18/1/13

Ok, so today was my most interesting day in London thus far:

We had a seminar class today at 9:30, so we all went to that as a group. The lecture room was big and we learned about cheap travel options and what we will be required to do in the coming weeks. After that, I went home for lunch of stale bread and water (living the dream) and proceeded to go to Store Street to get my group for the program wide scavenger hunt. I will tell you this first. Out of a possible 14 points, my team got 10.

First, let me tell you about the weather. Today in London, it started snowing. and there is a dusting on the ground. This threw the city into chaos. So public transport was a mess and the sidewalks were cleaned by throwing massive amounts of salt on them. So whence we started from Store Street, we decided to first go to Hamley's Toy Shop. This toy shop was amazing and I cannot wait to go back to explore it when we are not pressed for time. We bought the cheapest thing in there, per our guide, and proceeded down to Trafalgar Square. This was both informative, because now I have some places that I want to go to, like the National Portrait museum and back to the square for more pictures.

Then we had to make a decision, we decided to jump on the Tube and head over to Natural History Museum. There, we just got a pamphlet, but again, I want to go back. Then, we were packed like sardines into the Tube for a ride across the city to St. Paul's church. We had to get to St. Paul's by 4 because that is when it closed. We exited the tube station at 3:57, and the map said it was a three minute walk. So we ran there, in the slush and all of us felt like champs because we knew how to run on slush and ice without falling like chumps. We got to the church at 3:59, and it was closed because of the weather. So we took a picture of the sign on the church with a watch that said 3:59.43. So we are basically champs. From there, we decided to walk to St. Pancras Train Station. So we start walking back towards the train station and decided to hop on a bus. That was another point, and the bus took us exactly to King's Cross/St. Pancras. We got the pamphlet and briskly walked back to Store Street. We walked into Store Street at 4:59.37, so we got no points docked. After all the groups came back, we found out that we were the winners! So on Thursday in class, Jen and Mark will give us presents.

Then I went home and asked myself what I wanted to do tonight. I decided that I was going to go check and see how much a show cost on the West End. I showed up around 7:15 and decided that I was going to go see Spamalot! Erik, so you know, it was pretty good. I ended up sitting front row of the balcony between two brothers and a younger couple. We talked during the intermissions and they were all very interesting. After the show, the girl gave me a kiss on the cheek goodbye, which is guess is customary in places in Europe. But it caught me off guard. I didn't make a fool of myself, but I was like "woah... what just happened?" Also, I was surprised with how many references to current events there were in the show. They were picking on the mayor of London and his bikes, along with how the city goes on lock down when there is snow.

I took the Tube home and stopped at a pub for a pint. I just got something on tap and when I took my first sip, I was again confused. My drink was not warm, but it was by no stretch of the imagination cold. I would guess about a solid 45 to 50 degrees, which is too warm for a normal drink. I drank it and wasn't too upset with it or the pub I found down a dark alley at 10:45 at night.

When I got back to my dorm, I was in the kitchen making dinner when a girl walked in. We started talking and I found out that she was my "RA's" friend. I put that in quotes because what I mean by RA is person who is technically in charge but doesn't care what we do as long as we don't wake her up for nonsense. We ended up talking for a while, and she seemed like a nice girl. After that, I ate dinner and here I am. I hope things are well at home and I miss everyone!