First week in London

As the first week in London is winding down and the first weekend is starting up, I have decided to take a few minutes and start my blog. At first, I was not planning on writing a blog or recording my experience as a study abroad student in London, mostly because I'm lazy. But as I thought about it, I realized that the opportunity to record my thoughts and experiences while I'm in a new country for four months is priceless. Besides the fact that it is a wonderful opportunity to write a serious blog that I can actually show to people (if you are familiar with Casey and my other blogs, you will know what I'm talking about) and I could not pass either of those opportunities up.

So we have all basically been so busy we have not even had time to catch our breath, which is why this first post will be a relatively long one. It's been a whirlwind of new sites, new culture, and new experiences for me in the first week in London. We arrived on Sunday morning and exhaustedly made it through the day, both overwhelmed and excited as we tried to get accustomed to our new "hood." Sunday night I had my first legal drink - a cider at a cozy little pub down the street from my flat - and then proceeded to almost fall asleep at the table then called it a night at 9:30 pm. Monday morning I woke up early as I had an interview at 9:45 (luckily I had gone to sleep 12 hours prior to that) and then went down to the Westminster area to go on a boat ride down the Thames. At first, I was a bit skeptical, as all the water surfaces I had seen so far were frozen solid, and it was a dismal 30 degrees outside. Farenheit, not Celsius. But the boat was heated and enclosed and it was a nice ride down the Thames which allowed us to see some popular sites in London. Here are a few snapshots before the windows got too foggy with condensation for us to see anything the tour guide was talking about.

The London Eye, which I WILL go on, no matter how scared of heights Melissa is

The Tower Bridge (I think?) and the HMS Belfast, used in WWII

Parliament

Big Ben

Unfortunately, the foggy windows and the fact that my cheapo camera kept pretending it didn't have enough battery power even though I had replaced the batteries before I left America prevented me from capturing some of my favorite sites, namely the Globe Theater and the Millenium Bridge (aka The Harry Potter Bridge-the capitals are intentional).

But then we arrived back at the dock and got off the boat for some other sightseeing, as we were in prime sightseeing area. I bought new batteries at Boots (a CVS comparable store) and off we went. First stop-Trafalgar Square (my favorite square, site where Edward R. Murrow broadcasted from during WWII with bombs dropping around him - "This is London. This is Trafalgar Square. The sound you are hearing are the bombs being dropped by German planes." Look it up, it's pretty accurate. After climbing on some lions in Trafalgar Square, we attempted to find the Prime Minister's house (10 Downing St.) but it was gated off. So then we wandered, got lost, and ultimately found Buckingham Palace, but not before we walked through a beautiful St. James Park.

Trafalgar Square

Lions in Trafalgar Square

St. James Park

Buckingham Palace

Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with boring lectures that took place ALL. DAY. LONG. Let me tell you, it was a snoozefest. Thursday we started class, which was interesting and since my class was in the afternoon, I finally got a chance to get a little rest. I was, however, disturbed at 8 am when the fire alarm went off for the third straight morning. But I went back to sleep and snoozed my way through the morning.

From class and the lectures that I was lucky enough to be conscious for, I've already learned some interesting things about London. (And it's only been 6 days!) I think many things about the government here are fascinating, namely the secularization of it. I was bewildered to find out that legislation about gay marriage and abortion BOTH flew through Parliament with no one so much as batting an eye. Also, on the back of the 10 pound note lies the face of Charles Darwin. I keep thinking to myself - can you imagine if this happened in America? I mean, I struggle to understand the difficulties we face with "radical" issues such as gay marriage and abortion, but I actually laughed when I thought about the reaction the U.S. would have to putting a figure like Darwin on our money. Think about that for a minute, and hopefully you will laugh too. But it's not funny, it's actually sad, and I enjoy and respect that London is able to accomplish things like this.

Another HYSTERICAL part of government here that I enjoy is called the Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), which occurs every Wednesday at noon and is broadcasted live on television. Basically, the Prime Minister stands up in front of Parliament and members of Parliament, including the leader of the opposing party(ies), get to ask him questions about the state of London. The questions typically start off slowly, but then the leader of the opposition gets to go back and forth with the Prime Minister, which usually turns into jabbing, insult-ridden accusations and defenses. On this week's PMQs, Gordon Brown was making fun of David Cameron's campaign posters that were put around London, which were apparently airbrushed to the point of giving Cameron a pink glow to his face. Brown found this very entertaining, but was then hushed as Cameron ridiculed Brown's persona and looks. With all the cheering and laughter from the other MPs, you would think this was the Jerry Springer show. But no, it was just a weekly meeting of London's government. PLEASE imagine if George W. Bush had to face and answer questions from his cabinet weekly and think about how many other Bushisms we would have had then.

Another fun thing I've learned about London is that being an American at a pub here is a truly unique experience. The pubs, first of all, are way cooler than American bars. They have a different atmosphere and a laid-back personality to them - they are cozy and generally a fun place to relax and have a few drinks. At one of the pubs we went to, we were fortunate to encounter another group of American students studying abroad here, as well as a local Londoner. Two groups of American students, a Londoner named Simon sitting in between us, and a Tuesday night were apparently all the ingredients we needed to have a fun time. Simon took every opportunity to get the two groups of Americans to talk to each other, beginning with his statement "You are all American, tell them your names. Okay, GO!" Simon quickly learned that the other group of Americans were lame and refused to enjoy time with the drunken man sitting next to them trying to engage them in conversation, so he began to have a little fun with our group of friends, because we were obviously much cooler. He proceeded to make some of my friends hit on (read: bother) the bartenders and very loudly got to know more about each one of us, all while the girl he was with (who insisted she was not his girlfriend) kept shushing him and telling him to finish his drink so they could go. It was genuinely a fun time and I think it's safe to say that we got a pretty good dose of a Londoner that night.

I'm not sure what this weekend has in store for us but here's to hoping it's fun. Which it will be. Cheers!