Monday 28 September 2009

The North!

Northern England: Vision of Idealism
The moist climate of Northern England makes it easy for plants of all kinds to grow, and I couldn't help but take close-ups of all the vibrantly colored flowers and leaves. Although a photograph of a large piece of landscape is beautiful, I often like to zoom up close and observe the amazingly detailed beauty of each subject that creates a landscape.
The bridge in the Japanese Garden at Adenham Park
I loved all the places we visited while up north, but one of my favorite parts about our excursion was actually getting places. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the coach and watching the amazing landscapes rush by. The green rolling hills, trees of all sizes, millions of sheep, and hundreds of miles of stone walls that were hand-built centuries ago captured my attention for many of the hours that we were driving. It amazed me to think about how many hours of hard labor were put into those walls and how hard working the people who built them must have been. I started to reflect on how our society has changed and how things have slowly become easier and thus mad us a lazier generation. We love our modern conveniences now, but are we really better off now than we were 100 years ago? Questions such as these put deep thoughts into my head and caused me to spend some time reflecting on them.

Another one of my favorite parts of the trip up north was the Lake District. We spent one night in a hostel in Browness on Lake Windermere. A few of us woke up before the sun and went for a hike/run around the lake and viewed the lake from the peak of one of the surrounding hills. There was a slight mist above the lake which gave the landscape a picturesque feel and the crisp air sharpened my senses, which made the trip even more enjoyable.
View of Lake Windermere from the top of a surrounding peak


Fountains Abbey was one of my favorite places I have visited since being here in England. I had never seen grass that green in my entire life. The rolling hills gave me a sense of peace and the ruins of the Abbey were extremely intriguing. To see the nature overtaking the structure was very symbolic of the power of nature and of God. He is more powerful than anything us humans can create. We spent hours just taking pictures of the awe inspiring scenery, and could have spent hours more doing so.


Northern England is the most picturesque places I have personally visited and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to witness such beauty.

Saturday 19 September 2009

As You Like It




On Monday September 14, we went to Shakespeare's As You Like It at the Globe Theater. It was my first time ever seeing a Shakespeare play performed professionally, and I enjoyed it much more that I expected. It is definitely easier to understand Shakespeare's wit when actors are performing it rather than just reading the lines from a book. For my Shakespeare class we were required to read an article and write a summary of it, including our opinion on the subject. I have posted the assignment below.

Cross-Dressing in Shakespeare’s Time

The article I have chosen to summarize is “Cross dressing, The Theater, and Gender Struggle” by Jean E. Howard which discusses cross-dressing in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Very few people dared to walk the streets of London dressed in clothing of the opposite sex, but there are records of it occurring, particularly with women. These bold women were punished; most everyone in the society was against the practice. Many women who dressed mannishly were accused of prostitution. There was also a strict sex-gender hierarchy at this time, and some believe cross-dressing was used as a way of going against the normal social order and challenging the male-dominant society. Cross-dressing opened the gap between one’s social station and how they were supposed to dress. When rules of apparel are broken, social classes begin to break down. If there are not distinct sexes, then there is no distinct social order or division of labor. In As You Like It on the other hand, the role of male dominance was reconfirmed by Rosalind’s act of cross-dressing. She maintains her femininity by acting like the love sick maid that she really was. She also enhances the distinction of sexes by role-playing the part of a girl although she is dressed as a boy.

I learned a lot from this article. I had never thought about the profound meanings of cross-dressing in plays. I also never thought about cross dressing in the times of the Renaissance and the effect it would have on class distinction. I think it is very interesting that women who dressed in a masculine way were accused of being prostitutes, while it is the opposite today; women who dress in mannish ways are often accused of being homosexual. I believe that because there is much less of a strict social class in this day and age, cross-dressing is more widely accepted.

Dover and Canterbury





We made our first day trip to Dover and Canterbury last week, and what a wonderful trip it was! After a few hours on the coach, we pulled up to Dover and I marveled at the beauty of the white cliffs with the castle set upon them. This was my first time ever visiting a castle and it was so interesting! It was crazy to think that this structure that was hundreds of years old was once used as a fortress; I could have been standing where kings had stood many years before. I could feel that there was so much history within the walls. Oh how I wished those walls could talk; to think of the stories they would tell! An actor posed as the king and demonstrated what it would have been like to be a visitor to the castle back in medieval times, and brought it all to life. After visiting the castle, we drove down to the beach and walked along the pier and sat on the rocky sand (if you can call it sand).

Our next adventure on the trip was Canterbury. We made our own little pilgrimage to Canterbury and visited the cathedral, where the archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Church of England) resides. It was so neat to be in such a famous and historically rich building. The architecture was gorgeous! It was so fun to see the layers of history being built on each other, from Romanesque with the low arches and small windows to Gothic with the rib vaults and beautiful large stained-glass windows. I have learned about the architecture in cathedrals and this was the first time seeing a real example with my own eyes. It was so exciting! My tour guide showed us around the entire cathedral and taught me loads about the history of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett, the Puritans, and so much more. Visiting Canterbury made me very excited to tour other cathedrals throughout Europe and gain more knowledge!

The National Gallery: Medieval and Renaissance




Within the first few days we were here, we were able to visit the National Gallery. It was amazing to see so many famous paintings that I have learned about for so long. We were asked to find one painting from the Medieval era and one from the Renaissance era and compare and contrast them. Here is the paper that I wrote:


Comparison of Medieval and Renaissance paintings



The subject matter of Duccio’s The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea and Raphael’s School of Athens differ greatly, although they were painted just a few centuries apart. Almost all paintings created in the medieval period have a religious theme. Many if not most of these paintings are of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child surrounded by either angels or saints. The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea is just one of many Virgin and Child portraits painted by Duccio. Religion was very important in the medieval times, and many diptychs such as this one were used in churches all over Europe. By the time of Raphael, paintings started to contain subject matter of all kinds. The School of Athens is not religiously themed whatsoever. It portrays many great and important philosophers and scientists of the world gathered together, including Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato. By 1510, painting secular subjects was more common and accepted.


The aesthetics in both paintings are also very different. Duccio’s diptych is characterized by unrealistic physical aspects such as the gold background. The proportions of the all the figures are not accurate; the Virgin’s nose is very elongated and the saints seem to be floating. There is no depth to the painting either; Mary, the saints, and the angels are all different sizes. There is obviously no linear perspective used in this painting. In the medieval world, subject matter and glorifying Christ and the Virgin Mary was much more important than perspective. In The School of Athens however, proportions and correct perspectives were very important. The use of linear perspective is clearly used, as one can see there is a horizon line with all lines converging to one vanishing point. There is also a very elaborate background of a Roman building used. All figures are very realistic, as well as the folds of their clothing and the movement of their actions. This painting is much more alive than Duccio’s. In just two-hundred years, the style of painting changed drastically thanks to discoveries in perspective and scale.

Southall



On Friday September 11th, we visited Southall, which is the Indian community in London. We visited one Sikh temple and two Hindu temples and learned a lot! Here is a write-up I wrote on my experiences:

Southall expanded notes

Sikh Gurdwara Temple (Gurdwara Singh Saba):

· To pay respect, we were required to cover our heads with a scarf while in the temple

· In the Grand Hall, we walked up a long aisle, put a small contribution in a box, and then touched the floor to pay respect to the book. We then sat down cross-legged on the floor and just meditated for about 15 to 20 minutes.

o It is disrespectful to turn your back towards the book while sitting.

· There were people of all ages there; a few children, middle aged and elderly, all come to pay respect to the book.

· There are 8 rooms, all with a book inside with people reading.

· Some were wearing traditional Indian clothing while others just wore modern casual clothes.

· Sat sri Akal- how to greet

· Sikhs believe in one God

· Chaur Sahib- white feather they wave over the book; in India it is hot and dirty so the feather cleans the air around the book. Now it is done as a sign of respect. They treat the book like a king.

· Counterpart- nonstop reading of the book; takes about 3 days straight.

· Scriptures are just held in the temple; you can have a whole book in your house but it is a very big commitment. You must treat it the same you would in the temple. Most keep the book in 2 halves.

· 5 k’s- comb, bangle, hair, undergarments, knife

· Don’t cut hair or beards; wear a turban

Many beliefs that the Sikhs have are very similar to our Mormon beliefs. They believe in one God just like we do. They also believe in being healthy and we have the Word of Wisdom. They are respectful to people of other faiths just as we try to be. They wear special undergarments just like we do after we receive our endowments. Going to this temple was actually a testimony building experience for me. The Sikhs were very nice and it was extremely interesting to learn more about their religion, especially since I knew very little. But there was just a different feeling in the temple. I couldn’t feel the spirit like I do at church or while in our temples. The spirit is so strong when I go to the temple and it reassures me that I belong to the true church.

Hindu temples:

· There were many statues of gods. All of them were brightly colored with elaborate dress and jewelry. There were strands of lights strung about all over, many of them blinking. There were smells of strong incense.

· A few people would move from their knees to their stomach, back and forth to pray.

The Hindu temple was very different from the Sikh temple. In my opinion, there was less respect. In the first temple, there were men talking rather loudly, so it was hard to concentrate and meditate. In the second temple there was a desk with a phone which rang on loud. A man sat at the desk and answered the phone and was talking on it for the majority of the time. I could hardly concentrate or meditate with all the background noise. The visits to the Hindu temples were also a confirmation to me that I belong to the true church. The way they practiced their religion was very different. I tried to be open and learn about their religion and I learned some interesting things, but I did feel rather out of place and a little bit nervous. I learned many things from this excursion, but the biggest lesson I learned was that I belong to the only church on this earth that has the fullness of the gospel, which I am so grateful for.