Just some bits and bobs

This title refers to one of my favorite colloquialisms that I’ve stumbled on here in London. And that is exactly what this post will be about: random things that I have meant to share that I haven’t been able to yet. So I apologize for the lack of cohesiveness that is about to ensue. 

First off, I guess I’ll talk about a recent revelation I’ve had: study abroad is like a relationship. London is my boyfriend. You see, it was love at first sight and we had this whirlwind of a time for the first month but now the honeymoon stage is over. Whilst I still am very much in love with London, certain things are starting to get under my skin a bit. Everything isn’t as perfect as it used to be. Well now that that super lame reference is done with, you get the point. You never really appreciate the conveniences you have in the US, but when they’re gone, you definitely notice. I basically can do two or three things a day here, like class and a concert, or rehearsal and a lesson, because things just take much longer. A few weeks ago it took me 5 hours to get from my flat to my lesson, have my lesson, and come back. I also cannot wait to sleep in a real bed with a real pillow. But I still very much love London and am enjoying my stay here so I hope this doesn’t sound like me complaining. I think it’s actually pretty cool to be able to live in another country for long enough that you start to get sick of it just a tiny little bit.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November. Hey! Being in London for the 5th was pretty cool. I learned a bit about Guy Fawkes in my history class and saw fireworks that night in Southwark. It was a really great show and it was free! Free in London is very special. I kinda think of the 5th as a day to celebrate that one time that London didn’t completely burn to the ground. And boy do they celebrate- I kept hearing fireworks for about a week after the 5th.

I’m not sure if I’ve written much about my cello teacher yet. She and Rich met at school in Indiana and she moved out to London to study with du Pre and just never went back! (hmm, planting some ideas in my head, Alice) Well Alice has been a bit like a mom, ahem, mum, to me over here. She’s always above and beyond accommodating for me which has just added so much to my experience here. If I studied with some random teacher through my school, I’m sure the relationship wouldn’t be as personal and I’m so grateful to study with her here! Oh yeah, she’s a great teacher and cellist, guess I should mention that too but I mean she studied with Starker and du Pre, it's pretty self-explanitory ;) I also joined the orchestra she’s in over here called the Bromley Symphony Orchestra. The conductor’s brilliant and the ensemble is really quite high quality so there’s another thing to be thankful for. 

Speaking of thanks, today is Thanksgiving! It was a bit sad to not be spending today with family but I still had a wonderful day. I had my Middle Eastern Music class this morning and we had a workshop with an Iraqi musician named Khya Mallami. I think it was a testament to how awesome the study abroad experience is that I spent my Thanksgiving learning about and improvising Arab art music. I just can't get over how cool that is. After that, my friend Toria and I (tried to) make Thanksgiving dinner. I think we did alright- no major disasters, everything tasted good. Just not as good as a mom making it of course. Or Grandpa’s mashed potatoes :)

The last bit (or is it bob?) that I’ll write about for now is my experience playing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. I got to read through Dvorak ‘New World’ with some members of the BBCSO as part of a community outreach program. It was quite a hike to their studios but a really lovely experience. I particularly enjoyed the conductor’s style and rehearsal technique. It was also cool to see lots of members from the community show up and see how excited they were. And why wouldn't you be? BBC Symphony? Come on, that's pretty awesome. 

Alright enough procrasti-blogging. Time to get some sleep and motivate myself to finish the massive amount of work I have left here. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Finland!

Hei hei from Finland! This past weekend I took a trip to Finland to meet up with my Aunt Cheryl who was there for ‘work’ ;) I flew in on Thursday afternoon to a cloudy and brisk Helsinki. After finding my way to the hotel, my aunt and I headed up to the Temppeliaukio Church to attend a concert. The circular Temppeliaukio Church is made from stone and sits underneath the ground. The ceiling is rounded and looks like it is spun from thin copper wires. Beautiful, simple, and inviting, this first stop proved to be a nice little taste of what the rest of my glimpse into Finnish culture would be like. 

On the program was the Brahms Violin Concerto, Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks Concerto, and Beethoven 4. The orchestra was a chamber group called the Kymi Sinfonietta made up of only 31 musicians. During the first notes of the concert, the beautiful, gentle opening tutti of the Brahms, I realized that in a perfect world, I would just travel the world, listening to different musics and ensembles. It’s so exciting to see how music can transcend borders but also carry its own distinct flavor in each new place. Put the touristy things on the back burner and drop me off at a concert hall. 

The violinist, Kyoko Takezawa, reminded me of a favorite piece of advice Rich likes to give. He says: “Brahms was a fat man. This is a fat man’s allegro.” Her interpretation was broad and indulgent. Every note was beautiful and lush- not a single harsh tone came from her Guarneri (hmm not too much of a stretch to imagine right?). The Stravinsky looked like pure fun to play, and the Beethoven was really dynamic.

The next day was a day trip out to Porvoo, a small, medieval town about 50 kilometers outside of Helsinki. The day was spent strolling through it’s cobblestone streets, wandering in and out of local stores. Let me just say that the Fins know how to do Christmas. I mean I hear Santa and his reindeer are from the Laplands, so it makes sense. All the stores were selling the most wonderful presents and decorations. Since Finland loses light so early in the winter (cars have their headlights on at 14:30), they have the most beautiful candles. Every shop had tons and tons of gorgeous candles and decorative candle holders. After a light lunch in a little cafe, it was back to Helsinki. That night we had dinner with my aunts friends and coworkers whom I got to know a bit over the course of the trip. Even though she kept teasing me about being stuck with the old bitties, it was a nice change of pace to have a different sort of company.

That brings us to my last day in Finland. We started the day off at a market by the water. My favorite purchase of the trip was from a man selling yarn in a booth there. It is a hat/scarf love child and is the warmest, coziest thing I’ve ever put on me head. His wife spins the wool and dyes it herself with dyes made from mushrooms and berries- pretty freaking awesome, Finland, pretty freaking awesome. On our way back from the market, we passed by two of Helsinki’s beautiful churches and one very, very large Christmas tree. We also finally triumphed in our quest to find Gloggi, courtesy of a man, his daughter, and his little food cart. In the front of the shed was one fire roasting chestnuts and one making candied almonds (smelled amazing!!) with a pot of Gloggi on in the back. So what is this mysterious Gloggi? Well I’m still not entirely sure. It was reminiscent of warm apple cider with berries, spices, and wine. It was cozy and very Christmas-y. Next we walked up to the Sibelius monument. Something like a forest of organ pipes, it was awesome to see a monument to this country’s beloved, rock-star status composer.

As we walked back along the water, we grabbed lunch at the most amazing little... well I’m not really sure what to call it. Nestled right along the water, it was a cafe about the size of a shack and was packed to the brim with coziness. It seems to me that the Fins like things cozy. We first ate outside- split pea soup and some sort of sausage from a grill on the back of a station wagon parked out front (delicious). Then we went inside for tea and pastries. I really can’t do this place justice- soft lighting, nice and warm, there were 3 or 4 dogs laying on the floor and a bunch of locals crammed in next to each other. There were loads of pictures, instruments, and china hanging from the walls and ceiling, each I’m sure with their own story to tell. If you were leaving the cafe with your hands full, there was a pulley system from behind the counter with a rope running across the ceiling to open the door for you. And when you wanted to come back in to return your plate, the handle was an axe wedged in the door. Packed to the brim with Finnish comfort, I spent the rest of the trip spending nice quality time with my aunt.

From what I saw, the Fins are warm, inviting, intelligent, and appreciate simplicity in life.  This was a great trip to open my eyes up to a very different and beautiful culture. But now, I must say I am ready to go home to London and all of its craziness. 

Brighton and Harrogate

So far I have taken two trips within England to a few very different places. They were both a beautiful and welcomed breath of fresh, clean, non-city air.

My first adventure was a day trip with my friend Cailey to Brighton- a seaside town in Sussex. First on the agenda: the Royal Pavilion. Actual first activity: getting mildly lost. The wonderful thing about small towns though is you can’t really get too lost so we managed to stumble across the Royal Pavilion after only looking like stupid tourists for a few minutes. The Royal Pavilion was definitely unlike anything I’ve seen in the UK so far. You kinda have to double check that you’re actually still in the UK when you see it. Its’ extravagant, Indian-inspired architecture is striking to say the least. The Royal Pavilion is the former seaside retreat of King George IV and is very extravagantly decorated on the inside. Now I will leave you to google images of that and spend my time describing tea. Yes. We in fact did have tea in a palace in England. And yes, it was fabulous. I had tea, hand-made soup and fresh bread. It was the kind of soup that you know has been simmering all morning whilst being stirred by the person who made the recipe. Across from me, Cailey enjoyed her scone and clotted cream- more on the wonders of clotted cream to come. Overall, it was the perfect brunchy-palacey-homemadey meal.

Next we wandered to the sea (Jack Johnson would be proud). It was a very beautiful beach but had a completely different feel to it. The white sands I am used to from Hawaii were replaced by pebbles and stones in beautiful shades of charcoal, white, and everything in between. The sunscreen scented air and inviting waters were replaced with chilly winds and waves that even sounded different when they washed up on shore. The whole soul of the sea was different there. 

After agreeing that we could spend all day there we forced ourselves on to destination #3- a hike... or shall I say trail walk?

45 minutes of countryside bus riding later, we hopped off and followed our little pamphlet trail guide. To give you an idea of how countryside-y it was, let me copy some of the directions from the pamphle (from the official tourism website)t: 

“turn right at the cattle grid and down the valley to Hope Gap”

“At Hope Gap turn left at the unfenced cliff edge.”

and my personal favorite from a lady on the bus “oh yes, it’s right up here past some sheep.”

And past some sheep we walked! Over mossy grass and along an unfenced cliff edge right on the sea. It was fantastic. We were right next to the Seven Sisters which are these seven beautiful chalky cliffs right along the sea. The trail spit us out right by this cute little pub which served the largest fish and chips I have seen since arriving here which is an impressive feat in itself. Thus ended our perfect teeny tiny little holiday to Brighton.

The next weekend I went to Harrogate with Toria and Nicole. Toria used to live in Harrogate so she and her mom helped us plan an awesome trip there! Harrogate is way up north, pretty close to York. Our first stop there was a beautiful old tea shop called Betty’s. We had the most wonderful afternoon tea there in this really nice room donned with chandeliers, flowers, and little melodies floating from the piano in the corner. Our three-teared platter included finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and little desserty things on top. I will now expound on the wonders of clotted cream. I do not know how life in America exists without it. It is the perfect topping for scones or really anything for that matter. And it’s name is appropriately frank. Eat too much of it and other things are bound to become clotted.

After tea at Betty’s and a good look around the gift shop, we headed out to Pately Bridge. When we got on the bus, we weren’t expecting fare to cost as much as it did and a nice gentleman behind us saw our surprised looks and offered to buy our tickets for us. This is a perfect example of the kindness and generosity of the people I have encountered further away from London. As lovely and helpful as Londoners are, it’s still a big, busy city and people are just trying to get to where they’re going. Life is much more relaxed outside of the city. While we didn’t actually do much at Pately Bridge, our bus ride was beautiful! More sheep and grassy hills and just plain ol’ gorgeous countryside. That night, we slept in real beds. This was a lovely treat seeing as my bed at school, while functional, is quite tiny and not super comfortable. The next day we went to the Turkish Baths, England’s first spa. It involved a steam room, and three heated rooms ranging from 40-70 degrees Celsius. That’s up to 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Each of these was interspersed with plunges into a super cold pool which lowered your body temperature, enabling you to be able to take in more heat. It was so relaxing and a nice treat to end the trip. 

So those were my two trips out of the city so far. They were both wonderful and welcomed retreats from busy city life.