Matthew vs. Fever, Man vs. Wild

Monday, September 24th

Mainly just went to class today. My History of London class continues to disappoint but my British Politics class is still going strong. In fact, today was our first evening session with John Hayes MP (Member of Parliament) which was more exciting than anything. How lucky am I to be taking a British Politics class that is taught once a week by an actual Member of Parliament. The comparison would be a class taught by a congressman or senator back home. This session was on campus, but soon they will be held in Parliament itself, and obviously I'm really looking forward to that. Today was also the day that I came down with my mystery ailment, high fever, delirium, pounding headache, wobbly vision, and horrible fatigue. So I went to bed at 8, and woke up 14 hours later.

Tuesday, September 25th

Woke up at 10 feeling well, wrote my Museums and Galleries paper all day. Went to Museums and Galleries. Once more the mystery ailment returned, so I skipped dinner (probably not the best idea) and spent the rest of the day in bed. Very exciting I know.

Wednesday, September 26th

I think today was one of my favorites thus far. Number one, it was very cold, which was nice. Went to the National Portrait Gallery with Museums and Galleries class, which I actually really enjoyed. The portraits on the top floor read like a historical narrative, letting you see the faces of the movers and shakers of the last 500 years of Western/World History. It was wonderful being able to recognize half of their names. Then we were forced to explore the ground floor, which I didn't like at all. It was a section devoted to the rock stars, celebrities, and fashion "icons" of the last ten years. I couldn't help thinking, "do these people realize that in one hundred, wait, twenty years, one or two of these people will be viewed as worthy of having their portrait in this museum?" I'm sorry, I'm with the Queen and Prince Charles on this one, I'll take the historical and traditional over modernity any day. Maybe I've spent too much time in history books.

After the National Portrait Gallery I had to head to Canary Wharf for my History of London class. It took about an hour and a half to get there, and has a much different feel from Kensington. I'm still struck by the amount of difference and uniqueness between London neighborhoods. Canary Wharf is an area that was once the maritime hub for London, but in the age of supertankers, the docks were no longer useful. During the Thatcher administration, banks and financial institutions put in motion plans to demolish all of the residences that still remained and replace them with skyscrapers. Well the plan went through, and now you've got an area with 400 years of history paved over by 15 year old streets and shiny buildings. I know, I know, I'm old-fashioned. One of the few structures that survived the building project houses the Docklands Museum. It essentially traces the 2,000 year history of the Thames and London (Londinium/Lundenwic/Lundenburgh) as a port city. Most of the exhibits were either geared towards children or old men who build model ships, and because I don't fit into either of those categories I think I wasn't as interested as I should have been. You can only ooh and ah over so many rusty nails. And it certainly didn't help that my mystery ailment returned half-way through the compass exhibition. Because of that I had to cut my visit short and head back to my dorm for some needed rest. And when I say "head back", I mean walk a mile to the Tube station, walk up 150 stairs to transfer to the District line, walk the mile to my dorm, and then climb another 100 stairs. That actually doesn't sound too bad, unless you've got a delirious fever, the chills, and a pounding headache. I'm making it sound worse than it was, but I'm glad I made it back.

On returning to my room I rested for about an hour, and even though I didn't feel like it at all, I made myself get up and go to a church with my roommate Brandon, his girlfriend, and Brandon's friend Tim. Why church on a Wednesday night (well I guess that doesn't sound so far-fetched)? Because Bear Grylls was speaking. Yes, the guy from Man vs. Wild, it was one of the best times I've had out here. There was free delicious food and free decent wine before his talk, and free dessert afterwards (mind you, this is in London, where nothing is inexpensive, let alone free). I soon found out that the church (Holy Trinity Brompton) was Bear's home church, and he wasn't going to just be talking about eating disgusting things in weird locations, he actually had some great things to say about his Christian faith as well. It was "inspirational", hearing this come from the guy with the number one show on cable, and who has climbed Everest and mountains deemed "unclimbable". And because of that, when he talked about life as a series of mountains to climb, it wasn't cliche, it was poignant.

Afterwards, I met up with the Boston University girls (and Steve) at the Imperial and had a great time. Turns out I might be playing the role of tour guide for them this weekend, because they haven't seen much of London, and I've been everywhere twice. As of the moment, those are my only plans for the weekend. I'm just hoping to take it easy and get rid of this fever thing, because while it would be interesting to see the differences between British and American health care, I don't want to learn about it first hand.