Getting into the swing of things

Overall, I am really happy with the way classes have been going and with my teachers.  With classes starting, I have been a bit more busy, but it helps that the workload doesn't seem to be as tough as it would be in St. Paul. We are starting to figure out the good places to get groceries and what night places have deals for dinner.  The longer I am here and more used I am to the city, makes it seem much smaller.  Right when we arrived, it seemed as though everyone's homestays were really far apart.  Now we know how to get around better and I don't know how we ever thought we were far apart.  It is nice to get to know the people living in my neighborhood, cause we often go to get dinner and meet up before heading places.

I had a nice transition into this week, they had some things planned for us, but still left time to get homework done. I had two meetings on Wednesday after class, along with a performance at the Globe Theater.  Throughout the semester, we have four cultural classes where someone comes in and teaches us about different things.  This week we learned about the difference between the UK and Great Britain, what it means to be English versus British, some history along with where the flag comes from.  I especially liked to hear how the flag came to being, it is actually a few flags put together to make the UK flag we know today.  We also had a meeting to discuss our upcoming trip to Normandy and Paris.  This is going to occur next weekend.  Our class schedule is pretty flexible, so they were able to move around the classes and we are going to be able to go from Thursday to Sunday. They have the whole weekend packed with tours, it will be exhausting but really fun.  The plan is to be in Paris for one day and Normandy for two.  I wish we had more time in Paris, but maybe I will be able to visit it again before I leave in December! We are taking the EuroStar which leaves close to London and takes us under the English Channel and into France.  This will be   a whole new experience dealing with different money and electrical adapters as well.  After the meeting, we ate dinner downtown and headed over to the Globe Theater to watch Richard III. The beginning was very cool and also very interesting to see a replica of the theater Shakespeare's plays started in.  We really had a true experience, having to stand and get rained on during the performance.  They also didn't allow pictures to be taken because they wanted it to really feel like it would have been during Shakespeare's time. On the way home, we made a pit stop and went up the longest escalator in the western hemisphere, it was 9 stories tall!

I went on a day trip yesterday to Brighton, which is on the southern coast of England.  It was a really early morning, we had to wake up and take an hour tube ride to the bus, which was another two hours until we reached Brighton.  I really did not know what to expect, because I hadn't heard of what we would be seeing.  We started the day with a tour of the Royal Pavilion.  The word pavilion sounds much smaller and less extravagant than what it actually was.  It was built for King George IV in the 1820s and the whole building has oriental design.  While going through the palace, I was amazed at the time and money that was spent on it.  I also learned that even though his whole palace was based off of Chinese design, he had never even been to China. It was really unfortunate that we couldn't take pictures because the inside of the palace was beautiful, my favorite being the chandeliers. One of the chandeliers was 30 feet long and weighed one ton. This palace was a get away for King George IV and was located right on Brighton Beach.  After we looked at the palace, we went down to the beach.  Down at the beach, it was a completely different feel than near the palace.  There were cute shops everywhere and even one of the original piers from the 1800s.  On the pier, there were roller coasters and places to eat along with a rocky beach.  Even though it was a little cold and rainy, it looked like this would be a really great place for families to go in the summer. We had about 3 hours to walk around and then headed back for London.

I am getting to know my host family much better and really liking them a lot.  I haven't gotten to know the mom much, but Ashley and I talk to the kids at least a few times a day.  On Thursday, Ellie made us a realy good meal she came up with, it was really nice to have a real meal. Last night, we all sat around and talked for a few hours. Although the conversations often turn toward comparing cultures and us asking them questions, it is surprising to me how many things are so much the same.  I met some of Ellie's friends yesterday and it was really cool to be able to talk to them, it helps me understand even more what it would be like to grow up and live here.