Greetings from merrye olde Englande!
Well, after a robbery, an incorrect class schedule, a few days without internet or a mobile phone, a minor explosion, and a first degree burn (unrelated to the explosion), here I sit in my lovely flat with a Sainsbury's sandwich and a glass of diet coke having returned from my first day of my theatre course... loving London.
Some first impressions:
1. Everyone is so friendly! Every single person I have interacted with from across a checkout counter has seemed just overjoyed to be there. Love it.
2. I think everyone should know that the first English person I spoke with upon arrival was my taxi driver, who strolled around the cab in a newsboy hat to greet me with a cheery "'ello!" in a cockney accent that lived up to all of my preconceptions of the hilarity of British vernacular.
3. It is much, MUCH warmer here than at Colgate (hah.)
4. It is much smaller than I think I expected-- the city itself is huge, but the distance between where we live and anywhere we were interested in visiting so far has been walkable!
I have explored the city pretty respectably these past couple of days, but I think that the best decision I made was to just ditch the group with my friend Mike and walk around the tourist-y area of London. Shamelessly took pictures in front of Big Ben. Shamelessly stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk to look around. Shamelessly had a nerdfest of art historical joy in every room of the National Gallery (I'm talking audible squeaking).
As we walked, I noticed a damaged piece of a building that I could just see over a tall wall that had a beautiful statue and looked like it had once been under an arcade or something. It looked like a ruin, and also looked like it had been burned. We thought maybe there had been a fire, but now I wonder if it was from the Blitz?
Outside the National gallery, there were several people giving out "Free Hugs" like in the video. I got a big hug from a very nice lady. Good start to an awesome semester :).
No comments:
Post a Comment