Gunners...

Attention: If this post offends you, you should take that as a good indicator that you are indeed a gunner. For your happiness and mine please reconsider all your daily school behaviors.

Monday, I headed back to school for the final time. This, my nineteenth year of classroom based education, will be my last. It may still be a bit premature to make a paper-chain countdown of remaining multiple choice tests; but, even with the ridiculous number of tests we take in medical school, it has to be below 50. (To Communications and English majors, yes, only 50 tests remaining is a joyous occasion. To Premed students, if you want to remain premed students, refrain from doing any test number calculations.) There are many things to like and dislike about a new school year. I was hoping one of my dislikes wouldn’t bother me for the first few weeks, specifically until September 16^th and our first exam of the year. Unfortunately, within five minutes of entering MERF, before the first lecture began, I came face-to-face with a trio of gunners gunning.

I decided to refer to Urban Dictionary to get a less “Kaitlin-judgmental” and a more “universal-judgmental” definition of a gunner for non-medical students. These two were the best:

1. A person (usually a medical or law school student) who uses over 3 different colored highlighters, tabs every page in their notebook, and raises their hand after every question asked by their professor, regardless of if they know the correct answer or not. Gunners like to hear themselves speak. They use complicated words to make themselves sound smart even though they have no idea what's going on in class- they pretend they do. They are trying to intimidate you and eliminate competition.

2. A name for someone, typically a medical student, who will do anything (ethical or otherwise) to get ahead. M1 Dude: "So, Bunson explained that the kidneys are somehow connected to the islet of Langerhans?" Other M1 Dude: "Don't listen to Bunson. He's a total gunner. Bunson will burn you everytime."

If those two definitions describe people you would like to be surrounded with for four years, you are either a gunner or a saint. Clearly from this post, I’m neither. Now I’m not saying I don’t try hard in medical school. I work my butt off and I’m proud of it (hopefully literally today in yoga). However, if I ever turn into a bug-eyed, frantic, rambling, non-sense question asking, hypertensive, mass highlighting, Friday night studying version of myself, have my little sister forge my signature on a power of attorney and either medicate me or lock me up.

Now back to Monday. Morosely, I walked towards my community to put my frozen lunch in the refrigerator. Each step re-enforced that my final summer had come to an end. I resisted pumping my body full of caffeine because, although I hadn’t looked at the schedule yet, the first day couldn’t be too bad. I began to reconsider the coffee when I remembered that my first day last year involved cutting someone’s chest open with a bone saw and rib cutters. I turned from the refrigerator, heading for EMRB for coffee when I ran into the gunners. Three mid-twenties hypertensive males clutching freshly printed schedules began talking so the whole community could hear. Their topic of discussion: _ _ _ _ _ _. (Fill in the blank and check the answer at the bottom of the post.) If you got it right, you _ _ _ _ _ this post. One of the sentences said in the conversation was close to this, “If you’re going to pass a class you might as well honor it”. WHAT???????? Okay, I know you’re a gunner and I’m not, but I’m really confused by that logic. Instead of strategizing for honors before the syllabi are passed out, could we all just take a deep breathe. Help each other out. And most importantly, never forget that Ps get MDs.

Answer: HONORS

Welcome to London, please mind the gap and my 150+ pounds of luggage

A sure sign that I love a trip is hearing me plan a return while still on the trip. My mom and I began planning our return trip within 24 hours of being in England, so I would say the trip was a success. I think my mom would agree with me, only one thing could have made the trip better: our whole family being there. (Imagine my father smiling, my older sister crying and my younger sister rolling her eyes while they read the previous sentence.)

Now let’s begin “The Official Kaitlin Flannery Tour of England” with my favorite part: the theatre. On my previous trip to London, I had time to see The Lion King. The show had a precious young Simba with a British accent and was of course fantastic, but I have to say it didn’t stand up to the two we got to see this trip, Billy Elliot and Les Mis. Since seeing them, my mom and I have debated which show was better. Besides the fact that we saw them the same week, they have nothing in common and are therefore basically impossible to compare. However, we’ve crowned Les Mis the winner. The music in Les Mis is second to none and with Alfie Boe playing Jean Valjean, I got goose bumps every few minutes. Plus the set for the show is so amazing. It’s a revolving stage that keeps the action moving more like a film than a stage show. We got the tickets for Les Mis in June and looked forward to the show; on the other hand, we got the tickets to Billy Elliot a few hours before. Not planning on seeing Billy Elliot, and therefore being surprised by the story and music added to how great it was. It was the perfect show to see in London since the story takes place in Northern England during the mining strikes of the 1980s. Billy was played by, Adam Vesperman, a 13 year old living almost 5000 miles from his home in Seattle, to truly live the story of Billy. The story, with Elton John’s music fueling it, preaches the importance of taking chances, acceptance and family. If you ever have the opportunity to buy tickets and see the show hours later, take it, you won’t regret it. 

This summer, I became a master at seeing a city in three days. One of the greatest things about this trip was the little bit of extra time. With it, we were able to walk our way through the city. In my opinion, walking is the best way to see and understand a place. We clocked over six miles every day which definitely helped with our London diet while stumbling upon the big tourist sites and exploring some sites not found on the London Top Ten list. My favorite spots were Portobello Road and Market in Notting Hill, St. James’s Park and Kensington Gardens. 

Buckingham Palace

Not sure why they wouldn't let me in...

St. James's Park

St. James's Park

Found some things while we were walking around!

Notting Hill

Kensington Gardens

My mom indulged my nerdy side, one day of the trip, and biked with me to Greenwich to visit the Royal Observatory, the Prime Meridian and the home of Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich Mean Time has been used as the basis of time everywhere for several hundred years. Every day, a ball drops at the Observatory to mark 1 PM and help people set their clocks. We happened to be there for the ball drop. Though the sight of the ball dropping was about as exciting as the New Year’s ball drop, knowing that this calculated time has dictated for my whole life if I was early or late is, to me, actually exciting. Plus, standing in the East and West hemispheres at the same time is just plain cool. It’s about an hour bike to Greenwich from the center of London and the map reading is a little challenging, but it’s definitely worth it.

The view of central London from Greenwich

Checking my watch with Greenwich Mean Time

If you haven’t been able to tell from my previous travel posts, I’m not very enthused about guided tours. I usually hate the big charter buses, the attempt at witty banter from the guide and the long group waits. However, to see Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge in one day there really isn’t another option. So, we boarded the Evan Evans tour bus bright and early and headed for Windsor. I was pleasantly surprised that our tour guide was actually witty and shared interesting information. First, we learned a riddle to remember what happened to Henry VIII’s wives. It goes: DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DIED, DIVORCED, BEHEADED, SURVIVED. We also learned the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain. Most of the bus seemed to be in the dark with the terminology so I will share. Great Britain is England, Wales and Scotland while the United Kingdom is Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (Okay, maybe not that interesting.) Windsor Castle is the official residence of the Queen and her family. She calls Buckingham Palace the office and Windsor Castle home. This was my second time there and I have to say it looked the same, but my mom wanted to go so I’m very pleased that we did. Next we were on our way to the city of Bath to see the only ancient Roman bath in England. I went to a Turkish bath in Hungary, and in the battle of baths, I have to say Turkey wins. However, Bath was very gorgeous. Finally, we were on to my favorite site of the day, Stonehenge. Located north of the Salisbury Plains (an area the UK uses to stage war games) and constructed about 5000 years ago, Stonehenge is one of the greatest mysteries in the world. It’s truly mind-blowing to stand and look at the bluestones (the vertical stones) and imagine how they were transported 150 miles from the source in Wales before the wheel made its way to England. More mind-blowing is why.

Mom at the Roman Baths

The thermal spring

Throwing pence into the bath

War games in the Salisbury Plains

When we got back to London from Stonehenge that night, the streets were completely deserted and all the shops were closed. We had heard about the riots on the news, but it all seemed isolated to the outer neighborhoods of London. We hadn’t realized the night before there had been looting in Oxford Circus and Camden Town near where we were staying in Regent’s Park. We got back to our hotel quickly, passing rows of police cars on the way and stayed put for the night. It ended up being a calm night in London due to the presence of 16,000+ police. Unfortunately, the violence spread to Manchester and Birmingham where three young men ended up dying trying to protect their neighborhood. I honestly couldn’t believe the scenes we watched play out on the news. I know the Midwest doesn’t compare to England in many (if any) ways, but youth culture is similar in the western world. While I was gone this summer, my hometown flooded and I watched news footage of the whole community pulling together to save each other’s property. Being that it was summer and school was out, a majority of the help came from youth volunteering. I don’t really know what I’m trying to get across here, but I think it’s just that I truly hope nothing this violent and ultimately pointless would happen here. After watching the flood response, I can’t imagine it would. What in the world was accomplished from destroying businesses and homes? How can the youth that participated in the riots feel so disconnected from their community that they would bring harm to it?

Other than this one night, the riots didn’t affect our vacation and we never felt unsafe. We however gave my dad a fright because we didn’t get online and respond to his email about the riots quickly. In the future, I promise if there is any unrest in an area I’m in, the first thing I will do is send word that I’m safe.

Finally, I have to wrap this up with the second half of Liverpool. The previous post talks about our first day in Liverpool. The second day in Liverpool blew the first day out of the water and is both my mom and my favorite day from the whole trip. First, we went on the National Trust Tour to see the inside of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s childhood homes. A couple, Colin and Silva, have the best job in the world. They’re the caretakers and tour guides to the houses. They research John and Paul’s history to make the houses and items in the houses as realistic as possible, clean, tend the gardens, and actually live in Mendips (John’s home). Though she gets mixed or generally negative reviews, a big thank-you has to be given to Yoko Ono for this day in my life. When Mendips came on the market awhile back, she bought it, donated it to the National Trust, and endowed it, so generations to come can visit. After this tour, we went on the Magical Mystery Tour and saw many other young Beatles sites including Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, the Liverpool Institute, the church where John and Paul met, George and Ringo’s houses, Brian Epstein’s house and more. Finally, we ended up at the Cavern Club again for a great night. We made some friends who live in Liverpool, I sang on stage where the Beatles used to perform and we had a fabulous dinner of cupcakes and beer so we wouldn’t miss a single second of the Cavern. 

John's house, Mendips

Paul's house, 20 Forthlin Road

George's house, 12 Arnold Grove

Mathew Street aka Beatle Street, the home of the Cavern Club

Mom, thank-you so much for coming on this adventure with me, it was the greatest. Can’t wait to get back to planning our return!

Silly signs...

My apologies for my absence from the blogging world, definitely the longest I’ve gone without a post all summer. Here is a list of excuses for the procrastination: lack of internet access in London and Chicago, being a tourist in London, spending time with my family in Chicago, jet-lag, a dauntingly dirty house. Unlike when I procrastinate school work these excuses are fairly legitimate. But, now I’m back in Iowa City, finally over my jet-lag (I think), and my house is clean; so I’m back to blogging.

First off, if you’re interested, hop back to the last post and check out the photos and videos I added from Liverpool.

Now, on to the main subject of this post: silly signs I’ve seen this summer. Most of the signs are from England because though some think proper English makes you sound educated, I (along with most people) think it makes you sound hilarious. Example one: Mind the gap.

Example Two: What????

Wish I was this enthused when I threw out my trash.

This one isn’t funny, just some interesting trivia. In England, plaques for buildings aren’t made until the person has been dead for twenty years, to ensure they’re still famous. So there was a plaque on John Lennon’s house, but not any other Beatle’s house.

Location: Kensington Gardens with no gates in sight.

My favorite from London: The warning for the staircases leading down to the tube. Only better was the video that went with it and showed the little yellow man run and tumble.

Finally Chicago contributed as well, perhaps one reason why the rest of the world has angst against Americans.

I have nothing to say, still laughing.

"There are places I remember all my life"

Note: Prepare yourselves for more posts on The Beatles/Liverpool when I return to the states. Right now, I can’t upload the photos and videos. This is just the pregame.

My undergraduate course load, with an Integrative Physiology major, wasn’t simple. However, the most challenging paper I wrote was for one of my elective classes, The World of the Beatles. Go ahead, laugh a little. But, in all seriousness, I love the Beatles so fiercely, I wanted the paper to be perfect and I ended up rethinking every word (maybe letter). The paper was a persuasive argument on which Beatles album is their best. The answer to me is obvious: Rubber Soul, but I had to convince the rest of the world (aka my teacher and aunt, the only two people who have read the complete paper). My argument began like this:

“Growing up, I listened to and loved The Beatles music. I remember “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “She Loves You”, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Come Together” playing on the radio, in the car, constantly. As I became more musically conscious, in my middle teen years, I started to collect The Beatles albums and evaluate them in their entirety. Rubber Soul was the first album to captivate me for the full thirty-five minutes and forty-eight seconds. I felt the change in the music. Without listening to Rubber Soul, it is impossible to link the transformation from the musicians in Please Please Me-Help! to the artists in Revolver-Let It Be. Rubber Soul is the best Beatles album because it was the catalyst. It tested the waters and pushed the limits. The la-de-da love songs were no longer in par with their competitors. This was the album where they truly had to step up. Because they did, Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, The White Album, and Abbey Road, all revolutionary and brilliant in their own right, were created. Rubber Soul was a catalyst; it transformed pop idols into studio artists.”

I will spare you from most of the remaining 8 pages of my argument, though I assure you it is an armored glass, Pope mobile, sharp-shooter quality argument.

I tell you this to try and impress how influential the Beatles are in my life and therefore how memorable visiting London and Liverpool is. I think the Beatles have, in some way, touched more people living today than they haven’t. If you are someone whose life is a little better because of their music, live vicariously through me in these blog posts.   

Yesterday after arriving in London, finding my mom, transporting my excessive amount of luggage to the hotel, locating my cousin, Alex, at the nearby Starbucks (Alex has been having an amazing summer traveling around Europe as a reporter for the track website Flotrack) and eating some fish’n’chips, we headed to Abbey Road Studios. Over the years, the Beatles recorded 191 songs in Abbey Road Studios, in addition to, naming their last record after the studio. In different combinations, my mom, Alex and I crossed the iconic zebra crossing while trying to avoid the huge amount of traffic. If you ever are bored at work, this webcam pointed at the crossing should keep you occupied http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/. At the crossing, I was able to help out my future self. A dad was there with his three children. He was getting them lined up to cross and his camera died. I took pictures of his kids for him and will be emailing them to him because I can see myself lining up my children for a picture at Abbey Road. I can also see myself forgetting to charge my camera (cough cough Barcelona).

Today, we woke up bright and early and caught a train to Liverpool: the home of the Fab Four and potentially me if I just don’t board the train on Sunday. We had one of those great days in travel where everything works out. We grabbed a cab from the Lime Street Station and the cab driver was very friendly and was excited to hear I’m a medical student because his daughter is as well. We got to the hotel three hours before check in thinking we would just leave our bags, but we were able to check in. We headed down to Albert Dock for lunch, The Beatles Story Museum, Fab 4D and to explore the waterfront. I will pose some of the questions from the museum; I’m interested if you can answer without using Google.

·         What is Ringo Starr’s real name?

·         Who is Stuart Sutcliffe?

·         What is so special about the Beatles Apple Rooftop performance?

·         What year did the Beatles first visit America?

·         What was the name of the Beatles first UK single?

Shea stadium seats

After Albert Dock, we headed up to Mathew Street to the Cavern Club. The Beatles (back then, they went by several different names: The Quarrymen, Johnny and the Moon Dogs, The Silver Beetles) began playing lunch shows at the Cavern in 1961. Between 1961 and 1963, the Beatles played 292 at the Cavern Club. This is also where Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, first heard them. The Cavern was in the cellar of a fruit and vegetable warehouse and the smell in the bar, during shows, was described as a combination of sweat, onions and the toilets. Today, in the replicated Cavern, we found a much more sanitary environment filled with Beatles fans and a great performer who alternated between playing the Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young and new music (Adele, Coldplay, Oasis, Kings of Leon).

A little blurry, but me singing on stage where The Beatles performed!

Finally, I will give you leave you with the conclusion of my Rubber Soul paper in the hopes that reading all the song titles makes you want to run and turn on whatever Beatles album is your favorite.

“The cover, title, and songs all presented the idea of change and together made the album a piece of art. Had The Beatles not stepped up to their competition in the fall of ‘65, there is no doubt that they would still be remembered. Beatlemania, The Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, none of these things were soon to be forgotten and neither were the four shaggy-haired boys who brought them to being. But, if Rubber Soul had not been created, if the pressure had been too much, we would have lost much more than we had been given. The personality seen in interviews that began to come across in “Drive My Car” would have been lost and in addition, future witty creations like “Yellow Submarine”. The beautiful reflection in “In My Life” would have been lost and in addition future nostalgic pieces like “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane”. Without George’s laborious efforts of sitar playing in “Norwegian Wood”, the intersection of Eastern music and rock’n’roll may have never occurred. Because it did, not only did we get “Norwegian Wood”, but we were also given “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Within You Without You”. If The Beatles had stuck to recording songs in just a few takes, most of the songs on Rubber Soul would have been drastically different and never would we have seen dubbing monsters like “A Day in the Life” and “Revolution 9”. If they hadn’t started directing the titles and album art, we may have lost the iconic images seen on Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, and Abbey Road. But, because The Beatles stepped up and produced this catalyst of an album, the four shaggy-haired boys became the greatest studio artists of all time and produced enough unbelievable albums to make the selection of the “best” something to be debated forever.”