They've Got Years On Us

It rains here a lot, but I like the rain. It's not very warm, but I don't do heat very well. I'm loving being here. There are so many things to do and places to see. I love being able to wake up on a Friday morning and say to my friends, "What should we do today?" and they reply, "I don't know.... Hey, let's go to the British Museum!" and we hop on the tube and go there.

I also love meeting up with my friends on Friday afternoon and saying "What do you want to do tonight?" and they reply "Do you want to go to a show? We could see which shows have half-price tickets!" and then going to a professional musical on the west end for £25.

I also went to see Leeds Castle, which was gorgeous.

I have far too many pictures to put them all up to show all the awesome things I've seen at the museum and on the castle grounds. I am in awe of how old some of the things are. I've seen things that are thousands and thousands of years old, and they're in great condition. It floors me to think of the people who made these things. When they made those pots and urns and carvings, I'm sure they wanted them to last, but probably had no idea that they would last this long and that people would be walking by them en masse to admire them. I have more pictures to put up, but blogger is being mean and not letting me at the moment. I'll add them later.

This Paper Posed as Photographs

We had some nice weather for a bit and some of us decided to do the tourist thing and go on one of the Double Decker bus tours. It seems like the annoying, cliché thing to do, but I highly recommend it. The tour guides are great and you get to see everything. It's also pretty reasonably priced and you can get off the bus at any of the stops and look around and take pictures and get back on the next bus. Our ticket also included a free tour down the Thames on a little boat, which was pretty neat.

I'm still getting used to being here and all of the things that are different, but it's a lot of fun. Classes started on Monday as well. They seem to be going pretty well, and I have a couple that go on field trips, so I'll have pictures from those as well before long.

Regent's Park


One of the lions in Trafalgar Square


Big Ben and Boudicca


Apple!


Tower Bridge

It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door

I ventured out again today! Some of us went and bought oyster cards for the Tube, and later we took the tube to an Ikea (okay, not that culturally different).

I'd never ridden a subway of any sort before, so riding the tube was kind of exciting just in its novelty. The announcements at the stops remind me of the beginning and end of a rollercoaster ride, but the ride itself is rather uneventful.

We're all starting to talk about the places we want to go and the things we want to see. There will be more pictures soon, because some of us are planning on going on a doubledecker bus tour.

I've never been much of a city person. They always seemed dirty and crowded and dangerous to me. London is crowded, and fairly dangerous, but this is a beautiful city. The green of the grass blows my mind, there are actually big trees along some of the streets, and the architecture is beautiful.

These are a couple of pictures from the balcony at my room, and then a few pictures of the sunrise from the airplane.

I'm On a Flight Tonight, You See Me

Well, I'm not actually on the flight anymore, but I had two to get here to London, and they both went pretty darn well. It was difficult saying goodbye to my parents, but I really wasn't nervous about the flights themselves. I don't know why I wasn't at all nervous, but I certainly won't complain.

I've decided that I like flying. I don't mean just in comparison with other modes of transportation, or as a positive way of saying, "Well, I don't hate it." I actually like it. The lines at the airport and the security checks are all bothersome, and I don't think anyone could like in-flight lavatories, but there's something extremely powerful to me that hits me when the plane leaves the runway. 

I know it's just physics, nothing breaking rules or anything like that, but there's something of a miracle in an enormous metal vehicle making itself and a bunch of people airborn. People aren't supposed to be airborn, but especially not along with heavy chunks of metal.

And the clouds! Clouds can be beautiful from the ground, but up close, they're even better. I took some pictures of the sky on my flights, mostly of the sun rising above the clouds. I'll put them up when I can figure out how.

Until then, I'm going to get some sleep (I got about 10 minutes of sleep on the flight last night), and keep reminding myself that I'm actually, finally here.

Aim My Getaway Van at the Sun

Well, it's time to re-introduce my blog, since it'll be covering something else and new people will (hopefully) be reading it.

I'm getting ready to leave for a semester in London. I'm making this blog to share stories and a few pictures with my friends and family (rather than trying to contact each of you individually each time). 

I don't know exactly what I'll write about. Hopefully fun and exciting things that happen (provided I can find the time and internet access to share them on here). And my habit of using song lyrics as titles will be challenged, but we'll see how creative I can be. 

Anyway, I leave on Wednesday, and I'm pretty excited. I'm a little nervous about the flight, and I'm going to miss everyone at home a lot. The goodbyes are becoming difficult. It looks like I should have internet access during my layover, so maybe I can update then.  Wee!