Morgan and Matt and Clint...Oh My!

So, at the request of my mother, I am updating my blog tonight. The past few days have been busy, busy, busy! On Thursday, we all went down to the West End to see The Lion King. It definitely was not what I was expecting. The costumes were gorgeous and the songs were great, but the little kids who played Simba and Nala in the beginning weren't very good. They were really cute, but the singing wasn't very good. After intermission, the show picked up pretty quickly. It was still really amazing, and I'm so glad that I had the chance to see it, even if I had a hard time understanding some of the accents when they talked too quickly.

On Friday, we all traveled to Birkbeck College, a part of the University of London, where we will have our classes. We had lunch at Vandon and then a scavenger hunt around London. We had to travel all around the city in less than three hours...one challenge was to take a picture with a polic officer...and a bonus point if we could get him to let us wear his hat. We got the picture, but he wouldn't take off his hat because they aren't allowed to take them off.

Saturday was really chilly, but we had a walking tour again. Three hours in the cold was not fun at all, but some of the sites were really cool. St. Paul's Church was beautiful...the sun was out and there was a nice blue sky, so these pictures are not photoshopped! London actually had a blue sky! I also saw the Millenium Bridge (the one that is destroyed in Harry Potter) and the Globe Theatre. I will definitely be going back there to see a play and getting a tour of it later.

We ended up at a market where I bought a bunch of mushrooms and green beans for two pounds. That was exciting because I don't have much of a varitey in my diet besides pasta. They are really good, and I will probably buy more stuff at a market later because it is a lot cheaper than the grocery store. I bought sausages to cook, but I found out that sausages here are a little mushy...they kind of looked like mashed potatoes on the inside and it really freaked me out, so I didn't eat them.

Today, I went shopping at Primark which is super cheap. I bought a winter coat for five pounds and a purse for five pounds as well. I was really excited about it. After shopping, a bunch of us went to the premiere of Invictus with Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, and Matt Damon! I got to see all of them and they were within ten feet of me! My pictures didn't turn out well, but some other girls got some great photos!

I also booked an appointment with STA Travel to have them help me plan for spring break. The group I am going with decided to go to Rome, Florence, and then Vienna! It is going to be expensive, but it will be a blast!

Now, a few of us are watching Mall Cop, so I must go give the movie my full attention! Tomorrow I start my classes, and I'm really excited to actually start. Update soon!

All Aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Hello Everyone! I am updating this rather quickly; I think I like typing for the blog rather than writing in my journal. Two days ago, the whole group went on a tour of London. We went to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and London Bridge. We saw so much that I can't even remember everything. We did see the area that the Great Fire of London started and learned how that began.

We walked around Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square and Trafalgar Square. It is really interesting to see all of the theatres around the area, considering many movies premiere in Leicester Square (I plan on going to the premiere of Valentine's Day and Alice in Wonderland...hopefully). I couldn't take pictures because my camera's batteries died, but I'm sure I will be around there again.

So, yesterday I had nothing to do but go to my advising session, so Michelle and I decided to try and find notebooks for our classes. Unfortunately, we didn't find any, but we did end up at Victoria Station, so we decided to hop on the tube to see where it would lead us.

Surprisingly, it is pretty easy to find your way around the underground. The directions are simple, and changing trains is not very complicated. We found ourselves at Trafalgar Square again...we walked around not really doing anything. When we wanted to leave, we couldn't find a tube entrance! We kept walking, and eventually we just went in a circle and entered the same tube entrance we came out of earlier.

When we got back on the tube, I noticed that I bit farther down the Piccadilly line was King's Cross. Of course, we had to go since this is where Harry Potter makes his way to the Hogwarts Express! We found Platform 9 3/4, but it must have not been working because the cart was stuck in the wall! I tried to push it through, but it didn't work. Oh well, guess I was never meant for Hogwarts.

I had my meeting with Mark and Beth and found out how to get to my internship. I have my interview today at 1600 at 4Children. I learned that a student who worked there last semester ended up doing a lot of writing for their online publications, so it will be a great experience. Mark said that it would probably take me about an hour the first time I try to get there, but I should be able to get it down to just over a half hour.

I do have to change lines to get there, and one is the DLR which at one point is above ground, so I have to go to street level to find it. Hopefully everything goes smoothly because I am going by myself. I am leaving really early, so I may be there an hour before my meeting, but I will just explore the area for a bit.

Okay, I'm off to my internship soon. I will post after the weekend because we are going to the Lion King tomorrow, a scavenger hunt around London on Friday, and a walk from St. Paul's to Borough Market on Saturday. Cheers!

Arrival in London

So, I finally arrived in London! I got about 3 hours of sleep on the plane, and arrived at 7 a.m. local time.

I am a little in shock...I walked past Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The Eye, and Parliament.
After making my way to Vandon House, I unpacked everything in my tiny room. I had some troubles with the converter, but I got it working. After unpacking, a few of us walked around London...we decided to take a different path back to Vandon House to test our directional skills...we made it back and found a lot of shops along the way.

Tonight we are having pizza as a group, and then Mark, our director, is giving us a tour of the local area and then taking us to a pub nearby. After all of that, a few of us have to go to the tube station to get our travel cards filled so we can actually use the underground.

Once that is all done, I am going to go to sleep! I feel like I am going to pass out, but I have not allowed myself to take a nap, so I should sleep well tonight. And on Thursday, we get to see The Lion King! :)

Update from earlier: We had our tour of the block that we are staying on. We found the grocery store and ATM...after our long walk, we decided to have a pint (20 ounces) at The Sanctuary House, a pub about two blocks away. I am not one for beer because it smells horrible, but a Strongbow was pretty good...tasted a little like sparkling juice. A little pricey for the pint though, three pounds and fifty-five pence...so almost seven bucks.Now, I'm off to bed because it has been a very long day with no sleep!

On a side note to my parents: I am so sorry for making you stay up later! My phone wouldn't turn on, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong! It said the battery was low, but it was fine before we took off...anyway, I made it safe and sound.

On Your Mark, Get Set...PACK!

So, I actually started putting all of my clothes out, trying to figure out what should go with me. It is a lot more difficult than you would think. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have an internship to go to as well because I have to pack business attire too.

Everything (well, almost everything) is sitting on my bed, ready to go in a suitcase. I still have a few things washing and some more casual clothes to pack. The big problem is that I have a huge attachment to my jeans, and I want to bring all of them with me...I know I can't, but I want to!

So, I still have shoes and toiletries to pack, but basically everything is ready to go. I'm going shopping with my mom this weekend to get a few extra items that I need before I leave, so I still need to have room for all of that. I'm not sure how all of this is going to fit, but I am a Master Packer (a title that I gave myself very recently), so I know that it will all fit...I hope. :)

My clothes so far, it doesn't look like much, but there are a lot of clothes there!

Update on my packing:

I think I said my first suitcase is 20 inches, but it is really 28 inches. Just a few more days until I leave! :)

The Most Difficult Part

Even though I haven't actually started my trip, my preparations for London have technically been in the making for months. Now that I am down to 16 days, the stress of the situation is starting to take its toll. Who knew packing could be so stressfull...and I really haven't even began yet. So, here is my first dilemma: what do I pack and what do I leave behind? When visiting my aunt recently, she told me that if I have any doubts about a piece of clothing, then I should just leave it at home because I probably won't miss it. Good advice, Aunt Leigh! I am working on packing light...I'll let you know how it goes.

Even more difficult than packing is saying goodbye. I did get to visit a lot of my friends in my hometown over New Years. It was great getting to see everyone after a year and a half, but having to say goodbye for at least another four months was tough. All of my friends at school I can stay in contact more easily than others, but it doesn't make leaving school any less easy (not to mention volleyball...how can I live four months without it?!?). Hopefully, with the help of this blog and Skype, I can stay in contact with everyone more easily...when I'm not off running around Europe!

Even worse than saying goodbye to my friends is leaving my family. I go to school in the same town that my family lives in and my mom works on campus...I see them all the time. Four months will be the longest period of time that I have ever spent away from my parents and brothers. I know they are all excited for me to have an amazing time in Europe, but let's be serious, they are so going to miss me! :)

Although leaving is hard, I know that the experiences that I will gain while studying in London will be worth leaving home. Who knows, maybe I won't want to come back (kidding, mom)!