Delicious Autumn*--Day 43

*Taken from a George Eliot quotation.

About this time of year, I am beginning to miss the States. Why? Well, chai lattes aren't such a big thing here, but they are my favorite drink. Yes, I could go to Starbucks, but I really don't like that particular chain, and I would rather get a chai from an independent coffee house. Also, the British aren't so big on fall activities like carving pumpkins (or eating pumpkin flavored things) or going to apple orchards. However, I mean to find an orchard and go there so I can get my proper fill of fall. Over Skype on Tuesday, my parents told me how beautiful my marigolds are, and then they sent me pictures. I planted the marigolds from seeds that I got at the Quad City Animal Welfare Center on their Volunteer Appreciation Day, so they have extra significance for me. I wish I could be there to see them in person! Thanks, Dad, for taking the pictures!

Regular yellow marigolds.

Red and orange marigolds.

Yellow marigolds and orange-and-red marigolds living in harmony.

The marigold plants en masse in our garden.

In addition, the fall colors here are not as brilliant as I expected them to be nor as brilliant as I am used to in America. For the most part, the leaves just turn slightly yellow, then brown, then fall off the trees in a rather quick manner. I love the slow emergence of beautiful fiery colors set against a fabulously azure sky. I guess when it comes to fall, you can't beat the Midwest.

This morning I worked on some assignments, including watching The Young Victoria for Art History. Oh, yes, it was very trying. After lunch, I watched yesterday's "Prime Minister's Questions," which is a fabulously entertaining question-and-answer session in which the Prime Minister takes questions from MPs, and the opposition leader gets his or her say, too. It is hilarious to watch David Cameron defend his government and offer rebuttals to Ed Milliband. Apparently, "PMQs" are broadcast on CSPAN back in the States, so I would encourage you tune in on Wednesdays (or at least watch the replay online or on TV--the questions are at noon British time, so for the Midwest, that would be 6 AM, and you can adjust the time for your own time zone).

After that, I spent some time looking at the website for my Molecular Genetics class, and I think it's going to be pretty intense. Well, that was my first reaction, at least. Then, the scientist in me took over, and I became extremely excited about the opportunities this course will present. I am so looking forward to doing some hardcore scientific work and really putting a lot of time and effort into this project. I thought that having to do all of this work would totally turn me off to the class, but I see now that I am truly a biologist at heart--the prospect of research and elbow grease in the name of science (especially biology) makes me really happy, and I know that I have chosen the right field. Fortunately, I have noticed that there are at least two other people in the class who are also not seniors (another junior and a sophomore, even!), which makes me feel a little better about taking it. It will also be nice to get my senior inquiry project out of the way so I can graduate early (I have figured out that if I do things right, I can graduate in February 2013 because I had one trimester's worth of credits going into college). That would be really great so I can prepare for vet school and maybe work to earn some money before I start vet school. In addition, the class requires us to create a poster of our project, which will be displayed in the Celebration of Learning in May, an annual conference at Augustana where students show off their projects. I am planning on continuing my blogging after I return home, although it will have a different name and URL (probably something like "Confessions of a Pre-Vet Student" unless I can think of something better). I really want you to share in the process, too, so you will definitely be "invited" to the conference when it happens. But that is a long way away. For now, I am thinking about my upcoming lab work.

Later, I decided to take a trip to the Science Museum, the only museum near us that I hadn't visited yet. The Science Museum is right behind the Natural History Museum, and it only takes about 20 minutes to walk there from our flats. The walk goes right by the South Kensington Tube station, and in front of the station is a statue of the composer Bela Bartok. I've been meaning to photograph it because it is very elegant-looking with the colors of the Hungarian flag (Bartok's nationality) lying at its feet. Judging by real photographs I have seen of Mr. Bartok online, I think the statue is a pretty good likeness.

While he looks slightly out of place, he does lend a certain charm to his immediate surroundings.

  Anyway, back to the museum. Let me tell you right off that the Science Museum is my favorite museum so far. I'll explain. The Science Museum has a lot more interactive activities than the Natural History Museum, which I really like. I started off on the ground floor looking at some models of steam engines designed by James Watt. Farther back on the ground floor was a display of relatively modern technology, including an interesting installation called "Longplayer" that is a 1000-year-long song! I could hardly wrap my brain around it. It's basically a collection of chimes and other musical noises that keeps playing and playing and playing...well, you get the idea. It is engineered to respond to environmental cues, so when a clock in the gallery chimed 3 o'clock, the music subsided into a kind of echo of the clock sound and then resumed its chime-like melody. I listened to a small snippet of the song, which started playing in 1999 and is scheduled to finish in 2999. The idea is that our lives are so fast-paced that we don't stop and appreciate the simple things, like music. The song is a reminder to slow down, reflect, and live in the present. Personally, I thought it was a little weird, but then again, I'm kind of easily weirded out, so maybe I'm not the best judge. Then, I wandered around a gallery full of information about ships and docks. The gallery had dozens of models of ships from all over the world, including those from India, the Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, and France. The museum has a really cool Wellcome Wing that holds all of the best interactive exhibits. The best floor of the Wellcome Wing in my opinion was about the human brain, and it contained a lot of these pod-like things with screens on them where people could play games and take quizzes (like personality quizzes, morality quizzes, uniqueness quizzes, and more). I think I spent the most time in this area. I finished in a section about materials, which was really cool. The part I liked best was a set of "unknown" materials that had three clues as to what they were (plus a fourth clue involving touch for younger people). There was also a cool display of a ferroliquid, which is magnetic. Underneath its basic were two magnets that could be used to distort the behavior of the liquid and create cool shapes and effects.

I really tried to get up to the fourth and fifth floors while I was there, but access to these floors seems limited. I later learned the location of the stairs leading to these floors when I consulted my map of the museum, but by then it was too late. This was really a shame because the top two floors are all medical, and the fifth floor in particular has a Veterinary History section!! I can't believe I missed it!! Of all the things not to see at the museum...Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to go again! If I do one thing before I go, it will be to return to the Science Museum to examine these floors. Now that I think about it, Thursdays are usually really good days for me to go to museums because a few of my friends have class in the afternoon, and by that time I'm usually done with my homework, so museums are a good way for me to get a walk in and to entertain myself when my friends are busy. There is also a small section on health on the third floor of the Science Museum, so I will investigate that next time, too. Like the previous museums, I spent about two hours here, but even more so than with previous museums, the time really wasn't enough.

Tomorrow is our day trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury. I hope that it is an educational day full of interesting sights. I am eager to share what I learn with you. I am looking forward to seeing the old Salisbury Cathedral and to forming my own opinion about what Stonehenge really was. You'll be hearing from me later. Until then, cheers!