Tomorrow morning I will have been in London for a full week!!
I thought I would be blogging before going to bed each night...but that hasn't happened. So let's recap the past four days.
Thursday:
woke up and checked my fb before going to breakfast...ooo, I have a message!...
from SARA telling me she's DATING DAVID!
My poor roommate had to listen to me GASP and then Babble nonsense throwing my hands in the air and bouncing on my bed before I could compose myself enough to tell her what made me suddenly become a retard. lol
sigh. It's about flipping time they got together! Geesh! I'm SO happy for my wonderful best friend and roommate. :) :)
I'm just slightly upset that I couldn't actually be there in person to find all this out. They just had to wait until I traveled to the other side of the world. sigh...lol, not that it matters. :)
So Anyways....
at that point whatever plans I had for the day kind of disappeared as I waited on my computer to hear any more news and details. haha...okay, I might be that crazy lunatic roommate...but I think being overseas and finding this out is a good excuse.
I finally realized that by noon...it was only 6 a.m. in Pella and I wouldn't be getting anymore information anytime soon. lol. So I went out with some gals to get pastys. I should have taken a picture of one...but they are basically pastries...except instead of sweets, they are filled with meat and veggies. yumm. I need to try another one soon.
When they became fb official I started going ballistic because I still hadn't skyped with Sara. Kris was nice enough to skype with me so I could talk with Sara, who happened to be in his room with David. They probably thought I was exaggerating when I said that I would rather talk to them then see Wicked later...but I was being perfectly serious at the time. hah!
Talking with her did help me to calm down a bit, even though we didn't talk for very long...something about there being boys in the room and she had class...idk. ;)
That night we saw Wicked!! SOOOO EXCELLENT!! I saw it a few years ago in Chicago, and if I had to compare the one in London to it...Chicago was probably my favorite, mainly because it was my first time seeing it. But the one in London was really good too!! It was nice to actually know the plot-line this time around as well. The British accents made it different too...especially when they sang.
Ah, Fiyero. *swoon* :) lol
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| inside the theater waiting for the show to start |
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| the ladies all dress up for Wicked |
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| hot chocolate after a cold walk back...lovely idea :) |
Friday:
We went to Birkbeck college for our British Experience Seminar and Contemporary Britain class. We just had an introductory and learned more about travel in London.
They then gave us a tour of the college and gave us membership cards. With the membership we can sit in on classes, use their exercising facilities, and join clubs. I was excited to see a few Christian clubs (one called Agape!) and a Harry Potter club. haha! I don't actually know when they meet, but it would be interesting to attend and maybe see a Quidditch match. :) Not to mention all the handsome British lads and their awesome accents. No worries folks...I have strict orders from my father to not come home in a relationship unless it's Prince Harry. Plus, I HATE long distance relationships...he would have to be a very rich fellow to travel a lot and visit me in the States. hah!
In the afternoon they split us up into teams of two to four for a scavenger hunt around London. As tired as I was, I admit that it helped me to feel much more comfortable using the tube. I'm practically a pro now. :)
My feet were so sore, but we only managed to get lost once. Unfortunately, we were only missing one or two points to be one of the winning teams.
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| at a market nearby Vandon House |
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| one of the many telephone booths |
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| He was so thrilled to have a picture taken with us. We also forgot to ask if we could wear his hat...otherwise we would have gotten bonus points. Rats! |
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| Hamleys Toy shop is HUGE! like 5 floors! |
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| on the top of a double decker bus. |
Saturday:
We went on an optional walking tour.
It was windy and so cold! Seriously, I thought London was going to be in the 40's. Not weather feeling like 18 degrees! Hurry up and warm up London!!
St. Pauls was so beautiful and gigantic! I didn't get a good picture, but I will be back for sure. :) We also saw a lot of places related to Shakespeare and ended the tour (hands, ears, and toes frozen) at Borough Market. The group I was with decided they couldn't live without Starbucks and we meandered back through the brick lanes shivering so they could find one. sigh...lol. Then they wanted to browse through the market, but I was so cold and just wanted to come back to my warm bed...so I then took the tube, all by myself!!! haha! It was a big deal for me. :) I didn't get lost.
I had to go to a different station to get off because the one closest to Vandon House was closed for the weekend. I ended up walking through crowds of tourists looking at Big Ben and the Westminster area. I was surprised at myself by how annoyed I was with these people.
And I haven't even been here for a full week.
Tsk tsk Amy, you can't call yourself a Londoner quite yet.
I spent the rest of the day warming up in bed. lol, chilled to the bone for sure.
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| Millennium Bridge....destroyed by the Death Eaters in the 5th Harry Potter movie. :) |
I went to Camden to meet Molly and Shawn, who were in London for the weekend!
On my way there a French lady stopped me to ask for directions. I guess that's a sign that I look like I belong here...haha! And I actually knew the answer to her question! I was so proud of myself. :) It was SO GOOD to see friends from home.
Not gonna lie...homesickness set in last night, so it was a huge blessing to see them.
We walked around a couple markets, where I found a BEATLES RECORD (jump around for joy...I have wanted one since I got a record player!!!) and then went to Kings Cross Station to see platform 9 3/4...which was a total waste of time, in my opinion. Not because I didn't want to go...but because it was such a letdown. They just hung up a brick poster and stuck a tiny shopping cart in front of it....and it wasn't even next to the correct platform.
lol, oh well.
OH! But I did see the sun today!!! First time is hasn't been hidden by clouds since I've been here!
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| The tube. I have never seen it this empty of people. |
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| The bogus Harry Potter tourist site |
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| my beauties. Record and new scarf |
AND....I was sick of shopping. ick...I'm not a shopper...unless it takes me less than two hours and I find things right away that I'm looking for.
I had planned on going to Hillsong church at 6, but remembered I needed groceries and the store was closing soon.
The dratted grocery store. meh, I'm still getting used to all these weird food brands, so finding things takes forever! I've been so spoiled...now I have to cook for myself. My eggchiladas turned out pretty good tonight, though!
Okay. So now that I've almost finished a full week here....allow me to express my thoughts.
I tried not to come here with expectations.
But you can't help that sometimes.
I think, somehow, I thought that being here would give me some sort of out-of-body experience
that London would "wow" me beyond belief
that I would stand amazed at everything I see.
Maybe it's loneliness. Maybe it's the homesickness. Maybe it's because I don't have any close friends here to share these experiences with. Maybe it's culture shock...
...but I feel like my "dream come true" hasn't "come true."
if that makes sense at all...
They say to be "bored of London is to be bored of life."
And I'm not bored of it...I have hardly seen it!
but....
There's just something missing...
I hope I find it soon.
~Merely Mortal~
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