Tuesday, November 13th
Spent the better part of the day studying and reading, over the past few weeks Tuesdays have essentially been my recovery days - which have been necessary and very enjoyable. I went to Museums and Galleries later in the afternoon and had a great time talking about Sir John Soane's Museum. After class I felt a bit restless so I skipped dinner and wandered around Kensington, and found myself at Hyde Park Corner at about 8pm. The weather has finally taken the dive for the late Autumnal cold, and I can't get enough of the crisp air or London, so it was a very nice few hours. After returning to my room I first attempted to get my body temperature back to normal and then did nothing until my late bed time.
Wednesday, November 14th
Woke up early and went to Apsley House for Museums and Galleries. It was really interesting, we got to tour the museum (which was the house of the Duke of Wellington) with one of the education officers so it was a bit of a treat (and it was free as well!). The house was absolutely amazing, it was given as a gift to Wellington after his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, and was filled with hundreds of priceless paintings and ornate trinkets given to him by nearly all the nations of Europe. The paintings were fantastic, the artists included Goya, Rubens, and Brueghal, and those were just the ones that I recognized. After Apsley House we walked up to the top of the Wellington Arch, which had some decent views, and only 100 stairs, which after the 450 stairs at St. Paul's were a breeze. After "class" I went with my friends Rebecca and Keila to a Greenwich pub for lunch, where we waited to meet up with our History of London class. I had a Ploughman's Lunch, which is a proper English lunch, and quite interesting as well. It consisted of two cheeses, one of which smelled like feet, half of a baguette, chutney, an apple, and rocket with dressing. After meeting up with our History of London class we toured the Royal Navy College and then went to the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. Greenwich was very interesting, it's only about an hour away on the Docklands Light Railway, so I might have to fit in one more day there before I leave. The sun now goes down at about 4pm here, so it had been long dark by the time our "class" was over, and I will admit that I got slightly lost trying to find a DLR station. But getting lost is what travel is all about, so it was fine. I came back to campus, grabbed some dinner, and then hung out with good friends for about five hours until going to bed. I am really going to miss the nightly routine of spending hours with a proper group of good friends.
Thursday, November 15th
Today was my procrastinating-college-student day. I woke up rather late, grabbed some lunch, and then proceeded to research for, and write my major essay for my Museums and Galleries class that is due on Tuesday. It is supposed to be ten pages, which is usually no big deal for me, but I also have another ten page paper due on Monday for another class. My best friends Nick and Taylor from back home are coming to visit on Sunday, so I'm trying to finish those papers before they get here. They're here until next Saturday, and I am really looking forward to it. It is definitely going to be very nice to have a taste of home for a week, and luckily they've been to London before so we don't have to do the tourist regimen.
I'm coming home in less than a month now, and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that. When I was in Prague, alone for the third night I made a list of everything I looked forward to coming home to, which probably wasn't the best list to compile when feeling homesick. It consisted of things like "snow at the cabin", "five hour movie nights with Hoc in the theatre", "the dollar" and "driving over to UW to hang out with old friends". But I could easily make a list of things that I will miss about living here. Living on a street that tourists take pictures of, amazing friends, having a class in Parliament, free museums twenty minutes away, fish and chips, the Imperial Student Union, and the list goes on. I still get to go to Norway, and that fact alone keeps me going. It probably doesn't help that right now London for me consists of writing two 10-page research papers before Sunday. But I am certainly looking forward to seeing my family at the Sea-Tac baggage claim and Christmas at home, and "looking forward to" is a bit of an understatement.
Spent the better part of the day studying and reading, over the past few weeks Tuesdays have essentially been my recovery days - which have been necessary and very enjoyable. I went to Museums and Galleries later in the afternoon and had a great time talking about Sir John Soane's Museum. After class I felt a bit restless so I skipped dinner and wandered around Kensington, and found myself at Hyde Park Corner at about 8pm. The weather has finally taken the dive for the late Autumnal cold, and I can't get enough of the crisp air or London, so it was a very nice few hours. After returning to my room I first attempted to get my body temperature back to normal and then did nothing until my late bed time.
Wednesday, November 14th
Woke up early and went to Apsley House for Museums and Galleries. It was really interesting, we got to tour the museum (which was the house of the Duke of Wellington) with one of the education officers so it was a bit of a treat (and it was free as well!). The house was absolutely amazing, it was given as a gift to Wellington after his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, and was filled with hundreds of priceless paintings and ornate trinkets given to him by nearly all the nations of Europe. The paintings were fantastic, the artists included Goya, Rubens, and Brueghal, and those were just the ones that I recognized. After Apsley House we walked up to the top of the Wellington Arch, which had some decent views, and only 100 stairs, which after the 450 stairs at St. Paul's were a breeze. After "class" I went with my friends Rebecca and Keila to a Greenwich pub for lunch, where we waited to meet up with our History of London class. I had a Ploughman's Lunch, which is a proper English lunch, and quite interesting as well. It consisted of two cheeses, one of which smelled like feet, half of a baguette, chutney, an apple, and rocket with dressing. After meeting up with our History of London class we toured the Royal Navy College and then went to the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. Greenwich was very interesting, it's only about an hour away on the Docklands Light Railway, so I might have to fit in one more day there before I leave. The sun now goes down at about 4pm here, so it had been long dark by the time our "class" was over, and I will admit that I got slightly lost trying to find a DLR station. But getting lost is what travel is all about, so it was fine. I came back to campus, grabbed some dinner, and then hung out with good friends for about five hours until going to bed. I am really going to miss the nightly routine of spending hours with a proper group of good friends.
Thursday, November 15th
Today was my procrastinating-college-student day. I woke up rather late, grabbed some lunch, and then proceeded to research for, and write my major essay for my Museums and Galleries class that is due on Tuesday. It is supposed to be ten pages, which is usually no big deal for me, but I also have another ten page paper due on Monday for another class. My best friends Nick and Taylor from back home are coming to visit on Sunday, so I'm trying to finish those papers before they get here. They're here until next Saturday, and I am really looking forward to it. It is definitely going to be very nice to have a taste of home for a week, and luckily they've been to London before so we don't have to do the tourist regimen.
I'm coming home in less than a month now, and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that. When I was in Prague, alone for the third night I made a list of everything I looked forward to coming home to, which probably wasn't the best list to compile when feeling homesick. It consisted of things like "snow at the cabin", "five hour movie nights with Hoc in the theatre", "the dollar" and "driving over to UW to hang out with old friends". But I could easily make a list of things that I will miss about living here. Living on a street that tourists take pictures of, amazing friends, having a class in Parliament, free museums twenty minutes away, fish and chips, the Imperial Student Union, and the list goes on. I still get to go to Norway, and that fact alone keeps me going. It probably doesn't help that right now London for me consists of writing two 10-page research papers before Sunday. But I am certainly looking forward to seeing my family at the Sea-Tac baggage claim and Christmas at home, and "looking forward to" is a bit of an understatement.
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