Whirlwind

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long delay for this post, but life has been absolutely crazy and nonstop. We lived out our final two days at the hotel (being back in the world of Wi-Fi is a beautiful thing). While we were there, we did all the tourist-y things: Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Victoria, Kensington Gardens, Harrod's.





Every day this city gets more incredible. Every street is lined with more history than you can imagine—definitely not something you can find back in the States. Every neighborhood is so vastly different from the next, its quite a daunting task to even begin to explore it all. Devika and I have also made not one, but two trips to Primark, an incredibly fashionable discount store (think Forever 21 on steroids). The place is constantly packed with crowds and has the best tops for £7, jeans from £11, and jackets from £19. Not too shabby, even with the exchange rate. Before, we were wondering how everyone in this city could afford to be so fashionable, and now we know the answer. That place is going to be hard to resist for the next three months.

Why don't people do this in America?!

It was also great fun exploring the different cuisines around the city, including fish & chips (!) and some positively amazing Thai food. Most days for lunch we would buy £2 sandwiches, which you can find in shops all over the city (a beautiful invention) and join the dozens of others eating picnic style in Bloomsbury Gardens. I must say though, it's pretty nice not having to spend about $25+ a day on food now that I'm living in my accommodations.

On Saturday, we made the move up to Hampstead, the area of North London which most of my friends from Arcadia & I were placed in. It's an absolutely beautiful, high-end residential area of the city that is nothing but pure joy to walk through every day. My room is less than ideal (somehow Bria and I got stuck in Ellison tiny singles while the rest of our friends got sprawling rooms 4 times the size of ours with breathtaking views), but it will be perfectly fine for three months. For those at NU, I'm living in the equivalent of Bobb (social life and all), while everyone else is in Kemper—with crazy views of the city. Our floor, though, makes it completely worth it. Only four days here, and I've already made some incredible British friends that enjoy making fun of my accent and hearing about sorority life—what more could you ask for?

To all those wondering, I am, in fact, eating. Bria and I even made burritos today! Eggs and risotto are next on the list (thanks for the recipes, Jon and Jackie). I must say, though, grocery shopping over here is quite the adventure. Finding broth for risotto, for example, was quite the struggle. Apparently in the UK, it comes in little cubes called "stock" you soak in water. Needless to say, the poor man working at the grocery store had no idea what I was describing as I tried to ask where broth was. Sour cream and cheddar cheese were also difficulties, but everything here seems to be an adventure. It's all about letting go and embracing that.

At the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens

On the academic front, the registration for King's has been an impossible process compared to the U.S. I never thought I would miss NU's online registration process, but the U.K. is pretty ridiculous. You have to individually look up each class and check for schedule conflicts, and if you have any course problems, get in a long line, fill out forms, and talk to multiple people to get it done. Luckily, my ordeal was easier than others and got successfully placed in Elizabethan Shakespeare, Jane Austen in Context, Post Christianity in 20th Century Britain, and the History of Early Modern Britain. I couldn't take an economics class because of schedule conflicts, but I think this will be an exciting schedule for my time abroad!

Around orientation events, we've been spending time getting to know our fellow King's students through pub crawls, socials, and just hanging out around the dorm and in the kitchen. I must say, it's really strange to be a "fresher" again, though I have met a fair number of people closer to my own age. I'm also constantly blown away by the people I've met who have such different life experiences; so far I have met people from the U.K., Australia, Russia, Ireland, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Italy, France, and all around the U.S. Being in the dorms is such a pivotal part of the study abroad experience—if anyone reading this is still considering programs, I would definitely suggest finding one where you can specifically live among foreign students. Seriously, it's just incredible. I can already tell I won't want to leave as soon as December.

The National Gallery

Today, we didn't have any orientation events so we went to Baker Street (including the Sherlock Holmes museum) and the National Gallery. There's just so much to do here its overwhelming. My classes don't start until October 1st (?!) so right now I'm making plans to go to Spain next week to visit one of my best friends Molly in Seville. More to come later!