Week One

So much has happened since my last post. We have now completed our first week of classes, which have been awesome thus far. The professors here are all about field trips and getting us out of the classroom and into the streets of London and therefore have planned multiple excursions for us around the town. This starts with tomorrows trip to Parliament for my British Life and Cultures class with the rest of the Marist students. Very exciting stuff. My Social Welfare Issues in the UK has made a promising start to the semester with very intriguing debates and discussions in class already occurring. Finally my Media in Britain class promises to be very helpful towards broadening my advetising skills through a more global outlook on the media world. Thus far I really enjoy all three classes and have not minded the 3 hour class sessions. The rooms in the Foundation House (where we have all of our classes) are named after successful Brits such as The Viveanne Westwood Room, the T.S. Elliot Room along with many others, which is pretty cool (much better than any of the basement dungeon rooms in Lowell Thomas thats for sure).

Now that we are settled into a much more usual schedule and things are getting routine around here we have all began to have adventures of our very own. I have run around Buckingham Palace a few times while the Changing of the Guard ceremony was occurring. Very cool to see and its remarkable how many people see it on a daily basis. Most recently I participated in my first race since I've been here. I did an 8k yesterday at Alexandra Palace, or as the locals call it Ally Pally! This is essential a gigantic castle ontop of a hill. Since we are cross country freaks and we love to run through the mud (which was completely redefined for me after this race) they had the men run straight up this mountain 3 consecutive times. The course started in a big field at the base of the hill and we did a big loop around the outside of the field and then after completing this circle turned and went in a straight line up the hill for about 200 meters. For those of you wondering how steep this was I will compare it to two different hills you might recognize. First it felt like running up Cemetary Hill at Van Cortland Park three times which equals death. Mind you this would be like running up Cemetary if it were all grass and all mud. Not just a little mud, we're talkin like feet sinking in a few inches, shoes nearly getting sucked off type of mud, for all 200 meters of the hill. Now for those of you who don't know what Cemetary is you might understand this reference. It was like running straight up the Lost Valley hill in front of the base lodge, three times. Fun times. Even though the course was insanely muddy, hilly and tiring it was true cross country which made it absurdly fun!!! I loved it. I wasn't really trying to hard I was just having fun with it and just feeling out the way races are run over here. And surprisingly to me most people said that these conditions weren't even that bad. So for my next race I will be prepared for the worst! But I had a blast, met some really cool runners and look forward to working out with them for the rest of my time here.


Last night I ventured off to Camden Town for round two of what we had been told was the happening neighborhood of London. I went to a pub called The Camden Head which was pretty centrally located. Not my first choice, I originally wanted to go to a place called Cafe 1001 where there was live music but the tube access to it was not working so I decided to head up the Camden instead. Anywho, I met these three awesome people Michael, Fran and Ricki. Michael has a gigantic fro and has lived in 5 different countries and is a really talented guitarist. Fran, his girlfriend, has also lived in a bunch of different countries and now lives near Portabello Road in London with Ricki who is originally from Australia. They were really inviting and nice so we started talking and they were really cool. They wanted to go to a jazz club across the street from the Camden Head but after we heard that they weren't letting anyone else in we decided to head up to the self proclaimed the World Biggest Pub, called Worlds End. They rightfully deserve this title. This pub was a network of rooms with spiral staircases, intricate decor and an amazing mix of people from all over the world inside. The pub is decorated to look like a street market on the inside and the flooring is cobblestoned. Basically I was in love from the the decorations, to the 60's music they were playing and the incredible mix of characters inside. I will definitely go back here to hang out later for sure. Anywho the 4 of us hung out for the rest of the night and laughed and eventually they asked if I wanted to hang out with them some more. SUCCESS!!! This was what I was aiming for this whole time. Then ontop of this great news they told me that their original plans were to go to Cafe 1001 but they were really glad they met me and came to Camden instead! FATE!!!!! I told them thats where I originally wanted to go but couldn't get to. So I have now successfully made some authentic Brit friends and look forward to more of an insiders view of the city with the three of them.

Other than running and classes I have taken a few pictures here and there and so here is your first glimpse at what my life is like here in London. Hope you enjoy and are all doing well! Take care!

Here's me in the first race sporting my Marist Cross Country shirt!!! This was just the beginning of the huge hill, but you can see how muddy it was. That was consistent throughout the whole course! Lets just say I got a bit sloppy.

This is what all of the homes in Kensington look like..... gorgeous. 

Prince Alberts Monument, right across the street from my house. We learned that since it is almost made of all gold in WWII it was disassembled in fear that it would get bombed and wasn't reassembled for many years following. 

The moon from outside of my window in the early evening. Pretty. 

Traffic in front of our house. I have always wanted to take one of these delayed shots. 

There are so many different species of birds in Hyde Park. This one was quite charismatic. 

A fountain at the top of the Serpentine (the lake that Hyde Park is based around). 

This is one of the many pixies and other magical creatures featured on the amazing Peter Pan statue made of bronze in Hyde Park. The park is where the idea for the story was created and based off of, also where it was written. Finding Neverland, yes, it was also filmed in this park.