Tower of London and Harrod's!

On Thursday, since I did not have class and Alexa's internship doesn't start until next week, we made a trip to the Tower of London! When we arrived, I instantly had deja vu of my family's trip there several years ago- it's obviously a very memorable place. The Tower of London has been used for centuries as a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison (particularly for higher status prisoners). Throughout the years, the Kings and Queens of England have added onto and changed the structure and uses of the tower, but at any time, even now, it is absolutely magnificent.
Alexa and I started by hopping onto a free hour tour lead by a "beefeater," or a yeoman warder, which is an iconic figure in London- they were originally Royal Bodyguards. The tour was really entertaining. Our tour guide's name was Bill Callahan (which obviously made me excited) and as we walked throughout the fortress he told us the most gruesome stories of torture and execution, while also including historic facts about the tower. We got to go into the main church that King Henry the VIII had built in a Spanish style for his wife Catherine of aragon. Also, several important people were buried here.
After the tour, Alexa and I wandered around the fortress ourselves. We first went into the tower where the most famous prisoners were kept. This tower is well known for the intricate carvings and markings on all of the walls that prisoners contributed throughout the years. The tower was cold and rather creepy actually- it was pretty surreal standing in the same place where people like Anne Boleyn had walked and been kept prisoner.
My favorite part of the Tower was probably the Crown Jewels. The crowns, rings, goblets, silverware, etc. that have been used in coronations and at banquets for centuries (and still today) are kept here. Up close, we got to see the biggest cut diamond in the world, which is part of one of the coronation crowns. Alexa and I walked back and forth in front of the jewels several times, admiring how amazingly beautiful they all were. It is so cool to see that the same crown that has been used for hundreds of years is still worn by the current Queen each year on the opening of Parliament. Alexa and I also went to see the famous White Tower, which was actually only partially open as it was under construction and restoration when we visited. In here, we saw the quarters where the royalty used to reside, and also tons of weaponry and armor used by Kings for years.
On our way out, Alexa and I stopped and took a ton of pictures in front of Tower Bridge, which is so pretty up close. It's funny that songs are written about London Bridge, as Tower Bridge is much more famous and attractive to look at. I will definitely be making more trips back to Tower Bridge before I leave London.

On Friday- Keetin, Madison, Summers, and I decided to hit up Harrod's- since their sale was ending the next day! Harrod's is the world's most famous luxury department store- and it is MASSIVE. On our way to Harrod's, we got a little bit sidetracked and ended up stopping at several stores, including an hour long detour at H & M's sale. Finally, Keetin and I made our way through the rain to Harrod's. I could have spent hours and hours inside. I'm pretty sure the most memorable part of Harrod's for me is the food, candy, and chocolate section. I have never seen so many delicious looking foods in my entire life. Keetin and I also spent a great deal of time admiring the designer dresses and purses, none of which we could afford of course. Places like Harrod's make you wish that you had an unlimited supply of money. I'm pretty sure we only covered about 1/3 of the store in the hours that we spent there, and since Harrod's is only one tube stop away from me, I will be making many more trips back to drool over things that I cannot really buy.

I will update you on more amazing sightseeing adventures very soon! I am loving London (in case you couldn't already tell :) )

First Days of School, a Bar Made of ICE, and Sister Act!!

I have successfully completed my first week of school in London! And by week, I mean three days of school, seeing that I only have classes Monday through Wednesday. I think that I am really going to enjoy my classes here. On Monday I had Passions and Repressions: British Cinema, as well as International Marketing. The film class seems really cool- each week we watch a British film from a different decade and study British culture through the movies. We have film screenings every Tuesday night, and then discuss what we've seen in class. My teacher seems really fun, so I think it should be a pretty entertaining semester. My marketing class is a bit more intense, but interesting all the same. We are going to be doing case studies on different brands and marketing strategies used throughout the world. I really like marketing and may want to do something with it in my future, so I'm sure this class will be really beneficial and helpful.

On Monday night, our British student ambassadors took us out for a night on the town to celebrate our first day of class! They surprised us by taking us to the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar. I had heard about the Ice Bar from a TON of people- but it was even cooler (and colder) than expected. When you walk in, they hand you a warm parka jacket and a pair of thick gloves to shield you from the freezing cold temperatures within the bar. Everything is made of ice- even the chairs you sit on and the cups that you drink from. They only allow you to stay in the bar for 45 mins to an hour because of the icy temperature. We took a ton of pictures because there is probably a pretty good chance I will never go to a bar completely made of ice again in my lifetime. It was definitely a great way to welcome in the new school year in London!

My classes on Tuesday didn't start until 1:30, which was nice compared to my 10 a.m. classes the rest of the week. It is about a 40 minute commute by walking and taking the tube to the IES building for class. My first class on Tuesday was The History of London. I'm still not quite used to sitting through a 2 1/2 hour long lecture on history, but I think the class will get more exciting and interesting as it goes on and I adjust to that period of time. We basically just talked about the very early history of London- the Saxons vs. the Normans. I also had a film screening on Tuesday night, where we watched "A Brief Encounter." The film, set in 1945, is about a man and a woman, who are both married, but fall in love for each other. Alexa and I both agreed that it was slightly depressing and left us feeling quite sad afterward.

Wednesday I started my day with British Youth Culture, which I can already tell will be an extremely amazing and different class. In this class, we will be examining the role of youth culture on society, and how youth culture has changed over time, in both Britain and America. In this first class, we watched clips from the movie Bruno, listened to some Beatles music, and watched a talk show clip of The Who- awesome, right? All of these things were used as sources to further explore youth culture...which means this class will be a blast. My other Wednesday class was the Architecture of London. For this class, we only have two class periods that will be taking place in an actual classroom. During the rest of the time, we will be traveling to different sites all across London to examine the architecture, while keeping a diary of our findings and observations throughout the semester. On this first day, we walked around the Bloomsbury area, looking at the houses and squares. We also went to the British Museum to observe the Great Court, which is a relatively new area of the museum with a more modern designed ceiling.

Later that day, I had a movie screening for my British Youth Culture class. But, since we are able to watch the movies later on our own, Keetin, Alexa, Madison, Christine, and I got last minute tickets to go see Sister Act the musical!! We got a special student, day-of-show discount, so the tickets were only about 18 pounds each! The show ended up being fabulous!! Based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, the musical was filled with so much life and color- all of us loved it!
My favorite character was definitely the old woman nun- the acting was brilliant! It was such a great experience going with my friends to the theater- we all got dressed up and had such a fun time together. There are SO many musicals that I hope to see while in London. I'm so happy to be living a real city experience :)

My weekend starts here...I'll update you as soon as I can!

Windsor Castle Beauty

I've always had a fascination with history- stories from ancient times, the smallest details of the past, and the toils and triumphs of monarchs. Some of the greatest historical places I have seen in my life include Versailles of Paris, The Forbidden City in China, and now, after the second visit of my lifetime, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. Though I recall greatly enjoying this amazing fortress when I visited with my parents, I could not have nearly appreciated it as much as I do now. It is absolutely incredible that this enormous castle has housed the royal families of England for hundreds of years, and even TODAY, is one of the homes of the Queen of England.

Our journey to Windsor began with a tour of Eton College, which is right on the outskirts of the town and castle of Windsor. Eton College is a private boys school which provides an education for the most well-off English boys. Many of the prime ministers of England have attended Eton, as well as Prince Harry and Prince William. The town was very quiet and peaceful when we visited because the boys were still away on holiday, but we were able to look around and see the chapel, where the boys were housed, and other parts of the school.

Immediately following, we walked back up through Eton to the town of Windsor, which surrounds the castle. When I was younger, we spent almost all of our time within the fortress and did not get to explore the town much, so it was a completely new experience for me. There were a ton of outdoor restaurants, cafes, shops, and the streets were all cobblestoned and beautiful. Luckily, my family friends the Reids were able to meet up with me and have lunch, since they only live about 20 minutes away from Windsor. We had lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant and I had some great pizza. It was really nice to see some familiar faces since I am so far from home!

Finally, we made it inside the actual castle. It was definitely a lot bigger than I remembered. Almost everything about the inside of Windsor was amazing. The architecture was stunning- everything seemed to be in such great condition, seeing that the castle has been used for hundreds of years and was used as a fortress as well. The original slots in the walls where defenders would shoot bow and arrows out of were still intact. Unfortunately, the Queen was away at a different palace when we were there so we didn't get to spot her, and some of the other buildings like the State Apartments were closed for renovation. Either way, it was a blast. We also got to go look at Queen Victoria's dollhouse. It reminded me of the dollhouse at the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago, but with even more detail. It looked like a tiny replication of Buckingham Palace. Even the miniature books that were the size of my fingernails had actual novels written inside of them.

We were also lucky enough to catch a few of the guards as they marched through the castle. We took a few pictures with them, until we got yelled at for distracting the guard. Sorry we can't help that we are so funny and entertaining!
The views from Windsor were gorgeous! There was so much to see there that I may have to make another trip there on my own to take everything else in. On an even more exciting note- we drove past Elton John's house on the way- pretty cool, right? We truly did have a perfect day to explore Windsor as it was the first time since I've been here that it has been BEAUTIFUL and sunny outside! There literally was not one cloud in the sky.

My fascination with history and love for London increases every day! Our trip to Windsor is probably my favorite thing we have done thus far!

Just Another Rainy Bus Tour...

On Saturday we finally had the chance to catch a glimpse of the city of London all at once. Unfortunately, like many (most) days in London, it was rainy, foggy, and gloomy outside. But, even after about a 2 hour delay due to the buses being stuck in traffic, we left the residence hall and began our bus tour of the city. Our tour guide Bill was awesome! He knew so many interesting, as well as comical facts about England and definitely kept everyone on their feet. The whole bus ride lasted a little over an hour, much too quick to take in all the beauty of London, but it was very exciting to see all of the most famous sites. We drove by Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye, the business district...everything London is known for- we drove by! On an even more thrilling note, Bill was kind enough to point out several of the locations that Harry Potter was filmed at! I'm pretty sure people were more excited about seeing Gringott's Bank than Picadilly. We also drove by the Tower of London, which is absolutely gorgeous. I remember going there with my family when I was younger and thinking that it was one of the coolest places in the world...I still think so today. Tower Bridge is hard to take your eyes off of- I've seen it in so many movies, pictures, and books, it's so unbelievable to see firsthand.
Since the buses were a bit late and the weather was not exactly cooperating with a sightseeing tour, we stopped at the British Museum for a highlights tour!

My goal by the end of my time in London is to be a complete master of the British Museum. I think I am well on my way to that. I got my second look at the Rosetta Stone and got a little bit more detail from my tour guide. We also had a look at the exhibit that contains the Elgin Marbles which are actual pieces from the Parthenon in Greece. There were beautiful and intricate carvings, statues, and paintings. We learned that the countries that these artifacts belong to are in constant conflict with the British since their cherished history is being kept in a city that is not their own. Also, once again, I got to admire the Egyptian exhibits. I don't think I will ever get sick of hearing about Egyptian history since it is so detailed and enthralling. I cannot wait for my next adventure at the British Museum.


So this was a pretty quick post but I have lots to catch you up on so stay tuned!

Pubs and Clubs

Yes, I know I have been a a major slacker on my blog thus far, but I have been super super busy since my arrival in London! Therefore, I am going to write a general blog about the nightlife so far (aka about the past few nights out) and then I promise I will keep up to date on my blogging!

My first experience out in London was with Alexa and some of her friends that are here on the University of Wisconsin-London program. We ventured over to their place on the tube where they are staying in flats near Hyde Park and the Gloucester tube station. We hung out with them for awhile before leaving in a group of about 10 to head to Picadilly to see the club scene. On our walk through Picadilly (which is basically like Times Square in New York City) we were approached by numerous club promoters who all tried to give us special deals to get in their clubs and bars. Finally, we settled on Zoo Bar, which ended up being a blast. Me and Kayla, one of the Wisconsin girls, chatted it up with one of the managers of the club and ended up getting us in for half the price of cover and also got us some free drinks! He became our best friend, giving us both kisses on the cheeks when we left and asking us to come back sometime soon. The club was pretty crowded and was similar to some of the places I went to in China- with neon lights and everyone dancing.


The next night out was with all my new friends from the IES program!

We decided to go to a more chill place so that we could all talk and get to know each other better. We went to a small pub that was by the Sloane Square tube stop. Our dorm is about a 10-15 minute walk from both the Sloane Square stop, as well as the South Kensington stop, which is really convenient. We were pretty touristy stopping and taking pictures pretty much everywhere we went. Me and Keetin split some fish and chips (my first so far in London) and it was delicious! We also began our competition with Kevin and Blake for cutest roomies- Me and Keetin are clearly winning so far. (See the picture of the four of us). It was so amazing that all of us got along so well and it was only the first day that we met. We all talked and joked with each other like we had been great friends forever. I cannot wait to spend the next few months with these people.


The following night was similar to the night before, except that we went to our local pub which is called the Cadogan Arms. It is literally right down the street from our dorm, about a 30 second walk, so it will be a fun place to just go for a quick drink or to meet up with people. It was filled with a ton of students and younger people which was really fun. We had a huge group of us sitting on couches, around tables, etc. There were some people from the night before, as well as some more people we had met during the day at orientation and everyone was very friendly and fun to get to know.


Our final night out so far was absolutely amazing. There were probably about 40 of us in total from our program that ended up going to the same club Friday night (our first weekend night out in London!) I'm not exactly sure what the name of the club was that we went to but it was only a short bus ride from our dorm to the Clapham Junction station. The club that we went to used to be an old theatre where plays/musicals were performed, but they had renovated it into a night club. The place was absolutely massive- there were three or four bars, two floors, a bunch of stages to dance on, and a giant dance floor. We literally danced the night away- to the point that our feet hurt so bad that we had to drag ourselves home around 2 a.m. Even better, my friends Jeff and Ross from back home were in town for the night and they met us at the club and hung out with us all night, which was so much fun! I can't believe how different the night scene is here compared to school and back home. It is completely normal for people to stay out until 4 or 5 a.m. and we are so not used to that haha! Anyway, I am sure I will have many more nights out to update everyone on so be prepared for bigger and better stories!

First Two Days of Orientation

Hi everyone! So since the past few days have really been divided between day time orientation and night time raging and fun, I am going to write a "day" blog to get you updated on the more school related info, and then a "night" blog about the social scene!
Day One of Orientation:
Everyone on the IES program arrived on Wednesday morning. My roommate Keetin got in around 10 am and I was relieved to learn that we are basically soul mates and get along so well! She goes to Indiana University but is from North Carolina and has actually lived with her family in Surrey for awhile, right outside of London, so she has the lowdown on all sorts of things in England! I hung out in the room with her and Alexa before we had a short orientation meeting with our floor and two other floors. It was pretty basic info for the most part and was done in less than an hour. We were given the rest of Wednesday off, and hardcore orientation started bright and early on Thursday.

For Thursday's orientation, we were all split up into different groups. My group was pretty fun, and we started off with a short walking tour of our neighborhood in Chelsea, which I was already quite familiar with because of Alexa and I's wandering around the past few days. After that, we walked with our group to the South Kensington tube stop, where we will be catching the tube to the IES Center everyday for classes. It's only about a 10-15 minute walk to the tube, and if it isn't too crowded, its about a 15-20 minute tube ride. We can get off the tube at two different stations that are right by our IES class building, both within 5 minutes of it. The area we are taking classes in is called Bloomsbury- it has a ton of cute shops and restaurants and is full of young and working people. We are also literally 2 minutes from the British Museum- it is on the same street as our building, only a block down! It will be so fun to go there in between classes, for lunch, to study, and look around whenever we want!

We had a health and safety orientation, an academic orientation, as well as a tour around the Bloomsbury area. There are a bunch of beautiful buildings in the area that I am sure I will get to learn more about in my architecture of London class! At the end of the day, we had a quick reception to meet our teachers! We were able to pick up all our syllabi for class and quickly chat with some of our professors to get info on what books to buy etc.

Day Two of Orientation:

Today was a lot quicker, more enjoyable, and exciting! To start off the day, we headed to Brisbane, one of the many London universities, since it had a large enough lecture hall to accommodate all of us. Here, they held a two hour orientation. Included were two faculty speakers, a speech by the head of the IES program, and also a visit from two British "bobbies" or police officers. Keetin answered the first question correctly, and had to go up on stage where they proceeded to put the police hat and handcuffs on her as an example- quite entertaining.

After the orientation, we headed to the IES center for a travel fair and to sign up for field trips. There were several different companies offering trips to places like Scotland, Wales, Italy, Ireland, Amsterdam, Spain---pretty much everywhere in Europe you can imagine and you've ever wanted to go. I decided to wait until later to sign up for these big trips so that I could check my schedule and plan what weekends to go where.

After orientation, Keetin, Alexa, and I went over to the British Museum for about an hour before their next meeting started. We didn't even cover 1/10000th of the museum- it is enormous! Everything we looked at was absolutely incredible though...we even made it a point to go see the Rosetta Stone since we were all dying to see it. It truly was an amazing thing to witness firsthand. We also looked around the Egyptian tombs exhibit a little bit which was equally as interesting to see. I'm sure I will be making MANY trips to this museum between classes, when I have breaks, to study, eat lunch, or anything. I cannot wait!

I will be blogging soon to update everyone on the nightlife scene so far in London! It's the best :)

I'm here...and I'm loving it!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay on my first blog post from London. I've only been here for about 36 hours, but have already accomplished so much, gotten lost a few times, and started loving the city of London!

I got here really late Sunday night, so I guess you could consider it early Monday morning. My journey to the dorm was pretty simple- I had a driver holding a sign with my name on it waiting to pick me up right outside of security (I felt pretty special since I was always jealous when I was little of the people who got their names on signs). The drive to my dorm was quick, only about 20-25 minutes and my driver was really chatty, talking about how great London is because everything is open 24 hours unlike the United States. When I got to my dorm, I just had to do a quick check-in at the front desk and then struggle with my bags up to my room. Luckily, I was only on the third floor and there was an elevator, but dragging the bags down to the end of the hall where my room was proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated.

Since I am in a positive mood currently, I will describe my room as exceptionally modest or petite. But to be quite honest, if you caught me at a different moment, I would probably just say that it is very... very small. Even though I panicked a little bit at first sight, I was able to get my bed lofted a few feet off the ground so I have a TON of storage space underneath my bed. It definitely makes the room look a bit bigger. My roommate gets here tomorrow so I'm sure we will finalize all the arrangements on the room!

So yesterday (Monday) Alexa got to our dorm around 11 am. I was very very happy to see a familiar face since the rest of my group does not arrive until tomorrow. We decided to explore our area, mostly walking up and down Kings Road and Fulham Road. The Chelsea area is so cute and hip, though very expensive. I'm really excited that we are living in such a well-known and fun area! All of the streets and houses look like they are straight out of the Parent Trap movie with Lindsay Lohan haha. Alexa and I's main adventure of the day consisted of trying to find Primark- which supposedly would have hangers, rainboots, and sheets, our main shopping goals. Since we are not quite experts on London transportation yet, we ended up taking a few too many tubes, walking the wrong way a few too many times, and spending a few too many hours on actually finding the store. Sadly enough, when we got there, they were out of hangers and rainboots. I managed to beg the lady behind the counter to give me some used hangers before we left. We were planning on going out later that night, but found ourselves absolutely exhausted and ended up calling it a night after a quick dinner at a random restaurant by the South Kennsington tube stop.

Today was much more successful in terms of getting around! Alexa and I took a short tube ride to Sainsburys, a giant supermarket (very similar to Walmart). We bought a ton of food to keep in our kitchen back at the dorm so that we could start cooking our own meals instead of spending so much money on eating out. Tonight we are planning on making some stir fry! Since this was our first shopping trip, we each had like 8 bags and ended up having to take a cab back to our dorm, which was pretty quick and cheap. After that, we wandered to Carphone Warehouse, where I somehow managed to get a sim card for the same phone that I used while in China. I am going to temporarily use that phone until our family friends, the Reids, who live about an hour outside of London, give me my other phone which I'll use for the remainder of my time in London. I also got to explore the other half of King's Road, down to Sloane Square, which I absolutely loved! There are a ton of stores and restaurants, and everything is crowded and exciting.

Everyone on my IES Program arrives at the dorm tomorrow and I cannot wait! I am a little bit nervous, but am really looking forward to meeting a ton of new people to share the next few months with me! I'll keep everyone updated on how that goes :)

Five day countdown!!

It is hard to believe that I am leaving for London on Sunday. I feel like it was just the other day that I was preparing for my junior year at Mizzou and my trip to China. But now, that has all come and gone, and I am heading off to England for 4 months!! The past five months have been some of the best of my life that I can't even believe how privileged I am to be jetting off to London for another amazing semester.

I will try and keep everyone as updated as possible on my travels, so in order to do that, here are the essential details about my trip:

I will be staying in an area of London called Chelsea. It is known as a very classy and nice part of the city, and supposedly Hugh Grant lives just down the road from where my dorm is! I'm going to be assigned a random roommate in my dorm where I will be staying with a large number of other students on the IES Study London Program.

I got extremely lucky with my class schedule and only have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays (aka 4-day weekends every single week). I'm hoping because of this I will have a TON of time to get to know the city of London and even travel to a few other countries! My 5 classes include: The Architecture of London: 1600-Present Day, British Youth Culture from 1950 to the present, The History of London, International Marketing Management, and Passions and Repressions: Cinematic Representations of British Identity in British Cinema

This first post is going to be a bit short since the next five days will be jam packed with packing, tearful goodbyes, and a lot of nerves and excitement. I cannot wait to experience a whole new country and culture and am really hoping to go out of my way to try new things and meet new people.

My flight leaves Chicago Sunday morning (the 11th) and I will be arriving in London late that night. I can't wait to share all my new adventures with my family and friends through my blog!