London Tube Map

Map of London Tube stops

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html

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??

First week is almost done

So I've almost gotten through (maybe not the best term, it sounds like it's not been fun) a full week here. I think I'm finally over the jet lag, I'm not in a haze now, which is a good thing.

Yesterday I saw the Chelsea Football Stadium (real football):



It was awesome. They have some great players there: Terry, Lampard, and Drogba. The first two have massage chairs reserved for them in the locker room.

Later I went on a picnic in the Kensington Gardens, not really gardens but more of a park:



I even went on a Jack the Ripper tour Friday night, which I found pretty interesting. Of course at one part, we made a turn into a small, dark alleyway, and some kid pops out of a door there, completely scaring me.

We did a boat tour Friday night (more of a booze cruise, but I managed to have fun and grab some pictures, although obviously not this one):



Today is the first day of classes, and thankfully my 9 am teacher couldn't be here today, so I got to sleep in a little. Which reminds me I went to church yesterday, and it felt just like home. Although the church itself is bigger:



To get to all of the pictures here's a link to the Facebook albums I've uploaded so far: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038844&id=1565130002&l=020a95829d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039178&id=1565130002&l=2024beb3d8

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039263&id=1565130002&l=07a66a7aac

Thanks for reading everyone. Any comments, suggestions, offers of money or free trips can go below this.

Orientation

I'm writing this at about 7:45 in the morning. I woke up about 5:45 and have slept on and off since then. Against the advice my mom gave me before I left, I laid down a few times yesterday, and so I think that threw my sleep off. Our room is also very warm, and I don’t think we can turn down the heat. We’ve left a window open, which has helped, but that also lets noise in.

Most of the day yesterday went to getting orientated (is that a word?).

I went on a walking tour of the area I'm in, Kensington. Apparently the homes across the street are really really expensive. I also found out that TS Eliot lived very close to here, and apparently Dustin Hoffman has a place close by. The number of nice cars I spotted around here is just crazy: most people in this neighborhood seem to drive either a Mercedes or BMW, with a few Porsche's thrown in there. Seriously, it seems like every other car (not counting cabs) is one of those makes. I also saw a Ferrari and a Rolls-Royce Phantom, and someone pointed out an old Rolls-Royce to me.

We stopped in St. Mary Abbot's Church, which I believe the lady said was built for William and Mary originally, when they built the palace here. The lady also pointed out the Catholic Church near here (I had found one online, but this is closer I think). It’s actually a Carmelite church, and I think the Carmelites is an order of nuns.

At the end of the tour we went to an orientation meeting

Today on the agenda is meeting with the class advisor (actually I just did that, I'm posting this later than I wrote most of it), going on a bus tour of London, and getting some supplies. I woke up this morning and saw snow (not much of it, but it was still there) on the ground, so we’ll see if London still panics even with the amount of snow they’ve had these past few weeks.

A week to go

I leave in a week. 1 Week. 7 days. And I'm not ready. But that's ok, cause I don't think I'll ever really be ready for study abroad, it's just gonna happen. I've started setting aside stuff that I'm bringing. I don't know how I'm gonna fit all the clothes in, even while paying for a second piece of luggage. I now have a bigger backpack for like weekend trips, my parents got me and my brother one for Christmas (he's going to Germany for a few days next summer). We'll see if I use it, I hope I will.
Anyways, just a few more days. We have some cool orientation stuff, according to the sheet they sent with the Pre-Departure Package. Stuff like touring the Chelsea soccer stadium and a boat tour. There are definitely things to look get excited about. Like me only having to take three classes, that's still considered full time by them. This is partially nice because hopefully I can see more of London, but also because I'll be taking 300 and 400 level classes over there, which is another thing I'm slightly worried about. But, we'll figure all that out when I get over there. For now I have to figure out what I'm bringing (should I bring sheets, a towel...), so a few decisions for me to make.
I'm going though, and that's the important part.

Only a little bit away

Ok guys, so it's been a really long time. I finally figured out the program I'm going with, AIFS, for next semester. I think I have everything turned in that I needed. It's crazy to think that in a little over a month I'll be in another country (happily without a language barrier), in another continent, across an ocean, and away from pretty much everything that I'm used to. But I guess that's the point of studying abroad isn't it??

So I'm gonna have an interesting time packing for next semester, I'm no good at packing light. Guess I'm gonna have to learn. I did buy a card for Hosteling International, so have that, they have some really cheap rooms. I don't think I'm gonna get a Euro Rail pass; they have so many different types and I just don't know where I'm gonna go yet. I am wondering about the whole drinking thing over there, I have a feeling that for a solid amount of people the drinking is a big part of going over there. As to what I'll do, we'll see, but don't worry, I have no intention of going over there to get drunk. Seems like it might be a waste, seeing as this might be my one chance to really see London, and Europe.

Now, I can safely say that I'll miss my friends. Some of my friends here at Clemson have become almost like family, it'll be hard to not see them for that long. Honestly it might be as bad not seeing them as it will be not seeing my family. Thank goodness for Skype, and Facebook, and email, and to a much lesser degree Twitter.

Oh and thank goodness for a nice rain jacket (thanks mom, and by extension dad), don't wanna let that rain get to me. And I was thinking about maybe getting a Kindle, any thoughts?

My faith is another thing I've been thinking about with study abroad. Now, it helps that I can go to Mass (I've already google mapped where the church is) and have it in English. Of course I'll miss all the people at St. Andrew's and the learning that's taken place there, for me, so far. But, I'll be back, so there's plenty more time for that.

That's all I really have for now, decidedly to randomly update this tonight.

Some research

Alright so the last few days I've looked at one or two programs. The most recent one is AIFS, the American Institute for Foreign Study, which had some pretty cool programs. Most of the stuff is done through Richmond, the American International University, which I have no idea about, but that's something that doesn't really bother me, I don't think it matters who issues the stuff, as long as you study abroad. Of course, schools like Oxford or the London School of Economics (which at some point I actually think I'm going to look at) look better than something like Richmond, but that's cool.

They actually had a nice selection of places, like Florence (Website), Rome (Website), Paris (Website), and London (Website). The only thing was the cost was a little much, for everywhere but London around 17 grand, which is more than we're (ok, really my parents, not so much me) paying now, which means I'd need a scholarship to do this one. I guess I might end up applying for more than one program to make sure. Again though, their application fee is $95, which is more than most of the college ones were. Another things was the fact that the programs had built-in trips, which can be good or bad. The good part is that everything is planned for you, which makes life easier, and it's probably safer than traveling by yourself or in a smaller group. But I also don't know if I want to have certain times locked in forcing me to travel. I guess I could skip them, but that would be a waste of money.

They did seem to have good classes, and in Italy I would take an Italian course, which I think I could handle, considering I would be there. The Rome one has like a two week orientaion, and both there and Florence you have to take Italian language classes to gain some knowledge of the language.

The issue in London would be that it's available for juniors and seniors. By that point I will technically be a junior by hours, but I won't really be a junior. So I'll have to check up on that. I think it would be cool to be in London (my mom also thinks that would be a good place if in London), although through another program I found a school not far from London, the University of Central Lancashire (Website), which looks cool. Heck I even found that there's a Catholic Church really close. So many options....glad I'm looking now, 'cause there are so many different third-party programs that I could do. My only question about these is whether or not I'd get to meet a lot of people from that country, or if the program is run separately for international students, which might not be the same, although I guess if there were a lot of locals that would mean it’s in the local language. We’ll see.

PS the links are to the programs in the places I was mentioning, not the schools I would go to, but they obviously mention which school it is, at least I think. Also, I feel like this turned out to be a bit rambling, hopefully the more I write here the better I'll get at it. Key word there is hopefully, no promises...:)