Last Class & Oliver

Had my final class time with my students. We actually spent the time running to different locations. We first jumped on a train and rode out CapitalOnTap in north London. This is where my former student, Brandon, works. I met with him a few weeks back and he and a co-worker talked to the students about cyber security. The company does credit cards for business in the UK. Turns out credit cards are not a very big thing in the UK, and this is one of the only companies that does credit cards and only for business. The students really found the information very interesting and were surprised at all that this company has to do to keep things safe for their customers, their business, and to meet regulations.

We then left there and went to meet with Andrew Davison who works at the William Penney Laboratory at Imperial College. Jo, from the Daniel House, is friends with Andy and he works in a lab developing different robots. He has worked with the Dyson company on their robot vacuum cleaner. He is currently working on algorithms to have robots use cameras to map out the space they are in. It is very interesting work, and we got to see some of it in action. One of his PHD students demoed what they have been working on, and it was pretty amazing.

We finished the class by going to Guillam Coffee House and sitting and talking through all they had learned. It has been a great group of students, and I really have enjoyed all that we have done this semester. Won’t be able to teach this class the same way again.

To end the day Becky and I along with Elliott, one of the DH students, went and saw the musical Oliver. This was very high on Becky’s list of things she wanted to do. She literally wore the album out listening to it in her past. The show did not disappoint in any way. The set was amazing in all that it did and how it was almost like one of characters in the show and it was choregraphed along with everyone else. The lighting, which won an award, was gorgeous and so impactful to the whole show. The acting and singing were spot on. So glad we were able to work it in right here at the end. It was not easy to get tickets for this show.

We have now seen 15 shows since we arrived back in January. Everyone has been a great experience. We certainly have not loved each one but are show grateful to have been able to attend so many different theatres and to have seen so many different genres of performances. It certainly has been one of the highlights of this trip.