Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Waking Up in London
Ehmm. Hii....I know...I know...it's been too long once again! The people are wonderful, the beer is fantastic, and the people who stay up until 3am playing Justin Beiber below my window--can go to hell. It's been such a blur these past couple of days with shards of glorious fun somewhere in between the lines. We arrived on Friday 24. Wow. I just had to look at a calendar--we've been here longer than I thought! ha! Well, needless to say, we were all pretty jet lagged and exhausted after a 7 hour long plane ride (not to mention I was in the uncomfortable middle nodding off on the shoulders of the unfortunate souls next to me). However, it was around 10:15am in England and we had a whole day ahead of us. Thinking back now, that whole day was so odd. We took a quick tour around the surrounding blocks of our dorm and discovered the greatness of Tesco, the local grocery store that feeds us on a daily basis. We also found The Court--which is a small local pub about 40 feet from our dorm which has a great place to strike up conversation with locals and enjoy some time away from our rooms (not that our rooms aren't great and all--no sarcasm, I kind of love our dorms!).
The next day (Saturday 25) we had our UCL (University College of London) orientation which went over where are classes were located and stuff like that. Then, we had a photo frenzy activity which led us to Trafalgar (which, by the way, I still can't say--but my mother keep correcting me) Square, Leicester Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Downing Street (office of the Prime Minister), London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, mmm...I think that's it....I just got tired typing all of that. Phew. So that was our Saturday. Topped off by...you guessed it..a night at The Court--which was.........let's say.....mm....so.much.fun.
Sunday 26 was a relaxing day. I slept in...had a late lunch and went shopping for some more groceries at Tesco for the upcoming week. I also had to prepare for the first day of classes (Monday!).
Monday 27 was the first day of classes!! The first class I have is Contemporary Art which is at 9:00 (and seeing as I wake up at 6 almost every morning--because it gets light here at like...5..9 is sleeping in!) My class is literally a minutes walk from here. It's in the reception area of our dorm...so....wonderful! That day, London decided to have a heat wave and it was 90 degrees! PHEW. With no air conditioning. AHH. But...I digress..the class was interesting and after 2.5 hours it was on to the next. At 1pm I had America and Britain: 1960s. I'm in love with this course. The professor is so chill and the class is amusing. I think this quote sums up the atmosphere of the class best.
So that night, we drank some wine brought to us by wonderful Tesco and went out for a drink at The Court--met some locals and called it an early night--walking/sleeping back to our dorms at that point. Oh, interesting fact we learned about our dorms from a local..Coldplay met in Ramsay (our dorm!).
hahahaha. So, here we are. Tuesday 28! Today was our first field trip for my art class. The schedule is Monday and Wednesday class. Then, Tuesday--field trips for my art class and Thursday--field trips for my history class. Today we went to the Tate Britain where we looked at the contemporary art rooms for our assignment due tomorrow! Arriving at the Tate was a tad difficult. We kept getting lost (our teacher leading us...ha..bless her heart.) it took we 1.5 hours to get there and when we did...phew, I was happy! Caroline (one of my awesome friends, also from GCSU) and I picked our artwork to do our assignment and then left. However, getting home was another story.
We decided to take a bus back to Victoria tube station so hop on the circle line then get on the northern line home ( I know you have no idea what I said, but it's okay). But, we ended up getting on the wrong bus, that went south across the river. Now, I know most of you aren't familiar with South London but let me tell you for future London endeavors--NEVER GO SOUTH ACROSS THE RIVER. It was...let's say..the less attractive part of London and not a place to be in at night. However, it was only noon....so we felt semi-safe. It took us an hour to get to the end of the line--where the bus driver called last stop. We had to get off...find another stop..ride that bus to Victoria (another hour, by the way) then get on the tube. The tube was the easiest part about that trip! Oh, when we got to Goodge Station I was so happy. We took the lift up to the street to be met with pouring rain--we didn't care. We walked the three blocks home in the glorious rain just happy to have figured out our first lost in London adventure!
So, here I am, after a three hour nap! I'm about to get started on my journal for my art class and do some reading! So, I'll see you next time!
-aubrie x
From London, With Love
The next day (Saturday 25) we had our UCL (University College of London) orientation which went over where are classes were located and stuff like that. Then, we had a photo frenzy activity which led us to Trafalgar (which, by the way, I still can't say--but my mother keep correcting me) Square, Leicester Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Downing Street (office of the Prime Minister), London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, mmm...I think that's it....I just got tired typing all of that. Phew. So that was our Saturday. Topped off by...you guessed it..a night at The Court--which was.........let's say.....mm....so.much.fun.
Sunday 26 was a relaxing day. I slept in...had a late lunch and went shopping for some more groceries at Tesco for the upcoming week. I also had to prepare for the first day of classes (Monday!).
Monday 27 was the first day of classes!! The first class I have is Contemporary Art which is at 9:00 (and seeing as I wake up at 6 almost every morning--because it gets light here at like...5..9 is sleeping in!) My class is literally a minutes walk from here. It's in the reception area of our dorm...so....wonderful! That day, London decided to have a heat wave and it was 90 degrees! PHEW. With no air conditioning. AHH. But...I digress..the class was interesting and after 2.5 hours it was on to the next. At 1pm I had America and Britain: 1960s. I'm in love with this course. The professor is so chill and the class is amusing. I think this quote sums up the atmosphere of the class best.
Please, do what Dr. Ross told you about letting us know if you spend the night somewhere. At least let us know what country to look in-----to find your corpse.
So that night, we drank some wine brought to us by wonderful Tesco and went out for a drink at The Court--met some locals and called it an early night--walking/sleeping back to our dorms at that point. Oh, interesting fact we learned about our dorms from a local..Coldplay met in Ramsay (our dorm!). hahahaha. So, here we are. Tuesday 28! Today was our first field trip for my art class. The schedule is Monday and Wednesday class. Then, Tuesday--field trips for my art class and Thursday--field trips for my history class. Today we went to the Tate Britain where we looked at the contemporary art rooms for our assignment due tomorrow! Arriving at the Tate was a tad difficult. We kept getting lost (our teacher leading us...ha..bless her heart.) it took we 1.5 hours to get there and when we did...phew, I was happy! Caroline (one of my awesome friends, also from GCSU) and I picked our artwork to do our assignment and then left. However, getting home was another story.
We decided to take a bus back to Victoria tube station so hop on the circle line then get on the northern line home ( I know you have no idea what I said, but it's okay). But, we ended up getting on the wrong bus, that went south across the river. Now, I know most of you aren't familiar with South London but let me tell you for future London endeavors--NEVER GO SOUTH ACROSS THE RIVER. It was...let's say..the less attractive part of London and not a place to be in at night. However, it was only noon....so we felt semi-safe. It took us an hour to get to the end of the line--where the bus driver called last stop. We had to get off...find another stop..ride that bus to Victoria (another hour, by the way) then get on the tube. The tube was the easiest part about that trip! Oh, when we got to Goodge Station I was so happy. We took the lift up to the street to be met with pouring rain--we didn't care. We walked the three blocks home in the glorious rain just happy to have figured out our first lost in London adventure!
So, here I am, after a three hour nap! I'm about to get started on my journal for my art class and do some reading! So, I'll see you next time!
-aubrie x
From London, With Love
Thursday, June 23, 2011
London is Calling
(Lily was helping me pack/attempting to stowaway in my suitcase.)
Today is the day! As I type this I'm steadily getting everything ready so my family and I can head out to Atlanta so I can catch my flight at 9pm! I'm super pumped but also a little tired, which I suppose is good so I can sleep on the plane. I've been running errands all morning. My father decided at the last minute to add the international feature on my phone and I also discovered that my drivers license was expired! Phew, I dodged that bullet.
This is my last post from the States! If anyone wants to contact me the best way will be via Skype. My name is aubs7113.
Ok. Suitcase packed. Check. Passport. Check. Debit card. Check. Ready to go to freakin' London, England for the Summer? CHECK.
Let's go!
aubrie xxxx :)
From (Very Soon) London, With Love
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