Watching protests and marches from our window

Living right in the heart of West End, London, you see all the protests and marches as Trafalgar Square is a popular gathering place and many of the embassies are in the area.

We live next to the Nigerian Embassy. There have been two noisy protests against the news anti-gay laws.

Recently there was a 'Save the Lion' protest.

On 18 March, hundreds of Galatasaray football fans marched through Northumberland Avenue chanting football songs.   It was a controlled march as the police were there. They were playing Chelsea that night. Was impressed that the fans came all the way from Turkey.

End of the second semester

On Friday, the second semester at LSE which started on 12 January 2014 came to an end. Here they have three semesters. The first two is 10 weeks long and there are lectures. You must do five semester courses in total for a Masters in Political Theory. The third semester is 26 April to 5 July and there are papers due and exams. So Athol has two exams and five papers due. The thesis is due on 1 September 2014 so students have 24 May until then to work on the paper. Apparently professors are not available from 5 July to ensure fairness.

So it's great that Athol doesn't have classes any more but he does have to read, write papers/exams and work on his thesis.

I think that we must spend the most time together than any other couple :) We spend 24/7 together and in a tiny 28 sqm room! Luckily we get along so well.

Spring on the horizon

Yesterday, the temperature in London reached 20C! Strangely a very warm day. People were even wearing t-shirts and the sun was shining. Spring is in sight!

The days are getting longer too. A month ago, the sun was setting at 4pm and temperatures reached 10C now the sun sets about 5:30pm and the max temperature can reach 20C.

Today sadly was a bit colder so I think that Spring is not quite here ;) but I think that we are on the up.

Weather is a big topic here in the UK - every morning we check how cold is it and if it is going to rain.

So we have 4 months leave in London! We will go back to the South African Winter so we must try enjoy the Summer before we leave. The cold wind now is actually quite refreshing, since here you walk everywhere.

The vibe in London is great. Even at night. We enjoy our walks at night. The other night we walked to South Bank which has a bit nice trendy, arty feel. There are restaurants and 3 big theatres and the food market. We walked through Jubilee Park by the London Eye and past Big Ben and back home. The location we we live is amazing, right in the centre of London. So busy and noisy but so much energy and life.
Am looking forward to Spring and Summer in London!

Athol has about 3 weeks of classes left before exams/assignments/thesis writing. He goes into LSE Monday 2pm-4pm, Wednesday 1:30pm-3pm and then Thursday 10am-4pm and is doing 3 courses this semester: Social Inequality, Business Ethics and Foundations of Political Theory. He really loves the intellectual learning and debates. His colleagues are so young, some are 22-25 years old  :) even  I am "old" compared to them. The second oldest person in his class is 30! Even the Professors are younger than Athol. Athol came into this course with no formal Political Theory undergrad but he has learnt so much in such a short space of time. I enjoy our discussions after class everyday.  The issues about what is right and moral is complex. It is difficult to practically solve the world's problems without hurting someone. So I am learning a bit about Political Theory too. One skill that is learnt is the art of creating an argument - I am so glad that Athol is on my side, wouldn't want to be up against him ;)

Watching STOMP at the Ambassadors Theatre

STOMP has been running in London for 11 years at the Ambassadors Theatre in West Street.

We went to watch the show tonight.

What amazing talent, rhythm and energy these 8 performers have.

There are no words during the entire 100 minutes but somehow they managed to entertain us with their different beats using unusual object - they used zippo lighters, tubes, brooms, sticks, zincs, trolleys, water bottles, buckets, pipes, hubcaps, newspapers, basketballs, tins, cigarette packets, plastic bags to name a few. Amazing co-ordination and sounds! Who would have thought that you can make so many different sounds with everyday objects.

There even comedy. There is one odd, awkward new comer who always does things in a funny way - quite funny!

They even try to get the audience to clap tunes.

The theatre is small and cosy, probably around 200-300 seats - stalls and gallery.

Strangely, before the show started they played 3 South African songs, maybe a coincidence.

A great show, very entertaining!

http://www.stomplondon.com/

Premiere of Monuments Men

On 11 February 2014, I decided to go to Leicester Square to see the red carpet event for the premiere of the movie Monuments Men.

There were large crowds.

It is quite a glamorous affair with lights, billboards, big screens, cameras, etc.

I couldn't get very close to the Odean Theatre because there were barriers and just tons  of people.

So I stood along the side where the cars with the stars drive in. I watched as the cars drove by and even saw John Goodman in the passenger seat in the one car driving by.

George Clooney, one of the actors and the producer, arrived and he walked around signing autographs. He was about 2 metres away. It was dark and the one photo I took had someone blocking his face. It is amazing how people go crazy for celebrities.

I saw Matt Damon and Bill Murray from a distance.

Some people queue the whole day to see these celebrities. It seems London is a city of queuing. We've noticed a lot of queues - for hamburgers, clubs, sports games, etc.  There are many movie premieres in London, probably about two every second week. It was fun to go see what all the hype is about.

The unveiling of the Dennis Bergkamp statue at The Emirates Stadium

Yesterday, we attended the unveiling of the Dennis Bergkamp statue at The Emirates Stadium.

There was a big crowd present to see this legendary Arsenal player.

What an amazing atmosphere. The crowds chanted the song 'There's only one Dennis Bergkamp, walking along, singing a song, walking in a Bergkamp wonderland' and shouted 'sign him up, sign him up, sign him up'. Fans stood listening to the speeches and watching the unveiling of the statue. The statue is the iconic picture of Dennis Bergkamp kicking the ball while he is in the air.

Dennis went around doing interviews, taking pictures and signing autographs. He was about 2 metres away from us. So wonderful to see this great legend!

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/bergkamp-gallery

Chinese New Year - Year of the Horse - Celebrations in London

Apparently, the Chinese New Year celebrations in London is the biggest outside of China, so it was was nice to be in London for this. Today, Trafalgar Square was packed with people. 

At 12pm festivities began. There was a large stage. After some speeches, we watched the Flying Lion Dance. This was the first that I've seen - a lion dance jumping on stilts! Wow, amazing. 

 

Then there was a dragon dance, some Chinese dancers from the Beijing Performance Troupe and singing.