Finally getting adjusted

Well readers, I hope to educate you in this next post, make you laugh, share some knowledge I have learned about the English this past week, and not just show you all the lovely pictures I have taken (I even took notes during some of the tours so I could pass some knowledge along to you). 

So let the learning and chuckles begin!

September 19, 2014:
This was another day full of sight-seeing. We bought tickets for the Big Bus Tours (highly would recommend) where we were shown some of the big sights and some smaller sights (like where Princess Diana liked to eat). What's great about these tours is that you can get on and off the bus whenever you want to look around and then hop on the next bus and continue your journey. We got off by the Tower of London and bought tickets to go in. 

So you can either walk around the Tower of London by yourself, get an audio guide, or wait a couple of minutes to get a guided tour from a Beefeater. We chose the guided tour with the Beefeater (yes, that's what they are called). So there are 20 towers in all at the Tower of the London with 13 of them being on the inner wall. The Tower of London was not always a place of execution as it is so famously known for. It was also an armory, garrison, a zoo, a prison, and now a tourist sight and holds the crown jewels. The Tower of London is also home to the Beefeaters and their families (that would be a cool yet creepy place to live). 

Asked this Beefeater how many pictures he had taken that day and he responded with "too many".

So the crown jewels are everything they are hopped up to be and more. Absolutely gorgeous and truly is every girls dream come true (seriously, Cinderella has nothing on these jewels). 

So we walked around there for a few hours, saw the torture chamber, and all the different kinds of suits of armor and by the time we hopped back on the Big Bus Tour, we were exhausted (and our feet were sore).

The next day we got up early and got on the closest Big Bus Tour stop (since our tickets lasted 48 hours). While we were on the bus, we came across a huge group of runners in gorilla costumes. We have no idea why they were dressed up as gorillas or what it was for, but it was hilarious! 

We then hopped on a City Cruise boat (also included with the Big Bus Tour ticket) and headed to Greenwich for their supermarket day. It was absolutely beautiful and not as loud as London. It was really cool to just walk around and look at what everyone was selling or cooking. 

So we walked around there for awhile and had some lunch and then we walked to Greenwich College which if you didn't know this but part of Thor 2 is shot there. I totally forgot about that until I came back home and it hit me. Luckily, I took some photos and now every time I watch that movie, I can say that I was there (heads up for those I will watch this movie with)! 

Scene from Thor 2. I was there!!!

While we were about to leave, we saw an old candle arrangement saying "will u marry me?" We thought it was cute and were about to get a photo of it, but a street cleaner started wiping it up...what a kill joy.

September 21, 2014: 
POLO DAY! I got to go to my first (and probably last) polo match! API brought us as a group activity to the Ham Polo Club. It was cool to watch but none of us really knew what was going on because no one told us the rules. One rule I did know is that they are not called horses in polo, they are called ponies (whatever). 

Stomping the grounds! I was told right after this moment by the gentleman behind me that I did not have the proper shoes for stomping. Thanks, already knew that.

September 22, 2014 (AKA- First day of school):

Holy crap the first day of school finally came for us! It was my LAST First Day of School and I will admit, I did take a moment to just soak it up and accept that I am growing older and that sooner or later, I would be entering the real world. It was scary. It was neat to say that my last first day of school happened in London and that not a lot of people can say that! So we got to our campus and after a little trouble and a few wrong turns, I found my first class. It was a huge lecture hall with 200+ students in it. Coming from a private college, this was defiantly different for me. 

So I only have 4 classes that meet once a week. Here, credits go from 4,5,6 not the usual 3,4,5,6 credits in the U.S. I am taking three 6 credit classes (International Economics, Retailing, and Managing Services) that are more advanced since they are for final year students. I am also taking one 4 credit class called Principles of Marketing, (I already took this course in the US, but I needed another class on my roster to be considered a full time student at Westminster) and it is full of freshman (Huzzah...).

What's different about education here is that you go to a Lecture first where the professor talks about the topic for about an hour and a half. Questions usually aren't asked during this time. You then go to a Seminar session, which is a smaller class size and where you are able to ask questions and talk more about what you learned in the lecture. It's a lot of self studying and self reading here, and since you only meet once a week, you are responsible of reviewing the material throughout the week. You also aren't given small assignments to turn in and receive grades for. There is usually one final project/paper that is due at the end of the semester which your whole grade is weighed on (this is quite scary). 

So, some things I am still trying to figure out/learning here:

-I still have no idea what side of the sidewalk I'm supposed to walk on. I think at some points that i'm supposed to walk on the left (since they drive on the left) but then there are times where I end up walking on the right and then other times, people are just doing there own thing and everyone ends up dodging and weaving everywhere. It is quite frustrating. the plus to this is that my dodging and weaving skills are improving immensely. 

- The English here don't throw away their trash when they are leaving a fast food/cafe place. They just leave their garbage on the tables (even though there is a trash can right next to them) for the workers to clean up. I will not be taking on this habit because I don't find it too strenuous to walk 5 steps to the trash can. Plus, I think it's rude.

- No one packs their lunches to bring to work. It seems like everyone goes out to the local food places to grab a pre made sandwich (there are so many sandwich places here, no joke). This is a very expensive approach and since I am a poor college student, I am not able to do this every day. 

- They don't have tupperware here! I can not find tupperware anywhere and I'm just wondering, "what do you do with your leftovers? Do you not have leftovers? Do you go out every night and if so, you must make a lot of money because it is expensive here!? How do you not have tupperware!?" They also don't have crockpots here. It's sad, but true.

So, I'm starting to feel less like a tourist and more like a citizen which is great. The downside is that I recently got sick. Now something you need to know about me and sickness: 
- I always get sick at least once a year during school and even though I'm around my roommates back home, they will not get sick. They never get sick! It is always me that gets sick!
- When I get a cold, I get a cold. The whole stuffed nose and then runny nose thing happens and I feel like a walking, leaking germ. It's disgusting and I feel bad for my current roommates. I try to cover up every sneeze and cough but I don't know if that will be enough. 
- My voice goes down a few octaves and I sound like a dude for a few days. 
- Nyquil and Dayquil are my best friends during this time along with puffs plus with lotion (the best invention ever)! If i ever give you any of these items, it means I care about you (it's a weird way I show my affection/friendship, but it's true). I honestly don't know how people who don't believe in medicine do it because when I start getting sick, I'm just like "Give me the drugs now!" I don't want to live in misery for a few days, I want to be able to go out feeling a little bit like my self and not feel so icky if it only is for a few hours. I can't do that whole mind over matter stuff. It just doesn't work for me and I applaud anyone who can do it. 

So that basically wraps up everything that has been going on. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and some of my rantings!

Sincerely, the ever so sick yet still witty, Claire Utech

So much walking!

Alrighty, so I am going to try to fill you in on what's been going on so far, along with including some photos. I have only been here a week and it's been so packed full of adventures and experiences! So stay with me as I update you on everything that has been happening!

So lets start with September 16, 2014:

On this day, we were shown how to get to our respective colleges and what would be the fastest tubes to take. My campus (Marlybone) was having their Freshers fair (Translation: A Co-curricular fair for the incoming freshman- even though we are seniors). It was a lot to take in and there were a lot of people and clubs. We ended up signing up for the rowing club and hopefully we will actually try it (haven't gotten an email yet from the club and its almost been a week, is that a bad sign?) Anyways, Adrienne, Kelsey, Emily, and I later on went to a wine garden by the River Thames. Since we were so close to the river, we had to take pictures.

September 17, 2014:

This was a day full of walking. I walked 20,000 steps (according to my phone). The 4 of us went on our own to sightsee and first went to Kensington Gardens were we saw the Sunken Gardens along with a furry friend named Otto. 

 

We then went to a local pub where I had an ale pie with beef and oh my goodness it was wonderful! It was so delicious and I became a member of the Clean Plate Club afterwards. We then had to go to a 4 level Victoria Secrets since Kelsey worked for them for 2 years. She asked one of the sale ladies if we were able to go into an Angel Suite, (only really rich or famous people can go in but we were allowed!!!) Kelsey's day was made. 

After a long day of walking, we were exhausted and Emily and I took a cold bath for our feet and ate ice cream. I surprisingly went out later on that night with some other API girls and we visited some pubs and chatted. It was a full day, and I slept well that night.

September 18, 2014:

We took it slow this day. We were still tired from yesterday, so we just went to the British Museum which is nicely placed just a block away from our flat. If you didn't already know this, I hate museums. I find them boring and dull. I'm not going to read every plaque about every little jar they have behind glass. I'm just not going to do that.

     

Later on the day was a Westminster boat cruise for all the international kids (I can't believe I'm considered an international person). We were promised free food (which always attracts college kids), but when we got on the 3 hour boat ride, we found out that it was a misprint.....yay. So we got some great photos and met some people, but we were so hungry when we left. 

        

Here is the bridge from the Harry Potter 6 movie!

Once the boat ride was done, Kelsey, Adrienne, and I had the misfortune of having to walk to a different/farther tube station to refill our tube tickets since the closer one did not work. We finally got close to our flat and I didn't remember seeing a McDonalds close to our flat so I was ready to just find something to buy at the local grocery store but then I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the golden arches and gasped out loud in excitement. I will tell you this: it was the best McDonalds I have ever had and I have no shame for the amount I ate. It was a great way to end the day and I went to bed with a full and happy belly.

Hope you enjoyed this blog post and hopefully I didn't bombard you with too many photos, there are just so many picture opportunities!!

- Claire

And the adventure begins!

Well ladies and gentlemen,  it happened. I had my huge break down the night before I left and I will admit I did snuggle with my cat and panda pillow pet (no shame). I held it together most of the day until my dad dropped me off at the airport. Afterwards,  I had to go through security with puffy eyes and still fresh tears showing (fantastic). I made it to Chicago after an hour delay and then had to book it to the international terminal (Boo Ohare airport and your slow international security). I made it through where I met up with two of the three girls from Concordia . We finally made it to London with probably 1 hour of sleep in us, and a huge day in front of us (huzzah). 

Fast forward to later on in the day: we got our flat assignments and keys where i am rooming with Emily from Concordia and another girl named Erin from Massachusetts. We got to get a little bit unpacked before we were off to get a walking tour of our surroundings and the local cafes. It was a lot of walking and once we were done we were able to go out and look around for ourselves. More walkimg happened and some groceries were bought before it was time to go to bed (by this point, we had been up for almost 24 hours). I went to take a shower which became impossible since there was no hot water (coldest and fastest shower I have ever taken). We also found a mouse in our apartment which topped off the excitement for the day.

The next day:
It was sight seeing day. The 64 of us from API were split into 2 groups for the day. We saw all the major attractions in a short amount of time, so not a lot of pictures were able to be taken. We were then treated to a complimentary dinner from API ( that meal was probably my last decent meal i will have for awhile until my family comes and visits. Wink wink nudge nudge family). It was excellent and once everyone was finished, we had the rest of the night to do whatever we pleased. Kelsey, Adrienne,  and I went out with some of the other API girls to a local pub and chatted for awhile. My bed was calling my name which meant that I soon left. The next day (9/15/14) we didn't have to be anywhere till 12:45. I'm just going to say this right now.  I have not been able to sleep in this whole summer and last night, I went to bed at 11:30 and woke up at 11 this morning. It was glorious. My roommates and I got ready and then walked to a Starbucks which is so conveniently a block away from our flat. It was fantastic and reminded me of home. Then all of API went to go to the Westminster orientation meeting. We got another packet of stuff and had to sit through a 2 hour presentation.  It was rather boring but luckily went by quickly.  Again, we had the rest of the evening off which is why I was able to finish this blog post. I still get hit with the realization every now and then that I am in London and I am just so blessed that I was able to do this.

Please keep praying for me as school starts the 22nd and I am super nervous about having to take the tube to get to my campus and about the classes that I am taking. I miss home and my family and friends, but I know that this experience will be a life changer and that I can't give up.

Off to bed!

Claire