#9. Celebrate the Chinese New Year

Fourth blog post of the night....

Although the Chinese New Year was last Tuesday, London had their celebration on Sunday.

I went with a few friends, and we stepped off the tube to a cramped Trafalgar Square.  We could here the drums, but couldn't see the parade.

Pushing our way through the crowd, Nichole and I were desperate for some "authentic" Chinese food, so the lot of us stopped at an outdoor, buffet type place (5 pounds for noodles and a sample of 3 side, yes please!).  We stopped and ate on the steps of what seemed like another restaurant, and Liam noticed that the dragon was headed our way!

The dragon eats lettuce, and if a restaurant/establishment hangs a thing of lettuce from the front, he will stop there, eat the lettuce, then spit it back up to the onlookers.  In theory this sounds disgusting, but in reality it was entertaining.  The steps that we camped out on were right in front of one of the places, and then I realized that there was lettuce hanging from our stoop's restaurant!  We had front and center seats to the coolest part of the Chinese New Year celebrations!

Sweet Dreams!
B

The buffet

The dragon about to eat the lettuce.

The dragon in his entirety.

AHHH scary dragon!

Updated the Bucket List

1. See at least two shows a month (for a total of seven shows)
       So far I've seen four shows (three West End, two with my internship) and January isn't even over!  The 39 Steps, The Wizard of Oz, Travelling Light, The Trial, and Lansbury
2. Portobello Market
3. Make friends with a Londoner
4. Take the Jack-the-Ripper tour
5. Eat fish and chips
6. Visit the British countryside
        Bath
7. Go to a lecture at Gresham College
8. East End Thrift Store
9. Celebrate the Chinese New Year
         This past weekend!
10. See the changing of the Guards
11. Volunteer with the Green Gym
12. Go to Ireland
13. Join a club at Imperial College
14. Go to Camdentown

A Bunch of Rocks and a Museum about Cleansing

Went to Stonehenge (I thought it was Stonehedge, oops) and Bath last Saturday.  I enjoyed Stonehenge in that it was a touristy thing to check off, but other than that, it was just a pile of rocks.  We couldn't go into the actual structure, and how many pictures can you take of the same thing?

Then we went to Bath, and pretty much only checked out the Roman Bath Museum.  It was interesting, but I would like to go back to explore more of the town, since it is a cutesy little place.

-B

One Saturday and Two Tours

My adoring followers (aka Mom and Dad),

This past week was an eventful one!

On Wednesday we visited the Olympics site, and let me say I do not think it will be ready in time.  However, I do appreciate that the Olympics Team is making this an eco-friendly, green event.  To get to the stadiums, visitors will need to use the tube, the athletes will walk to their games, and some of the buildings will use rain water for bathrooms and such.

On Saturday I took two free walking tours around the city.  The first was about the history of the buildings and area by the Thames river.  It was interesting and I'm glad I went, though the weather was freezing!  The tour was only supposed to be two hours, but two and a half hours into the tour, we decided to head back.

The guide told us the story of the day the London Eye went up (or rather, the day it didn't go up).  The eye was on its side, and as the cranes were pulling it upright, they got stuck.  Being sponsored by British Airways, the day, when the cranes worked and they were pulling the eye up, Virgin Airways flew a plane in the background with the banner "British Airways Can't Get it Up."

Then I went on a ghost tour later that night.  The group was too big; I wish they had more tour guides, but hey, it was free, so I can't complain too much.  And though I am one who is scared easily, this tour was scardy-cat friendly, and I thought the tour guide/actor was great.  He sand for us and got into character for each of the tales.

One story that stood out was about a nurse at St. Bartholomew Hospital.  This nurse can be seen in the medicine closet pointing to various medicines, unsure what to take.  When she was alive, the nurse accidentally gave the wrong medicine to a patient that killed him.  Upset, she hanged herself in the medicine room.

And on that happy note....
-B

A Smurf along the Thames.  There were other characters there to take pictures with.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral at night

Why There Are No Trash Cans in England

As I walk down the street and finish my hot chocolate, naturally I want to throw it away.  However, there are no trash cans, or bins as I've heard them called, on the streets.  Many of us experience this problem, and we finally have the answer: bombs.  I guess some people were using them as explosive receptacles, so everyone lost the privilege to street bins.

The Easiest Job

Hello!

On Wednesday my class went to Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

While at Parliament, it was told that the representatives who do not swear an oath the the Queen cannot sit in and take part in debates or vote.  So I asked, "What do these people do, if they can't debate and vote?"  The tour guide answered with, "We don't know."

What?!  What do you mean you don't know?  What do they do?  Seems like the easiest job, if you ask me. OK, maybe they don't partake in pressing issues, so I assume they take care of petty issues for their community?

Then we went to Westminster Abbey.  I never knew how much history is associated with the church (I can say this for any building here, actually).  About 3,000 monarchs and influential people are buried there.  In the first televised coronation, the Queen was crowned there.  And, obviously, this past April Kate married Will there!

Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Best, 

B

Portobello Market, or Where I didn't meet Hugh Grant

Well this post is almost a week late.  Bare with me....

Last Saturday a few of us set out for Portobello Market, which is only a few tube stops from our flat.

I always thought Rice's Market in PA was big, but boy was my judgement wrong.  Portobello Market is pretty much never ending.  it just goes on and on.  They have food/vegetable, clothing, antiques, crap that nobody needs....  It was an experience to just walk around.

We all started off the market by getting chocolate covered waffles.  Delicious!  Then sort of meandered around.

I guess I thought there was going to be more to this post, but how much can you truly say about a market without sounding like a crazy cat lady?

I'll leave you with some photos...

The waffle!

Keep Calm and Carry On, and Bansky

Man manning the paella

'nough said

Pretty houses.

-B

Bucket List

In no particular order (item's I've already done are crossed out)...

1. See at least two shows a month (for a total of seven shows)
2. Portobello Market
3. Make friends with a Londoner
4. Take the Jack-the-Ripper tour
5. Eat fish and chips
6. Visit the British countryside
7. Go to a lecture at Gresham College
8. East End Thrift Store
9. Celebrate the Chinese New Year
10. See the changing of the Guards
11. Volunteer with the Green Gym
12. Go to Ireland
13. Join a club at Imperial College
14. Go to Camdentown

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.  These 3 1/2 months will go by quickly and I want to make the most of it!

Meh.

I'm sitting in the computer room finishing a paper, so obviously that means doing anything but that.  I've exhausted Facebook, Twitter, and checking my emails, so now I'm updating this.

Exiting, I know.

Now I'm going to go make food.

Yeah....

The Internship Commute

Cherrio, 

On Friday, I had my interview for my internship.  I'm staying in Kensington, and the theatre is located in East London.

The interview was at 2 pm, so I thought I would leave at 11 am, give myself the extra time in case I got lost.  Well, good thing I did because it ended up taking me two hours to get there!

I started by taking the tube, then transferred to another tube, which took me to Canary Wharf.  Then, I took a third tube to Mudchute.  About 45 minutes after starting my commute, I got off at the last stop and was quite confused.  There was nothing around but houses, so I started walking south.  About 5 minutes later I saw some restaurants, and I decided to stop in and ask if someone knew where I needed to be going.  The women said that it would be about a 20-25 minute walk, or I could take the bus.  Wearing heels and pretty tired, I took the bus.

Stupid choice, since I had no idea where to get off at!  Going in a complete cirlce, I wound up back at Canary Wharf, and then had to retake the tube to Mudchute!  I got off, walked to a different restaurant, was told it was only about a 10 minute walk, and then walked to the space.  I was about an hour early- and had been traveling for two hours- but to my (much delighted) surprise, there is a pub/bar above the place.  I went in, got some tea, read a book, and then headed to the interview.

It's with a theatre company called The Space, and it looks like I'll be able to really work with them and get a good hands-on experience.

I learned that I can just take a bus from Canary Wharf straight to The Space, so here's hoping that cuts my commute by a few minutes!

-B

1 Week Down

Happy Saturday!

Sorry for not posting the past few days!  I got caught up in all of the exciting activities of the past week.  I'll just give a day-by-day break down.

Sunday: At around 7 am, my roommate, Julie, this kid Cory, and I were hungry and couldn't sleep, so we went out and discovered The Sandwich Shop.  Words cannot describe the awesomeness that is The Sandwich Shop.  It's this cheap little hole-in-the-wall quick deli-esque place.  And it. Is. Delicious.  They've got breakfast foods and Indian food, and water.  Ahhh glorious water!  The tap water here tastes like stones.  I puke everytime I drink it.  And don't think boiling it to make tea will make it taste any different.  

Monday:  Started classes.  I usually will not have class on Monday (wahoo!) but for the first week my 9am on Tuesday was switched to Monday.  All four people in my class were there, but the professor wasn't!  He forgot, so I ended up not having class.  Great day.  At night, since I didn't have class the next day, some of us went to a club, Mahiki, and it was decorated like a tiki bar.  It was full of posh, snobby 20 and 30-somethings.  Since one of the girls who was with us knew a guy who worked there, we got a treasure chest full of alcohol which would normally cost 135 pounds for free!  It really is all about who you know...

Tuesday:  Didn't have class, so I had the whole day to chill.  A ground of us went to the National History Museum.  There was a dinosaur exhibition, and there were flocks of elementary school kids crowding around.  It was pretty exciting, though.  We walked through other parts of the museum, too.  There was one long hallway/room that was full of animals and plants in jars.  It was quite disturbing when I saw he mammals in the jars.

Wednesday:  The actual first day that I had class.  There is a class that everyone is in called Communicating through London, or something like that.  We went to the National Portrait Gallery, and I've got to say, the first couple hundred years of the gallery are boring.  It's a bunch painting of royal, white men who all have the white, curly haired wigs on.  At night there was a meet and greet type event for all of the FIE students.  There was a raffle to win some travel trips.  Each raffle was a pound.  Two pounds fell into my hand from my purse and so I got two tickets.  I was soooo close to reaching in and getting another pound, and if I had, I would have won a day trip in England!  Talk about a missed bad luck!  Julie ended up winning that one, so it's all good!

Thursday: All of FIE went to see The 39 Steps.  It didn't hit me until today that the actors were very talented.  I know that sounds crazy, but I was pretty tired that night.  Two actors play a majority of the roles in the show, and it didn't register until recently that they made each character specific and individual.

Friday:  I had my interview for my internship!  I'll make that a separate post.  At night we rolled squad deep and tried to get into a night club, but there was a two hour wait, so we went to Arch Angel, a bar/club on High Street, instead.  It was fun, but it was full of creepy old guys.  Eww.

Today I want to Portobello Market.  I'll make a new post for that one, too.

Now I'm off to High Street to do some shopping.

Cheers,

B

Best Birthday

What up what up,

Yesterday was a great day!  I went on two tours of London on my birthday!  First, we took a coach tour of the area, saw the Harry Potter bridge, Westminster Abbey, and some other cool places/buildings that I can't remember.  Then we toured the neighborhood on foot, went down little alley ways, that are called Mews, and learned some of the history of the neighborhood.  We're truly lucky to be living in Kensington, where the residents pay millions upon millions to live.  Though it would be nice if there was more of a college-y feel to it.

Then at night we went out for my birthday!  A bunch of the other students got me a bottle of wine, a cupcake, and a card, and it really meant a lot.  I was sort of homesick, since I wasn't at school with my friends to celebrate, but this was definitely a great time, and I'm so thankful that they did that for me!

We intended to go to a club, but the club was closed.  Apparently not a lot of people like to go out the week or so after Christmas and New Years (can you believe New Years was only last week?!)  Well, we walked, or rather drunkenly walked, around wherever it was that we were.  And by the way, drinking on the tube is not legal. #sorryimamerican

Cheers, 

B

So we actually didn't do a walking tour, that's tomorrow.  Whoops.

We had a meeting about what is expected from us today, and then later there was a meeting for everyone who will have an internship, which also outlined what was expected and what to expect from it.  It was informational, but boring, and I wanted to fall asleep.

During the day a bunch of us went back to the supermarket to pick up some things we had forgotten, like hand soap (hello?! what were we thinking not getting it before?!)  The a few of us went to get our student discount cards, which was an adventure in itself.  We weren't too sure where we were going, but it was nice to walk and see more of the city.

I got  new sim card today, but I don't think it works.  Or maybe my phone just won't let me contact people outside of the UK?  Mom, Dad, if you see this, I'll send you my number and you should call (maybe to wish me a happy 21st tonight at midnight, which would be 6pm your time?  Hint, hint....

Now I'm getting ready to head out to the pubs.  Good thing I still think pounds are dollars.  2.50 for a beer?  I'll take two!

-B

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!

Hello All!

We landed yesterday, and the flight wasn't too bad.  I sat next to some guy who was a Grad student in Barcelona.  Crazy!  I didn't sleep much on the plane, but who ever does?

Yesterday's activities included getting out room assignments.  I'm rooming with Julie, and we're in the tiniest, Harry-Potter's-closet-under-the-staircase type room.  So small!  Oh well, we'll have to deal with it, and I think it'll be fine.

When I started to unpack, I realized that all of my body lotion, hair serum, and body wash on the plane!  My suitcase was over the weight limit, and I was taking out everything that I could bring on my carry on, and then my bag was so stuffed, that when I was on the plane, it must have fallen out.

There were seven of us on the flight, so for the most part of the day we stayed together to register with FIE,  eat lunch (at Nando's, a chicken place), and took a walking tour (with a free t-shirt!) of the area.  Got some food shopping done, and then realized that we didn't get water.  So we'll have to head back today.

Last night almost everyone from Temple went out to the Imperial Pub, the local university's pub.  So we pile in there squad deep.  Hope they don't hate us!  That got old, and empty, so we walked to thw end of our block to The Gloucester's Arms.  Every other bar is is named "The something Arms."  confusing when you're looking for a specific one.

So now I'm getting ready to start day two!
B

Countdown: 26 Hours!

In 26 hours I'll be (hopefully) boarding a plan headed across the pond.  There's some inclement weather in England, and some flights have been delayed, but let's hope that gets cleared up.

I made a goal for myself to be done packing tonight, and so far I've got about three pairs of jeans, a few shirts, and maybe two sweaters packed.  The night's still young, right?  Worst comes to worst I'll just keep calm and put it in my carry on (see what I did there?)

-Becki

Pre-departure

Hello All!

I know that everyone is just going to be dying to hear about my London adventures, so I figured I would dedicate a blog entirely to my studies, travels, and day-to-day life abroad.

I've just started to pack, only a day and a half before I leave, talk about procrastination...

Check back often!
Becki