Getting it Right This Time.

Well, I suppose it's time for another blog entry, isn't it?

Because of all the tube closures I had to "alight" at Westminster
and walk back home to Victoria. I have to admit it is hard to stay
in a bad mood when you come above ground to this view...

Sunday, I must mention, was the worst day I've had in London thus far. It began around 50*F, and gradually dropped to closer to 40. It was raining--quite hard--and my umbrella blew inside out three times, although I've begun to observe that this is a regular occurrence on the streets of London. I had to journey way north to Primrose hill (beautiful area though!) to pick up a printer I bought on gumtree (craigslist), then back to Victoria, then out to the Docklands for a voice lesson which was, disappointingly, anything but enjoyable. And all this with nearly every tube line that I needed to use closed for "planned engineering works." On this glorious day I also happened to witness a man fall of his bike and crack his head open, had a massive apple fall on my head whilst my umbrella was stuck inside out, my White Mocha at Starbucks (which, at the end of the day was meant to be perfect, reliable, and make all my problems--and cold, wet shivers--melt away) was mostly hot milk with bitter espresso...until I reached the bottom and found ALL the white-chocolate syrup concentrated there-- quite undrinkable.

All Souls Church

I live right near St. James's park and finally took a stroll
through the other day!

After being out nearly all day in the most miserable weather I've yet to see in London, I FINALLY reached my bed and dived under the covers with a hot cup of tea. Perfect, right? Wrong. In just 15 minutes I needed to leave for church. I was SO close to skipping and staying in this perfectly warm and dry bed, but thanks to some friends I met at orientation, the incredible things I'd heard about All Souls nudged me out of bed and into the misery of London weather yet again. But I'm SO glad of it! The service was incredible. There are people from so many different nationalities and backgrounds, all coming together as Christians, and it is a wonderful, inspiring sight. We sang all kinds of songs, one even in another language to express the global community of this church. After the service many, many people went downstairs to have coffee and chat together. I spoke with a few people who were all so kind and welcoming; I cannot wait to get to know many more!

This week the English department's induction for post-graduate students has begun. Yesterday there was a lecture/meeting for all MA English students, and then specifically for my pathway, 1850-present. We were given readings for the first class next week, and given an outline for the year (for the core module at least). It is going to be a fascinating class, but, as they have already warned us, the most challenging class of the MA as well.

St. James's Park-- Looks like Autumn to me!

I choose to view everything about my experience here as a chance to do everything right that I did wrong or didn't get the chance to do before. When I first went to university I chose Purdue, a school I really knew nothing about, that was in the-middle-of-nowhere Indiana, with people I couldn't relate to, and a major that I didn't like. Then I transferred mid-year to SMU, an undeniably cliquy school, where I had a really difficult time making friends or fitting in for years. I joined a sorority during their "informal recruitment," with only a handful of other girls, and therefore didn't have a pledge class I belonged to, or a group of girls that I felt like I was a part of. I didn't know how to get involved in anything, and I didn't do much outside of my comfort zone. I never got involved in my church because I was too intimidated my the young adult group that was already there, who had been meeting together since high school at least. I didn't really feel that I had good friends until my last semester at SMU.

There are so many things I wished I'd done differently in my undergraduate years, but now a whole new opportunity has been given to me, and I'm determined to do it all right...not to mention I'm living in London, somewhere that I've felt for so, SO many years that I was meant to be.

St. James's Park again-- Buckingham Palace is at
the end of the water.

My undergraduate experiences taught me that I had to be aggressive in finding friends. Now I have been more so than ever before. I've put myself out there, decided to be rid of shyness, and as a result have met SO many incredible people already, and I've only been here a month! I've found a church I love, and am already finding more ways to be involved. Honestly, though, I must say the thing I'm most proud of is that I am auditioning for musicals! I have NEVER been brave enough to do this before. I always had excuses: I'm not good enough, I have no acting experience, I can't dance, etc. Most of these may still be true, but so what! I LOVE musical theater, and how will I ever become more experienced if I don't start trying? Now, I don't expect anything to come of these auditions really. They are for the King's Musical Theatre Society at school. There are two different musicals they are putting on, and while I would love to be a part, any part, of either, there were tons of much more experienced people in the waiting rooms than me. However, I personally think my audition went really well, my voice sounded great, I read the script well, and even remembered most of the dance routine! I'm just proud of myself for going, and the most important thing is that I had fun :)

A few more auditions, English Lit. induction events, new friends, new food, and LOADS of reading to fill the rest of this week... I can't wait :)

Orientation, Views, and Food

This week was International Student Orientation at King's College, which consisted of mostly various workshops/seminars on topics regarding studying here as an international student. It did begin with a lovely dinner in a very elegant ballroom somewhere near Covent Garden. Free Salmon dinner, wine, and apple crumble dessert was a great start!

We had one talk about safety at which a few police officers quite thoroughly frightened everyone, and if I don't have my handbag or mobile stolen at some point this year I will count myself extremely lucky. I'm not in University Park anymore, that's for sure. 

There was also a "culture shock" talk, which ended up being more of a vocabulary lesson. I'm still working on saying "trousers" instead of "pants," which is the name for underwear here. The other night I was out in Soho with a friend and a man walked by with insanely bright colored pants (trousers), and I said "wow! did you see that guy's pants!?" to which she replied, "I should hope not!" ...But I'll catch on to the lingo one of these days :)

However, I must say the best part of the orientation was getting off at Embankment tube and walking across the Waterloo bridge in the morning, and back in the evening. Big Ben and Parliament don't even look real to me yet. They look more real when you're a tourist standing in front of the London Eye looking across to take some touristy pictures. But as the background of my commute...I just couldn't believe my eyes. It looks more like a backdrop on a stage. It may also be that there is nothing in Dallas that isn't brand new and modern, so to see such architecture and history, with Westminster Abbey just behind it, is just unbelievable. I nearly started to cry, happy cry, as I walked across, looking all around me, and blasting the new Glee version of New York State of Mind, with Lea Michele singing her heart out about a city that is not only a place to live, but a whole way of life, a part of one's heart, a state of mind.

The great thing about the orientation was the nobody knew each other, and everybody was so open to getting to know everyone else. There was a group of us who all had no plans for the night on Friday, and so all just decided to go out to eat together. As I've mentioned before I think, London has SUCH a huge selection of interesting and authentic foods from all over the world. I don't know how I'm going to try them all, especially with the prices here, but I would so love to! It's so nice to walk into an Italian restaurant to find all Italian cooks/waiters, and the same with all the other restaurants and their ethnicities. Anyway, the group of us came upon this WONDERFUL Mexican restaurant (which the Texan in me was SO happy with). I had Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas, and Grilled British Steak Tacos. It was very well priced, authentic and insanely delicious! Fellow Londoners, check it out! http://www.wahaca.co.uk/flash/main.html

 I've got to start getting creative with ways to live cheaply. I finally got the time (and serious craving!) to have something home-cooked last night, which always helps a bit with saving money as well. I'm lucky to live in a flat that is already quite well stocked with most crockery and cutlery-- if I may be so British-- that I'm able to cook quite a bit. Finding the incredients I'm used to having at home can be a challenge, especially since the closest store, Tesco, is about the size of the bakery section at Walmart or Kroger. However, I managed to find some great veggies and chicken, and created a spectacular pasta! ....more to come :)

..and the journey begins!

Time to start blogging!

I think the best place to start is just before I left for London.

My friends threw me a little going away party. It was the most perfect night I could've asked for, surrounded by all the people who are so special to me, with wine, pizza, and cake :)

Upon arrival in London I began ferociously looking for a place to live. It's hard to believe that is how it's done here, but alas, everyone else I met was doing the exact same thing. It took 5 days to find the place that would be my new home, although it felt more like a month or two of serious anxiety, stress and no sleep. Nonetheless, I found my home and LOVE it. I live near the St. James's Park tube (yes, there are really two s's, not my grammatical error) which is so lovely and quiet, but close to the ever crowded and bustling Victoria station should I need more extensive transport connections. I also live about a 5 minute walk to the Wicked theatre, which just makes my soul happy. I'm only 3 tube stops to school, but am far enough away that it's lovely and quiet, rather than overtaken by tourists (which I am no longer! woo-hoo!).

Finally, once I knew I would not be homeless in London, my parents and I had some time to relax and explore. We had so much fun discovering different areas of the city. It was the first time we didn't stay in a hotel and see purely tourist attractions, so it was a whole new experience. We stayed near Marylebone High St and Regents Park, and explored so many areas like Soho, Bloomsbury, Sloane Square, Victoria, and more. It was most incredible to us how many different kinds of food, and totally authentic, one can find throughout this city.  We also saw The Lion King, visited my new school, had afternoon tea and much more. Here are a few photos:

 

 The International Student Orientation, which is three days long, begins tomorrow. I can't wait!... more to come :)