The Beginning

It’s day 3, and I still love London. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love London.

I was severely jet-lagged and delirious on Saturday after two flights and a stop in Switzerland, but got to my apartment building without trouble and was able to maneuver my two 50 lb. suitcases without incident up to my apartment, from now on referred to as my flat.

I live with two girls and two guys, including two Northeastern students and two from California. I was concerned at first because the three of us girls have a triple room (I sleep on the bottom of bunk bed) and I've had a single for the last few months. But it’s been fine, even though our mattresses are terribly uncomfortable. The small bedrooms have forced all of us to hang out in our huge common space, which is absolutely gorgeous. I really like all of my roommates, we’re all very different but get along well. We all seem to be opposites in a way that makes up for each others shortcomings.

On Saturday night a bunch of us from Hansard went to a pub in Covent Garden called the Freemasons Arms to meet up with people from the other study abroad program at Goldsmiths College, so I got to see my friend Laura! It was really great to see her, and a really cool pub, but I was too exhausted to enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

On Sunday we were scheduled for a free private bus tour of London, which was a perfect way to see the city for the first time. I saw all of the major sites from the bus: Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, the Globe Theater and Hyde Park. We got out to see the Tower Bridge (frequently confused with the London Bridge, which we drove over), Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. It was freezing and periodically snowing, but it was so amazing to see the sites in person.

After the tour we went food shopping, so my roommate Kelsey and I made pasta. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with a few people from another flat and ended up with a spontaneous Glee viewing party. The guys immediately sprinted away from our flat…I can’t imagine why.

This morning I had my first (and second and third) experience on the tube on the way to a tour of Parliament. I can’t believe how easy the subway is to navigate! It’s pretty amazing. The stations are laid out well, even for transfers, and trains literally come every two minutes in the morning. Amazing! I’m so used to Boston’s dysfunctional T system that I could not imagine that solid transit systems exist in other cities. I am thrilled to be proved wrong.

I love Parliament. Both the exterior and interior look like a palace. We walked the path the Queen takes when she has her yearly visit to Parliament. We learned about the history of the huge building and the ornate decorations. We heard stories about visiting president’s speeches and monarch’s relationship with Parliament. The building has strange quirks. In the House of Commons there are lines on the floor that the MPs (members of Parliament) aren’t allowed to cross when approaching the table to debate; the lines are exactly two sword lengths away. How's that for history? I won’t know where I’m interning until Monday, but I feel privileged to have already walked the halls of Parliament.

After the tour a bunch of us went on an expedition to Oxford Street in search of things we mostly failed at finding. I did manage to get an extra adapter and a blow dryer, but still can’t find appropriate rain boots. Oxford Street is one of the main shopping areas, and it was bustling, even at 11am on a Monday. I’ll definitely go back there to check out Primark, a super cheap clothing and accessory store.

I ate lunch with my roommate Kelsey at Pret a Manger, a café/sandwich shop that seems to be on every other corner in London. It reminded me a lot of Panera, and the meatball soup I got was just what I needed to warm me up after a morning of wandering the streets of London. After lunch we headed to the LSE campus for the first time for an info session on our programs and our first class. I really like the professor, I think it will be an interesting, though intensive class on Parliament and British politics.

In short, I love everything. All of the people in my program are great. Though we’re mostly Americans, we’re from different parts of the country and have a lot to talk about. I’m not worried about anything right now (though give me a few weeks…I have to write a proposal for my dissertation), I’m just really thrilled to be here. It’s perfect.