Monthly Archives: April 2011

The Passion of Jesus play at Trafalgar Square

Posted on by
3

Hi there again,
If you read my last blog post you’ll know how I found myself in London at the Trafalgar square on Good Friday. If you didn’t don’t despair you can read it right here.
So my sister (who was visiting London) and I went sightseeing to the Trafalgar square when we noticed that there was going to be an Open air play of the Passion of Jesus. So we rushed up to Macdonald’s to grab lunch and then back to the Trafalgar to get seated for the play in the blazing hot sun. The mixed crowd, which consisted mostly of tourists, was quite animated as everyone was eager and excited to watch the play. It was a proper pain finding a good place to set one’s self down because it was really packed and some people with baby strollers decided to set their perambulators smack in the middle of the place blocking the view of dozens of people behind them. I was unable to find a decent spot to sit down so I decided to take advantage of my height and stand at the back so I could get a clear view of the show.
The play began with a captivating introductory narration, the first few seconds of which told me the rest of the show might just be something I would want a memoir of so I got out my phone which luckily had a video camera and tape, roll action… I was Steven Spielberg for the afternoon (I don’t even know if the guy knows how to work a camera but I’m sure you get the drift :D )!
Having being raised a Christian, I have read the story of Jesus’ passion in the Bible and seen several enactments of the story, but this was something else! Brilliantly produced, the play held one spell bound, almost making you feel like you were right there when it all actually happened (even though I kept wondering how the Bible would have explained the backdrop of the red London buses and constant sirens but I digress). Watching the riveting performance, which was acted to include the crowd made it feel as if even we were part of the production. Being able to see the emotions of the different moments in the story without the comfortable insulation of a television screen was something I had truly never felt before. The crowd was ecstatic, bursting into thunderous applause at various points in the play especially when Jesus rose from the grave and appeared for the first time to Mary Magdalene!
It was such an amazing experience and when it was over, despite the near sun burn, parched throat and back ache, I was glad I had watched it and even more-so that I had taken the pain to record most of it with my phone video camera. If you ever consider visiting London around Easter, I definitely recommend you see this play if it is showing and you can be sure that you would have something worthwhile to remember!

Easter Trip To London

Posted on by
2

Hi again,
Last week was a very interesting weekend for me. I had my sister come on holidays to London so as you would expect, I went off to London to pay her a visit over the weekend. It also happened that this was Easter weekend as well which is quite significant for me as well. Apart from a few hitches here and there my journey to London went smoothly and was largely uneventful. I left Ormskirk on Thursday but I stayed over at an old friend’s house at Dagenham so that meant I didn’t get to see my sister until Good Friday. Since she had never been to London, we decided to do the tourist walk around the interesting sights in the city of London and so we found a map and searched for the area with a high density of tourist areas. Well anyone who knows London will be able to guess where we decided to end up…..YES you guessed right – the Trafalgar Square! So we jumped on a bus and off we went to Trafalgar. It took quite a while as buses in London often do to cover the shortest distances but we finally got to Trafalgar square. First we took lots of photos around the square, the museum etc. We even saw a pink (which is naturally my sister’s favourite colour) stretch limo, which she made me take a picture of.
The highlight of the afternoon was when we noticed that there was going to be an open air play of the Passion of Jesus in about an hour. I will tell you all about this in my next blog and believe me it was the most interesting experience!
After the show, we walked over the Thames river to the London Eye where we bought some cotton candy (which we both hated), had some ice cream and had some much needed catch up conversations. And then we had to go home because I still hadn’t recovered from the pain of the recording the 1 hour 30 minute play at Trafalgar.
All in all, it was an amazing day and I definitely look forward to coming back next year to watch the play again if it’s on. Well that’s all for now, make sure you read the next blog on the Passion of Jesus Play.

 

Work and Learn: The way to go with Edge Hill

Posted on by
1

If you’re like me, then I am sure that your choice of a school or course of study is definitely going to be based on your chances to get a decent job with good career prospects after university. However, in recent times, especially after the recent global economic recession, getting a good education and attending a good school is no longer sufficient guarantee of a job. Today, employers look for graduates who have considerable work experience in addition to their degree. The reason for this is that as part of cost cutting measures, employers want people who can hit the ground running and be immediately productive when they get in. Also, even when the work experience is not directly related to the course, the work environment and its expectations are very different from those that exist in the university environment. Having worked ensure the employer that you would already have an understanding of the proper code of conduct within a working environment.
At Edge Hill University, work placements are provided on almost every course to enable the students gain relevant work experience during their academic programme at both the undergraduate an post-graduate levels. Work placement are like industrial training programs that enable students to work in real organisations on real projects or assignments to enable them develop both their professional skills and other soft skills required to succeed in the work place. Rather than leave you out in the cold to sort out a placement for yourself if you have the connections, Edge Hill University proactively source work placement opportunities for students to help them gain the necessary work experience. Placements typically last from 3 weeks to as much as 3 months in some cases more. On some courses, the placements are carried out in one stretch while in others, it is broken down and spread across an entire semester, year or across the entire degree program.
Edge Hill University continues to be one of the top universities for graduate employment in the UK, now in a time of recession and downsizing, those are the kind of odds you want to have on yor side when you pick a university!

Weathering the Weather

Posted on by
Reply

If like me, you are new in England and you have lived all your life in the tropics (fancy scientific name for a country where the sun literally cooks you everyday), then you would want to know how to cope in England were the weather seems never to be able to decide which way it wants to go.

So here are my quick tips on how to stay comfy and healthy during your stay in England:

1. Listen to everything they tell you: YES, you really should listen to all the advice about how cold it is over here and pack that extra sweater or jumper. One thing I have learnt while I’ve been here is that you can never have too many warm clothes!

2. Layer-up: Even when it seems like the sun is up, the chilly winds can still do a bit of damage to your health. Besides for the trendy and fashionable, hiding under that large coat probably robs you of the pleasure of showing off your fancy outfit. Remedy: plan your light outfit to consist of 2-3 layers of fabric, especially around your chest and back. That way you can have the best of both worlds.

3. Ditch the fridge: you will probably hardly ever feel thirsty at first but the feel of a cold coke always does you good…NOT! It will only make you feel colder from the inside and put you at more risk than you want, so stick to the good old English tradition of a nice ‘cuppa’ tea and you’ll be just fine.

4. Take a coat: When you’re travelling, going for lectures that may run until evening, going out with friends or at least anticipate being outdoors for a while, take a coat along with you. Like I said earlier, the weather sometimes can’t make up its mind which way it’s going and you really don’t want to deal with the wrong side of it!

Stay warm and healthy, and you will love every day you spend in the UK!!!