Well, it’s officially fall here in London…it gets to be about 50 degrees here every day, so I think those days of sunshiny warmth are over! However, it is also the perfect excuse to make detours just to walk through big piles of colorful leaves and to buy colorful new scarves in the street markets (both of which I have been doing quite frequently)! For those of you who don’t know, fall is one of my favorite times of year. To me, fall in the Carolinas is sublime, and it seems to reach its pinnacle of perfection at Furman. For the record, fall in London isn’t quite the same, but it is pretty great! It’s hard to believe that we have been here in London for just over two weeks, because at times it feels like we have lived here forever…we have our “London Legs,” as Dr. Aiesi likes to say, and we’re soaking in so much of the city every day that we have begun to feel like locals! Olivia and I especially enjoyed feeling like locals (or at least pretending to be) this past weekend when two of our best friends, Mary Grace and Sara Beth, came to visit us from their study abroad trip in Brussels! It was such a wonderful reunion....there is nothing quite as refreshing and encouraging as spending time with people you love and getting a little taste of home during this long semester away! We had quite the weekend of London adventures…climbing the lion statues in Trafalgar Square (well, actually we didn’t climb them because our shoes were too slippery and we were scared), sharing a delicious and HUGE bowl of frozen yogurt at Harrods, riding my first double-decker bus, spending hours in Hyde Park eating our picnic lunch, soaking up the sun, lots of people-watching, and just chatting about life, and then came our biggest success of the weekend: finding "standing" tickets to the musical Les Miserables (which was sold out every weekend until Christmas) for only 10 pounds (around 15 dollars) each!!! And though we didn’t have seats, we discovered that standing is actually the BEST way to watch a musical because we could sing, dance, and march along with the actors (or basically just do whatever we wanted to do) while everyone else in front of us just had to sit there the whole 3 hours. Also, Mary Grace taught us the secret of waiting at the stage door behind the theater after the show, so we got to meet two of the leading actors and get their autographs! Basically, it was a perfect night and perfect weekend with some of my best friends…so thankful for the time we spent with them! 

I also had the great pleasure to see a whole host of different Furman folks this weekend! I spent a lot of the weekend with Stephen Tagert, and we had a fantastic time. We went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, and it turned out to be the national day of pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Edward. It was pretty impressive! I also enjoyed the company of several friends this weekend, prominent among them Andrew Mueller, Blake Wood, Seth Johnson, Anna Bower, and Leah Hassler! It almost felt like being at Furman again!
Although we have spent a lot of time talking about our friends, I wanted to give y’all some highlights from our first few weeks in London. As Julie mentioned, we have spent a lot of time exploring the city. In particular, I really enjoyed visiting the House of Commons. The British political system differs from the American model in some rather fascinating ways. An obvious and more superficial difference involves rhetorical style and forms of debate. After spending a few minutes in the House of Commons, any American will instantly notice the eloquence and wit of British MPs (Members of Parliament). In many ways, the House of Commons has more opportunity for meaningful debates and verbal sparring. For political junkies, it is fascinating! I have also really enjoyed going to a variety of art galleries in the city. Thus far, I have been able to go to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, and the Tate Modern. I personally find art history to be incredibly fascinating. Another highlight from our first weeks has to be my visit to the Occupy London protest. The protestors are camped outside St. Paul’s in London and seem to have a decent number of people assembled. I have tried talking to a few people at the protest, and for the most part, I tend to agree with conservative critics who allege that the movement lacks a cohesive vision. In their defense, I was handed a leaflet on my second visit that offered an initial statement. Although I disagree with some of their positions, I think their voice is meaningful in our public forum, and I particularly find their points about economic inequality to be compelling. 

In the realm of theatre, we have been to see a wide variety of plays in the past few weeks. A few of my favorites were War Horse and 13. I also went to see Les Miserables on my own with a few people, and it is my favorite play. 
Here are a few things that we are looking forward to in the coming week:
1. Seeing the Tower of London tomorrow as a class!
2. Touring the House of Commons on Saturday morning!
3. Taking a short day trip to Windsor Castle on Saturday...not only are we looking forward to the castle, but we're also just looking forward to getting out of the city for a little peace and quiet!
4.  I just bought a new kite, so I'm looking forward to a windy day so that I can try it out in Hyde Park! (think the last scene of Mary Poppins....)
5. And of course....even more plays!!! We are truly seeing SO much theater and so many different kinds of plays that it can be overwhelming and tiring at times, but it is really neat to see how much our knowledge and perspective of theater has changed and grown since that first week in Stratford...I think every now and then we are going to be wishing for some of these theater nights when we get back to school next semester! 


We look forward to updating you again soon! We hope you're enjoying the fall wherever you may be!
Yours Truly,
Thomas and Julie