Sunday, August 28, 2011

Just A Day In The Life

Some friends and I outside St. Paul's
Today was such a long day! We started off by going to a church service at St. Paul's church. The church itself is huge and absolutely GORGEOUS! The architecture is fantastic and there are a lot of differences between the service there and services I have experienced at home. Instead of seating ourselves, an usher brought us to our seats. There were not any pues: instead, there were fold up chairs (complete with seat cushions) for us to sit on. We were given pamphlets that had, in chronological order, all of the songs and prayers that were going to be sung and said during the service, as opposed to using a book that would be provided to us. The pamphlets also gave instructions as to when to sit and stand and when we needed to speak or sing. During the service, I felt very small and insignificant; I believe this is because I was sitting in such a large area and the sounds of the church (the organ and the choir) completely overpowered the sound of the people at the service. It was definitely an interesting experience to have.

Me, Lizzie, Mae, and a speaker
After going to the service, we went to Speaker's Corner by Knotting Hill. In this area, different people come and give speeches, or in some cases preach about religion, to any crowd they attract. All of us were caught off guard when one speaker suggested that women should remain in the kitchen, as it is dangerous for men to be there because all of the sharp objects could potentially harm their private parts. Angered by his sexist remarks, some of us, including myself, began to argue back. Though frustrating, this heated debate provided great entertainment for us and the crowd, especially because we are American. After many rude remarks from the speaker, we finally threw in the white flag and walked away. A different speaker that was in the crowd during the debate started talking to us a few moments later as we complained about the other incompetent speaker. The man we were speaking to then told us how he knew the other man personally and that in reality he was actually a very intelligent intellectual. He then proceeded to say how some people, including the man that angered us, go to Speaker's corner to give speeches about things that will get a reaction from the crowd and that they continue to play into it based on the crowd's response. Therefore, in reality, the speaker we had grown to hate was actually more like an actor and was not sexist... or so we hope.
Me, Lizzie, Mae, Oanh-Nhi, and Kate
outside Buckinham Palace

After we calmed down, we went over to Oxford Circus to blow off any leftover steam through a little retail therapy. Yet again we had a successful trip, though the area was very crowded today due to it being a Sunday. A couple hours later we went over and saw Buckingham Palace. However, we were annoyed after we arrived there to find our future mother in law locked us out of our future home, keeping us away from our future husband, Prince Harry. Rude. So instead we left and went to eat Indian food for dinner... which was PHENOMENAL!!! We topped off this amazing meal with some British candy bars and ice cream. Overall I think it is safe to say this was another great, yet typical day in the life of a Dickinsonian overseas.

No comments:

Post a Comment