Week 1

So since I've already missed blogging my first week here, I'll just try to give quick overview, or else I'll forget everything we did:)

Day 1: After a long, 9 hour, no sleep flight I arrived at 9:30am on Friday June 4th. Took a bus ride with some other students to our wonderful flat in Bloomsbury. Then took a walk around London to get oriented. Met up at the National Theatre on the Thames, and had a lovely river walk with Rustin, the director of the program. Had an AWFUL dinner at this random Turkish restaurant, but it could have been that the jet lag just made it seem really rough.

Day 2: Got up early and explored some more on our four finger walk. Did an East End walk later that day with tour guide Harry who told us lots of random scary stories about Jack-the-Ripper and the war..

Day 3: Woke up early again and took a Royal London tour, where we saw Buckingham Palace, St. James's Palace, Green Park, the changing of the guards, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament. After a great lunch, we had to do a scavenger hunt. Sounds fun, and it was, but our group of four all got sooooo lost and ended up being last:) Team Awesome! But we saw the Royal Academy of Ballet, Jack Sparrow, Covent Garden, and Leicester Square, and rewarded ourselves at the pub across from the British Museum and also fish and chips afterwards, so that made up for the long day:)


Day 4 (Monday): Had the morning off so finally unpacked, then went to the Russell Park near our house and read the play the War Horse in the park. We saw the show later that evening after our theatre class and it was incredible, I loved it!! The story was intriguing, the tech side was spectacular and the puppetry was so cool and intricate to watch.

Day 5: Had Media&Society in the morning, which was great, the professor is funny and blunt, which is going to make the class interesting. Then went to the British Museum, and went shopping for a bit in Covent Garden with Leslie. Then went out to the sports bar that night with a few of us, and took a picture by the statue of Eros!

Day 6: Went to my first dance class here in London, at the Pineapple! Took Classical Ballet with this really sweet old lady for an hour and a half, and it was great to be back dancing again. The style is a bit different, so adjusting to that took a lot of focusing, but the class was still refreshing and I can't wait to go back. Then had Art History with Rachel Barnes, who is just as sweet and awesome as my other teachers. Went to the National Portrait Gallery at Trafalgar Square, and looked at Renaissance and Medieval paintings! Had a safety meeting later that freaked everyone out, then went out again! Crazy: we saw Anne Hathaway in the Covent Garden Hotel Bar, went inside and sat two feet away from her!!!! Katie and I shared a Baileys and reveled in the fact that she was right behind us, we could hear her conversation. But we didn't want to be rude, so we didn't ask for a picture...

Day 7: Went out shopping in Picadilly and Carnaby Street with Katie and Sarah, had a wonderful lunch at Pret, then raced back to go to Blog class. Went out to the edge of London to the Kew Gardens (Audrey, Dietrich's wife and Gretchen, their 7-year-old, joined us!). It was rainy and dreary, but the gardens were absolutely beautiful, and Sarah and Jackson and I took a good thousand of pictures. Saw a peacock, explored one of the world's most beautiful glass conservatory's, walked slowly across the treetop walkway, saw the dead azalea garden, did cartwheels on the vista, and stalked swans.

Day 8 (Friday): Went to the Tower of London today! It was rainy and dreary again, but it was so cool and historical:) Even saw Shelby's family for a few seconds! Also glimpsed the Bridge of London, saw some torturing machines, the Royal jewels (beautiful!!), King Henry VIII's armor, and some other random things. At lunch at a great pub called Weatherspoons, where we used 42 packets of ketchup/mustard between us five girls on five cheeseburgers... In the afternoon, we took our own self-guided audio tours of Westminster Abbey, and I got a little overwhelmed and emotional. So much history, so many famous people, so much beauty and regality, I think I was just blown away by it all. Then we stopped by this CRAZY store on the way home that had thousands of shoppers in it, called Primark, it was kind scary...Then went home and chilled for a bit!


Overall, the first week was a bit crazy, but it was so much fun, and the group I am here with is awesome. Everyone gets along really well, and is outgoing and willing to go out and try/see new things. The rest of the posts won't be like this I promise, I just failed at posting the first week earlier...