Today I went on a school excursion to Stratford-Upon-Avon where we saw "MacBeth" at the Royal Shakespeare Theater. When we first got there, we had the chance to wander the town a bit, so I went to Shakespeare's birthplace and then on the opposite end of the city, where he is buried. It was really busy, being a Saturday and major tourist attraction, but it was fun to try and blend in. I had my first fish and chips (really. . .even the fish) (ok, I didn't eat it all) and I ate it in the park. It was a great cultural experience.
The play was well done, although it was disturbing. But, there were signs noting that it might be, so I was fairly warned. It was fun to hear Shakespeare done in an authentic language at an authentic place, although there were a couple of different languages going on.
It was a great way to end my first week here! My classes have all been great. . .my first class of the day is "Stranger in a strange land," a study of five Shakespeare plays with a professor who is just fantastic, then my second class is "Writing in Revolution" which isn't exactly what I thought it would be, and I often have a hard time staying awake and focused, and then my final class is "Giants of the 18th Century" which I also really love, taught by a Penn State professor who taught at Cambridge for 30 years and I think he wishes he was British. . . but he is so funny. Mostly I laugh to myself though. PS I know that was the longest sentence in the world. Sorry! Anyway, we have two "plenary lectures" a day, one at 10:30 and one at 8:00, where we have someone speak to us on the topic of "power" and then whatever field they are in. It has been very interesting and thought provoking, so far we have had lectures ranging from power in the media to economics, and there is more still to come.
So good times here on the east side of the Atlantic pond, but I miss you all! Talk to you later!
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