So today was my first official day of class, and while it doesn’t really sound all that exciting, it actually was really interesting! In the morning, we had a lecture about London and the theater in Shakespeare’s day, focusing most of the discussion on whether or not Shakespeare was the author of his plays. It was absolutely fascinating, to me anyway, being an English nerd. And being able to be taught by someone in a different country is also a plus of this experience, because usually you only get the points of views of people in the United States, and it’s interesting to hear things from a different point of view, especially because while we have extensive historical knowledge of the United States, our knowledge on the history of England is lacking, especially compared to someone who went to school here their whole lives. Now there aren’t any British students in our class, but our professor kept explaining historical events because he wasn’t sure whether or not we would have knowledge of them. It wasn’t something that I really thought about before coming over here and taking a class, and it was really interesting.
After our morning lecture, we took a lunch break, and were all to meet in London to go walk to the Globe and visit the Golden Hinde. Once we finally found our professor at London Bridge Station, we made our way over to the Thames River to see the lovely replica of the Golden Hinde. Since we couldn’t go in until 4, we walked around, learning about the various things that used to exist in that area of London, while seeing where we will get to see 3 of Shakespeare’s plays later in the month. Then we finally were able to get into the Hinde. First, a little bit of history on the Hinde. The Hinde that’s currently in London is a replica of the boat that Sir Francis Drake took when he traveled around the world in 1577. The trip took 3 years and the Golden Hinde was the only boat to make the complete trip. Going into the ship, I can’t believe people spent 3 years of their life here! It was so tiny, and the conditions must have been absolutely miserable. But it was still really cool to be able to go onto the ship and see what ships of that time period really looked like. Puts some parts of history into perspective. After touring the ship, we came back and just relaxed for the rest of the night. Soon this relaxation time will probably be turned into homework time, but I am enjoying the free time while it lasts. I guess that’s it for now. Until next time, happy reading! 🙂