Yesterday, we had orientation for all the study abroad students. I met a whole bunch of great, fun people and we are probably going to travel together over the holidays and such!
As for classes, my final picks are: British Life and Culture which is something that just about every study abroad student takes and they take you on 5 great trips throughout the semester. Tomorrow we are going to Brighton and on a tour of the Royal Pavilion! My other classes are Shakespeare: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (I get to go see a production of Othello!), The Nineteenth Century English Novel (we're reading one of my favorites, Wuthering Heights!) and Romantic Vision (which is poetry and other things like Sense and Sensibility and even Frankenstein). I'm really excited!
Anyway, after orientation, I went out to dinner with a bunch of people and then afterward, they were having a welcome reception for study abroad students at the Slug and Lettace, which is a pretty upscale pub in Kingston (which is why we ate dinner at a cheaper place first).
Here's a little slideshow of the night:
FYI: the drink in my hand was one that Shana didn't want and I was not drinking but carrying around because the older Spanish gentleman, Luis, was very drunk and insisting that he buy everyone drinks. By carrying Shana's I was able to avoid him buying me one. haha. But he was actually hilarious. Hunter aka. Pedro (what he told the guy his name was) was talking to him in Spanish and saying he was from Scotland and gave Laura, Katie and Shana fake names as well. I didn't get one though since I wasn't standing with them when introductions were made, sadly. Anyway, Luis sure made for one hilarious story!
On to today! First, I had planned on going to a Beatles Tribute concert on the site of their final concert (the rooftop of No. 3 Salvile Row) on the 40th anniversary (the original date was Jan. 30, 1969 at noon), however, the police canceled it for "health and safety" concerns... But, according to the article, people were still going to go to the site, so I figured I'd check it out. Unfortunately, I over-slept and didn't get there until 1:30, but there were still people milling around and I got some cool photos :) And then this guy came with a ukelali and was playing Strawberry Fields.
Then, I met up with the other Kingston study abroad-ers for a walking tour of London! Here's another slidehow of the journey:
After that we had dinner at a pub, checked out Covent Garden (where there's a lot of shopping and things), walked around a bit, went for coffee, saw Platform 9 3/4 and then finally headed home! More pics? Here you are!
Another funny story: On the train, there was a group of 30-somethings that had obviously been drinking and the one girl was swinging around on one of the poles, haha. So we clapped like an good audience and she was trying get one of us to do it (and we were trying to convince Hunter to hehe) and she was seriously like "I will give 10 pounds out of my pocket to anyone that can hang upside-down by their legs from this pole." None of us thought we could, but that's pretty good money, haha. We just meet interesting characters out on the town...
Well, I suppose that concludes this update on life in London! Hope everyone is having a fabulous time back home and that I get to talk to you soon!
All my love,
Kendyl
Kendyl!
ReplyDeleteWe just checked out your blog, how very cool! I am so glad to know you arrived safely and it really seems like you are really enjoying yourself, it's hard to believe you will be "used to" these sights by the time you leave isnt it? Get some sleep lady!