Cheers Mate!

Not much has happened the past few days--just getting a hang of the class schedule really. So yesterday was Tuesday which means GST and London Theater.

GST Sustainable Cities & Public Health is taught by Dr. Eric Hall, our professor from Elon. He seems really cool- we met him in some of our earlier meetings. This class, according to him, has 3 points: cities, public health, and London (duh). The best part about this class is that we’ll be doing some tours around London to really experience this area and tie it all in together. Our Thursday classes are 3 hours so they’re dedicated to tours or group projects. We’ll have 2 throughout the term, a final, a paper, and some other daily assignments. The work seems definitely manageable- Dr. Hall’s wife is here too so I think they want to be able to explore London and understand our mentality too.

Our London Theater professor is awesome!! She’s probably about 70 & was super involved in acting, directing, everything! Patricia Doyle. She studied in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts or something like that! She’s acted in the states and in England. She’s really experienced so I’m really excited to learn from her! We also go see 8 plays throughout the term! 8! Next week we see Noises Off, and we’ll see others like War Horse, One Man Two Governurs, and others! Ah! Patricia kept on saying “grand mixture”- she was involved in a “grand mixture,” we’re seeing a “grand mixture” of plays etc. Last night was one of girl’s birthday here so a bunch of us went to a local pub for dinner to celebrate! Other than that Tuesday was pretty anticlimactic except for more grocery shopping and tackling the bus system to get a ride back from our food shopping.

So today, Wednesday, is our Art in London class.  It’s technically 4 hours, but we’ll spend a lot of time in the museums, so that makes me happy! Next week we go to the National Galleries, and we’ll also go to the Tate Modern & others. I’m a little nervous about the academics of this class because I’ve never been particularly very good at art history, but Lisa (our teacher) says she wants us to know the fundamentals from Renaissance to Contemporary art so that we can give our own tour around the National Galleries to anyone that vists (Mom, Dad, & Liz be prepared!). Lisa is like an artsy Brit, even though she’s originally from the states. It will be interesting that’s for sure. So that’s really all that happened today…oh except for finishing the 3^rd Hunger Games! Ah so good! (Katie G & I are basically counting down the days until the first movie comes out…)

Well that’s really all I have to post for today! Tomorrow & this weekend we’ll really get down to making some travel plans!

When in London...

So Sunday night we ended up going to a Super Bowl Party at the International Student House (or ISH). Quite a few of us went and even though only a few of us stayed the whole time because it was so late we had a great time. This place is supposedly for international students only. We made friends with a group sitting near us- 1 Brit, 2 Italians, and 1 German. Very diverse group of guys, and it was fun to meet other students. As the game got started more and more Americans started showing up to watch the game. So even though I was up very late to watch the whole game, I did my patriotic duty and repped American well that night!

            Today was a low key day, a lot of people went to their school placements for “induction” or orientation, but mine isn’t until Friday. So after lunch I went with some people to King’s Cross! Yep that’s where the Hogwarts train departs from! We found Platform 9 ¾ and took many many pictures of course. It was a lot of fun to find this part of Harry Potter history, however it was in a nook by itself, not even in line with the other platforms and definitely not in-between 9 and 10….oh well. It was still a lot of fun, and the workers knew exactly what we were looking for before we finished our question. 

            Other than that we hung around, watched some British TV which is entertaining and full of dating website commercials…Then tonight all of the teaching fellows had our first “Teaching & Learning seminar.” This is every Monday night for just an hour. Tonight people shared stories about visiting their school, and our teacher-Elaine Davis-talked about the UK set up for the school system. It was actually pretty interesting and similar to a lot I’ve learned about France over the years. Tomorrow school is in full swing, & I think I’m going to start planning weekends and day trips!

            Random topic of the day: showers. I’m surprised I haven’t blogged about this yet, but my verdict is still out on the shower. It’s small….a square just barely big enough to move around in. The shower has two nobs. One has 4 points: off, one blue dot, one red dot, or two red dots. The other has 1 through 10, some red some blue. I’ve managed to figure out my heat settings I think, but I’ve had the temperature drop to freezing randomly so we’ll see. The most intriguing part is definitely the showerhead…it’s very European in the fact that you take it off and hold it to shower. So far I’ve felt very clean and my hair extra soft so even though the holding is a bit strange, my verdict is still out. Oh and I almost forgot! Just like my mom read to me from Rick Steve’s guidebook….outside of the bathroom door there is a switch that really turns the shower on and off. Strange. Okay bed time because we’re giving ourselves 1 hour to get to school tomorrow because it will be our first time trying to get on the tube during work rush hour….Hope all is well in the states!

Castles and Cathedrals

So I didn’t post last night so I’ll start first with yesterday’s day trip. As a group we went with our tour guide Rob to Dover!! We went into the Dover Castle and walked around which was really impressive. It was Henry II’s main castle I believe. So it was freezing we all had on a bunch of layers- tights, jeans, nike thermal shirt, vest, north face, and shell. Oh and we were definitely rocking the mom’s look with jeans and sneakers too. We walked around exploring, went up to the roof access of the tower. We were able to drive below the castle so that we could see the beautiful white cliffs.

            After that we drove to Canterbury to see the Cathedral. For everyone that has read the Canterbury Tales, this is the Cathedral that they were on a pilgrimage to worship. The Cathedral was huge and really stunning. This Cathedral is the place that marks St. Thomas Becket’s murder and memorial. After the Cathedral we just had time to walk around the town. It’s really an adorable town! I really liked it. It had small alleys and roadways with lots of store fronts. There were cobblestone roads and stone buildings. It’s hard to imagine people really living daily life there, but I really liked it!

Except for one part….during our exploring a few of us decided we were going to go to the Canterbury Tales visitor attraction. We were forewarned it was corny and had to pay but decided it was worth it. I guess it was worth it for the experience…it was actually really creepy. Each station was dark with different lights lighting up people as their stories were told.  I guess it’s hard to explain, but a storyteller takes you through the different pilgrim’s stories. Maybe if it wasn’t so dark, and the figures didn’t look so bizarre and creepy…but anyways it was an experience! Also in Canterbury we were able to see St. Augustine’s Abbey which was impressive.

            After being pretty cold all day, it was great to drive back to Little Venice and see that it was SNOWING! Absolutely gorgeous to see the snow falling in London.

            Today I didn’t do much except a little bit of tube riding and walking to figure some things out and get more situated. Tonight we may hit up a super bowl party with the International Student House…but I’ll let you know about that in my next blog.

Hmm I love London even in the cold and snow.

More London facts:

            -bathrooms are called toilets

            -they love their roundabouts

            -they call the phrase knock on wood “touch wood” (haha I love this)

Really being tourists!

So today started with an adventure to Poundland…where everything is 1 pound!! A few of us had to pick up some school supplies and other odds and ends (like dishwasher soap, laundry detergent etc…), and Poundland served us well! We had lunch in and then made the trek to AngloAmerican (remember this is where we take classes). First Dave, a retired police officer, came to talk to us about safety in London. What I learned:

1.     1.  “tea leaves” are thieves

2.      2. Popular methods for stealing are: hugging mugging, dragger

3.      3. Mace, pepper spray, etc are illegal weapons in the UK

All very useful information….actually he really was great. Some people started getting paranoid, but he was just trying to help us be smart. Plus he was a character with some clever and corny jokes. If I’ve learned anything about the Brits, from him and our tour guide Rob, it’s that they have no concern with being politically correct. It’s not that they’re racist, they just speak their mind.

            After that we got on a Volvo coach bus with our guide Rob for a bus tour through Central London. Finally we really got to see the London basics such as Big Ben, the London Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. We only got out a few times though so really I just made a list of all of the places we have to go back to including: Westminister Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminister Cathedral, Natural History & Science museums, The Queens Gallery, The London Tower, Globe Theater, Tate British, London Eye….it’s a good thing we’re here for 3 months.

            We did see some really unique things though so here’s a brief list.

1.     `1. Australia House! Where Hagrid brings Harry to get his money in the first Harry Potter

2.     2. We drove on Fleet Street! (like from Sweeney Todd, where his shop would have been located)

3.     3. Occupy London!

4.     4.  Millennium Bridge (also from Harry Potter)

5.     5. Lots of lots of Kentucky Fried Chicken..seriously I don’t know why they like fried chicken so much here, but they do.

6.     6.  The British equivalency to the CIA, where James Bond would have his office if he really existed

7.      7. A very American strip of T.K. Maxx (yes T.K. not T.J.), Urban Outfitters, and American Apparel

So from this day trip I learned a bit more about London.

1.      Modern buildings are often right next to old historical buildings

2.      Crosswalks are “Zebra crossings” (pronounced zeh bra)

3.      The “Texas Embassy” is a tex-mex restaurant

4.      I LOVE THE TAXIS- they look so old fashioned and cute

5.      “One for the road” is a saying back when criminals used to have one last drink on Oxford Street before they were executed.

6.      “take away” is how they refer to “to go” (actually learned this earlier on but forgot to share)

7.  There are so many movie locations here like James Bond, HP, Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and more that I'm not blanking on...

Then my roommates and I ended our very British day with the 2^nd favorite food in London: thai food. There is Ben’s Thai very very close to our flat that we tried out- delicious and inexpensive!

Tomorrow is our day trip to Dover & Cantebury! Yay!

Wherever I am,..

So today was Thursday, and I’m only saying that because my timing is so confused I can’t keep it straight. I feel pretty adjusted to the time though...for now, I hear it hits you day 4 or 5. Today was our Orientation day. We had to be an AngloAmerican (education service) at 10 for orientation about “Living in London” with some of their staff. Then we were free to go until 5. So I went with some girls to lunch at Apostrope, a café nearby. I am almost over eating out already-it’s so expensive!! After that we went to Waitrose to buy some food. It was a little pricey & a tube ride away so after we dropped our stuff back at the flat a few of us went to Tesco Metro-another grocery store. Okay so here’s the think about Tescos…Tesco express is smaller, more limited, and pricey. Tesco metro is bigger, more options, and pretty cheap. There is another Tesco that is even bigger and even cheaper-but for now I’ll stick with Tesco Metro. I got some fruit, vegetables, and pasta to cook. I’m going to have to learn how to cook more to save some serious money! On the money topic-I’m done trying to convert it in my head, it’s just way too brutal.

            So after Tesco we crashed in the flat a bit and then took the tube back to AngloAmerican. That whole commute is about 40 minutes. I love the tube! I may not say that in a few weeks, but right now it’s so easy I already feel very comfortable on it! It reminds me of the T in Boston. Lots of lines, easy to figure it out. Wherever I am I can find my way back to Warwick Avenue!!! Back at AngloAmerican the teaching fellows had a brief meeting to find out our school placements. I will be at St. Marleybone Girl Secondary School with another English TLC. Next Friday I go for my orientation, and then I’ll go every Monday starting February 20^th. We will also have class Monday nights to talk about the differences between the London education system and ours. I’m excited about it, and I’ll have to let you know how it goes!! After our meeting, we had pizza with the AngloAmerican staff- yay free food!!

            So after that a few of us walked to Paper Chase to find some school supplies, but it was too expensive so we’re going to try PoundLand (like the dollar tree—get it?) tomorrow morning. Okay a quick thing about walking to London….1. I love it! 2. Londoners underestimate how far it takes to get somewhere. “Go down this street, take a right, and it’ll be by the stores with the flashy lights” really means “Go down this street, walk probably 4 or 5 blocks, turn left and walk 3 or 4 more blocks.” I’m okay with the walking, but it always makes us think we’ve gone the wrong way or too far when we really haven’t gone far enough.

            So after our Paper Chase excursion we came back to the flats, and a bunch of us just hung out. Then we decided to go to Warrington pub because we loved it last night, and the guys wanted to try it. We even had the same server Jenny who we’re basically best friends with now. Ha but she’s adorable and says “lovely” a lot. It’s a fancy place, but Elon has put us in a really “posh” area of London.

Sorry this is so long…I’m just trying to keep everything straight in my head too! I’m sure the blogs will get shorter the longer I’m here.

So more fun facts about London- there really are double decker buses & the stereotypical phone booths everywhere! I haven’t seen the booths in use yet, but they’re everywhere. And Brits really do have bad teeth…either crooked or not hygienic. Granted not everyone is that way but enough to verify the stereotype.

Fun words: posh, lovely, cheers, “lifts” means elevators…that’s it so far.

Fun fact…when the Brits are all in line to use a lift in an underground station, follow their lead. We did and managed to avoid a 175 staircase, but not everyone did!

I love it here :) It’s so fun to test out being a city girl.

30 HOURS

Second post of the day, but this is going to be a quick overview because I’ve been awake for 30ish hours. So after a short orientation, a few of us decided to run a few errands. We took 2 tube rides (which we’re already figuring out pretty easily!) to Oxford street. This street will be a lot more fun with more time because there are shops and shops and shops. We first went to an Orange store to buy some cheap phones. We got phones just so we can talk & text each other locally. There we encountered Josh, the guy who helped us. He was really our first British interaction besides our tour guide. He…definitely enjoyed helping out a bunch of ridiculous Americans. From there we went to Primark. I don’t even know how to describe this store except a really cheap H&M plus homeware stuff? I bought some more hangers and another towel. It’ll be fun to go back there with some time to spare and just shop around.

            “Mind the Gap!” I forgot to mention that with the tubes! The announcer really says mind the gap all the time! Except the gap doesn’t seem that substantial, but I guess it’s always good to be aware? Also people walk crazy everywhere! Especially at Primark and underground stations! It’s fast and without any attention to the other people walking around. It’s hectic to say the least.

            After Primark we hit up Boots- the local pharmacy for a few things, and then headed back to our flat to drop off our purchases. Then 5 of us went out to search for dinner; we decided we wanted a pub tonight! So some random lady, people seem friendly and willing to help, directed us to Warrington pub. Delicious sausage food & a really nice place! I had a pint of Pear Cider- yum! The day was adventurous, I’m proud of all we tried and mastered, but I am incredibly tired. It’s not even 9, but I’ll be out as soon as my head hits the pillow! Tomorrow is much more orientation stuff!

CHEERS! (which is the response to everything, sort of like “prego” in Italian)

In London!

I made it!! We had an 8 hour flight to London without any problems. The plane was pretty empty so we really got to spread out. Lying across two seats helped me get maybe 3 hours of sleep total…so I’m still pretty exhausted today. I also managed to read all of Catching Fire (Hunger Games book 2). After getting our luggage we had some time to kill, and then we loaded up onto our Coach bus with our 23 year old Scottish bus driver (Dad you’d be proud I couldn’t pinpoint his accent, but I knew it wasn’t English). We then drove all around to pick up the other group flight at the other terminal. Heathrow is HUGE. It was probably at least 10 minutes to drive from one terminal to the other. There we met up with more students, Dr. Hall (our Elon professor/advisor) & Rob (our guide for the next few days). We drove about 50-60 minutes to get to our flats, moved in, & got settled. They’re really nice! A European flat in the “posh” area of London! I’m living in an 8 person flat- two 3 person bedrooms, one 2 person bedroom, a full kitchen, and living room area. I think we’re all pretty impressed with our setup-they had us prepared for the worse. Then 7 of the girls walked around to Café Rouge for our first London meal at a French café. After that we just came back to the flat & tried to figure out the whole Internet situation. It’s only 1 o’clock here but feels like 9am. We have our first orientation at 2 and then plan on running a couple of errands. Not much to share, but I just wanted to let everyone know we made it!