Hampstead Village

My adventures last night took me on a pub crawl of Hampstead Village. Originally a Saxon Village, it developed rapidly in the 17th century as the wealthy from London moved out of the city to escape the plague and then the Great Fire. It has been known for it's health properties of clean air and water (imagine!) and now - apparently - is the home to the most UK millionaires per capita. Residents currently include Ridley Scott, Boy George and Ewan McGregor...formerly have included Dame Judi Dench, Elizabeth Taylor & Robert Burton, Winston Churchill and Keats. Sites in and around Hampstead are featured in several well-known movies, and the world premiere of Moulin Rouge was held at the village's art-house theater. Quite simply, it a lovely village in the midst of the city.

As my photos are all a bit dark & grainy, follow this link for more on Hampstead Village:
http://thevirtualtourofhampstead.co.uk/hampsteadvillage.htm

One of the many benefits to a pub crawl was meeting several interesting fellow-crawlers from Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and (of course) Britain. Our last pub included a casual game of Trivia Pursuit, resulting in two Americans and a (quite sauced) British grandmother kicking the trivial-tush of the young Brits, Kiwi and South African. Not a bad Saturday night!

O Magnum Mysterium

A little Latin to kick off this post? O Magnum Mysterium, arranged by de Victoria, was one of several choral pieces I performed today in a workshop with John Rutter. As an aside, the English translation:

O great mystery,

and wonderful sacrament,

that animals should see the new-born Lord,

lying in a manger!

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb

was worthy to bear

Christ the Lord.

Alleluia!

This piece struck a chord with me (tee hee) because ages ago I knew it by heart. I learned it in high school to perform with the Madrigals and am almost certain I have also performed it since (with King's College? St. John's?). It's a beautiful piece, soaring and reverent. And today I performed it in a drafty English church built in the 12th century by the order of crusading monks to protect pilgrims on their journeys to and from Jerusalem - under the direction of a world famous composer and founder of the Cambridge Singers. If you are familiar with choir music, you would likely recognize Pie Jesu from his Requiem.


Geeky choral facts aside, today I walked into a room full of strangers for the chance to do something I love to do - and happily, felt reconnected to friends and memories from decades gone by.


Sadly, I forgot my camera today, so I have included links to a few interesting pages about the Church and John Rutter.


Temple Church - History
John Rutter - Biography

Thanksgiving Day

  

Tower Bridge



It's been a few weeks and my initial post to this blog is sorely overdue. My dearest friends, family and loved ones are together today to share thanks for "fruitful fields and healthful skies," as Lincoln so aptly declared. My experience today is quite a bit different: a very lovely co-worker, Tamryn, took me on a brief journey to find the equivalent of my Thanksgiving meal here in the City of London. A photo will follow, assuming we can extract it from her mobile phone.



The Borough Market



It is an understatement to say I am thankful for her - as I am for so many who supported me in the choice to make this journey to the United Kingdom that began on a whim. I was sent off from Seattle in style by my dear friends from graduate school and by my Seattle team, who encouraged me throughout my decision-making process and surprised me with the increasingly popular business text Amazon's Guide to the Working World: What Would Wonder Woman Do? As if that were not fantastic enough, I opened it to discover that the covers were, well, covered with their well-wishes and encouragement. Not uncommon in a case like mine, but caught up in the details of packing my life away to donate, sell or ship to a new continent, it took my breath away.



Market bounty

Two weeks later: I am settled in London for the time being and slowly acclimating to the culture, the weather and the idioms (yesterday I only researched two)!

My team of just over twenty people is a diverse one; among others, we are from Poland, South Africa, New Zealand, Great Britain and (now) America. Dry-humoured, fligthly, charming, stuffy and perpetually (adorably) flustered...somehow they capture the full scope of what we (that is, I) think of when I think "London."





Westminster Abbey





Outside of my team and thanks to happy, holiday timing, I have met several smart, engaging women at a networking presentation and have been invitied to several choral events. Invitiations I clearly accepted!

So there it is, my first entry to this live, shared journal. As I explore, learning more about this city (and myself in the process), I'll do my best to keep you posted - so to speak. Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving from across the pond.

~c