Monday was my first elective class, and it went fairly well.  I think I will enjoy my core psychology class better, but the professor was very nice and cracked some pretty good jokes! The class is called Contemporary Issues in British Welfare, and I am hoping that it will pick up as we go along, because for now it is full of policy and the history behind welfare.  One interesting bit about it though is that it is taught (more so than my other class) in the British style, where you have your final assignments, and so spend the semester reading and researching for them rather than doing readings each week which may or may not be interesting to you.  I like this much better, since I can pick what I read and therefore actually end up enjoying it!

Monday night, spur of the moment, one of my roommates and I went into central London to see Fanfarlo give a free concert! It was at this awesome record shop in London, Rough Trade, which I will definitely be checking out again.  The concert was right in the store, and so we were really close to the band and could have walked right up to them at the end! It was really casual and fun!

The concert took us to a dodgey part of London which, though uncomfortable, was important for us to see.  BU is located in Kensington, the wealthiest area in all of London, and while I like feeling safe and secure walking around the streets at night, it is important that we recognize that all of London is not like that. I won't be rushing off to these parts at night again most likely, but I would like to be exposed to the other corners during my time here.  

Tuesday was spent in class and doing homework, but then in the evening I went to see The Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House.  It was a beautiful ballet and I was mesmorized by the elaborate costumes! I am unfamiliar with the ballet and so was surprised by the lack of plot and how so much of it was conveyed through hand signals! But the dancing was beautiful and it was really enjoyable! At one point, the ballerina playing Aurora stood on one toe and balanced as four men danced to her in turn and turned her around.  It was astounding how long she stayed in that position!

Today I had my core class and we took a field trip to the Wellcome Collection in London.  This is a medical museum, but they had an exhibition on identity, which fit in well with our topic in psychology.  The exhibit was really interesting; it was called "Eight Rooms, Nine Lives" and consisted of eight different rooms based on different people and their expression of identity.  There was one room with the diaries of Samuel Pepys and the diaries of normal, everday people of various ages.  It was exploring whether a person could really ever write honestly in a diary, or if we are always writing with the intention of having someone else read it.  Another room focused on the identity of a well known transgendered model, another on an actress, identical twins and others.  The "Nine Lives" part was that the visitors were included in the exhibit through the use of mirrors.  They had an interesting mirror that, instead of showing your reflection, taped you as you walked past.  So in the moment you could not see yourself, but instead could see the person who had walked there a few minutes before you.  It was really interesting looking into it and expecting to see yourself, but seeing someone else instead.

Tonight I went to see Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic Theatre.  It was an amazing show! I had already seen the movie, but the acting was so well done that I was completley wrapped up in the story! It has inspired me to find student tickets to more shows this semester!

I am heading off to Paris tomorrow night and getting back on Sunday.  I'm really excited! (especially for the museums!)