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Published: February 2nd 2011
Day 1- On my plane ride here all I could do was imagine what London was going to be like, how it would impact my life after this semester was over. I kept looking at the screen that said how long until we would touch down. My excitement was finally fulfilled when I arrived in London Heathrow International airport. My only worry at this point was if I would find my program director. I opened the door just past customs and saw Maria waving here big red sign in the air. We greeted with a hug and she got me settled into a seat and handed me a big packet full of goodies and my first taste of London tea.
I sat there for the better part of the next hour sipping my tea and examining my goodies. This is when I first picked up that I was in a different country. As I sat there, I caught myself people watching. I saw so many different ethnicities and cultures. At one point a man came and sat next to me and started a dialogue with me. Of course, right away he knew I was a YANK! We discussed why
I was coming here, where I was from, amongst other random questions. I then asked him where he was originally from, and he told me to guess (sighting that Americans have no sense of where people come from). My first guess, was Greece since he had mentioned being in Greece recently he was utterly surprised and said I was close. He then gave me a hint. He said that they are not in the UN yet and it is a big issue. I immediately knew it was turkey, which, it was. He ended the conversation with some helpful tips. See the tourist spots, but also WALK and explore the lesser seen area’s. enjoy the time I have here because this was a once in a life timesopportunity, and Don’t tell anyone I am a Yank.
After waiting for an hour, we decided to head to my flat since the other two students didn’t show up. As we were driving I just sat there an took it in. I admired the skyline, while being shocked by the cars speeding by. It was definitely weird being on the opposite side of the road. Also London driving is very aggressive I would say. I safely arrived at the Mclaren house but my room wasn’t ready so we dropped my stuff off. I then met Alexandra one of the girls in my group. We then walked a couple blocks down to where the 3 other students in my program. We said our Hello’s and then raced off to Lunch.
We went to a Place called the Laughing Gravy, it was a quaint place with wood floors and were the only one’s there. I got the chicken with potato hash, and a red wine sauce over the top. At this point I don’t know my people say british food isn’t very good.
After Lunch we walked to the Southwark (not pronounced “South””Wark”) Station and got on the Tube for my first time. As the cart started up I was so scared and confused by the sound and the thoughts that were running through my head. I to this day can not describe the sound that I first heard, but today I don’t even notice it. We arrived at oxford circus and to my amazement we were on Oxford Street. Oxford street is a 2 mile or Kilometer street full of shops and millions of people. I got a cell- phone at a cellphone storee it was 1 pence with purchase of a sim card. We then went to Primmark(Sp?) where I purchased 2 pillows for 4 quid and was tempted to buy a tweed pea-coat but resisted the urge. We then took the tube back to southwark and I got moved into my flat. My flat is 8 bedrooms with a kitchen. My roomates consist of a guy named Greg from New york, a guy named Paul from Luxemberg, Jynes from Germany, Liv from South Bend, Indiana Andrea from New york, Jomar from New york, and Nomarug(sp?) from India. It is quite an entertaining group to say the least.
Maria my Program director had warned me to stay up as late as I could since it would be really bad if I went to sleep at 6 p.m. when I was really tired. So I decided I would try to make it till11. I wanted to explore and since Greg and I hit it off, we decided to go wander around we walked north (they don’t really use directions in like North, south, easy, or west in London ) toward the thames(pronounced like the name Tim) and wandered that area then went back past the mclaren house towards elephant and castle tube stop. It was beneficial to get the lay of the land on the first night. We made it back to my dorm around 12:15 and I instantly hopped in bed after an exhausting first day in London.
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Bruce
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What a Day!
Austin, this is a great start to really tracking and being able to rememeber all that you have done in your first week and now into your 2nd week. Keep it up so Mom and I can follow you through London. The photos on FB are great...need some description of what we are looking at! Stay safe!