In the Land of London: Week 1

Hi Everyone!

Well, I’ve officially been in London for a week and a half now--even though it feels like it has been SOOO much longer than that! I feel like I’ve been able to see and experience a lot for having been here for such a short time and I have loved every second of it! I’m surrounded by a great group of girls and professors and have already made friends that I feel like I've known forever!Centre life is amazing, I love our location so much, especially after seeing so much of the city, the places surrounding Hyde Park are by far my favorite and I’m so lucky to be where I am! I’ve seen many of the great sites London has to offer, including Big Ben, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, The British Museum, The London Gallery, Portobello Road, and more. I’m getting to feel pretty familiar with the underground system and have learned that eye contact is usually the extent of human interaction while traveling on the tube, with the occasional, “Rainy, isn’t it,” remark tossed in there. Londoners are very quiet, especially compared to a group of American girls.

Anyway, so my first week here was awesome, we stayed around town and were able to become more familiar with the city and just get used to living in London (it’s still so crazy to be able to say that)!This week has been SO great! We started classes on Monday and I actually am really enjoying all of them very much, including Shakespeare. I’m especially loving my Humanities 440 class. All of our assignments have to do with sketching and photographic essays, I’m so excited!



Wednesday was amazing, our first day trip! We got to go to Dover and Canterbury and it was surreal being in both places just because I’ve heard so much about them, and then I was actually there! The drive alone was satisfying, just being able to see some of that English countryside I’ve been dying to see! But it got even better and Dover castle was insane!! I’ve seen movies and have walked through the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland but now I can say I have been to a real, true castle and it was amazing! After taking about 400 pictures, we made our way up to the top of the highest part of the castle which stands on the highest part of the hill, the view was incredible! I just sat up there forever and looked out over the green hills, white cliffs, and the water. I could see the French coast! I was in England, I could see France, I was in a castle…life was good.

After the castle, we went down to the beach. The view from there was just as good, looking up and seeing the castle on the hill and the white cliffs was so beautiful, another one of those surreal moments. After that we went to Canterbury cathedral, which really was AMAZING! 
 I absolutely love cathedrals, they have such a cool feeling about them. We went on an hour and a half tour and I was entranced the whole time. It was so interesting and is such a beautiful place with amazing art and architecture, I’m so glad I was able to go! On the bus ride home, our guide pointed out the major points of the city--this place is huge! My favorite was when he pointed out where they filmed Diagon Alley from Harry Potter…I was star struck. Once we got home, we had dinner and just chilled in the centre, it was a great day!



Friday, I went for a long run (for me) and the day was off to a great start! I’ll be honest though, my day just went downhill from there. For my culture class, we were required to go to one Sikh temple and two Hindu temples in Southall. I feel so snobby and rude saying this, but I kind of hated it. It was nice to see a different culture, but I did not enjoy it all that much. The Sikh was actually pretty interesting but the Hindu temples felt like a combination of Taco Bell and Small World, with the crate paper hung on the ceiling and the flashing lights strung around columns with huge dolls to make offerings to, it just didn’t feel much like a temple to me. I sound awful, I really do appreciate learning about other religions and cultures, that just wasn’t my favorite, plus I had my first really bad headache while being here and that made my experience even more miserable. On the bright side, we did get some really good Indian food afterward and it ended up being a good experience for me to have.

We ended the night by going to the Peter Pan play in Kensington Gardens. Oh. My. Gosh. It was AMAZING!!!! It was in a huge tent in the actual park where J.M Barrie wrote the story, so cool! The backgrounds were projected around the tent so it felt like Soarin Over California, it was amazing, I just had a smile on my face the whole time. It really was an incredible play and I loved every minute of it!

Saturday we went to Camden Market and that was pretty fun but I think one visit ought to do it. Most people that go there are punk rockers with body piercing stands surrounded by men with mohawks and face tattoos…I think I’ll stick with Portobello.

Well church today was...interesting to say the least. I’ve been assigned to the Hyde Park Spanish/Portuguese ward. No, I don’t speak Spanish and have no idea what went on today, I just smiled and threw a few "holas" around! I did not understand a word of sacrament-ok maybe "si" and "amen." Apparently I should have brushed up on my junior high years of Spanish before I went. Oh well, it was a good experience and I can't wait for others to come! I'm having the time of my life in London!