Photography in the Park

Well, today was my first day of classes. But I'm going to wait to cover that until I've experienced them all.

Today after class, I went to Hyde Park with my friend Shira who was part of the Sherlock crew last night. She invited her friend Sara and we set off, ignoring the ominous clouds that were creeping on the horizon. However, it's London, so we figured that it was lucky we had any sun!

The park is absolutely gorgeous! I am very jealous of Will and Kate having it for their back yard. Sadly, we didn't see them, but there were a wide variety of dogs and people to observe. I got some fantastic photographs that I'm incredibly proud of, which is my main reason for posting this entry. While we were by the pond, a family showed up to feed the birds, so I was able to get some absolutely fantastic shots.

I loved this puppy

This game was "how close can I get to the swan before it tries to hurt me?"

My favorite shot of the day!

Feeding the birds!

More sneaking up on wildlife

Sara and Shira

We also stumbled upon the Elvin Tree, a beautiful piece of art in the middle of the park. The artist had carved and painted faeries right into the tree. The tree itself has since died, but the carving is preserved. It is so beautiful, I think I'm in love!

Weekend Adventures

As this adventure continues, I wish more and more that I could detail each and every detail of my activities here. Every moment is exciting and a new experience. However, I don't think even my mother would want to read absolutely every detail of my days and the time and energy required to type it all up is beyond me at this point. However, I shall do my best to find a balance between too much and not enough. 

Our first weekend of the semester was definitely jam packed, particularly Saturday. FIE set us up with two tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our morning bus tour was a great way to get the feel for how London is set up, however, 9:30 felt awfully early to be sitting in comfortable chairs in a moving bus. I managed to stay awake, but I know a lot of people didn't! 

Probably the coolest thing I learned on that bus trip was that London is so bit that it actually includes two official cities! The technical city of London only covers about one square mile within the greater London area and is only the financial district. The rest of the city is actually the city of Westminster. You know you're entering the city of London because there are dragon statues that guard the entrance. 

In the afternoon, we were scheduled for a tour of Parliament. Though I'd initially planned a nap between the tours, our faculty member invited us to lunch with him. He'd initially only mentioned it to two or three people, but all of a sudden there were 13 of us traveling together. We took the tube to Westminster Station and took a walk past Parliament and across the bridge. Our path took us along the Thames and past the London Eye. I wish that we'd had a bit more time to look around because it was full of street performers and people with large bubble blowers and that sort of thing. We wound up finding a cute sandwich cafe for lunch where our professor surprised us by saying that lunch was on him! (Well, probably on Temple, but still) 

After lunch, we walked back to Parliament and stood in line for our tour. Though we did have to go through the expected metal detectors, I was surprised at how relaxed security felt in comparison to anything in the US. 

Parliament was such a beautiful building and I wish I'd been able to take more pictures inside. However, photography and sitting were not allowed. I've never wanted to sit so much on a tour! They had us stand RIGHT by the benches Parliament sits on but we weren't allowed to sit down (which I get but it still was a pain!). It felt so incredible to be in the same room where everything in British government happens! 

While there, I found out something interesting. The phrase "toe the line" actually comes from British Parliament where the parties sit facing each other. There is a red line in the carpet on either side that they cannot cross while debating, no matter how heated things get! 

That evening, I braved my social anxiety to go to a club with my roommate and a few of our friends. Though it was certainly an adventure, I don't think that clubs are my thing. It was far too loud and far too crowded and it was impossible to have a conversation with anyone. And I keep telling myself that it was a good experience. 

Sunday night was much more to my taste. I spent the evening with a few friends watching the newest episode of Sherlock! Getting to watch it live on BBC, while actually in London was fantastic! Particularly because we were able to point out places we'd been earlier in the week! In addition, watching with a group was a wonderful experience because we were all able to yell at the screen together and share our emotional reactions. 

A Successful Adventure!

So after an early morning meeting and a few hours of rest (we had a late night) a few of us decided to break out of our little Kensington bubble and explore London. If you know me and my sense of direction, you'll be surprised to find out that I was the navigator, but it's true! Before we left, I looked over the map and found a few iconic, free landmarks that were relatively close to each other and to Tube stations. 

So with a surprisingly large group, we met up and headed out for Picadilly Circus. Despite the dreary England weather, we had a good time shooting photos and being typical American tourists. From there, it was only a short walk to Trafalgar's Square and the fantastic giant lion statues! Unfortunately, it was a bit misty and rainy, so the statues were extremely slippery and I was embarrassingly unable to climb up for a picture, but I am determined to try again when it's dry. 

From Trafalgar's Square, we wandered down to Buckingham Palace! It was a pleasant walk, though I think I'm going to in great shape after this semester - there are so many places to walk in London! Anyway, more photos were taken and we were very clearly tourists but we'd decided that as a group, we couldn't help it and we might as well embrace it, at least for the first month or so of the trip. 

At that point, we had run out of solid plan, but weren't ready to head back. My roommate Sammie had wanted to stop by Primark, which we'd heard was a cross between Target and Forever 21. 

Since we were all getting a bit hungry, we first found our way to Nando's, a British fast food place we'd heard about. We were all incredibly surprised when we got there! We'd expected something set up like our McDonalds, but instead we were seated in our own alcove, practically a private room, but distinctly more booth-like. I know one of the other girls took a picture, so I'm hoping to get ahold of that later. We placed our orders at a counter and they brought them to our table. The restaurant seemed mostly focused on chicken, but had a few other interesting options as well. Every sandwich option could be a wrap, burger, or pita style. Overall, a fantastic experience!

Once we found our way to Primark, we discovered that it was HUGE! 4 floors of huge. It was mainly clothes and fashion, with a few odds and ends such as pillows. Even better, everything felt very reasonably priced and was super cute. So I know where I'll be shopping if I need replacement clothes. 

Now that we've gotten out of our little area, the city doesn't feel quite so big and scary, and I'm looking forward to planning a few more of these excursions. It made me really happy to sort of head up this group and make this adventure happen. I have a few others in mind and can't wait to share. Before I go, allow me to leave you with one of my favorite pictures I took today, it felt very London-y to me! 

Observations About London

After having been in London for roughly 48 hours, a few things have stuck out to me in particular, as an American traveling abroad. 

1. Dogs. People have their dogs EVERYWHERE. I've seen dogs of all shapes and sizes in parks, on the streets, outside restaurants. Quite a few of the smaller ones have been in bags and I saw one woman with one big dog on a leash and a smaller one in a bag. Unfortunately, when I asked our student tour guide, he looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if it was rude to ask to pet dogs. So apparently they don't do that here. I may try anyway because dogs are awesome. 

2. Scooters. Like push with your foot razor scooters. For some reason I'm seeing more of those here than I have anywhere outside a playground. Granted, that's only about 6, but I've seen both children and young women riding them so apparently its a legit means of transportation. 

3. Street signs. When I was horribly jet lagged and trying to find my residence, I was initially baffled. I couldn't find street signs anywhere! Eventually I realized that they were on the sides of the buildings rather than on the corner. Realizing that made finding my way around so much easier. 

4. London, or at least the Kensington part of it is very clean. Particularly compared to Philadelphia, there is hardly any litter. Admittedly, there are some areas where people don't clean up after their dogs, but overall, it feels very clean and I don't constantly feel the need to take a shower after being outside. 

5. Alcohol. It is everywhere. Unlike in the US (or at least PA) where it all seems to be behind glass cases and locked doors and ID checks, even Sainsburrys (a slightly more posh Wal Mart feeling place) had isles and isles of alcohol. And I can't walk down a street without seeing at least 5 bars or wine shops or something of the like. 

6. The architecture. One of the reasons I came to London was the feel of the city. When I was here before I remember being entranced by the buildings. There's so much history in London and a lot of the buildings are older than the entire US (As an official country. The land existed of course). Everywhere I look there is a beautiful shape or fascinating bit of stonework. Everything has character and my inner filmmaker loves every bit of it. I'm headed out in a bit to go on an adventure with my camera so there should be photos soon! 

I'm Finally Here!

Oops. So its been like 2 months since I last posted on this. Once again I've proved that I'm bad at maintaining a blog. But I'm finally in London! So I plan on doing a lot more of it for those who want to follow my adventures! Plus I woke up this morning to my mother Facebook messaging me wanting to read my blog. So I suppose that's the best reason.

I've now been in London a bit over 24 hours and its just starting to seem real. I meant to start this blog yesterday with the details of my arrival but between the jetlag and being many thousands of miles away from my mother, I was a bit overwhelmed and teary.

I flew in on Kuwait Air, arriving yesterday. Despite being mad at them for delaying my luggage (I still don't have it, but I'm working on it), they were a relatively decent airline. The in flight entertainment was lackluster but I mostly listened to my audiobooks and fell asleep. The food was actually amazing for airline food. I would actually define it as food! Plus, they fed us both dinner and breakfast, so lots of points there.
I was seated next to an elderly man who appeared Arabic. I don't think he spoke much English but we got on well enough. He seemed very keen to help me and did a lot of passing me things from the flight attendant.

By the time I got through customs and out of the airport, I was absolutely exhausted. It's amazing how long a tube ride can seem when your body says it's 4 in the morning and you've slept about 3 hours on a plane. But I managed the tube ride and even found my residence without getting too lost. Once I figured out that the street signs were on the side of the buildings, I made use of my map (Thanks Dad!) and did relatively well. Even better, I happen to be living in the building where we all had to pick up our keys, so I didn't have to drag my luggage very far (though I was in fact missing half). So I found my room and put everything down. My roommate was no where to be seen though her luggage was here. I was infinitely less embarrassed about having packed my stuffed red panda when I saw the stuffed bear on her bed.

Despite my hope for a nap, I found a schedule on the bed indicating that I had some checking in to do at the FIE office, Foundation House, which is about a ten minute walk from my residence, Metrogate. However, I found the computer lab downstairs and checked in with my mom and Facebook to let everyone knew I arrived safely and headed out.

The trip to Foundation House was pretty uneventful, I got checked in, got my Oyster card which is how we get around on the tube, and was able to sign up for a pay as you go cell phone plan. It will be difficult to get used to not having a smart phone, but that's probably good for me. We took a brief walking tour of the area to get a feel for things. So I was able to figure out where to do the grocery shopping and where classes will be held (Foundation House). Once we got through the tour, I wandered to Sainsburry's which is along the lines of our Wal Mart in selection and relatively inexpensive.

Since my luggage was delayed, I had to pick up a towel as well as something to eat for dinner and breakfast. Also, since our beds were pretty plain, I picked up a blue duvet cover that is serving to make this feel much more like home. Probably silly in retrospect, but my exhausted, over emotional brain wanted to feel like I was taking ownership of the room.

Once back at the room, I had a couple hours before my hall orientation meeting, so I got the wi fi figured out, and discovered something interesting about England. Signing into Netflix gives a rather different selection of media than back in the states. Not any worse or better, just different. For instance, I was able to watch the 4th Pirated of the Caribbean movie and saw a lot more recent Disney than I have access to at home. I don't plan on spending a whole lot of time watching Netflix of course, but it's really nice during down time.

At this point, I also met my roommate, Sammie. She is also a Temple student, an advertising major. After living alone for a year and a half, I was a bit worried about having a roommate but so far so good.

After a brief nap, we went downstairs to our Residence Life orientation meeting, where we met our Resident Life Supervisors or RLS's. So far, life seems pretty much what I expected here except that they enforce quiet hours after 11 PM. Which is not all together a bad thing at all. Apparently, since we are staying in Kensington, a very posh area, they like to keep things quiet.

Beyond that, I tried to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime, but couldn't help dozing off around 10. Which isn't an unreasonable bed time, just felt awfully early. However, it was probably good because we had to be at a meeting at 9:15 this morning for our proper orientation. My main comment about this orientation is that it was unfortunate that they didn't feed us or provide coffee or anything because I know almost everyone was dozing off very quickly.

However, we got out for lunch at around 12 for an hour and a half lunch. My roommate and I found a cute cafe with her friend Morgan where I got a coffee with EXTRA espresso so I'm actually functioning now. After eating, we met up with two girls from American University who were eating next to us and wandered around for a while.
We then returned to the meeting for a lecture on student life and such, where we found out about how things are run (more on that as it actually happens). And the meeting even let out an hour early, so Sammie and Morgan and a few others of us went to Sainsburry's to pick up some groceries, so I now have decent meals for a few days.

And now I'm relaxing before our reception at 6 which is right across the street. They're providing free food and drinks and will have a few things we can sign up for and all that, so it should be a good time. I'll be sure to let you know when I find out.

Fun fact: Prince William and Kate and George live a few blocks from me in Kensington Palace and before the baby, Kate could often be seen walking to dogs in the park and Harry still frequents the stores around here!

Sigh

Today can't be described as anything other than "one of those days." It seems like the universe decided to pile up minor bad things as high as it could. When it comes down to it, any individual one of them isn't a big deal. But sheesh. I am exhausted and am very excited to curl up with my cat and a brownie and crochet a Cthulhu before going to bed.

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've pulled up this blog. However, I recently decided it was worth revisiting. So many things happen in my daily life that I think "hmm. I think I have a really witty way to blog about this," that I figure I may as well give it a shot.

Since there's been such a big gap in updates, I'll take a moment to bring you up to date. I'm currently a Junior at Temple and still studying film. Though its the fall semester, I'm already in my second semester as a junior and am set up to graduate next January. Don't remind me of that, it's kind of scary. This semester has been a rather crazy one, so I may not be updating very often. However, I'm planning on updating more frequently because I will be spending next semester in London! I am so insanely excited about this and hope to use this blog (and probably a video blog on YouTube if I get that far) to keep you all updated on my adventures. Studying abroad is a huge step for me that I'm incredibly nervous about. We're only a few months out and it still doesn't feel quite real. Honestly, I'm not sure it will until I'm actually there, and maybe not even then. But more on that later.
I've also been running a crocheting business by the name of Mostly Harmless Designs. Despite not having much time to work on it this semester, I have found it to be a huge success. Once I'm back from England I'm hoping to push it even further because I really love it.

Right this moment, I'm curled up in my apartment with my cat, waiting for Mika to come on as the special guest of Dancing With the Stars. I don't normally watch this, but my mother told me that Mika was going to be on, and I can't not watch him. However, as soon as it is over, I really need to get on with my editing homework. It's a really intense class and is the main reason I haven't gotten any sleep this semester.

Catch ya later!