Hey everyone! Since my previous strategy of writing several posts and then posting daily as failed, I will now attempt a different strategy. I am instead going to write one rather long post on several topics every few days, hopefully more frequently than I have been since the term is very quickly drawing to a close. Moving on......
A brief synopsis of my trip to London...
While I would like to go over everything I saw and did in London, I have come to the realization that it still would not portray what it is like to actually be there. So I will briefly mention what I did and my opinion about whether or not it was worth spending the very little time seeing the attraction. Before I begin though, let me take a moment to mention that everything in London is arguably worth seeing since not many of us have the luxury of getting to spend a lot of time there. Either way is it definitely worth going to London. So if you come to England, try to spend some time there. One more thing, do not be disappointed if you cannot make it to every attraction/building/restaurant you wanted to see. London is quite big so really the only thing you can do is try to manage your time efficiently. However do not over schedule so that you are running from place to place and not giving yourself anytime to enjoy anything. Otherwise what was the point of going since you will then be more likely to remember running from place to place then anything you actually saw.
On to the first place...
1) The National Gallery. Located in Traflagar square, it is a collection of portraits and paintings done over the centuries by many different artists. I enjoy galleries so I did really enjoy this attraction. The paintings were interesting and the location is nice, not to mention admission is free. Even if you do not actually go into the gallery, I still suggest seeing the sculptures and works of art in Traflagar square. We saw huge lions, Nelson's column, and a big "ship in a bottle". Also there were many street performers doing tricks there, including a living statute.
2) China Town. Located in Soho, it is mainly a collection of Asian shops, restaurants, and the occasional work of art. I enjoyed this part of the day mostly because I walked in a shop and saw that they had A&W root beer which, after not being able to have some since I left the States, was lovely. It is definitely an interesting place to see but I felt quite happy basically rushing through it since it really did not appeal much to me.
3) Big Ben and the London Eye. Big Ben is of course the iconic clock tower which everyone now thinks of when they think of England. The London eye is the largest Ferris wheel in the world which takes you on a 30 minute trip in what is basically a giant glass ball. Both are a must see but because of their size, you do not need to be close to see them. There were several times just walking around when we saw them in the distance. I did not actually go on the London eye. I am rather terrified of heights so the idea of being rather high of the ground for a half hour where I can still see the ground in a structure I would not feel comfortable in just did not appeal to me. The other reason I did not go was because of the price. When my roommate and I went it would have cost us 18 pounds to go on, which would have been around $27 and we were both on a budget so we had to pass on it. However, if you do not mind heights and can afford it, I highly suggest going.
4) Buckingham palace, where the queen lives. It is a massive but impressive building surrounded by plenty of gates and security. It is quite lovely to see especially at night. I would definitely suggest seeing it and maybe getting a chance to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately we were unable to go until night so were unable to see any guards at the palace. We did see guards elsewhere and my roommate tried to coax me into getting a picture with them but I blatantly refused since to me it would have been using them as a prop. Although other people evidently did not care and gladly used the guards as props, I felt sorry for them and possibly surprised one when I gave them a rather sympathetic look.
5) The Museum of Natural History. It is exactly what the name implies. It has been made famous by many movies, most notably "Night at the Museum". I absolutely loved going here. I found the exhibits extremely fascinating. The only thing that I wish was that I could have spent more time there. I could probably spend two whole days there and not get bored. It is highly educational, well organized, and a great place for kids. This is definitely a must see, even if you do not like museums.
Those were the main places I traveled to/saw while I was in London. I did see several minor places, but these are the ones that stood out to me. The other places are of course worth seeing but if you can fit the ones above in your itinerary you should be in good shape. The pictures of these places can be seen through the link in the first London post. Moving on to the next topic....
Candy Corn
I am aware that this is an odd topic considering that they do not even sell Candy Corn in the UK, but it has been a topic that has been brought up frequently in my dorm. Why is this? Well it started because one of my dearest friends here mentioned that she had never had any so I asked my dad to send me some and Donna to bring some which she came to England. This lead to vast amounts of candy corn being given to her and people around my dorm and no one can seem to get enough of it. They are all rather addicted to it. This leads to an interesting suggestion if you come to study here. Bring or have sent food from home. I know bringing may not be practical with packing space and customs but if nothing else, have someone ship some snacks or candy that you cannot find here over. Along with the candy corn my dad send some Frittos and some mix for Country Style gravy. The Frittos were a big hit and the gravy had some interesting reactions. I enjoyed doing it though so that they can get a taste of some of the food you can get in the States, even if you can only show them junk food. Most are eager to try foods new to them and it is nice to finally have something I can reference food wise from the States and they know what I am talking about.
Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving is not a British Holiday. This made it weird for me to have to actually go to class on Thanksgiving, but I did find that it made it less hard for me to not be home that day. I believe its because I did not have much time to think about it and since there were few that were even aware of it being that day, I was not reminded of it often. Thankfully I still got to celebrate it this year though. A few weeks ago, I began mentioning Thanksgiving to my dorm mates and they got curious and asked if I would organize a Thanksgiving dinner for them. After much planning, shopping, and cooking, the day before Thanksgiving I successfully served a Thanksgiving meal to 19 people. I believe I spent 6 hours in the kitchen that day cooking and it was completely worth it. I had a wonderful time and I feel I was able to convey the meaning of Thanksgiving to my dorm mates. One of the best things about it was before the meal I had everyone eating name something(s) they were thankful for. It was a hectic, tiring, but awesome experience so if you do not mind the pressure, time, and effort that goes into it, I highly suggest doing it. I can even help but telling you where and when to shop, as well as how much food to buy. Either way I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and it made being away from home that day not so bad.
8am Fire alarms
The last thing I will talk about today is the fire alarm that happened at 8am on a Saturday morning at my dorm. The vast majority of people at my dorm were sleeping at this time but with the loudness and annoyingness of the fire alarm that did not last. Someone standing outside would have then seen a bunch of groggy and grumpy college kids coming out into the freshly fallen 1cm worth of snow cursing about the idiot of had evidently set the toaster on fire. Oh and did I mention most of us were in pajamas. This led to discussions of how we were grateful that we had decided to wear this pair of pajamas last night and how cold we were in our slippers or thing pajama pants. One poor guy had to go out in shorts and a t-shirt with no socks or shoes. Anyway do not be surprised if this happens at least once. Accommodation in Rootes is notorious to having this occur, but thankfully this was only the second fire alarm that has happened at Benefactors.
This is set to be one of my final posts to this blog. There are only two weeks left till I come home, so I will try to talk about anything I may have forgot to mention and then I will have a blog posting reflecting on my time here and one final one about transitioning back to the States. Things are currently going really well here, even though I am starting to feel depressed about how my final undergrad semester is almost upon me. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you never forget all that you have to be thankful for. Have a wonderful week and I will try to post again soon. Cheers!
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