Week 3: Time

Time has been on my mind a lot lately in a couple major ways: (1) the amount of time I've been here and (2) how I'm using my time.

Today (Tuesday/Wendesday/Whatever) marks three full weeks of being in London! It also happens to mean that this field study is a full quarter of the way over. I don't know if I believe it; it seems impossible somehow that such a huge chunk of it can be done already. And next week, it'll be a third of the way complete. That being said, I'm still in the I-can't-wait-to-go-back-home phase, so time can't possibly pass quickly enough for me. Thankfully, I'm pretty much over the misery hump, and I'm actually starting to enjoy my time here. I feel pretty comfortable for the most part, and I feel like I've been able to somehow miraculously adjust (more or less) to living in London.

I think part of the reason that I finally feel like time is starting to cruise is that I put together a full calendar for my field study, complete with (almost) weekly goals for having drafts of my essays and sections of my research paper completed. There's nothing I dread quite like an academic deadline, and let me tell you, having a deadline to stress about means that it's flying towards you at the speed of light. I couldn't be happier about this. I've also set some exercise goals, which I'm really excited about. It's nice to have things to do ... which brings me to my next point.

Life is harder when you don't schedule your time, especially when doing a field study. There have been more days than I'd like to admit where I've just found myself thinking, "I have nothing to accomplish today and I don't want to wander aimlessly through London again. I'd rather just sit home." The vast majority of the time, I talk myself into working on things, but self-motivation can be so difficult when you don't have any person or any plan to feel responsible to. I think this has been one of the things that made the first few weeks being here so hard—I didn't know what to do with my time. And, granted, a lot of that had to do with where I was living the first week; I didn't have keys so I had to be very careful about when I decided to leave the flat. I didn't have a library card, and I honestly was so miserable and culture-shock-y that I didn't even want to think about working on my project, which just made everything worse! What a mess!

All that being said, the difference it has made to have things I'm trying to accomplish every single day, to have goals I'm working towards every single week, has helped turn things around. Yes, there are still days that I just don't want to have to get on the Tube and go all the way across London just to sit in the library until my eyes hurt (in case you can't tell, this week has been especially library heavy, since I'm trying to finish up the first draft of the first section of my paper); there are days when I'd just as well not leave my bedroom, except for the occasional snack. I don't know how I've made it through three years of college without learning this lesson (possibly because I'm a little too Type-A to ever let myself get truly behind on my coursework) ... but I've suddenly realized how much happier I am when I use time wisely. I don't know that I've ever been as aware of my own agency in the time usage department as I have been the past week or so. But it's terribly apparent to me right now that, at least in Field Study Land, a good schedule is the recipe for happiness.

This week has been so different from the previous two. Still hard sometimes, of course, and still some tears. (Though these ones were prompted by a TV show finale and then perpetuated by listening to a song whose lyrics are "Dear Mama, here's a letter from your girl. Well I think my city days are done, and it ain't been three weeks since I came..." You get the drift—way too close to home there.) But all in all, it's been a lot better. Yes, my brain still hurts from all the library time I've had over the past couple of days, but I've got so much material to work with that I feel totally fine. I spent about twenty or thirty minutes just writing a pre-rough-draft and got three full pages of text written, which is incredible speed for me for an academic paper. I  can already tell it's going to be a lot of work getting all the information I have to fit down into a smaller space. I also found out today that John Donne is someone I want to place a little more emphasis on; apparently he was someone who really struggled with trying to accept the new cosmological system, and so his poetry is very reflective of how he worked through the switch. I might have to jump him up in my schedule a couple of weeks, just because I think I'm going to want to spend more time on him. And since he was also the dean of St. Paul's. Granted, he was a pre-1666-fire dean, but he just seems to be cropping up a lot, and I've been a fan of him for several years anyways, so I feel like there has to be just a little bit of justification in giving him a little more attention than I'd originally expected.

Week 2: Walking

London has an interesting relationship with walking. Historically, London writers have a grand walking tradition, and an even more interesting tradition of documenting walks for others to take. I have a guide book of London Walks (featuring 25 walks by 25 London writers), and it's only one of thousands. There are regular London Walks guides, Country Walks guides, guides for waterways walks, food-centric meanderings, published pub crawls. There are guides that specialize in certain villages, in being "quiet" walks, parks and gardens, tea and cakes. A few guides claim to show you "Secret London" or "The London Nobody Knows." I think you get the idea ... Walking is huge. So, I decided to take part in this little walking scheme. 

I wasn't feeling too keen on public transportation, and since London today was unusually gorgeous and deliciously hot, I decided I'd just walk the whole day, maybe find a bench in some park somewhere and read for a bit, not get too crazy. Not getting crazy failed magnificently. I ended up wandering around some twelve and a half miles of London today in jeans, lousy shoes, and a pretty heavy backpack. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but let's just make it clear that I've been back in the flat for about five hours, and my feet and calves are still throbbing. That being said, just wandering took me to some pretty cool places and helped me get a really good feel of how this enormous city is compiled in a way that taking the Tube just can't do—there's something about the Tube that makes you feel like each individual station isn't connected to the others above the ground; am I the only one that feels this way? Anyways, it was really cool! I know I walked through Chelsea to Wandsworth, through Vauxhall, then Lambeth, on to Westminster, into the City of London/the Square Mile, then through Belgravia, and back into South Kensington. While I only touched bits and pieces of each of these places, each of them is a part of London, and it was fascinating to see the change of pace and tone as I passed through each of them. (I also seem to have developed a talent of finding high-society crowds to awkwardly amble through. Last week, it was the red carpet event attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Today, it was a pack of Buckingham Palace invitees, complete with top hats, ascots, and fascinators galore! You know, I always feel like a total bottom-feeder walking between them in my comparatively grubby clothes. Whatever.)

I think these distinct boroughs of the city are very fascinating in the way that they've developed their own personalities. I was watching My Fair Lady a couple of nights ago, and not only was it fun to see and hear things referenced that I am now familiar with, but it was interesting to see the character of Henry Higgins noting the variations in people's speech patterns, based on the area of the city they lived in. I suppose this is a lot like New York City, the way it has its own five boroughs with their own personalities and accents. I'd guess that most Americans are familiar with a Brooklyn accent, even though it's only a borough in NYC. So strange. Anyhow, London's definitely got NYC beat with 12 boroughs in the city, and a full 32 in the Greater London area. That's a lot more accents! And it's just in London alone! Never mind the fact that there's a whole island of dialectical variation! So far, I can only barely distinguish a northern England accent from a not-northern England accent, and with dodgy accuracy. I don't expect my inner Henry Higgins to emerge any time soon, so I don't expect that to improve at all. 

Regardless, I am proud of one major accomplishment today: I got a farmer's tan. Yes, that's right. I tanned. In London. If you don't realize what a major feat that is, I dare you to come over here and try to get one in a months' time. You probably won't succeed as it's almost perpetually overcast and/or rainy. To be fair, it's very faint and seems to be a little more on the side of mild sunburn than tan, and only that after a good six sunscreen-less hours, but even still, I am proud of it! It was wonderful to see the sun again; I hope it makes more frequent visits over the coming months, as being cold is getting old. (I honestly didn't intend for that to rhyme. It just happened.) Anyways, two weeks down... eleven more to go!

First Week!

The only possible words to describe the past seven days would have to be: complete roller coaster. I hardly know where to start in explaining things, but I'm going to try to keep things upbeat, so I'm going to organize this into a few categories so we can begin and conclude on a high note. Those categories will be: (1) touristy-things, (2) frustrations and culture shock, (3) research progress, (4) cool cultural stuff.

1. Touristy Things. We kicked off Thursday with a group meeting, which was awesome. We went on a lovely tour of Westminster Abbey, got lunch at a pub, walked down Southbank to Tower Bridge, saw an ancient Roman wall, had some incredible ice cream (I got Ferrero Rocher flavor ... you can bet I'll be having that again a few times this summer!), spent a few minutes in the Natural History Museum, biked around Hyde Park a bit, and went to institute! Talk about a busy day! But it was excellent.
      On Friday, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral. I was planning on going for my project anyways, and Friday happened to be the day that the BYU Singers were giving a concert, so I figured it was a perfect day to go. The concert was incredible--not only did they sing beautifully, but the acoustics in the dome made it even better. Touring the cathedral was fabulous; I went all the way to the top of the dome, which was almost 600 steps up! The views from up there were fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to anyone!
      After St. Paul's, I wandered around Kensington, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge for about four hours (I was locked out of the flat). It's a beautiful area though and very nice. I walked past a lot of embassies and consulates and whatnot, as well as numerous international restaurants and shops. It was a huge reminder of how international a city London is.
      Yesterday, I went back to the Natural History Museum, to the Science Museum, and to the V&A. I'll probably go back to a couple of them because I only really looked at a few specific exhibits, and then moved on to the next thing. One of the great things about London is that they have so many free museums! (It makes up for the ridiculously expensive admission prices for the religious sites, in my opinion.)
2. Frustrations and Culture Shock. All I can say is thank goodness for Averyl and everything she's done for housing. If I had to navigate this for myself, I probably would have navigated myself back to the States, honestly. It's stressed me out so terribly and I'm not even the one that's been going out and looking for stuff. Fortunately, some lovely girls from the YSA ward have been letting me sleep on their couch since I got here, which has been absolutely wonderful. I'll be able to move in with a family tomorrow morning. Anyways, enough about that for now.
      I figure I might as well be honest about this: culture shock is hitting hard. It's kind of pathetic, since England is about as close to America as you can get on this side of the Atlantic, but I'd categorize it more as a homesick kind of culture shock than "This culture is completely different from the one I left behind." (That's not to say that London is just like America, because it's not. It just also isn't as different from America in the way that, say, Ghana or Paraguay or Mongolia, is different from America. But I'll get into some cultural things later.)
      The funny thing about culture shock is that it was one of those things that I thought I'd be prepared for. And although I was pretty accurate in guessing which of the "symptoms" I'd display, it's interesting to realize that anticipating outward symptoms is not the same as anticipating the actual emotional impact of culture shock. The emotional impact of culture shock is hard. I don't know how I failed to really think about it, but it's definitely not like you're suddenly doing these things without a reason. You have a reason: you're completely distraught. Whether or not there's a reason to be completely distraught varies and it certainly isn't perpetual, but when it strikes, it's hideous for a little bit.
3. Research Progress. Although I haven't really gotten into the bulk of my research yet or really followed my schedule at all, but I've found some really interesting things that relate to my project.
      Like I said earlier, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Strangely enough, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral happened to also be an astronomer. !!!!!!. How cool is that?? Not only was he an architect who was influenced by cosmology, but he was an architect of a major cathedral! It's like religion + science/intellect + architecture all in one! I was so excited when I found out. His name is Sir Christopher Wren, and he's someone I'd definitely like to understand better.
      The architecture of St. Paul's itself was also very thought-provoking. What really struck me was that the building is structured to represent our journey to God, so the doors open on the west side, and at the opposite east wall is the high altar. The audio guide I listened to as I was walking around talked about how, when the priest performs services at the high altar, he stands with his back to the congregation, in a sense standing with them, as they approach together what the guide called a "transcendent God." It spoke of God as being "totally different" and "beyond" the people. I found it interesting that this building is supposed to be representative of the people's journey to God, and yet the services suggest that God is unreachable.
      I thought this contrasted very significantly with LDS temples. They, similarly, are representative of our journey to God; but these buildings include the Celestial Room, which is meant to be representative of being in the presence of God. The journey is actually completed, at least symbolically. The Anglican concept of a transcendent God is something I'd definitely like to explore more deeply and understand where it came from. (I probably should know this, since I just took Christian history, but I've forgotten so I'll have to go back to my notes I guess.)
      At the Science Museum, I was really excited because there was an exhibit called "Cosmology & Culture." It ended up being something of a bust, because there wasn't much in the way of new information. That being said, I did get to see some copies of the Almagest, De Revolutionibus, Dialogue Concerning the Chief World Systems, and others, as well as some cool little contraptions. The one that really interested me was a Celestial Sphere made by Vincenzo Coronelli in the 17th century. It's like a globe of the night sky, if that makes sense. It's beautifully decorated with depictions of the constellations, both as stars and then filled out with illustrations.
      I also found a picture and a name that I'm excited to look into a little bit more. The man is named Camille Flammarion, and the picture is an engraving from one of his books, though the artist is unknown. It depicts a man who is in the world's sphere, and then breaks through it and is able to see the spheres outside of it. How cool! It's from 1888, so it's a little bit late for being a huge discovery, I think. But I think that Flammarion will be an interesting character in terms of getting an idea of where the whole medieval cosmology concept went by that time period (since apparently it was still relevant), and how that fit in with later perceptions of God.
   

   

   The Flammarion engraving

      I also saw an exhibit called "Signs, Symbols, Secrets," which was about alchemy. Alchemy was very closely related with Medieval/Renaissance cosmology, and there was a little bit of stuff from the museum that suggested God's role in alchemy. Although I don't think this will have a large impact on my project, it may be helpful. I got a good list of 16th-18th century texts that would be relevant to this  area.
      The final exciting thing for my research is that I found a book that I think will be helpful for my project called The Story of Astronomy by Couper & Henbest. It does cover a huge time period, but it does particularly discuss how astronomical discoveries impacted people's perspectives. I think it will be helpful in getting an overview of things, and in seeing how things have changed since the Copernican Revolution. 
4. Cool Cultural Stuff. 

• Stay Left. The words of the day during our group meeting were definitely "paradigm shift." It popped up several times, including in a conversation Ben and I had about walking. Some things you just take for granted in a country where you drive on the right side of the road, such as the propensity of everyone to carry this rule to the sidewalks. We don't think about it often, but pedestrian traffic in the US mimics vehicular traffic in a lot of ways. The same thing is true in London. I have to constantly remind myself to "stay left." Sometimes it's hard. When I'm crossing the street, even if I can see cars coming, after I've looked both ways, I always look left again right before I walk. It's just habitual! I'm afraid I'm going to break the habit, come back to the States, and get plowed by a bus. Or just be perpetually confused for a few months. 
• Buskers. There's a website that I follow called Thought Catalog. It calls itself "a place for relevant and relatable non-fiction and thought," and I really enjoy it. Yesterday, someone posted an article that was about something I happened to have a lot of experience with yesterday: street performers. Or, to use the apparently technical term, "buskers." I walked past a fabulous quartet and a guy who was singing the same song for several hours (or at least, every time I walked by him). The article is pretty cool, and can be found here:  http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/the-buskers-of-londons-underground-music-scene/. It was exciting to see something that I'd just been able to start experiencing on a website I've been following for months. Just to think that if I were home, I wouldn't really know what this is like ... but I'm in London, so I do! It's definitely cool. 
• Pants vs. Trousers. Remember this post? You know, the one where I posted that hilarious picture of pants and suspenders? Well, wouldn't you know that I messed it up right after getting here. We were in institute, and I decided to make a comment that involved me using the word "pants," which Averyl (thankfully) corrected for everyone. Naturally, I got laughed at. Thankfully I was able to laugh at myself too. I hoped that public humiliation would be enough to permanently change "pants" to "trousers" in my head. No such luck. I've messed it up like three times since then. :)

Whew! I think I'll leave it at that for now! I'm excited to see what the next week holds!