December 3

       Music, music, music!!! Class at 10, then another music lab session to work on my assignments. Then I glazed over. Since I've been in England, I don't think I have completely kicked into hard core school mode the way I usually do back home. Most of that probably has to do with the fact that I'm not working 2 jobs or commuting over here. Whatever the reason, my cramming threshold isn't what it used to be. (That's probably a good thing.) The girl sitting next to me in the music lab and I struck up a conversation about the differences between university here and university in Sac. Everytime I try to articulate the differences, it gets more confusing! Things are so different over here when it comes to higher education. (I prefer the CSUS way). We had a nice chat, and then I left to get some lunch (with tea!) and decompress for a little while. My friend Kim and I left for an evening in the city around 3, but not before I couldn't get cash out of the campus ATM with my debit card. Frustrating, but I think I sorted it out this evening when I called my credit union - at least I hope I sorted it out . . .
       As Kim and I were walking down to the bus (that went on its break right when we arrived. No, I'm not kidding), she informed me that the temperature outside was 28 degrees F. Woah. We both bundled up and decided to make the walk down Snakes Lane instead of waiting for the intermittent buses. Once we arrived at Leicester Square, we immediately went to the discount ticket booth and joined the "queue." We figured it was best to diversify our options of getting cheap tickets for a good show, so we came up with 4 possibilities of shows we would shoot for tonight. Here's the list: Mamma Mia, Love Never Dies, Don Giovanni, and Oliver. We landed on option 3 - Don Giovanni. Neither of us knew anything about it except for hearing the title thrown around here and there. We had a few hours to kill before the show, so we decided that we could use a healthy dose of museum atmosphere.
       The National Portrait Gallery was our selection for the evening. We quickly learned that neither of us are very interested in art, but we still feel like we are somehow obligated to go to at least a few galleries or museums since we ARE living in London. I think we spent about an hour there before we got bored and left to find some dinner. As we walked around, we found a darling restaurant that was playing Christmas music and whose menu looked delicious. I was feeling adventurous, so I ordered a duck parfait/patte appetizer with fig chutney on bread which was weird and gross, but I ate it. For the entree, both Kim and I had some fantastic pasta. Oh yum! I love pasta. Can you ever get tired of it?
       7:30 rolled around soon enough, and we were off to the London Coliseum (strange spelling) to see Don Giovanni. We got really good seats for only 25 pounds each, and the theater was absolutely beautiful! It was so ornate. There were lots of old people there, but we didn't care. I feel like such a West End groupie! The opera was 3 hours long, but it had been modernized and translated into English so that made it easier to swallow. Well, actually it was harder to swallow because I actually knew what they were singing about, and it was horrendous. Technically, the performers were impeccable, but the storyline is abhorrent. For one, I'm not ok with actors walking around the stage with devil masks on wearing shirts with Jesus' face on them. DEFINATELY NOT OK. Also, the debauchery and sexual deviance (the main character is a sex addict and rapist, essentially) just made me realize how much of that is all around me in the city. Back home, I know it's there, but I'm usually too busy with work, school, and church to notice. Wow. I would rather be busy than be poisoned by such sick obsessions. That said, I would just like to reiterate how so very very talented the singers were. The woman who played Elvira was unbelievably good.
        Post show snack = Haagen Daz again, only this time I had a delicious hot chocolate that was actually made from a blend of ice creams. Awesome, right? That was a great idea, whoever invented it. A beverage with both "hot" and "ice" in the same cup. I sipped on that cup o' goodness as we rode the tube back to campus. Thankfully, the shuttle only took about 15 minutes to pick us up from the station. I have learned to expect the breaks to come at the most inconvenient times so I can possibly avoid some disappointment. Now, I'm warm in bed and very ready to fall asleep.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I wouldn't let the corruption around me influence me for the worst. (It creeps in, ya know?) That I would resist the devil's subtle tactics and follow God's command to "Be holy, as I am holy."