The First 48 (minus the crime scene)

Where to begin? I don't want to speak too soon, but so far, I've found London to be one of the coolest places ever. It's hard to believe I've only been here for just two full days because I feel like I've already done more than I'd do in a week at home. It all started on Saturday night. Once I had finally finished (and shut!!) my 70 pound bag and said my goodbyes, I arrived at my gate about an hour early. After spending my last hour with American cell service chatting with ari and christina, my tensions were eased and I was feeling pretty ready to get on the plane. It was only at take-off when I had a brief moment of "holy hell what am I doing right now?" but after an episode of Breaking Bad and a few tylenol pm's, I managed to sleep for most of my flight (despite the arctic conditions).
          I arrived in London at noon and even after stepping off the plane and going through customs, it still hadn't really hit me that I was in another country. I managed to find the tube and make it to the stop closest to LSE in about an hour and a half and I didn't even get lost! Admittedly, with similarities in appearance and a lack of language barriers, this isn't a huge feat, but nevertheless, I was proud of myself. Right as I was about to step foot into the registration building, I ran into Erin (small world) who had just met a kid from Detroit who goes to depaul and just so happens to be close with someone I knew in high school (even smaller world). We walked over to our dorm (Northumberland Hall) and started getting settled in. Our room is pretty standard (two beds, two desks, micro-size bathroom), but our location is to be envied. We're right off Trafalgar square and a few blocks from the Thames, near a lot of the nightlife, too. It's about a 20 minute walk from campus, but more on that later. On Sunday afternoon I had my first moment of culture shock (okay it was really more of a gentle jolt), when I went in a starbucks (embarrassing & american? yes, but I was jonesing for an iced coffee and stupidly assumed the menus were the same everywhere). It was only upon ordering what  came off as a ridiculous request did I learn that the UK apparently (&unfortunately) does not DO iced coffee. The barista asked us when we arrived from the states and if I would like an iced americano, instead. So the moral of the story is, it's going to be a long five months without davenport and I have effectively eliminated any reason to ever return to a UK Starbucks. The coffee situation here is actually pretty different. Espresso is the name of the game and drip coffee is a little harder to find. On one hand, as a barista wonk it's kind of fun to see fancy espresso machines in every cafe, restaurant and pub but as a poor american wonk, it's kind of irritating.
          Anyway, I'll try and veer away from the white girl whining and move on with the rest of the first night. We (erin and I) met up for dinner with two of our guy friends from AU and had dinner at a pub where I made my first legal alcohol purchase! (sorry, dad, but at least it was a peroni). We spent the rest of the evening walking around and exploring the area around our dorm and even made it to  Buckingham palace! (insert jokes about meeting/dating members of the royal family for mom).
          Reality struck yesterday(monday) morning when I had to wake up at 8am to get to campus for registration. Still feeling a little jet lagged, I slept in a bit and found myself in a huge rush to make it by nine. After throwing clothes on and making it out of northumberland, I found myself racing down the streets of London alone and dodging double deckers (which, I've learned, are not just for tourists, but a legitimate means of transportation). It's really exhilarating to be in such a big and vibrant city, so the walk to campus is pretty enjoyable (and always wakes me up).  I think I've already adopted even more aggressive walking habits than I picked up in DC because in the UK, there is no rational method of walking down a sidewalk, everybody just goes in every which direction they choose.
          Monday was also the first day of lecture and mine went really well. Not only does my professor seem really cool and down to earth, he's  done development work in southeast Asia. hooray! I seem to have chosen my class correctly; besides being right my alley, subject wise, the work load seems somewhat lighter than that of other classes and my professor seems to understand and appreciate that this is the first time that most of us have been to London. He's even gone so far as to give us a Friday off, in the case that we want to take a long weekend and travel somewhere. I just love this attitude that seems to be more prevalent around here than in the states. Sidenote; by "here" I mean London, but not so much LSE where the bookstore sells shirts like "smarter than you since 1832." I just feel like things such as a Friday off to travel and telling the class that we will typically start around 5 after are non-existent in the US. It's refreshing. Also, I don't want to leave off with a negative perception of LSE, sorry "THE LSE" (as the professors call it). This place is pretty amazing; it's incredibly diverse and known for housing some of the most renowned academics around. While there might be a dash of pretentious, it's pretty cool to be taking classes with professors that teach some of the brightest thinkers in the world.
          I realize that this entry has been far too long and scatter-brained, but I wanted to get all my thoughts out now so I can't use "writing a blog entry" as a procrastination tactic for the rest of the school week. I'm already feeling somewhat behind with my reading, proving that even on a different continent, some things never change.
till next time!
Julia

byeeee

thames

LITP KIDS

northumberland entrance

buckin'am