(2-18)– After our crazy weekend, we took it kind of easy. It’s also a class day, so we started with British Life and Culture and talked some more about Westminster to get ready for our visit there next week. Ellie noticed that we were all pretty tired from our weekend (the other flat went to Dublin), but we felt bad for complaining after she told us she was pregnant.
Shakespeare on Stage ended early because none of us did our homework, so we talked a bit about the performance (everyone, including the teacher, thought it was generally bad- I think 5 stars was the best it got). Then we left and went to the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, both really impressive museums full of history. Their colonial history (a bunch of stolen goods in one and then mostly white faces in the other) gave me a bit of anxiety, and I felt like I wasn’t being told the whole story, but after a couple more visits I feel like I will know more about the world as a whole. I guess there are good and bad things about most places in this world, and it’s just more clear to me here.
After the shortened day, we decided to reward ourselves by going to the Milk Train ice cream parlor in Covent Garden. They do soft-serve with blended pieces and cool toppings (like salted pretzels, strawberry nerds, etc.), and a signature cotton candy cloud and Pirouette. It was pretty good ice-cream and felt very light, but sometimes you’re just craving Perry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Gianna seemed to like it though!
(2-19)– I woke up today and decided to run since I’ve skipped like five days. I went to Regent’s Park and ended up at Primrose Hill, which is a really pretty view of the town. You can see pretty far in most directions, so I wonder how the London Eye shapes up to this view. I’ll let you know when it opens back up from its renovations.
(2-20)– Today was London Journal and we went back to the Portrait Gallery. Our assignment was to find a face that we felt could talk back and ask questions.
I saw this portrait of Ernest Shakleton, the Arctic explorer, but eventually decided to write about a man named Isaac Rosenberg, who was a poet and artist. He was also a pacifist, but fought in WWII because he believed it was everyone’s prerogative “to get the troubles over.” He was tragically killed at 28. Here is one of his poems:
Break of Day in the Trenches
I think the reason that he stuck out to me was the tragedy and the irony. Good people, ones who send their mother’s money, who participate in a war they don’t even believe in, who grew up in poverty and are never able to settle: why does this happen to them? Do they deserve to see this beauty and then have it snatched away? I hope that in writing about them we are preserving their legacy, keeping them intact. It is the human curse to fade away to oblivion, I guess, but if we can extend his life just one more year by looking at his portrait and reading his work, at least that’s a life well-lived, as short as it was.
After we finished our work and went back to the room, we all relaxed for a bit before we eventually decided to go out for a quick “chill beer.” The boys, Nicole, Gianna and I went back to Craft Beer Co. and played cards for a while. I was a little sad and I guess Isaac Rosenberg was part of that. Although it was still a fun night, I think it’s hard to reconcile with the fact that we’re all here for such finite amounts of time. I guess I will just have to keep living every day like it’s going to be my last, and experience as much as I can. That’s the least we can do for the people who came before us.
Ethan Knox 
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