touring buckingham palace and the second full week of classes

Last Sunday, Ali and I decided to head over to Buckingham palace to visit for the tours of the state rooms, which is a limited time tourist attraction, so we decided to take part in it. At first, I thought it would be realy "showy" and that I would not feel as though I were really seeing the palace, only a few display rooms that were never actually used. This was not the case, however. We entered from the side area of the palace and we were offered headphones for a free audio tour of the palace, which was actually quite nice to have. It was way better than having groups of people going through with a tour guide who would be screaming at the top of his/her lungs to be able to have everyone in the group hear what was being said. I really appreciated being able to go through the palace at my own pace and being able to guide myself with the little audio headset. I was able to see all sorts of rooms in the palace, most mainly used for entertaining guests that come at any given time as well as dinners, gatherings, meetings, conferences, etc. For each room in the palace, there was a big load of history given on the audio tour, which was neat.. but none of which I actually remember. The most amazing thing I was able to observe while at the palace was the overwhelming array of gifts that the royal family has received from various countries throughout the world. I found it quite amazing that the queen finds some kind of place to display every single gift that is given to her, whether it is small or big or even very oddly shaped. Every gift has a special place in the palace. I was quite disappointed when I found out that we were not allowed to take any pictures inside at all... but I certainly made up for it when we got outside into the back gardens. Here are a couple of pictures that I took and thought were especially nice.


I really enjoyed getting to ee Buckingham palace. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I then went back to the house and changed to get ready for church at Hillsong. This is a church I have found and really like. They hold services at the Dominion Theater and hold 4 services per week with around 2,000 people attending each one. It is a contemporary service with lots of music and enthusiasm. :) The best part about attending is that I have met a lot of people that are local to the area which is what I have been wanting to do. I love the girls I am living with and go to school with.. but I have also been wanting to get to know some local people, too!

This past week was the second full week of classes at Laban, and I loved them so much. I am learning so much just by being in this environment. I am learning a lot about myself as well as the type of dancer I am and want to be. The most important thing I am learning, though, is what I want to accomplish as a teacher of dance. I am learning so much about different philosophies of teaching as well as working in classes to try and figure out what it is within myself that I have to offer to my students. :)) more to come. cheers. mk