The flight really wasn't bad at all, considering I'm not a fan of flying and this was twice the length of the longest flight I've ever been on. We were served dinner AND breakfast for free and there were hundreds of FREE movies to choose from. The only flights I've ever been on charged for basically everything, so this was a wonderful change. I watched four movies. It was great. People were making fun of me because I was so excited that everything was free. Granted, the food really wasn't good but I mean, wow. It was free! When we landed someone from the program picked us up from the airport and took us to our flat. The drive seemed a bit long but it was so nice to gaze out the window and get lost in the city. The bus took us right up to our flats and after dragging our bags the short distance from the road to the building, we got our flat assignments. Mine has six girls total: my friend Jenevieve and I are in a double on the second floor and the rest of the rooms are singles. All the girls are really great and it's been fun getting to know them. We have two bathrooms and two fridges, but they only gave us one small table and two chairs. We requested a few more and arranged the furniture so we can kind of all eat together if we want to.
The first night a few of us went to a pub - naturally I had fish & chips for my very first meal in London. It was pretty great. Have you heard of cider? It's basically beer except it's made from apples and it's absolutely delicious.
The next day we had our orientation for classes and learned about all the nitty gritty important stuff. We had a police officer come talk to us about safety and how NOT to get pick-pocketed and we also went over some of the excursions we get this semester. We then got to have afternoon tea at the British Museum complete with tea sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and mini cakes! Even though I'm sure it's more of a tourist destination, it was nice to feel like a real English person on my second day.
After we got back a few of us ran to the nearest phone store and bought some really crappy UK phones. Since international plans are so expensive in the states it made a lot more sense to buy phones here to communicate with. Mine cost 10 pounds, or 16 dollars, and it reminds me of my first Nokia brick phone. It's been difficult re-learning how to text without a full keyboard. Later that night a few of us went out to a local club/bar and ended up meeting a few other study abroad students. It's really cool to feel out the nightlife here.
The next day was extremely busy - our program booked us up all day. The morning started with a coach tour of London. We drove around and had an amazing tour guide, Angie, point out some of the historical buildings. We quickly hopped off to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (sadly they weren't in red as that's their "summer uniform"). After the coach tour we were treated for lunch at an asian noodle chain called Wagamama - it wasn't delicious but it was free so we all ordered a LOT of food. Following lunch was a walking tour of London, which was really helpful to get us acclimated to where we'll be living. We walked around Covent Garden, Soho, and Somerset House - aka a bunch of cool neighborhoods/places not too far from our housing. That night about 20 of us (there are 28 total) decided to go out together. Although I was feeling really under the weather and blowing my nose the whole night, it was really fun to get to know everyone in a different scene.
Sunday was the first day that we had free! And I took advantage of this by sleeping until 2pm. Most everyone was still pretty jet-lagged so it wasn't just me being lazy :) After waking up I decided I really needed food in my flat so I trekked over to the local grocery store, Sainsbury's, and I bought a few things. It's interesting because most of the grocery stores here are like Fresh & Easys back home. I have yet to set foot into a "normal" grocery store. A few people went to a sports bar that night to watch the *American* football game, but I was still so exhausted that I went to bed early.
Monday morning marked the FIRST DAY OF CLASSES!! My schedule is a little weird in that I have two classes on Mondays and two on Thursdays, instead of class throughout the week. My first class, Communication and Social Movements, was pretty good - our professor seems very English and spent the class teaching us some British history and how to pronounce certain words (i.e. the city of Reading is pronounced Redding.) For lunch my flatmate Noelle and I went to a restaurant next door to our building called Gail's - it was delicious but so unbelievably expensive. We ended up paying 10 pounds (or 16 dollars) per person. Our lunch was definitely not on the budget. My second class of the day was Designing Media Communication Projects for Social Change. The professor's day job is at the BBC and described the class as "the least academic class you're taking this semester," so that should be fun. She seems really nice and the class seems pretty interesting. Afterward a few of us headed over to this store called Primark and I got a cute coat, another blanket, and fleece lined leggings (aka heaven). I've been living in my coat ever since.
Tuesday morning we had to wake up early for a tour of the library at the London School of Economics since we can study there if we like. After that, we walked over to the University of London student union to check out what they offered, since we get to be considered University of London students :) Jenevieve, Taylor and I got lunch afterward at a really cute cafe called Caffe Paradiso and rested our legs for awhile. We then decided to go see Big Ben since we had only seen it from the coach. We walked home from Big Ben and although we had big plans to go out that night, we ended up staying in and attempting to plan our spring break trip. It was a lot harder than we anticipated.
For Wednesday morning they planned a trip for us to see St. Paul's Cathedral. We were lucky enough to have our amazing tour guide Angie again and she taught us everything we needed to know about the beautiful cathedral. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures of the cathedral itself, but we all took the 528 step climb up to the very tip top of St. Paul's and the view was jawdropping. Afterwards, a few of us grabbed lunch at Pret A Manger (aka heaven on earth) and in the process of trying to find somewhere to eat it, we stumbled upon an adorable candy shop where I bought Rocky Road chocolate. We finally found a cute bench by another church in the area so we sat down and devoured our sandwiches. Lucky for us there was an espresso cart nearby and I think I had the best latte I've ever had. It was delicious. We took our lattes and flat whites (latte + more coffee) over to the tube station and rode over to the London Bridge, solely for the photo op. It started raining when we were walking on the bridge though, so we couldn't hang out for too long outside. We came back home and rested a bit because we were all seeing Swan Lake that night. Although I have to admit I had a difficult time interpreting some of the relationships between the characters (mom? girlfriend? wife?), but other than that it was amazing. Shows like that make me miss my ballet years. A few of us went out later that night and used our LSE library cards to convince the bouncer that we were students at the London School of Economics #rebels
Thursday marked the SECOND DAY OF CLASSES as well as our LONDON WEEKAVERSARY! All of us had officially been in London for a whole week and Katherine and I celebrated by walking to class in the morning instead of taking the tube. It's about a 25-30 minute walk and although it's quite chilly in the mornings, it was really nice. Our first class, Media Consumption, seems like it may be the most difficult, but honestly I can't quite tell. We're taking a tour of the BBC next week and we spent a lot of time talking about it in class. For our lunch break we tried a sandwich place called Benugo - it was good, but I probably wouldn't go there again. But hey, this trip is about trying new things!!!! Although I'd be lying if I told you I haven't already set foot in McDonald's... multiple times... The last class of the day/week is definitely my favorite. It's a class all about British pop music - we spent the first class watching music videos from the likes of One Direction, Spice Girls, and The Beatles and the class includes an overnight trip to Liverpool where we get to take a tour about The Beatles. The professor is really awesome and I'm really looking forward to this class. Afterwards a few of us decided to go to the pub at the University of London student union (aka ULU) and it was so awesome to just hang around other Uni students (they call it Uni here hehe). Later that night we met up with some other American students at a pub and it was really fun because not only did I meet some cool Americans but I also met some cool Brits. I love meeting new people!!!
Friday morning we had to wake up early AGAIN to meet at the train station for another day trip. This time it was to Hampton Court Palace, where cool people like Henry VIII lived and ruled and stuff. It was honestly a lot less elegant than I imagined (I mean I had high expectations for a PALACE) but it was still really cool. Instead of our awesome tour guide Angie we got these phone-like things that played audio for each room we entered. It feels so nerdy but I really love learning about all the historical crap on these excursions. After we took the main tours through William III and Henry VIII's apartments we grabbed an overpriced mediocre lunch and headed out to the maze in the gardens. After we found the center of the maze, we wandered around the gardens a bit more, and we saw the largest vine ever!!! It was actually extremely disappointing. But the gardens were so beautiful that it didn't matter much. When we got back I took a much needed nap and unfortunately it really messed me up. I slept for so long that by the time I woke up I couldn't do a single thing except edit pictures. Everyone else was getting ready to go out and I couldn't move from my chair. I decided to take a shower, eat leftover pasta, and go to sleep early. It was worth it.
Today a few of us went to check out Borough Market. It's only a couple stops down on the tube and it was AMAZING. They had so many different food stands with cheeses, meats, breads, chocolates, vegetables, fruits, etc etc etc and so many of the stands gave out samples. It was amazing. Some of my favorite samples included truffle cheese, aged prosciutto, tomatoes with salt and olive oil, sea salt fudge, and mushroom pate. Basically I'm so mad I didn't have any cash on me, but if I did I might have bought the entire market... then again I know I'll be there again next weekend with money in my pocket so I can have yummy food when I get home :) Katherine and I ended up splitting wild boar sausage for lunch - the samples were delicious but not filling enough for me. She wasn't a fan but I thought it was pretty good.
photo courtesy of Katherine at http://kathystrash.tumblr.com/
photo courtesy of Katherine at http://kathystrash.tumblr.com/
I know that was probably a lot to handle but we have squeezed SO MUCH in this week and two days and I haven't had time to blog about it all. London is amazing. I can't tell you how many times I've been walking down the street and I get so freaking happy that my entire body fills with warmth and I start to smile uncontrollably. I love it here. It's everything I wanted and more. This city is incredible and I really don't ever want to leave... I know I haven't been here for very long but the fact that I have to leave in just four months makes me sad every time I think about it. This experience has been and will continue to be unreal. I know that I haven't been many places in this world but London is my favorite city.
Hopefully my next post will be written in good health.
Cheers to the tube, to cider, and to truffle cheese.
let the wandering continue.
-h
