I live at 6 Knaresborough Place, flat 8 in West Kensington, London, England (I had to type it all out because I still don't believe it). Number 6 is tucked in around a corner street, looking quite small from the front making it barely believable that so many people live here. The buildings of course all run together, changing color and architectural style at random. From pristine white to a dull, old, paint-chipping gray, they are all wonderful in their own way. It's hard to believe that I'm living in one of these beautiful buildings for the next four months! The inside on number 6 is much like the outside - old and dirty - but very charming as well. Flat 8 is located up 6 flights of stairs (the last one of which is narrow and winding). I would be lying if I said that the accommodations are ok, or even fine, they are really rather frustrating. I share number 8 with three other girls and the space we share is tiny. Our bunk beds are positioned in a small alcove in the back of the room (that's right, one room that serves as a 4-person bedroom, common area, dining room and pretty much everything else) because it is the darkest area. When walking between the beds my shoulders touch each top bunk, you can do the math. I embraced this dump of a room with open arms upon arrival, however, after getting the opportunity to look at everyone else's room it became obvious that number 8 is not up to par. While the other rooms have staircases, hard wood floors, floor to ceiling windows, multiple bathrooms and actual separate rooms, my lovely flat has nothing of the sort, but enough complaining right?! I'm going to love my crappy little flat because it's mine : )
Once we arrived off the plane, tired, dirty, and jet lagged we were immediately carted off to Imperial for a brief orientation and a free meal, woo! Fish and chips of course, how appropriate and much more appetizing than the airplane food. That evening we went on a pub crawl around Kensington. The stereotype that American's are loud and slightly obnoxious was quite evident when compared to the London natives at the pubs. We ended up at the Student Union basement pub (much cheaper -£2.50 a pint rather than the £3.90 at other places, thank goodness college kids are broke everywhere!) I met a few British boys who attend "university" in Nottingham there. They were very welcoming and fun to talk to and hang out with. Of the various pints I tried, Fruli's Strawberry Beer is my favorite thus far.
On Sunday we went on a coach tour around the city. We went to various places including St. Paul's Cathedral, London and Tower Bridges, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and many other historic landmarks and more modern popular areas of the city. At the end of the tour the coaches dropped us off in Piccadilly Circus. We ate lunch and then wandered around the area for a bit before taking the tube back. As my first experience riding the underground or subway it was quite pleasant. Yesterday evening we went to a local pub just around the corner called the King's Head, it was small and local and a lot of fun. We are planning to go there from now on on Monday nights, for Quiz night, doubt we ever know any of the answers to the British lide and sport questions but it should be fun. We met some more locals (a 41 year old birthday boy named Jeremy and his bachelor friends, Dane and Paul) who we went on to another pub with before ending the evening. Not bad for a Sunday night.
Today was my first day of classes. I had a taste of History of Photography and A Tale of Two Cities with brief classes with the professors. They have planned more field trip and out of class activities than in-class lectures, which I'm very excited about. This evening I have my Musical Theatre class and then British Life and Culture, as well as the first two repeated again. I have reading homework already, but I'm really excited about getting into the school routine again. The weather was freezing and snowy on Saturday when we arrived, all of the natives were extremely annoyed, I thought it felt a lot like Chicago, so there wasn't much of a shock for me. It has become progressively warmer over the past two days though. Today it is rainy and in the 40's. I considered buying an umbrella, but it never really downpours, mostly just a constant hazy drizzle, definitely bearable. No one else carries an umbrella either, so I'm not going to do anything that attracts extra attention.
All of the Londoners are helpful and friendly. The ones I have met and had conversations with have seemed surprised with me/us though. I have been told 3 times now in my last 2.5 days that these individuals can't believe how nice we are for being American. Makes me wonder how extensive the stereotypes are - also makes me feel slightly bad for all of my bad teeth and hygiene remarks. They all seem to have lovely teeth and smell normal enough : )
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