Today was the first official class session for us Arts in Londoners (which means climbing 4 flights of stairs, sitting in a hot room for a couple of hours trying to hear the lecture over the traffic noise, and taking an ‘interval’ for some delicious British ‘digestives’).  The lecture was to prepare us for the day that awaits us tomorrow – a service at Westminster Abbey. We were given a brief history of the Anglican church (which, contrary to popular American belief, was not solely so Henry could divorce his wife), a briefing on the mass ordinary, and worship as theatre and art.  It should be a good experience for all of us, as this building is incredibly old, and it is where all the monarchs save two have been crowned!

After our lovely class session, Deb took some of us students to see a group of women’s choirs at the ‘Various Voices’ festival in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.  They were from Germany, Colorado, and the UK.  Each group had a distinctive sound and fun personality, and as a music student it was interesting for me to compare and contrast the diction, repertoire, and presentation of the three groups.  Still, I suppose my favourite was the British group, a 7 women acapella group that did jazz standard covers, and (my personal favourite) a cover of the Beatles “I’ve Just Seen a Face” (but this is coming from a long-time Beatles fan here).

After the concert, the group who attended the women’s choirs walked along the South Bank to the Globe Theatre to purchase our tickets for Romeo and Juliet.  On the way we saw a group that was ‘knitting for peace’ and they had the most amazing chair sleeve I’ve ever seen.  I have an incriminating photo of Deb sitting in it, but alas I have no way to upload it on this computer.  No worries – I’ll get it to Jerry as soon as I can!

The evening has been laid back.  A good number of us have gone to shows this evening, though a fair few remained at our beautiful hotel St Athans to spend time with the hotel staff and build relationships with the locals.  I myself am currently in the lounge, waiting to be introduced to ‘Jumbo’, a staff member who is relatively famous amoung previous Arts in London units.   Londoners are just so friendly, its hard not to want to sit and chat all day with them.

Reporting to you live from London, this is Dara Joy.

Cheers.