There are some days that are so simplistic in nature, but they still manage to be excellent and full of interesting coincidences and moments that you have to smile at. Today was one of these sort of days and I am so grateful for the little things that can make a day special. We had class this morning and it was surprisingly difficult to sit through class two days in a row. Anyone that knows me decently well will know that I struggle with sitting still in general, and I was really feeling it today. Fortunately we still had some great class discussions about the productions we had seen and I managed to get a lot of work done in classes as well. We only have two weeks left in the program, which is blowing my mind! George's class final will be a group project in which we have to direct and act out a scene from one of the shows that we saw. It will be an interesting project, especially since not all of us, myself included, are theatre majors.
After class I found myself at a loss. I really wanted to go out and about, but didn't really want to travel out too far today. It was a very peculiar feeling because it wasn't like I had any sort of reason to avoid the tube or anything like that, I just really didn't want to. Instead I walked down the street and took a stroll through Kensington Gardens. It was a raining a little bit when I left the flats, but I was ready with my jacket and umbrella. I have always loved the rain anyways. I had originally intended my walk to be pretty brief....and then I found myself walking through the park for a bit over two hours. The rain made everything look so fresh and new, and it was so gorgeous. The clouds were moving very quickly through the sky, so every now and then the light would come through and reflect off of the wet pavement and the park would light up. I traveled across the way to see the Italian Fountains and visit my good friend Peter. I had not visited the Peter Pan statue yet this trip, which I found quite odd considering how close he and I are.
While I was standing by the statue I noticed a family of swans in the river nearby. There were two parents and then a group of young swans that were still in their gray phase that straddled the line between adorable and misshapen and goofy looking. I was oddly fascinated by the little guys. While I was snapping some photos a man came up to me and started visiting with me. He was incredibly friendly and apparently he likes to go on a walk every day through the park and check up on the swans. He had two cute dogs with him and I FINALLY got to sit down and play with some dogs. So many British people have dogs but I have never had the guts to go and play with the little guys. I actually ended up visiting with this man for quite some time as we sat by the river. He asked about where I was from and when I told him Utah, his first question after that was, "Are you a Mormon" followed by, "Have you seen the musical?" Jace answers: Yes to the first, no to the second. Also, I only have one mom. Mormons don't have lots of wives anymore. No, I don't own a gun. No, not all Americans own guns. No, I don't know why we like our guns so much. Yes, I have shot a gun. Yes, I love London.
(Due to my love affair Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, many pictures follow)
The view out our flat window. I actually find it quite beautiful in a rustic sort of way
I want them all to be my friends
Italian Fountains
Italian Fountains
There you are Peter
Daddy swan
It's too bad London is so ugly
Mommy swan with baby swans
After my conversation with the nice English/Cuban man, I made my way back to the flat for just a little while before heading out once again. Fortunately by this time I got over my traveling fatigue and made my way towards Piccadilly Circus to meet up with Ben. As I was walking into the tube station nearest our flats, I saw two Elders walking past me. Their eyes were wide and they looked very lost. Suddenly I had a flashback to this morning when I noticed that the chapel in the Hyde Park Building (where we have our classes) was full of suitcases. It's transfer day. I walked over to the two missionaries and introduced myself and had a conversation with the two of them. One of the Elders was from South Africa and had just been transferred into the city after having served in the countryside. The other just got out of the MTC and this was his first day out in the field. He looked like a deer with his headlights on (family joke). He was from Australia! Unfortunately I forgot both of their names...but they both start with Elder! I talked with them for a while and helped them both find the train that they needed to get to their destination at Holborn. We got separated since it was in the middle of a busy hour, but I just managed to see them get on their train! They were both very nice and I hope that they have an amazing time serving the Lord!
Oh look, more Hyde Park
Discovered this new place. I want to go there and read every day now
At Piccadilly Circus I met up with Ben and we went to the Criterion Theatre to buy tickets to see The 39 Steps, placed based on the movie, based on the book by Robert Donat. That theatre has a great deal where students can buy best available seats just an hour before the show starts. These seats usually happen to be pretty good! We managed to get fourth row for only £15. I had my third fun encounter of the day while we were in line to buy our tickets. There were two people behind us in line that were also Americans. As we started talking with them we found out that they are Masters students studying from a University in Florida. When we said we were from BYU, our new friend Brian said, "No way! So you're Mormons!?" Turns out, he is LDS as well! We started talking about our different mission experiences as well as the shows that we have all seen while in London. Brian's friend (whose name I cant' remember) isn't a member, but she was really nice! She just laughed and said, "You Mormons are everywhere!" Based on what I have seen today alone, that is very true.
We still had a little time before the show so Ben and I went to find some treats to buy. The theatres here are great because they don't care if you bring in outside beverages or food. I found a Coke at the local Tescoe that had my name on it. I mean, it literally had my name on it. I don't know if this same campaign is going on in the States, but for some reason the Coke bottles have a bunch of different names on them. Random, but I am not complaining. It just means the Coke was meant to be with me. After retrieving our treats we walked down by the road that goes to Buckingham Palace. There was some event going on down there and we couldn't figure out what it was. There were police everywhere and the roads were closing down. In a stadium that we could sort of see they started playing "God Save the Queen" followed by "The Star Spangled-Banner". We were a bit confused. People started lining up along the road, but before we could find out what was going on we had to head back to our show. If something amazing happened there and we missed it I will be very frustrated.
A Coke specifically for me (Side note: My first name is Thomas. Jace is my middle name)
Fortunately I did not have to be too concerned about our mystery event, as The 39 Steps was fantastic. The play is hysterical and was lots of fun. The theatre was pretty cozy, but was quite beautiful. It felt so classy, which is quite strange when everyone is just wearing their street clothes inside. It's the weirdest thing, but British people don't really dress up for most theatrical shows. At least not any that I've been to. I suppose there's the occasional person that will be dressed up, but for the most part it's a pretty casual affair. Ahem, anywho, the play was great. The cast only has four actors, and while one of them plays the lead character Richard Hannay, the other three cast members switch roles the entire time. They used that to create many gags, as a character would simply switch their hat to change characters, sometimes quite quickly in rapid succession to create some pretty humorous scenes. It was all very witty humor that played around with some of the typical detective novel tropes.
The Criterion Theatre
Borrowed from their website, a snapshot of our four actors
Small and simple things still make for great experiences in London. I am glad that even when not spending money or climbing up giant towers that I still get to experience some wonderful things abroad.
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