Hello, I'm a Tourist

I have yet to go out and experience Central London until today! Freshers week has been keeping me busy around the college and to be honest I am not a fan of the public transportation system yet. It looks REALLY confusing. So I waited until today. luckily an American married couple I made friends with were planning a trip as well to Buckingham Palace and a few museums in Kensington. Perfect! I purchased my first Oyster Card, which is a requirement for continuous travel throughout London and off we went. First stop, the Palace. If I had to describe it in one word it would be 'eh.' Yes I said eh. While it is big, it is very plain on the outside. Also I am convinced cameras make the outside of it look bigger although I am sure many would argue with me.

In the summer months (July thru September) you can purchase tickets to see certain rooms of the palace and we were lucky enough to see it the day before the summer run ends. Tickets were purchased then the tourism began. We had some time to kill so we joined the other worldly adventurers and took photos. Sadly we learned the changing of the guards was taking place at the same time as our tour through the palace so I already know I will have to return just to watch that.
The inside of the palace is beautiful, but for obvious reasons no photos allowed. I was most taken by the artwork in one of the halls. Centuries old and in amazing condition you could see works from the Renaissance period to the Baroque period and beyond.

Next stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum. Various time periods with clothing and original artworks from around Britain. The Natural History Museum and Science Museum also followed but our feet were beginning ache and our patience was growing thin. What do you do when this occurs? You find a good creamery! Ice cream for everyone!! Well at least for us. Having started our journey at 9am and ending after 5pm I would say it was a highly successful Saturday. Today, no workout was needed for I had gotten more cardio in than I expected. But… I'm still a wee bit confused by the trains, tubes, and underground. One of these days I will need to just get lost and find my way home.

Making Friends…

There is nothing like moving into your new flat, finding the closest Subway Restaurant, coming home with food after a draining flight, sweating your…. well you know off all day from lugging your only belongings around London, only to see a group of people standing in your flat foyer saying 'HEY! Let's go get a beer' and all you want to do is find your towel and shower. Do you respond with 'thanks but no thanks' and lose your chance to make new friends or do you say screw it and go? I went, but being honest, all I wanted to do was shower and change.

The great thing about going to a bar with people you don't know is by the end of the night you either like em' or hate em'. We all know this to be true, so don't judge me. The pub was fantastic reminding me a bit like the one in the BBC show Coupling. Ok, it wasn't as big but it was as nice. I quickly learned some of my flatmates are from various countries including Greece, Japan and Germany. I also learned we are all post grads. I don't know about you but I can only imagine how this will go when we all decide to party together.

But back to the pub…. friends were made, tap water was had (I hadn't converted any of my money yet, oops), conversation was great and laughs were had around the tables. I didn't make it long, as I had been awake for too many hours to count.

Shopping For The First Time... LOOK RIGHT!

When one arrives at university for the first time to live in what is "accommodation housing" you have no real idea what to expect. And when it comes to living in a foreign country for the first time and living in university housing you REALLY have no idea what to expect. Do you see where this is going yet?

I arrived hungry, tired, sweaty, and wishing for a bed, food and a shower all at the same time but first, I must figure out how to get into the gate that houses my flat. In Britain I have come to the conclusion they like their security. The city is constantly monitored by 24hour CCTV that police and security officials have constant access to (look Ma!! as you stagger home) and in order to get through the gate of my housing area you must have a code. Luckily the university was nice enough to supply me with one. Next you arrive at the front door of your flat and it's locked with the only access being a keypad that must be scanned (paranoid much??). White keycard? Scanned and access granted. By now I feel like I am in a game of Super Mario Bros. (someone save the princess!!). As soon as you're able to get INTO the flat you see a long hallway with nothing on the floor level and then…. stairs. Not just stairs, LOTS of stairs. There are 20 rooms in my flat and five floors. I am on the third floor, ugh!

To make a long story, well even longer I finally get into my room (which also has a key lock btw so that makes it THREE separate keys that are needed to get to your bed) and the room is so bare the only thing missing is padded walls. Ok, ok, it's not THAT bad but it might as well be. You quickly realize instead of laying down and taking a nap you must go shopping for you have no hangers, hand soap or (GASP!!!) bed sheets of any kind. So you drop your crap and venture out into the busy streets of New Cross, London.

Leaving the flat is easy (whoda thunk it!) and the closest actual grocery store is Sainsbury's about three blocks away. As an American let me just say this now, THANK YOU!!! Connie for telling me it is important to look right first when crossing the street. Although in the end it didn't keep me from almost getting run over at least twice. ;) The best way to explain Sainbury's is to call it a smaller version of Wally's World (Walmart). However I think I arrived late because most of the bedding for single beds was gone except of course for the more expensive stuff. Luckily I was able to find some deals, buy some food… and when I say food I mean fruits, veggies, a bag snacks because I am still waiting on my order of pots, pans and dishes to arrive. The checkout girl was rather annoyed by my credit card as well…. how dare she have to physically swipe my card. It's ok though. As soon as she saw my drivers license she became nice and realized I was an American.

Now I will admit this now, I was spoiled with having a car in the states. I didn't realize how lazy I had become until I had 6 large bags to carry back to my flat, and dare I say my room! I think the only thing worse is the fact that our kitchens are on the 5th floor. Yes the very top. The only thing I can think is, well I did plan on continuing my weight loss regiment while overseas and now with no car, lots of walking and a kitchen on the 5th floor I think I will accomplish said goal.

An American in London

My bags were packed, my suitcase filled to the rim and I was off to London with the help of my awesome hunny. One year away from him is going to be difficult but not impossible.

Anyways, back to the nit and gritty…. If you have ever flown overseas you know first hand the aircrafts are huge and the passengers even bigger. I think you could fit more in a sardine can if you really tried. As you enter the plane you see all the first class lucky dogs who have their own space with barriers from their neighbors with chairs that turn into beds. I, being a cheap student had to keep walking. I finally found my seat towards the end of the plane with a window seat. SCORE! One would think, but once again I was wrong. I had to be the smallest person on my side of the plane with a very foreign couple sitting next to me. Eight hours on a plane, in a space smaller than a width of a single bed on an overnight flight with two screaming babies made for an interesting trip. I had to promise myself I wouldn't get up unless absolutely necessary.  EAK!

Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE flying. It's not the whole take off and landing as much as its the idea of plummeting to my death because of that awesome thing called gravity and I can't forget it's partner turbulence. About two hours into the flight (and right when dinner was served) it hit… turbulence. We're talkin' the type that hits so hard and continuously that you pray to every god man ever created and even the ones he didn't. I was so not in the mood to eat once this started.

A few hours later and as much sleep as I could get sitting upright I was at Heathrow airport. I tried to get a good look at London while still in the air but as per usual the fog was working against me.
I made one mistake once I arrived and was able to walk around…. I got into the wrong immigration line. Whoops! I'm sure it will be the first of many times I will go the wrong way while living here, lol. After waiting in one line, realizing I needed to be in another, I finally had my turn in front of the immigration officer who, I'm just going to be really honest, was beyond nice. I had more documents than I needed with me because I wasn't sure what all they were going to ask for, and a few minutes later my visa was stamped and I officially entered the U.K.

Now one thing I will suggest is be selective in the items you bring with you when traveling. I'm sure my CNN Radio friends will laugh at me over this one but after packing, cutting out some of my items and packing again I still BARELY passed the required weight of my army bag that housed all my clothes. 51 pounds is the max allowed, I packed 49. heehee. Not to mention I carried a backpack full of electronics (computer, iPad and accessories) but then I also had a small red suitcase. Lugging all this around Heathrow was a NIGHTMARE!! Never again! I mean it when I say, pack light. Take items like underwear and your favorite shampoo. Some clothes for three days and two pairs of shoes. Other than that, buy it when you get there. Buy it cheap so if you don't want to keep it you can give the items aways with not caring how much you spent.

Thank goodness I didn't have to take public transportation to the university for London's public transportation is confusing enough.