer, and asked us what people here would do if she wore an "I Love George W. Bush" shirt. We told her that nearly everyone who sees the shirt will probably say something very negative to her, whereas in the U.S. (especially in the South), most people wouldn't think anything of it. Tooley and I have figured out that the best thing to do if you're in a crowd of people who aren't fans of Americans is to just say that you're from Canada. We've never actually had to do that...yet! Anyways, Jennings claims that she is going to wear the shirt when she comes to visit, so we'll see...:)

I read on the internet that people are going to be camping out in Leicester Square on Saturday night for the Harry Potter premiere on Sunday. Wow! That's dedication, because the stars don't start coming down the red carpet til 5 p.m. Hopefully we'll be able to get close enough to see some famous people!

Have a great day, and I'll post pictures of Bonfire Night tomorrow night!


Jennings loves George W! :)