Friday, January 22, 2010

Classes, a club, and some history

Classes have started, things are getting underway, but it's still a little wild to think that right now I'm in London. I will say it's nice not to be jet lagged anymore.

Last night I went to a club for the first time in my life. I didn't really do much there: hung out with some people at a table that usually costs an inordinate amount of money but was somehow paid for by the people here who planned the "start of term party," talked to some people, and walked around the place. I'm glad I went, but I came back and watched the first period of the Capitals v Penguins game, glad we won that.
Here's a picture of said club:



Today I saw the Tower of London, which was much bigger than I seemed to visualize it as from the outside (it's probably just me but it didn't look huge from the outside). For all you history people reading this (all 1.75 of you) someday you should visit this place, it's packed full of history and I know I won't do it justice if I try and describe it. I do have some pictures up on Facebook.



One of the things that has struck me about London is that there is so much history, and historical architecture, located right around modern architecture. There's a fantastic contrast between old and new, and in many places a great blend of the two. A place like New York City compared to here it doesn't have a whole lot of history. It doesn't have a 2000 year old wall left over from the Romans, located right next to a Tube stop. Even Washington, DC, with it's history, can't measure up. American can't either, unless of course we talk about the Native Americans. According to Wikipedia Jamestown was started in 1607. Comparatively, it says that the White Tower, the oldest part of the fort, was built in 1078, and the Crown Jewels have been kept within the fort since 1303. That's a long time. And yet you can look across the Thames, as well as in the other direction, and see glass-clad buildings that you would expect in a very modern city.





Of course there's always some complaints. The rain, the tiny amount of space in my room and in the shower, the amount of noise in the mornings, all that isn't fun. But it's worth it.

And really I owe a lot of people thanks for getting me here. Warning, this might be a bit sentimental. Obviously the people on the top of my thank you list has to be my parents, because I wouldn't be here in London without their help in so many ways, nor would I be the person I am. My brother and sister, for not hindering me in coming over here, and of course for being great people. The Moss grandparents, who have been a huge part of my life. Of course the Lyons grandparents, and the rest of my family like Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Charles and all those other great people. And then there's my neighbors, I mean I've lived near them for 15 years, how can my life not have been affected by them (definitely in a positive manner on the whole). The other friends I've had throughout my life, even somehow staying friends going to different schools. My friends at Clemson, who, over the space of maybe a year and a half, have already had an impact on my life. This isn't meant to sound selfish, but the list would be long and I don't wanna leave any of my friends out, so we'll leave it at that, you know who you are, even if you aren't reading this. And if I've missed anyone, I'm really sorry and didn't mean to, let me know if I did. So thanks everyone. Now, anyone wanna get me a job this summer??

2 comments:

  1. how much does it cost to go to the tower? My friends said it was like 18 pounds???

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  2. Sorry it's taken me so long to answer, just saw you commented on it. Well we got tickets from the school here, they had some extra ones that we paid 10 pounds for. I just looked it up online, and it said for a student it was 14.50 pounds, and yeah normally 17. That's a solid amount of money

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