Week 1 in London, Part 2

Continued . . .

Thursday: I taught again, this time only from 8:30 to 11:30, then headed home utterly exhausted. (Although that morning, even though I still had work to do on my lectures, I woke at 6 AM!) On the way I passed a farmers' market, held every Thursday on the University of London grounds, so I bought my lunch there--a nice baguette with brie and cranberries, and a chocolate ice cream cone (yum!). I also bought a loaf of rustic wheat bread that I've been eating all week with a slab of very crumbly super aged cheddar.

Friday: Our first day trip. We all met at Gazzano at 7:15 AM, where we boarded a bus and headed out to Stonehenge. The students were very excited, and the travel fairies must have been busy last night, because it was slightly misty and there were huge ravens flying around the site and pecking at moss on the tops of the stones.

Welcome to Stonehenge (caw!)

Here are two more of my students, Kelsey and Laura, posing in front of Stonehenge.

Our next stop was Glastonbury, to see the Abbey and climb the Tor. We got there about an hour late due to slow traffic. We had to wend our way through 70,000 campers who had come to Glastonbury for the annual rock festival (as in rock music). I'm guessing they picked Glastonbury because it has become a New Age pilgrimage site, for mystics and earth-friendly types.

New Age Soul Rejuvenation

They don't specify what they grow at Bag End, but I suspect it was what some of the visitors were smoking on top of the Tor.

Actually, a chocolate love temple sounds pretty good to me.

John Cowper Powys wrote in 1933, "There are only about half a dozen reservoirs of world-magic on the whole surface of the globe--Jerusalem . . . Rome . . . Mecca . . . Lhassa . . . and of these Glastonbury has the largest residue of unused power." A more skeptical archaeologist said in 1991 that Glastonbury was the "mecca of all irrationality." While he was certainly commenting on the recent New Age vogue of Glastonbury, he's also undoubtedly referring to two older stories associated with the Abbey. One is that it was founded by Joseph of Arimathea, who came to Glastonbury when the Tor (a 500-foot hill looming over the town) was an island. He planted his staff in the earth and it flowered, becoming the "holy thorn" which bloomed every Christmas (until Protestant reformers rooted it up and chopped it in pieces as a popish relic). He also founded a church at Glastonbury, the first of four or five churches on the spot, and from there he and 12 disciples spread Christianity in England from about 60 AD onward. The second story is that the Tor (remember, it was once surrounded by water--something confirmed by archaeological excavations) was the Isle of Avalon, and that Arthur and Guenevere came there to die. Monks in 1191, on the prompting of King Henry II, dug in the grounds and discovered a grave with two bodies. One had long golden hair that crumbled to dust when touched. Beneath the bodies was a cross inscribed with words claiming this was the burial place of Arthur and Guenevere. News of that discovery, on the heels of the King Arthur story enjoying its first English bestseller status, brought thousands of pilgrims to Glastonbury, along with their money, which enabled the monks to rebuild the church, which had burned down in 1184.

Here are some pictures of the Abbey. Like other church buildings in England, it took a hit during the reign of Henry VIII, after he dissolved the monasteries, seized their wealth, and gave or sold their lands and buildings to favored followers. Much of the church was destroyed, but the small chapel known as "St. Joseph's chapel," associated with Joseph of Arimathea, was valued by both Catholics and Protestants and was largely preserved.

St. Joseph's Chapel at Glastonbury

Our living history guide, Alyce, with Jacob Cardinal

This is our living history guide, Alyce. She was fabulous. She dressed one of our students, Jacob Roman Cardinal (how's that for a Mormon name?) in a monk's outfit and informed him he had taken a vow of perpetual durance, so the rest of us were free to go, but he would have to remain at Glastonbury forever.

St. Joseph's Chapel plaque telling the Somerset Tradition

A plaque in St. Joseph's Chapel tells about the "Somerset tradition" of Joseph of Arimathea--and even of Christ himself--establishing the Christian Church in England. There's not much evidence for it, but it seems like the myth must have come from somewhere. I do know that God loves all his children, and that it would certainly make sense for Christ to visit his "lost sheep" here as well as other places. The story continues to resonate with English people, whose national hymn is "Jerusalem" (from Blake's poem), which invokes the story that Christ came here in ancient times. Every year at the end of the "Proms", a month-long musical festival in London, the closing night's audience stands and sings "Jerusalem." I love the fervor with which they do it here, from the 2011 Proms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc9Ww3rmT7I

After our tour of the Abbey, Alyce suggested we visit the still-intact Abbot's kitchen, and asked if we had any singers in our group, because the kitchen had marvelous acoustics. We did have one soloist, and she agreed to sing for us--"And this is my Beloved," from Kismet. 

Jessica Frazier singing a solo from Kismet

Alyce was right: the acoustics were amazing. So we decided to sing some hymns: "The Spirit of God," "America the Beautiful" (we figured that, since it is set to the tune of "God Save the King," it was OK), "Abide with Me," and "I Need Thee Every Hour." It was glorious.

We only had 45 minutes before we had to leave, so we did a mad dash through the town and up the slopes of the Tor. There was a stunning panorama on top, and gale force winds!

The Tor at Glastonbury

Me at the top

Our students at the top

Our next stop was Bath, to see . . . wait for it . . . the (Roman) baths. Mike and I went there ten years ago. It was interesting, but it has been utterly transformed since then, with a multimedia walk-through, more excavation, and headsets for everyone going through with commentary geared to either adults or children, plus occasional reflections by Bill Bryson, a transplanted American who has become a "cultural ambassador" for England. It was very informative, and I took lots of slides for future use (next time I teach Study Abroad in London, I mean!)

Roman Baths at Bath

I also visited the Bath Abbey, which was lovely.  See the fan vaulting on the ceiling?

Whimsical angels above the choir stall at Bath Abbey

But my favorite thing in the cathedral was modern: a series of diptychs, one side calligraphy and illustration, the other side textile artwork, of the Savior's life. It was stunning.

Diptychs on display at Bath Abbey

Overlooking the front of the cathedral is a statue of Henry VII, who defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485 and was the monarch in power when the Abbey was built.

Henry VII statue at the front of Bath Abbey

Getting out of Bath took about an hour--very crowded, and we didn't reach our flats in London until nearly 9 PM (yawn!). I spent much of Saturday getting organized after my crazy week. Today was my first day at our assigned ward. (A former stake president, George Chittock, distributes all the BYU students where they are needed.  Pianists are particularly in demand, as many of the wards are made up of immigrants from Africa and southeast Asia who don't have a tradition of piano lessons in their cultures.) Our ward, the Mitchum ward, meets late, from 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, and they were very happy to see us. Kaylee Pence was immediately recruited to play the piano for sacrament meeting, and afterwards Kaylee, Jordan Rippy, and I were taken to Primary, where I taught the kids how to sing one of the songs for their upcoming Primary Program, Kaylee played the piano, and Jordan rode herd.  All of us were assigned lessons to teach in primary next week. All of the members of the bishopric were Africans, as was most of the ward, from Ghana mostly, but some from Uganda and Kenya. The primary president was a new convert from Uganda, and she was fabulous, taking the kids' rowdiness in stride and reminding them "no one is perfect" as she urged them to try again. It was lovely, and I look forward to spending more time there.

Sorry for the very long post!

Week 1 in London

It was a wild but exhilarating week in London. We've had lovely weather, mostly in the 70s, and hardly any rain. (And when it does rain, it's usually at night.) It got a little warm on Saturday--up to the 80s. I could get used to this. Here's an overview of our week:

Monday: Students started arriving shortly after 8 AM, tired and hungry. We had a plate of chocolate and biscuits, another of bread and cheese, and a bowl of fruit and nut mix, which they happily devoured. Our group is in three different locations: My colleague Kristine Hansen and I, plus seven female students, are in flats on North Gower Street, in Camden. It's largely an Indian neighborhood, with excellent restaurants (so we have heard). The largest group of female students is at Gazzano House on Farringdon Road, about 2 miles east of us (and within walking distance of St. Paul's).  

Here is the view of St. Paul's and the Shard (to the left.  Under construction, but already in the clouds) from Farringdon Road.

Our four male students are a few blocks from them in a charming little three-level flat on Hatton Garden Road. On the corner is the building where Sir Hiram Maxim, the man who invented the machine gun, had his workshop and manufactory. 

Historical marker for Sir Hiram Maxim, inventor of the machine gun (this is for you, Annie!)

My colleague Kristine Hansen and I took turns shuttling the students to their flats. We had particular trouble getting our keys and codes to work on the Hatton Garden flat and were rescued--yet again--by friendly locals who let us in and helped us work the locks.  

We sent the students out on a couple of London Walks that afternoon, to try to keep them awake, and I worked madly on preparing my seven (seven!) lectures for Wednesday and Thursday--on Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron-Age Britain, Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon Britain, the Viking Age, and the Norman Conquest.

Tuesday: The main event of the day was guiding the students on another London Walk around the ancient walls of Londinium. Our first stop was St. Olaves Church, where Samuel Pepys worshipped.

St. Olav's Church. I especially like the skulls.  They were meant to remind worshippers of their impending deaths, so they would get their spiritual house in order (memento mori!).  And that's Olivia Berry, who, along with Bethany Critchfield, took the walk with me.

The church holds a memorial to him and to his wife, as well as to many other people. I asked the rector where the Pepys memorial was, and he came out and talked to us for about half an hour, telling us the fascinating story of the recovery of this memorial.

The Pepys Memorial

The bottom half of the Pepys Memorial is new. In fact, it was just installed a few days ago. The top half, containing the image of Peter Turner, graced the church from the early 17th century until WWII, when St. Olave's was bombed. The image was buried in the rubble, and at some point in the chaotic aftermath, it disappeared. Then, just within the last year or so, it came up for sale on eBay. An American firm specializing in recovering stolen art contacted the church and offered its services free of charge. They were able to persuade the seller (who was, presumably, not the thief), to donate it to the Church, and they just celebrated its return.

We also got to see many sections of the old Roman wall.

The Old Roman Wall. Notice the tidy and even decorative Roman portion below (with the red tile layers interspersed), and the relatively messy medieval layer above.  (Olivia again.)

Walking through Exchange Place around lunchtime, we passed this sea of blue shirts (OK, some are pink, and some white.  I guess I should have said "sea of blue collars").

Wednesday: First day of class. As I did everyday but one this week, I woke at 4 AM. (Not on purpose. I still go to bed at my usual 11 pm, but my body clock seems to think that 4 AM is morning. And, even though there are blackout shades in my room, the sun is up by then and peeking around the sides of the shade. And it doesn't really get dark until 9:30 or 10:00 PM, so the sleep window is awfully narrow.) Because we are not in the London Centre, our classrooms are at the University of London. I was very proud of the students for finding their way there from their distant flats, mostly on time. I taught from 8:30 to 12:15, walked home (just 1/2 mile for me) to eat some lunch, then met the group at Westminster Abbey for a tour.

West end of Westminster Abbey

The West end of the Abbey has newly installed statues of 20th century martyrs, including Martin Luther King.

There was no photography allowed inside the abbey, which was nice, actually. And the priests inside were trying hard to remind people that it was a church. Every hour on the hour they stopped everyone for a short prayer. We happened to be next to Edward the Confessor's shrine (a raised area closed to public access) right when they announced that there would be a special prayer service at the shrine for anyone who chose to attend. My group of sixteen decided to go, so we went up the stairs and seated ourselves while the priest (I actually don't know the proper term for this particular officer of the Church of England, as I can't ID the office by the clothing) read a prayer and we, supplied with cards, gave the responses. After that, the priest offered a personal prayer, not a written one, and it was lovely. One of my students commented that it seemed very similar to our prayers. Edward is the king whose death without heir led to the Norman Invasion in 1066. The shrine has arches all around it at the base, so worshippers could place their knees as close as possible to the Saint as they prayed.

The abbey is very beautiful, a mix of old and new. Virtually all of the glass was destroyed in WWII bombings, so the replacements are new and often contain images associated with the donors, such as American or New Zealand flags!

My favorite spot was the Henry VII chapel, which has utterly amazing fanwork on the vaulted ceiling and is very light and airy. The choir seats are marked for each member of the Order of the Bath with a knight's helm, designed by each chair holder (or whoever he or she picked to do it). They are very whimsical, almost like one of Annie's hats:  Castles, birds, jousters, etc, resting on top of the honoree's head.  Take a look: http://www.heraldicsculptor.com/bathcres.html

I'll do part 2 when I get back from church. Cheers!

I've arrived!

It is 8:35 PM London time, Saturday June 22, and I am definitely feeling jet lagged. My plane landed in London this morning just before 8 AM, about half an hour late. But customs was nearly empty, so I breezed right through. I probably should have paid the 17 pounds for the Heathrow Express, because the tube took well over an hour. But the real time waster was when I exited the tube station one tenth of a mile from my flat and went the wrong direction, which ended up adding about a mile to my walk, lugging two heavy suitcases. But I have to give kudos to Londoners for kindness. I chose a tube line that had no lifts (elevators), which meant dragging my heavy suitcases up several flights of stairs. Each time I started to do so, however, someone offered to carry the larger of the two up the stairs for me (once a man, and once a woman). Does that mean I’ve started to look old? Or is it just that I’m so small? Either way, it was welcome.

Our apartments are quite spacious for two people, but on the spartan side. Everything seems to be in good repair except for the mattresses, which are pretty bad. I may have to buy something to put on top. We live at 203-209 North Gower Street. I’m in apartment 2.  

203-209 North Gower Street, Apartment 2

And, for Sherlock fans, we are about one hundred feet away from the apartment used for Sherlock’s Baker Street digs in the new PBS version of Sherlock.

Baker Street flat on North Gower

Hello, Sherlock?

I think I must have slept OK on the plane last night, although it didn’t feel like it, because I’ve been feeling quite energetic up until the last half hour or so. Once I got to the apartment, I had a meeting with my co-director, Kristine, and George Chittock, a former stake president who does all the arranging for placing students in local wards. Dad and I will be attending the Mitcham ward, which meets from 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon—a bit later than I’d like, as Dad and I were hoping to have students over for Sunday dinners. We’ll see how it goes.  

After the meeting, I took the tube over to the National Portrait Gallery to see the George Catlin Exhibit of American Indian portraits, painted in the 19th c and put on display in London the first time in the 1840s and 50s. I met a fellow Native American historian who is in London this month and we went through the exhibit together. The gallery is in the heart of London, right off Trafalgar Square, and the place was just pulsing with tourists. There was a big stage set up right by the column where various headliners from current musicals were performing.

I did some minimal shopping at Sainsbury's. Best buy:  2 pints of "English raspberries" for just two pounds!

It's Sunday morning now, and I just figured out that, by turning off the heat, I also turned off the hot water. So no shower for me--brrrr!