What a Circus (literally) - Trip to London & First 2 Days

Trip to London

So the trip to London was definitely an adventurous and tiring trip. Both of my flights were on time, and both were even early too. After I said good-bye to my parents (which was an "emotional" moment), I sat and waited for my plane to Chicago. For some reason, I went to Chicago, which is West, and then to London, which, is technically out of the way. But never the less, I went to Chicago. The flight there was only an hour and a half and the clocks were set forward one hour of Buffalo time. The plane ride was not that bad, expect I only got a drink and no snack! But I survived. Chicago airport is definitely big and it took me a while to find where I was suppose to go. I ate a quick bit at McD's and Auntie Ann's, and then headed on a plane to Heathrow London. This plane ride was definitely interesting and exciting. Within an hour of the 8 hour plane ride, my TV broke and therefore I did not have anything to "entertain" me, right in the middle of "Mall Cop!" I complained (as you knew I would) and in return I got a voucher, which I hope to try to convince the airlines to upgrade me to first class on the way home (crossing my fingers). It was a bit cold, but nothing unbearable. This plane ride loaded me with food, with a snack, then dinner (chicken and rice and vegs), and then breakfast. The sights on the plane were just amazing - I was able to see the sun rise and set over the clouds! Very awesome. I got to London early at 6:30 am London time (1:30 am Buffalo time) and was able to fly through customs/immigration.

My First Day

I waited for a few hours for my Program Director to pick me up and we took the tube (the subway) to my apartment. The subway was very clean, but at first confusing. It is the oldest sub station in the world and therefore, requires some maintenance to keep it up. Sometimes stations are evacuated just because they are so crowded and they need to get everyone out, and sometimes they close for upkeep. Anyways, with my oyster card (tube pass) I am able to get to anywhere within zone 1 and 2 (zone 1 is where central London and the city is, and zone 2 is where I live). The oyster card doesn't need to be swiped and can be in a wallet. All you have to do is just wave it across and it reads it. The tub also does not say where exits are - instead they have signs posting "Way Out." It is very unusual, but yet it works. Once we arrived at Barons Court via the Piccadilly Line, we exited. I noticed that besides the rain, everyone was driving on the opposite side of the road, however, most roads are one way. At the same time though, you have to pay attention to the roads because as Americans, we tend to look one way, the way traffic usually comes, however, it actually comes the other way. So it can be dangerous at times. I entered my apartment, and it is not beautiful. It is old, small and not very tidy, however it is clean. A few of my dresser drawers are broken, however it will be fixed. I have a single room, a tv (with about 4 channels) and desk, a closet and a night stand. We have a small kitchen, a room for the toilet, and a room for the bathtub/shower. We also have a small balcony. I live with three other students: one from Italy, one from France and one from Spain. The Italian and Spanish are studying abroad while the French is doing an internship. They are very helpful with helping me get acquainted with London. The tenant is also very nice and is a true Italian. That afternoon, I took a brief nap, but was fed up with the room. However, I have came to terms with it and it is cheap and a place to live - it is an experience. My program director took me to the EUSA office (the headquarters for the program) and also around South Kennington (where the EUSA office is located) and Hammersmith - a big shopping district. We then went to a pub and had a nice meal - I had chicken kabobs. That night, I went to my room and just feel asleep at 8 pm (3 pm Buffalo time).

Day 2

I woke up at 7:30 am and took a shower and ate a quick breakfast and off I went to orientation. I was super early so I just walked around South Kennington and finally was able to find the location. I met a few people, one from Buffalo area, two from Kentucky and one from another state and hung around with them in the afternoon. The orientation was boring but it was informational. We are going to have Thursday activities in the evening and Friday professional seminars. They enforced safety tips, London tips, etc. I also received directions to Inner Government (where my internship is) and the contact to the person that will be interviewing me. After the orientation, I asked a few questions to EUSA people about credits for Brockport and credits for EUSA. Then we had a scavenger hunt (not mandatory). Instead, I went with my new friends to their apartment, by EUSA, which is nice, but there are 9 people to a suite, 3 to a room and only 1 bathroom. The rooms are nice though with wireless internet. I helped them locate a cell phone in Earl's Court and added money to my cell phone. I grabbed a fast croissant and a pizza from Subway. There were tons of Indian restaurants (I guess London is known for their Indian food) and also tons of Italian restaurants. There are also many chains like Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Super Cuts, all across London. However, I have yet to see a Walmart. There was also a restaurant called Nando's and I immediately thought of Nando Parrado!

We then headed back to South Kenningson and met up with some other people from EUSA and decided to travel to some other places in London to attempt to do this scavenger hunt. We met at a pub and one of the items that we had to do is take a picture at a pub and we did that. We then took the tube to Piccadilly Circus where we saw many red, double decker buses, red telephone booths, and black cabs. We also saw tons of big screen TVs on buildings. Piccadilly Circus is very touristy and a shopping district. We saw a few big monuments and then we headed back to the final clue, where we were all suppose to meet. We took the tub to King's Cross St. Pancras. There are many escalators in London and they are very long. We are required to stand to the right of them so that bypassers can pass us on the left. It was very crowded in the tube and we were shoulder to shoulder with other people. Many Londoners also decide to kiss on the escalators too. Anyways, we made it to King's Cross and we found the Big Chill where we all met. At that time, I split off with other people and we headed to the King's Cross station where I saw platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. We then traveled to London Bridge where we helped find an internship site for a person in our group. We saw a glimpse of the Eye of London and we also saw the Tower Bridge. Instead of red telephone booths, they had black ones. We also saw a spherical shaped building - it is important - I just do not know what it is called or what is inside of it. After walking alot in London Bridge, we headed back to Piccadilly Circus where we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant - we all got Pino Grigio too drink since we all got chicken. We then stopped at a Haagen-Dazs restaurant and ate some awesome ice cream. It was delicious! By this time we were all exhausted and we all went back to our flats. Our plan tomorrow is to find out where my internship location is, register with the International Student House, and go more sight seeing. My interview is on Wednesday with Inside Government and tomorrow, all EUSA students will visit the British Museum and on Thursday, we will take a walking tour of London and see "The Comedy of Errors" in the Shakespeare's Globe.

Between today and Wednesday, we hope to see Buckingham palace, some museums, the Tower of London, Big Ben and a few others. Also, we plan to travel to France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, and maybe Greece and Spain too. We plan to also see a musical there too since it is dirt cheap. The prices are not that bad yet, but I am sure they will add up. I also decided that I would order internet, thus enabling me to write this. If you wish to see more pictures, please visit my facebook page. I hope to have more up on the blog soon!

Take care and Cherrio!