"If You're Tired of London, You're Tired of Life"

This phrase was told to us by our British tourguide, Brit. I was amused by it at first, but in this past week I've been in London, I've found it reads true. All of the new information and sight-seeing has become as big a blur as the alarmingly fast speed in which my bank account is dwindling down. I knew London was an expensive city, but the exchange rate is going to kill me. I took 80 pounds out of the ATM and after the exchange rate as well as bank fees, it cost me 132USD. It seems like there is way too much to do in London and not enough time, but at least a lot of the sights are free.

I've gotten sick the past few days and I'm hoping it's not the British Flu, which according to our coordinator, Mary, is worse than the Swine Flu. With my weak immune system and awful response to lack of sleep/normal eating schedules, I should have been prepared for this, but instead, brought zero medicine. That was a fun 10 pounds (roughly 17USD) that I spent today at Boots, the local Walgreens.

Other than that, London has been amazing. I've said this phrase over and over and am constantly wishing there was a better and more accurate way to describe this city, but no words exist. In the first days we arrived, my group was given a 2 hour guided walking tour of our neighborhood, Kensington. We walked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, both directly across the street from my flat. The experience would have been much more enjoyable if our tour guide, Simon, had stuck to the paths as opposed to trekking through the snow. Apparently Londoners get really excited with the little snowfall they receive and find it fun to walk through it. To say the least, I wasn't too happy with Simon after my Uggs were soaking wet.

Serpentine Lake

Old horse stables converted to Flats - roughly 1.5 million pounds

The next day we went on a 3.5 hour bus tour and ventured into the heart and soul of London. It was freezing outside so we spent most of our time on the bus, but still saw the major sights such as the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's (the most gorgeous church I've ever seen), the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the stores where the Queen Shops, and the most expensive shopping district I've ever been through containing high fashioned stores mixed with Ferrari and Jaguar show rooms.

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

The whole "going out" experience is much different here than at home. People go out after dinner and the pubs, which are much more casual than bars, close at 11pm. Clubs then open and stay open until about 4/5am. The first pub we went to was at Imperial Union, the university we're affiliated with here. Most of my program ended up being there so we didn't meet any locals, but it was still fun and their cider is delicious. Glouster Arms is a pub a few blocks from us and looks more like what I would picture a traditional English pub to look like. We've gone there a few times but my favorite pub so far is where we met 3 gorgeous British guys and scored some free cider. Kristina, Alyssa, Andrea, and I walked past their table and were surprised when they began to boo at us. We stopped and asked why they boo'd and they said something along the lines of, "because four pretty girls walked past us without saying hi." We then spent an hour and a half talking to them, imitating each other's accents, and discussing opposing stereotypes. No matter what they said, it sounded so proper with their wonderful English accent.

At Imperial Union's pub - me, Andrea, Lindsey, Alyssa, Ashley, Kristina

Classes here are a joke compared to Madison's. I only have class 3 days a week, so my weekends are longer than my school weeks. To sum them up, I go to museums, plays, and listen to jazz, blues, and rock, and write about and discuss our opinions. The class that seems like it will require the most work is Contemporary Britain, where we'll learn about their entire political system. Our first class we got into a discussion about Britain's healthcare system vs. the US's as well as differences between the Royal Family and the President of the US. All of my "professors" (they don't go by that title) are really cool and laid back. The classes are much more discussion-centered than lecture-style.

There is so much planned for us in the next couple of weeks and then Seah is visiting from Spain!! :)