The Adventure Begins

In front of the Tower Bridge

My homestay 

A lot has happened over here in the past two days! Yesterday, we started off the day with a short orientation and then went on a bus tour.  The tour was great! we got to see so many things in just a few hours.  It really showed us what the city is all about and where the major monuments are, along with some history. It was hard for me to drive past these things and we were only able to stop at a few! It was surprising to me how close many of the major monuments are.  I still cannot believe how beautiful and intricate the buildings are here, it hasn't kicked in yet that this is real. Last night, I went to the grocery store and now really appreciate the selection we have at US stores.  I have never seen a grocery store as small as that, and this was normal.  College eating here is also much different than it is in the US, things that are cheap at home are actually very expensive over here.  My love for eggs might have to take a 3.5 month break because of this.

Today we had meetings to discuss our placements for community service.  I was placed at a home for the elderly right in the heart of London.  I am very excited about this because I have heard great things about it.  I will be working there every Monday for the majority of the time I spend over here.  I am in a group with  four other students that I get along with really well. This afternoon was the first time we had off, so we decided to explore the city and go back to see some of the things we liked on the tour yesterday, starting off with Buckingham Palace.  It was a perfect day to go and sight-see, about 75 and sunny.  I had seen the palace briefly yesterday, but didn't get to see everything I had wanted.  Even though I had seen the Palace on TV before, I had never imagined for it to be as big as it is.  I spent a few hours by the palace, the fountain and the green garden, which is next to the Palace.  There is an option to take a tour of Buckingham Palace, so I hope to do that before I leave.  Later, I also was able to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey,  and the Eye of London.  I still cannot get over how detailed the buildings are, and really would love to learn more about all of them. Somehow we were able to get our way through the city without being lost.  Luckily I had a comfortable pair of shoes on, because I did a lot of walking.  On the way home from dinner tonight, it was the first time Ashley and I had gotten lost. It didn't take us too long to find our house, but we ended up walking much farther than we needed to. It doesn't help that most of the houses on our street look the same.


There is a lot of adjusting that has been happening as well.  The most inconvenient and biggest adjustment is that our house doesn't have a shower, only a bath.  I didn't think this was a big deal until I tried to take one.  Water ended up all over the bathroom and I don't know how clean I even got.  Another issue that I have run into, is that there are no public restrooms.  You are able to use restrooms in restaurants and pubs, but if you are walking around, there are no bathrooms to be found.  Our tour guide told us about one of the only public restrooms, and we had to pay to get in.  It is also really interesting how they don't have many bugs here, so they leave doors and windows open a lot; their windows don't even have screens. I have been having a very hard time adjusting to the driving on the left side of the road.  Even though at every intersection, there is a note which way to look, I still somehow can't get the hang of it.  One of the things that I was most surprised about is how funny the cars look. I didn't actually think they had taxis that were so different! Also, everyone is always in a hurry and there are almost no quiet streets, a far stretch from Appleton. Although there are a lot of things different, that's what makes this time even more exciting!

Although I have been here for a few days already, this still doesn't seem real.  I can't imagine that people actually live in this crazy beautiful place! Hopefully by the end of the semester, I will feel less like a lost tourist and more like one of those lucky people to live here.