Stonehenge, Roman baths...oh yeah, and class

Stonehenge: world wonder or just a bunch of rocks? You decide.
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First of all, cheers!  Secondly, I have heard trans-Atlantic grumblings that my blog is not being updated regularly enough to keep my public entertained.  My response?  Going to school and uh, occasionally the pubs, is hard work!  In the future, please know that when my blog has not been updated for a few days that I am having a good time and that an entertaining blog will surely follow.  As my friend Allison put it today, if I weren't me right now, I'd be jealous (note* this remark came immediately after we found out that London Fashion Week general admission tickets were just ₤10.  And yes, we are going!)

Looking down into the ancient Roman bath
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As for the school part of my life, things haven't really started back up again.  Classes began last Monday but little more than the syllabus could be discussed.  All but one will be very interesting.  My politics class is being taught by a full-time professor at some school called Oxford.  I've heard it's a decent school.  My architecture class consists of going on field trips all over the city to see the different architectural styles.  My history professor is a lively old guy who probably witnessed most of the history he is teaching us and my literature class is tolerable only because I know I will never have class on Friday.  I had two internship interviews on Tuesday and was offered both positions.  I chose the Policy Studies Institute, which is in the city by the center where I take my classes.  The other internship was located in the suburbs and was a 30 minute commute from the zoo that is Waterloo Station (comparable to Grand Central Station in New York).  My interviewer at the PSI, Dr. Knight, was very excited to have me and gave me a packet of literature to read before my first day so that I could jump right into a project.  PSI undertakes projects from the UK government, non-profit organizations, and multi-national organizations to research and evaluate potential policies.  One project I'll be working on is a collaboration between seven countries to evaluate labor market disadvantage in the sciences for ethnic minority women.  For the other project, I have to visit the British equivalent of unemployment offices and take field notes as to how those seeking employment are treated by those working in the unemployment office.  I'm very excited about both projects.

Diving into the Roman bath for a therapeutic swim.
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Today, my friends and I visited Stonehenge and Bath, which is 2.5 hours southwest of London (and marked on the above map).  Stonehenge was pretty cool for being a bunch of rocks.  We "oohed" and "awwed" for a while (as it was worthy of such reactions), but were mostly entertained by the sheep in the fields surrounding Stonehenge.  It really is just a bunch of rocks in the middle of a field with nothing around it for miles!  Bath is a beautiful town.  All of the buildings are required to be made out of limestone from the town founder's quarry and all were stunning.  We visited the ancient Roman baths and blundered around the city snapping pictures for two hours.  The town was full of tourists today so we couldn't go into a lot of places because we didn't have time to wait in line.

Trying to capture the quaintness of Bath.
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Last night, we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub on Fleet Street.  The original pub was burnt to the ground in the London fire of 1666, but was rebuilt in 1667.  Now, I don't claim to be a mathematician, but that pub pre-dates the Declaration of Independence by 109 years (I did that calculation in my head, but decided to pull up the calculator function on my computer just to be sure I didn't make a fool of myself).  I had a very traditional English dinner of sausages, chips (french fries to you), and baked beans and ate on the VERY SAME oak table Charles Dickens ate at when he was still kicking.  We stayed the rest of the evening to have our first true British pub experience.  Across from our table was a table of 8 guys who started singing.  We joined in and by the time we were kicked out for closing time, which is 11:30 here, the entire room was singing and dancing around.  This is where I owe Zach a big "thank you, hunny" because one of the songs the guys chose to sing was "American Pie"... ALL of it.  And I knew it.  So there, Shnookie.  Thank you.

The Bath Cathedral, as seen from my lunch table.
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And now for further proof on the posh-ness of Chelsea: Hugh Grant lives a 1.5 blocks from my residence hall, reportedly.  One of the program directors said that he nearly hits an IES student every semester.  So far no near-misses, but my group has made it a priority to get one of us hit (but not seriously injured) by Hugh Grant.  Why?  To guilt him into paying for our trip to Paris for my birthday!  Other celebrities living in Chelsea are: Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate...something (Prince William's girlfriend), and Jane Asher (Paul McCartney's girlfriend before meeting Linda).  The neighbourhood is incredible.

The River Avon (literally meaning "River River") running through central Bath.
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Cheers!

Abbey Road update: still haven't visited because IES has kept me too busy.