Art Gallery

Today for math perspectives, we went to the National Art Gallery. The goal was to look at certain works, choose your favorite two and then relate them in some way to mathematics. I think my favorite work that we had to look at was Raphael's "The Crucified Christ.." The symmetry was outstanding. The center of the painting had the cross with Christ on it.. and could have been folded evenly down the center. It also had the same amount of people on each side of the cross, and the same with angels on both sides of Christ. It may not be perfect reflection symmetry, but in the sense that everything is even, it is symmetric. I also checked to see what its dimensions were online.. and according to the national gallery's website, it's 283.3cm x 167.3cm.. which is a ratio of 1:1.69, fairly close to the golden proportion. :)
The other painting that I thought was fantastic and symmetrical was Claude Monet's The Water-Lily Pond. There's just something really serene about it and the arched bridge seemed symmetrical to me. Almost reflection symmetry. It may not have been, and I may have just liked this painting. But regardless..one thing I did learn from the National Gallery is that.. I don't care for portraits.. but i love Monet and impressionism. Van Gogh isn't too bad either.. but I'd prefer to have seen Starry Night rather than wilted sunflowers that were supposed to represent hope and frienship. It seems a bit grim and ironic.

On that note..
5 days til home :)
10 til I see Kody! :D

Latest Update

I'm doing much better since my last two depressing posts! I'm trying to make the most of my time left in London. I realize, I may not have traveled as much as everyone else, but I realize that that's ok. I'll also be the one with the least debt to go back to when I get home :) haha.

So for my last weekend in London, I decided to do some of the tourist-y things that I've yet to do. I went to see Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. Thank goodness there were some other very nice American girls who were willing to take my picture for me. I'd have looked pretty silly trying to take my own picture in front of it! After that, I decided I'd go see 10 Baker Street (or look for the Sherlock Holmes Museum for fun) didn't end up finding the museum, but I saw Madame Tussauds and still went to 10 Baker Street even though I knew there was nothing there. After I finished this pointless mission, I went to Paddington Station one last time to make sure that I got a picture of "THE" Paddington Bear :) So I crossed off a few more tourist attractions. If I wasn't so deathly afraid of heights, I'd consider the London Eye, but I think I'm ok with just looking at it and admiring it haha.

I also went to the Christmas Tree Lighting in Trafalgar Square to see the tree from Oslo, Norway that is a gift from the Norweigan people to London every year for their help and support during WWII. It was really pretty and well worth braving the cold for about 2 hours (since I came too early, oops. I had a good view though!)

8 more days til I'm home!!
13 til I'm with my love<3

Question

So lets see.. most recent news-- the other day, I walked around Soho and got completely lost while looking for the pump which started the Cholera epidemic in London in the 1850s(?). I ended up stopping in this store that had a bunch of Yankees stuff and other American sporting team stuff in hopes that there was someone nice who would point me towards Broadwick Street. Turns out, it worked, one of the guys working googled it or something for me. Thank goodness. Either way, I found the pump and the pub right beside it dedicated to John Snow (the guy who figured out why cholera was spreading so fast in that area).

Anywho.. the question portion of this blog.. If I turned in all my work for my courses early and took the final exams for my capa and math perspectives course a week early.. could i leave this godforsaken country? I wish that were possible, but I know if I brought it up.. I'm almost positive that everyone would tell me, you only have 2weeks left, just suck it up. I've never felt depressed in my life, but for some reason, most of my time spent here is class, sleep, schoolwork, and facebook.. and thats just pathetic and depressing. I just want to go home, where I can drive and not take an hour to get to a destination that's fifteen minutes away..I want to be able to call a friend when I need to talk.. I want to be able to see my family.. I want to be able to see my boyfriend...I want to have my wireless internet back.. I miss the US.

15 days til home..maybe sooner if I can figure it out..

Alone

I never realized just how alone someone can feel in a city filled with so many people. I would honestly give anything to just go home at this point. Yeah, I know, I should be having fun, I'm in London, right? Thats easy for anyone who isn't here to say. It's easy for people here who always have someone to talk to or hang out with at any given time to say. It's easy for anyone who has a homestay family who has other students to say. But for me, I feel like I'm stuck. I love my host mom, don't get me wrong, but she's rarely here. The friend who planned to hang out with me the whole time while we were going to be here.. yeah, that fell through and she's ditched me a large portion of this trip. Sure, maybe that means I should go out and find someone else to hang out with.. but you know when you planned to do something and were really excited about it.. well its not such a great feeling when you get screwed over and nothing really goes as planned. That's where I'm at today.. this week.. this month.

35 days until I get to go home.
38 days until I'm with the love of my life.

Those are the only things keeping me going at this point. Those and schoolwork to keep myself busy.

Another day in London

So I've officially been in London for about 3 weeks now. It's been incredible and I still can't believe that I'm here. There's so much about my surroundings to take in right now. I'm so used to being in the country where everything is open and free. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I know what I mean. Anyways, I've been to alot of different places in London and have tried to see most of the famous areas. I'm planning on trying to convince someone to go on one of the Jack the Ripper tours with me. I'm also planning on learning Salsa some Thursday night :)

One thing I've discovered about myself.. I absolutely HATE trying to book flights and trips.. I'm trying to do it on my own. I would really just like to get my Italy trip planned.. however, this isn't going too well.. I'm sure I'll get it together though.. Just need to get Kayla more involved. If that doesn't happen.. I'll just find someone else in the group to tag along with!

Another thing.. I'm really starting to feel homesick at this point since I've done most of my exploring by myself. I haven't been able to talk to my boyfriend nearly enough because he's been just as busy as I am (not to mention all the time zone differences..). I know I'm just being a sap, but really after awhile of not being able to talk, you start to just miss everything thats so familiar to you. I mean, sure, this is a great opportunity, but I really miss Kody, I miss my family.. and i miss my best friend being around to hang out with go on crazy adventures..

OH and news of the day.. cell phones here are atrocious. I finally found one I liked, accidently dropped it this morning.. the screen was completely shot. Therefore, I spent my whole afternoon running between Acton and Earl's Court getting a new one! :( Upside.. I got a new phone free with a 10pound credit that I can use for a top up. I guess thats positive.

Thats all for now.. feel free to drop me a line on facebook or send me an email :)