More Pics

As promised, here are more pictures for your enjoyment!

We took a boat tour on the river Thames from Tower Bridge to Greenwich last weekend. Though it was very cold we got to see some very cool views of the city. The first picture is the Tower of London which is very impressive from the river

And of course a neat picture of Tower Bridge

In Greenwich we trekked to the observatory where you can see the official marker for the prime meridian. however we didn't get to take touristy pictures with one foot in either side of the prime meridian because it costs money to actually get to the marker. Though technically we did cross it while walking around the grounds of the observatory, so that's fun.

One of my favorite things in London is the markets. All the food looks and smells amazing so if you aren't careful it would be very easy to spend all of your money! This statue is at the beginning of the Brick Lane Market and no one has been able to explain to me why, so until then I'm under the impression that its there because everyone loves goats.

I'm not sure what the name of this market is, all I know is the food is spectacular. Its a block away from where my classes are and its open every Thursday for lunch. Yes, I eat lunch here every Thursday!

This church is a few block from St. Paul's Cathedral, well whats left of it anyway. Most of it was destroyed during the World War II and rather than tear it down or rebuild it, the ruins have been turned into a garden. Pretty cool if you ask me.

To end of a fun note, here's a picture of me and a blue storm trooper! For the star wars nerds who are thinking "Isn't he a little short to be a storm trooper?" I think he's actually movie height.

Long Live the King

The Irish Question

After my last post Aunt Flo emailed me asking if people over here think I'm Irish. Come on admit it, you were thinking it too. I chuckled at the question initially but the more I thought about it I realized I don't really know. If someone ever thought I was Irish, instead of the obvious American I think I am, they never told me. Also if they are profiling me, either as Irish or an American, that’s a micro aggression. Maybe I just look like too much of an American to fool anyone. (For those of you keeping score at home, that's a micro aggression as well). A couple of people did think I was a local before which was cool. They came up to me and asked for directions, and 2 out of 3 times I knew what to tell them. That's right folks, apparently it only takes roughly two weeks of living in London to be a local. My roommate was asked for directions once and when the person heard his American accent they laughed and walked away. (But how did they know what direction to go??)

So to answer Aunt Flo’s original question: I think I’m taken for a Brit more often than I am an Irishman (but I think I’d prefer the latter!).

Continuing with the theme of this post, I figured I’d respond to another readers comment. My dear sister Elise has been reading the tales of my adventure (thanks for that by the way) and “politely” pointed out that my grammar could be improved. Well Elise, I did warn out about the quality of my grammar in my first post so you can’t complain. Besides don’t they call it the Queen’s English? So until I get a letter of complaint from her majesty, I’m going to carry on in my usual way of little to no proof reading. And if it’s the Queen’s English I do believe that makes it the King’s English too (a.k.a. mine). I think I won that one...

Keep the questions and comments coming, not only are they appreciated because I know your actually reading this but also because they give me more material to write about.

Long Live the King

Few Pics

Well gang I figured I should share some more pictures, enjoy!

For those of you who live under a rock and/or don't get out much, this is Buckingham Palace. Apparently the Queen doesn't much like it here and would rather live in Windsor. Honestly I can't blame her, we all know how much work those old houses can be!

Next we have some pictures from the London Eye. I just wanted to get a better view of my kingdom, after all, everything the light touches is mine.

One of the coolest parts of the city that I have seen is Trafalgar Square. I will be going there several times for my art class because situated behind me in the second photo is the national gallery.

This is one of my favorite places to run. Its only a couple blocks behind my dorm and there are never crowds of people.

These next two pictures are from Regent's Park which belongs to her majesty but she so graciously lets us use it.

I also walked through one of the gardens in the park but as you can probably imagine there isn't much to see in a garden in the middle of January.

We took a trip to Windsor Castle and the weather decided to be quite British. I learned not to trust the weather forecast because I didn't have an umbrella and cold rain is not fun.

My roommate and I took a trip down to the Tower of London and then walked along the river to Big Ben. It was a long walk (we didn't exactly take the most direct route) but we got to see lots of really cool things. It was a spontaneous journey at 9:00 at night but well worth it.

This my friends is a bar on a ship. Just let the coolness of that sink in.

Academic Tourist

Two of my close friends are in London as well. Andrew Koontz is doing a program similar to mine and is even staying in the same dorm as I am (which I pretty cool). My other friend, Sam Ogburn, is studying at the London School of Economics for the second semester in a row. We meet all meet up to catch up and talk about what's new when we began to discuss the different aspects of our programs. Sam Ogburn perfectly summed up Andrew and my programs as "academic tourism". Sure we take a few classes and occasionally have outside work but it's not the same amount of work as Wofford. In contrast Sam is working far harder than any of us ever have at Wofford. Basically, as I'm sure you already know, Andrew and I are here as tourists discussed as students. But even the touristy stuff we do is academic, like vising museums and other things like the special document exhibit at the British Library. I'm starting to dig this "academic tourism" thing.

The British Library (pictured below) is massive! Sorry dad, there are no ladies behind a desk on the left when you walk inside. I went to the special documents exhibit and saw original Beethoven and Bach scores, Shakespeare's plays, ancient sacred texts and the Gutenburg bible (also pictured below). There was also two copies of the Magna Carter, one of which had a papal decree attached to it which nullified the document. Very cool history there.

The imperial war museum was a cool to visit. I really enjoyed seeing the two world wars from the British point of view. It was a fun afternoon that was semi ruined by the last exhibit, the holocaust. But if you look past the depressing bit at the end it was fun for a history nerd like myself.

The British museum was a place some friends and I went to on a lunch break during orientation. Immediately I realized I would need lots of time to see as much as I can so on the days when I don't have class till 1:30, I'll be there in the morning.

I snagged a picture of one of my classrooms for two reasons. First it proves that I went to class (aren't you proud of me mom and dad?) and second its a pretty fancy classroom. What you can't see are the two very nice looking chandeliers. I sure hope the fire place works!



Long Live The King

Call me crazy, but there is no southern hospitality here. Everyone seems to be in their own little world. No one says "hey" or "how's it going" in passing. People are all to eager to push past you on the side walk too. I've been told that these might be characteristics of a big city rather than specifically London things but I honestly can't tell. I've never felt like a small town kid before but I definitely do now. When Americans ask where I'm from and I say Spartanburg SC, most people haven't heard of it which is understandable, its not exactly a booming metropolis. In London when people ask where I'm from I say America. If they ask what part, they have never heard of South Carolina. I shouldn't really be surprised but its just so strange. It seems like the only parts of America they know about are the major cities and Florida. I'm one of the few southerners in my program. Actually the other two southerners are also Wofford kids (go terriers!). A surprising number of people are from Indiana University, probably around 70 kids out of 130. I figured I'd get some funny looks when I said "yall" and I've already been asked if sweet tea is a breakfast drink, but when I asked "what are yall fixin' to do?" IT BLEW PEOPLE'S MINDS! They just kinda stared at me, dumbfounded, like I was speaking Spanish. Yankees, am I right??? Speaking of language, British English is far more different than I expected. I figured I would be able to understand what people say, even if I didn't know what the phrases meant. Not the case. Some locals are so hard to understand they might as well be speaking dutch.

Everywhere in London new and old collide. A brand new shop might be next to (and in some cases literally touching) an 18th century building. The old and the new sometimes make it feel like two cities in one. If you walk down one street it might fell like a scene out of Oliver Twist, but the next street over looks like Atlanta. I have a love/hate relationship with how urban London is. I really enjoy being able to walk everywhere so easily, even if it takes 20 minutes. Sadly though there isn't much green space (there is not really space of any kind)*. Most of the "parks" I have seen are fairly small, some are even the size of what we would call a yard. Everything is so close compact. The Brits don't waste any space; buildings are flush to one another, roads are narrow and many shops are only 10 feet wide. The only thing that seems over sized is the biking lane (which is equal to the size of the lanes for buses!).

I know I've talked a lot in this post about things that are different and in some cases surprisingly so, but those are the kinds of things you notice first in a new place. I really do enjoy it here. Tomorrow we are going to Windsor Castle and Sunday we are taking a bus tour of London so pictures of all that will come soon.

Long Live the King

*According to my friend Andrew Koontz, statistically London has tons of green space (47% to be exact) but that is less than good ol' Spartanburg SC so my statement stands.

So I thought I might share a few photos with yall. I haven't taken too many yet, only because I've spent tons of time in meetings and doing orientation stuff. But I promise more are coming!

This is the IES building where a few of my classes are. It's about a 15-20 min walk from my dorm. It's in a hipper part of town cause it's near the other colleges in London. 

This is my room, like I said the other day it's small. Very cool view out the window. 

The view... Told ya

Of course I had take a picture of my first English pint! 

Note to the reader: This post may not be up to par, I didn't get much sleep on the plane.

My flight from GSP to Washington DC was fantastic. The clear skies gave me a clear view of the Blue Ridge Mountains during takeoff; but the plane was small, definitely not fit for a king. That all changed in DC when I was surprised by an upgraded to business class. I guess United Airlines is trying to make sure I use them more often. Business class made my flight extremely more comfortable, though I could not lay my seat flat and I  envied the short people who could. The second benefit to business class... the express line through immigration! I walked past the longest line I think I have ever seen (easy multi-hour wait) to stand in one that took less than 5 minutes. Heathrow definitely had a nicer airport than DC, but DC had security walking around with machine guns... so who's the real winner? (hint: DC). I stepped off the plane and immediately had a burst of energy, stepping foot on foreign soil for the first time in my life. A little fact I keep reminding myself of because it hasn't really sank in.

Then began my journey to my dorm; a train, a subway (or I should say "tube"), and about a half mile walk. It doesn't sound that bad till you add two suitcases and a general sense of "I have no idea where I am going". When I arrived and got all checked in I finally made it to my dorm room which is... small. very small. I would say its about the size of a freshman dorm room (think marsh hall size rooms for all my Wofford readers). The hall ways are narrow and the entire bathroom is smaller than an average American shower. I guess I should get used to the small spaces, its very hip over here.

The next few days are filled with general orientation stuff, so hopefully I'll stay busy. And thanks to the time change I got to skip over the boring part of the day where I typically sleep, so as of right now coffee is my best friend.

Long Live The King