End of a long week...

I wake up this morning reflecting on my first week in London and there is a lot I have learned and a lot I still need to.  First, the English are always in a hurry it seems, more so than we are in the states.  I don't understand this but there has been many a time I almost got hit by a car crossing the street.  I also have realized these are a people who have a lot to be proud of compared to the United States.  They have such a rich history and I love exploring it.  Now on to the end of my week:  Friday we walked around and into Barbican with Sarah, seeing the London Museum and the borough street market, which I though was pretty awesome.  Such fresh and interesting food at good prices means I will be going back there sometime in the future.  After I trekked to the British Library to get my card and start doing research for my paper.  This place was like a DMV-2 IDs needed, a waiting room where they called out numbers, mean people who asked you every little thing about why you are there.  It was pretty crazy.  After we ended up at the flat and decided to try and see Eddie Izzard at the Apple Store.  We get there more than an hour before they show is supposed to start and wait for an hour and a half, only to find out they were only going to let in the first 50 people!  We were angry as they didn't tell us anything and we would of left if we had known it was only 50 people.  So after that some of us decided to go find a club or bar or something. I found this place called Crobar, but it ended up being a biker bar basically--oooops.  Finally we found Club 49, which was really nice and a whole lot of fun. We danced and finally ended up leaving around midnight.  Poor us, we missed the last tube and had to work the night buses so we didn't get home until about two in the morning once we figured out everything.  Saturday was a pretty boring day.  Me and George walked the river and we just stayed in, nothing too exciting.  As the week came to the end, I realize I still miss home, but it is always going to be like that.  I am having an amazing time and I look forward to the coming weeks here learning and growing as a person.

A Fine Day...

Last night we went to the National Theatre and saw "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" by Tom Stoppard.  It was a wonderfil piece and I am glad I was able to see it.  Looking at the theatre, it was mostly a white audience with little to no diversity present.  It was odd to me that with London being such a cosmopolitan city it would be like this but I guess you never know.  Walking down the river to get to the theatre made me realize London is a river city and its people know this and respect this.  The river makes London and without it, there would be nothing.  Anyway, after we went to the pubs for a bit and that was fun.  This morning we had class and I spent the afternoon wandering around the Kensington Gardens and saw the Peter Pan statue as well as the monument to Prince Albert.  The Peter Pan statue was awesome and it made me think about not wanting to grow up and stay right where I am in life--wish it could happen but I think not, to grow up is an adventure that still awaits me.   The Albert monument itself was amazing--so many things had meaning and I am still researching it.  It must be nice to have hundreds, if not thousands of years of history to be proud of--maybe one day the US will have that as well.  Oh well, I am off to do homework, later!

Another Day...

Yesterday we had our first day of theatre class and I am super excited about all the plays we are going to see.  Tonight we are seeing, "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour", which looks really interesting.  Yesterday we explored High Street Kensington and I had my first Ben's Cookie, which was absolutely amazing.  Hopefully I can bring some back to the states.  Today we took took a river tour and saw the Tower of London and stuff like that and boy did I learn a lot.  I never knew the Thames river was so large and was moved to prevent cholera outbreaks.  At this point, I am finally starting to get settled in London and get into the grove of things and oddly missing home less than I was.  Yeah I missed a good weekend, but being in London is teaching me so much about life and what is important to the english, shining a light on my American ideals.  Good day until later!

Long Day...

We started this day off with a quick tour of the area and there is a lot we did not know.  Did some shopping, its amazing how much organic food they have and the selection...  The exchange ratio is still crappy as all hell but hopefully it will get better.  Anyways, we took the tube around for awhile and stopped at Piccadily Circus.  We went to a store and they had scorpion vodka, ant lollipops, pearl lollipops, chocolate covered ants, just plain old weird stuff.  The giant jumbotrons were really cool and the atmosphere was so lively.  We end up at China Town as well and it was crazy since it was the Chinese New Year.  People were everywhere and the atmosphere was so lively.  We came back, made some food, and then went out again, doing the exact same thing but in the dark, which was really cool.  We found Queens way, which is like boys town I guess, I just know it was really creepy.  We ended going toward Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and then headed home.  One small caveat:  the pubs close at like 11pm here, which is super early for us and is kind of disappointing.  Oh well, classes start tomorrow so I am off to bed.  Night!

Lemonade...

It's been a day and I have learned a lot about living in London.  For one, if you order Lemonade, they actually give you Sprite.  Weird.  Service is included in most bills.  VAT is added to everything.  Toliets flush weird aka meaning you have to push it a few times to get it going.  Everything is in Celsius, even the stoves.  Rrrrrrrrrr.  Other than that, today we had dinner with our professors, who kindly served us wine and beer, and just talked about the program.  More to come soon I hope!!!

London At Last...

So I finally arrived in London and lets just say... AMAZING!!!  Virgin Atlantic had a great flight, getting us here even earlier then expected.  The food was good, free before dinner drink and wine for dinner as well.  No complaints here.  When we arrived, it was weird walking through the halls of Heathrow and seeing such a different place from Chicago.  The Underground ride was good and I am all unpacked, ready to see what next adventure awaits me!

Leaving On A Jet Plane...

So today is the day I finally leave for my four month adventure in Europe!  This decision to leave was no easy task, but in the end, I am comfortable with my decision and cannot wait for the new adventures that lie before me.  I will miss some of my closest friends, but I needed to do this for myself and get perspective on where I am in my college career and what I want to do with my life.  Hopefully London and Florence will help me figure all this out.  You could call me nervous, but in the end I am extremely excited for this next step in my education and future.  Remember, it's not goodbye, but see you later!