A Recap to Catch Up

Since I've been in London for 5 days now, I'm going to attempt to recap the past few days so I can begin writing about the present and cease living in the past. Feel free to skim, as some of this may be boring. Let's begin:

DAY TWO: Orientation Day
Wake up bright and early and learn how to take the Underground/ the Tube to the IES Center where we have classes. However, thanks to my 5 hour nap, I have only gotten about an hour of sleep all night, and am feeling the effects of jet lag severely. My roommate and I, having slept through orientation the previous day, have not yet secured the Oyster Cards required to take the Tube, so we run ahead of the group w. our new friend James to purchase the cards w. the intention of meeting back up with the rather obvious group of 70+ Americans who have no idea how the underground works. Yet, but some twist of fate, we lose the group and are left with a horribly photocopied map of London to find our way there ourselves. We manage to figure out the Tube somehow, but upon emerging from underground, have no clue how to find the townhouse we are looking for. After walking/running in circles and making may wrong turns we finally meet up with the group. Good first adventure in London!
After that it was very boring classroom and London orientation with a quick break for lunch. Somehow we managed to find a Quaker bookstore/meeting house/ cafeteria restaurant and I got some beef stew type-food for only 2 pounds! I've definitely noticed that the food here is a bit bland, so I need to get on top of purchasing some spices for myself.
After the boringness myself and a few of my new friends: Ashley, Sarah, Lauren, and Jordie met up w. the one and only Peter Hoffman, who was still here for winter break. We went to a very strange Mini Mall/Arcade/Pool Hall place, where I was promptly carded, despite being 4 years older than the minimum drinking age...typical. Here we were introduced to my new favorite beer: Kronenburg, which is a light French beer- delicious and much more potent than say, Natty Light? We had a few drinks then headed home since we had to be up early again the next day. One the tube ride back we walked by an amazing performer in the tube playing Greenday's 'Time of Your Life'- pretty standard: all the people coming back from the pubs are appreciating it, but one little Asian man w. a briefcase was standing right next to the microphone completely rocking out- amazing!
One strange thing about going out in London is how early you need to get to the pub. Since most places close between 11:00 and midnight, and the Tube shuts down at 12:00 or 12:30 on weekends, everyone starts going out around 8 or 9. After the pubs close there are still bars and clubs to go to, but I don't think I'm quite in that stage yet...maybe later. Learned today about a club in East London that's open from 1-9am and then has an after-party/ chill-out from 9-1. Definitely will have to work my way up to Euro-clubbing.

DAY THREE: Class Registration, Bus Tour, Museum Tour
Made the 30/45 minute commute to the IES Center to register for courses bright and early this morning, and I still didn't get all the classes I wanted! Oh well- looks like this semester I will be taking: 300 Years of London Women's Social History, History of London, Intro to Current Moral Reasoning, Government and Politics in England, and Women Writing in English Worldwide. Not bad at all.
At 1:00 the entire IES program took a bus tour of London. The tour was two hours long, and I admit, I did end up taking a 5 or so minute nap during. However, we saw all the major sites in London, including the perpetual rush hour, and I'm now able to put the city into a better perspective. Stopped quickly at St. Jame's, which is gorgeous- definitely will have to go back. Note to self: if you attend mass first, you can get inside for free!
Ended the bus tour at the British Museum, which is only a short walk from where I take classes (!) and had to take a "quick overview tour" of its highlights. Possibly one of the most frustrating experiences. As most you know, I like museums, I like details, and I go slowly...this was the exact opposite, and our pushy tour guide was perpetually rushing us along. I NEED to go back on my own time. Did see the Rosetta Stone though, which was excellent, and the original British Museum Library where everyone whose everyone has done research.
Later that night, Sarah and I met up with Ashley, who had been to a very 'posh' restaurant bar to have a drink w. her uncle, at Leicester Sq. However, Ashley had on a pair of adorable black heels which she needed to wear for her fancy drinking, and literally could not walk anymore (girls, you know how this goes). Luckily, every 10 yards in London there's a pub, so we scrapped our plans to go to Waxy O'Conors, and went to Brewmasters to recoup. After a pint we were ready to move on, so, with my tube socks, I put on Ashley's heels (they were only a couple sizes too big! haha), she took my Crocs ("like walking on clouds"- that's for all you Croc haters!) and we headed off to Picadilly Circus. Found a pub close to the tube: St. Jame's Tavern, where we were by far the most sober individuals there. We all grabbed a pint of my new favorite beer: Kronenburg, and sat down to revel in the absurd awesomeness of the musical selections. Over the course of the evening we listened to absolutly every sort of music imaginable, from Queen, to the Killers, James Brown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aretha Franklin, techno, etc. all accompanied by a fair sized disco ball. Sarah, after finishing her pint, did her part to help us fully experience these fine songs. Met a mildly sketchy French man named Ariel who decided he wanted to come sit with us and offer us cigarettes (very French of him). While we couldn't understand his English through his accent Sarah speaks Spanish and I can converse slightly, so the rest of our conversations about god-knows-what were in drunken Spanish.
We left around 12 in order to catch the tube back before it closed, but Sarah decided she had to used the 'toilets'. Upon finding the bathrooms in the underground closed we headed for our only remaining option: Burger King. This, however, is not just any Burger King. Picture two floors full of well-dresses respectable drunk people wolfing down Whoppers...interesting, to say the least. Once inside the tube and waiting for the next train we notice large numbers of mice running around on the platform and track. I decided to start trying to take picture of them, and it was then we met Filip and Ryan: two cute British men. They feel that we should name the mice, and proceed to do so. We get to talking and inevitably the question about what I study at school comes up and I tell them history and women's studies. With an look at Ryan Filip lets me know that it's alright- we'll like them (that sounded much more sketchy than it was) and implied that they were gay. Of course...I can't escape the GW curse! Kidding, but not really. We chat on the tube ride and ask them for suggestions of places to go out. They ask what we're looking for and unanimously we reply "cheap". Kindly, they suggested a few "cheap and cheerful" pubs to go to, they take my number and we leave. Naturally, as we are leaving the tube station, we come across another Greenday wannabe...'Time of Your Life' certainly is the drunken anthem here! Later that night our new buddies text: "It was great meeting you guys. Give you a buzz should we plan anything "cheap and cheerful"- Filip and Ryan"
Cheap and Cheerful, I think that should be our motto for this semester.

DAY FOUR: Greenwich trip
We met the group at 10am at an Underground station about 30 minutes away from the hall where we live. Once there, our program had arranged to take us on a ferry boat down the River Thames to Greenwich, England. The boat trip is absolutely amazing, and being 1 of 4 students from our group willing to go up top, the view is stunning. We are able to see every historic site along the river including the Globe Theater, London Tower and bridge, the docks, pubs which Shakespeare frequented, Parliament, Big Ben, and St. Paul's until we arrived in the tiny town of Greenwich. Upon arrival, we were first drawn towards some beautiful Victorian architecture including a large building which turned out to be an old retirement home of sorts for ex-sailors in the navy, the Maritime Museum, and the Royal College of Music. We took a walking tour of Greenwich, which is an absolutely adorable little town right on the river. The wind and freezing cold did take away from the experience, but, in retrospect, only minimally. We then walked up a very large hill to the Royal Observatory and took the obligatory touristy photo straddling the prime meridian. The view from up there was breath-taking and even though it was cloudy (shocking) the skyline was clearly visible. Really just a beautiful location. After, Sarah, Ashley, Jordie, Lauren, and I went to the Queen's House (originally built for Queen Anne, wife of James I [Tutor family]) which is now an art museum filled with all genres of paintings about the sea, navy, and English persons of these areas.
Took the train back from Greenwich and got to see an adorable view of the suburbs of England and figured out how to take black and white photos on the train. Came back to the room to take a quick nap, and slept for 3 hours...these are really long days. Luckily, I woke up refreshed and ready to go out!
That night was Pete's last night in England, so Sarah and Lauren came with me to meet up w. him and say bye. We went up to 'his area' (St. John's Wood) which is apparently near Abbey Rd. (we have to go back!) and to the pub him and all his friends used to go to in high school (I think it was called the Ordnance). It's my favorite pub in London thus far- fireplaces, candles, and 2 pound pints! Definitely "cheap and cheerful"! Sadly, we were unable to join the after pub festivities as we had to leave the next morning at 8, but it was a really good time. We learned many valuable things, including the fact that the essence of spaghetti lies not within the noodle itself, but in the tomato sauce.

DAY FIVE: Market Tour and Hyde Park exploration
We got up very early and at 8:00 took a bus to Columbia Rd. to the outdoor flower market there. First, England is freezing- the actual temperature wouldn't be horrible, but the ridiculous wind-chill really makes it a bit unpleasant. Nevertheless, the flower market was , well, for lack of a better word, adorable. It's one road lined with beautiful flowers in a surprising number of varieties. The vendors themselves are almost more interesting than the flowers- apparently East London is home to the infamous Cockney accent, and Columbia Road is most certainly in the East. Mostly older men and women, clad in large quantities of flannel and wool, they spoke with the thickest accent imaginable- at times, I highly doubted if it was still English. Off of the main road there were alley-ways and little shops selling everything from homemade olive oil, to English breakfasts, to mulled cider, to olives, to cheese...you get the idea. I loved the market, and can't wait to go back.
Next, we walked over to the covered market in Spitalfield, which was awesome. The closest I can come to describing it is to compare it to Eastern Market back in DC, but probably 4-5x larger. It was a lot of fun poking around looking at jewelry, clothing, and fresh produce, and Lauren, Sarah, and myself bought a delicious loaf of organic homemade rosemary onion bread for dinner!
After browsing through the market, the three of us went over to Hyde Park to do some exploring. Hyde Park is legitimately one of the most beautiful parks I've even seen, despite being in the middle of a large and extremely urban city. Apparently it's the largest open space in London and is more than 350 acres. It also has a pretty interesting history, and while I won't bore you with all the details, it was originally a the king's hunting forest, which he acquired from the monks of Westminster Abbey, and was extensively renovated in the 18th century by George II's wife, who ordered the creation of Lake Serpentine, which lies in the middle of the park. We walked around stopping in a few of the gorgeous gardens and as beautiful and it is, I can't even imagine what it must look like in spring. Around the park, on the perimeter, is a dirt path, which we later saw was for horseback riding (typical British). We also found an entire stretch full of roller-bladers doing tricks and choreographed routines- it was cool, but a bit odd.
After our stroll, we walked back to the residence hall, stopping by the Royal Albert Hall, which is beautiful, and a music school located right behind it.
Came back and made a nice cheap dinner of spaghetti, sauce, and bread (mmm carbs). However, we may have overestimated the amount of noodles needed, so there are going to have to be a few more spaghetti nights to finish it all up! After dinner, Sarah, Ashley, and I went down King's Road to a pub called the Chelsea Potters to hang out for a little bit, which was very nice. All in all, a very good day.