London, Fall 2009
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September 6, 2009 9:07p I made it, finally (^ my first view of England). It took an extra day for the consulate to actually ship my visa, so I flew out of Newark Liberty at 9:05p on Friday night and arrived at Heathrow around 8:40 London time yesterday morning. My flight went pretty well.. a window seat and no major delays. I sat next to an Italian woman who was flying home to Milan with her family after a two hour stopover in London. She didn’t speak any english and I was actually surprised at how well I was able to communicate with her (considering I haven’t taken a formal Italian class in over a year). We spoke about the basics.. our families, what she was doing in New York, what I’m doing in London, her favorite places in Italy and the places I’ve traveled to. I was able to translate most of the announcements from the captain/flight attendants for her too and she seemed pretty grateful. The encounter definitely inspired me to want to keep up with my Italian.. I know I can’t fit any more classes into my schedule before I graduate, but I saved all my books and I’m going to try to review/practice it on my own. Anyway.. I got to my flat before noon and started getting settled in. I have 3 roommates in a really good sized room (no bunk beds, yess) with a nice kitchen that we share with everyone on the floor. All the people that I’ve met so far seem really chill and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better. I fought off my jetlag for as long as I could by heading right out to Borough Market with Alex and a few people from his building. I had a lamb burger (which was absolutely delicious) and sampled some other great food. I passed out for a bit when we got back from the market (I forced myself to wake up around 7p so I didn’t sleep through the night and throw my body clock even further out of wack). I went out with a group of BU program kids to the Blackbird Pub for dinner and got a great sandwich (goatcheese/roasted tomato/olive on a baguette) with a side salad for £5.. love it. I unpacked and mingled for a few hours after dinner before falling asleep again. This morning I woke up and headed to this local cafe that’s run by some Italians and had an AMAZING cappuccino (I considered myself to be a pretty decent barista during my starbucks days and the drinks I made couldn’t even compare to it) and a croissant for breakfast before going to Sainsbury’s to stock up on the basics (pasta, yogurt, shampoo, £3 red wine, etc). After showering and talking to my roommates for a bit, I decided to explore on my own for awhile to gain a better understanding of how the neighborhood is set up. South Kensington is absolutely gorgeous.. the houses are all so classic and charming. There’s definitely a lot of $$ in this area.. Kensington Palace (where Diana lived) is nearby and I passed a Maserati/Ferrari dealership a few streets over. After walking all around the immediate area I decided to do a bit more exploring and went on a hunt to find Postman’s Park, where the Alice Ayres plaque is (yes, I love the movie Closer that much). The park was a really beautiful, quiet spot and I loved reading all the stories on the memorial for individuals who died while saving others’ lives. It was only about a 15 minute tube ride from where I live, so I’m sure I’ll go back at some point. When I was walking back to the tube station, I noticed the Museum of London was right next to it and decided to stop in (nearly all the museums in London are totally free.. so awesome). A tour was starting right as I entered the lobby, so I joined the group and learned more about Londinium, the Great Fire in 1666, the plague, Henry VIII, etc. It was really interesting.. the only downside was that most of their 20th century exhibits were closed for renovation. Whatever.. I can’t wait to check out Churchill’s War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum later in the semester. At this point I feel like I’ve been here so much longer than a day and a half.. London, I already love you. I have my first IR class tomorrow morning so I’m going to pass out soon. I’ll try to write more tomorrow night if I have a chance.

September 6, 2009 9:07p

I made it, finally (^ my first view of England).

It took an extra day for the consulate to actually ship my visa, so I flew out of Newark Liberty at 9:05p on Friday night and arrived at Heathrow around 8:40 London time yesterday morning. My flight went pretty well.. a window seat and no major delays. I sat next to an Italian woman who was flying home to Milan with her family after a two hour stopover in London. She didn’t speak any english and I was actually surprised at how well I was able to communicate with her (considering I haven’t taken a formal Italian class in over a year). We spoke about the basics.. our families, what she was doing in New York, what I’m doing in London, her favorite places in Italy and the places I’ve traveled to. I was able to translate most of the announcements from the captain/flight attendants for her too and she seemed pretty grateful. The encounter definitely inspired me to want to keep up with my Italian.. I know I can’t fit any more classes into my schedule before I graduate, but I saved all my books and I’m going to try to review/practice it on my own.

Anyway..

I got to my flat before noon and started getting settled in. I have 3 roommates in a really good sized room (no bunk beds, yess) with a nice kitchen that we share with everyone on the floor. All the people that I’ve met so far seem really chill and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone better.

I fought off my jetlag for as long as I could by heading right out to Borough Market with Alex and a few people from his building. I had a lamb burger (which was absolutely delicious) and sampled some other great food.

I passed out for a bit when we got back from the market (I forced myself to wake up around 7p so I didn’t sleep through the night and throw my body clock even further out of wack). I went out with a group of BU program kids to the Blackbird Pub for dinner and got a great sandwich (goatcheese/roasted tomato/olive on a baguette) with a side salad for £5.. love it. I unpacked and mingled for a few hours after dinner before falling asleep again.

This morning I woke up and headed to this local cafe that’s run by some Italians and had an AMAZING cappuccino (I considered myself to be a pretty decent barista during my starbucks days and the drinks I made couldn’t even compare to it) and a croissant for breakfast before going to Sainsbury’s to stock up on the basics (pasta, yogurt, shampoo, £3 red wine, etc).

After showering and talking to my roommates for a bit, I decided to explore on my own for awhile to gain a better understanding of how the neighborhood is set up. South Kensington is absolutely gorgeous.. the houses are all so classic and charming. There’s definitely a lot of $$ in this area.. Kensington Palace (where Diana lived) is nearby and I passed a Maserati/Ferrari dealership a few streets over.

After walking all around the immediate area I decided to do a bit more exploring and went on a hunt to find Postman’s Park, where the Alice Ayres plaque is (yes, I love the movie Closer that much). The park was a really beautiful, quiet spot and I loved reading all the stories on the memorial for individuals who died while saving others’ lives. It was only about a 15 minute tube ride from where I live, so I’m sure I’ll go back at some point. When I was walking back to the tube station, I noticed the Museum of London was right next to it and decided to stop in (nearly all the museums in London are totally free.. so awesome). A tour was starting right as I entered the lobby, so I joined the group and learned more about Londinium, the Great Fire in 1666, the plague, Henry VIII, etc. It was really interesting.. the only downside was that most of their 20th century exhibits were closed for renovation. Whatever.. I can’t wait to check out Churchill’s War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum later in the semester.

At this point I feel like I’ve been here so much longer than a day and a half..

London, I already love you.

I have my first IR class tomorrow morning so I’m going to pass out soon. I’ll try to write more tomorrow night if I have a chance.

Posted 2 years ago