end of semester
well semester one is finished. it has gone far too quick, and i can't believe i have been here almost three months already. the last week of the semester was really busy. we had a trip to the V&A to look at their educational program, including taught programs, drop in activities and also the way the galleries were set up for learning as part of the museum experience. It was quite interesting, but a very long day. The bus trip down was very long, almost three hours and more uncomfortable that normal because of very battered knees thanks to a spectacular fall at the hockey game a few days earlier.
We spent quite a bit of time in the British Galleries at the V&A. These are some of their newest galleries and are designed as a more educational experience, rather than a way of displaying just the best of art and design. I thought they were quite interesting, but the best part for me was discovering the ceiling decoration in the study room. It was stunning.
We also had a christmas dinner with the department. Everybody brought some food, and the department provided the wine. It was a great evening, lots of the food was traditional to the countries students come from, so it was a great chance to try bits of many different things. I made up a whole stack of ANZAC biscuits which were very well received, so well that I only had two left at the end of the night. I had hoped to have quite a few so that I could have some for the rest of the week. Oh well, at least i have the ingredients for them know, I'll make some more soon. Or as soon as I have access to an oven again.
Other than uni stuff, I went out for dinner with some friends to a local Thai resturant. It is about the only proper Thai resturant here in leicester, and it was really good. Much better than I had feared. a few of the girls i went with hadn't had Thai before, so it was nice being able to introduce them to good thai food. It is also a relief knowing that i can get my thai fix here in leciester. I have also been involved in a carols service with the uni choir. Our conductor found some really unusual carols for us to sing. Some of them were a bit bleak, but it was good to learn some new carols rather than the old standards, although even the old standards he gave us were really nice arrangements, so generally an enjoyable service in terms of music. The students picked to do the readings seemed a little uncomfortable in general, thankfully there were about three carols to every reading.
Finally I went down to London for some christmas shopping and to catch up with cousins. Helen was over from Stockholm, with her partner Johann and his sister and partner. We all stayed at Richard's, and while his flat is reasonably roomy, it gets crowded with 7 people in it. I really couldn't believe the crowds around London. I met Helen and Johann at Hamleys on Friday evening and we fought our way inside to have a quick look around so that we could say we had. Oxford and Regent Streets were just packed. There was no room to move any way other than the way the crowd was going. I thought I had experienced crowds in Sydney, but they were nothing like this. I think the only time I have seen the like was at the Sydney Olympics.
Thankfully most of my shopping was done at museums around the city (does that suprise you?). The Natural History museum had an ice rink and christmas market set up outside. I got there late in the afternoon so the building was glowing and there were lots of people on the ice rink. It looked really nice.
The other thing I wanted to do whilst in London was to check out their christmas decorations. I wanted to find out if there were any shops that did special christmas windows like DJ's does. When I was asking around not many people really understood what I meant, but Richard said that Fortnum and Mason were probably the closest to what I was after. They had images that retold Dicken's A Christmas Carol with their own shop products cleverly included in the display. I had a look at them, they were very good windows and had lots of people looking at them. I also went to Nelson's Column to see the Christmas Tree that is given to England by Norway. It is a huge tree, I think it would be much prettier at night, but I wasn't waiting around until dark, so sorry you can't see it all lit up.
My chance of getting a white christmas are looking much less likely. I never thought I would say this, but the last few days have been quite a bit warmer, I can't believe I am saying that a max of 8 - 10 degrees is warm! However it has been warmer and sunnier and generally much too nice. But I am going to the Cotswolds for a few days after christmas, so even if i don't have snow, I will have some really pretty country to go walking through.
I doubt I will post again before christmas, so i hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy a warm day. I'll be dreaming of lunch on the verandah with the webber cooked roast.
We spent quite a bit of time in the British Galleries at the V&A. These are some of their newest galleries and are designed as a more educational experience, rather than a way of displaying just the best of art and design. I thought they were quite interesting, but the best part for me was discovering the ceiling decoration in the study room. It was stunning.
We also had a christmas dinner with the department. Everybody brought some food, and the department provided the wine. It was a great evening, lots of the food was traditional to the countries students come from, so it was a great chance to try bits of many different things. I made up a whole stack of ANZAC biscuits which were very well received, so well that I only had two left at the end of the night. I had hoped to have quite a few so that I could have some for the rest of the week. Oh well, at least i have the ingredients for them know, I'll make some more soon. Or as soon as I have access to an oven again.
Other than uni stuff, I went out for dinner with some friends to a local Thai resturant. It is about the only proper Thai resturant here in leicester, and it was really good. Much better than I had feared. a few of the girls i went with hadn't had Thai before, so it was nice being able to introduce them to good thai food. It is also a relief knowing that i can get my thai fix here in leciester. I have also been involved in a carols service with the uni choir. Our conductor found some really unusual carols for us to sing. Some of them were a bit bleak, but it was good to learn some new carols rather than the old standards, although even the old standards he gave us were really nice arrangements, so generally an enjoyable service in terms of music. The students picked to do the readings seemed a little uncomfortable in general, thankfully there were about three carols to every reading.
Finally I went down to London for some christmas shopping and to catch up with cousins. Helen was over from Stockholm, with her partner Johann and his sister and partner. We all stayed at Richard's, and while his flat is reasonably roomy, it gets crowded with 7 people in it. I really couldn't believe the crowds around London. I met Helen and Johann at Hamleys on Friday evening and we fought our way inside to have a quick look around so that we could say we had. Oxford and Regent Streets were just packed. There was no room to move any way other than the way the crowd was going. I thought I had experienced crowds in Sydney, but they were nothing like this. I think the only time I have seen the like was at the Sydney Olympics.
Thankfully most of my shopping was done at museums around the city (does that suprise you?). The Natural History museum had an ice rink and christmas market set up outside. I got there late in the afternoon so the building was glowing and there were lots of people on the ice rink. It looked really nice.
The other thing I wanted to do whilst in London was to check out their christmas decorations. I wanted to find out if there were any shops that did special christmas windows like DJ's does. When I was asking around not many people really understood what I meant, but Richard said that Fortnum and Mason were probably the closest to what I was after. They had images that retold Dicken's A Christmas Carol with their own shop products cleverly included in the display. I had a look at them, they were very good windows and had lots of people looking at them. I also went to Nelson's Column to see the Christmas Tree that is given to England by Norway. It is a huge tree, I think it would be much prettier at night, but I wasn't waiting around until dark, so sorry you can't see it all lit up.
My chance of getting a white christmas are looking much less likely. I never thought I would say this, but the last few days have been quite a bit warmer, I can't believe I am saying that a max of 8 - 10 degrees is warm! However it has been warmer and sunnier and generally much too nice. But I am going to the Cotswolds for a few days after christmas, so even if i don't have snow, I will have some really pretty country to go walking through.
I doubt I will post again before christmas, so i hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy a warm day. I'll be dreaming of lunch on the verandah with the webber cooked roast.
posted by bronwyn | 9:57 PM
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