indiadventures: Weekend Update

Well, it's officially been a week in London. What I've learned, thus far, is that, although the cost of living is high, the quality of living is pretty great. With an amazing public trans system, maps on almost every street corner and beautiful parks here and there, London seems to know what's up. Plus, we've been lucky enough to have sunshine every day we've been here. While a lot of people would have chosen to spend the weekend traveling somewhere to see another part of Europe, my friends and I reached the consensus that, after an exhausting week of class and constantly staying up too late exploring London and having good times, we were better off catching up on sleep and sticking around here. On Saturday Erin, TJ and I went to a park called Regent's Park and it was one of my favorite places I've seen so far, in addition to being one of the more beautiful places I've ever been. If you have a minute, or are procrastinating doing something boring, check it out online with a google search or something. Unfortunately, my camera battery died about 10 minutes into the trip (yes mom, next time I'll carry the extra), so I only have two photos. We only found the park after having taken the tube to oxford circus and, upon realizing that oxford circus was a high-end shopping area and not really what we were looking for, took a walk towards a less chaotic part of the city. There are many parts of London that are certainly chaotic, especially the area right near our dorm. Trafalgar square, I've learned, is a complete madhouse on the weekend, but it's kind of exciting.
Now that I've been here a week, I can give you a better idea of what my day-to-day life is like, because gosh, isn't that exciting? On weekdays, Erin and I wake up around 8:30 because class starts at 10 and the walk, including a coffee stop, is almost 30 minutes. Upon arriving to campus I go to the New Academic Building (clever name, I know) for my dicussion, which only lasts from 10-11. It's led by a PHD student in development and we discuss the material from the lecture from the day prior. Then at 11 I usually meet up with people and sit around outside until one, when our whole "group" goes out to find lunch at one of the cafes or restaurants near campus. When I say our "group," i mean the AU kids I hang out with plus some other friends we've made along the way, but all are from the US (womp womp). Some people have lecture 10-1 and their class in the afternoon, some have the opposite (like me), so 1-2 is when we all have free. The food around here isn't great, so the strategy is to find somewhere to get a lot of food for a little money. It's a challenge and sometimes a frustration. At 2 I go to my lecture, which lasts until 5 with a 20 minute break. It's a tough time of day to stay attentive for three hours, but most of the lectures have been fairly interesting, so with a coffee in hand, I always seem to manage. After lecture, we usually walk back and hang around until dinner (which is usually pizza...I'm not kidding when I say we've had pizza for dinner 5 of the 7 nights I've been here because it's always the safest bet. Yeah, yeah, we're so American, but pizza here is pretty good, think punch or 2 amys, not pizza hut or dominoes.) After dinner we'll either hang around before bed or go out for a few hours, depending on how dead everybody feels. Hope that paints a nice picture of my LSE life. I really lucked out, not just by having the opportunity to spend a few weeks in London, but also with whom I'm spending my time. Because Justin and TJ, friends from AU, live on the same floor as Erin and me, they're who we spend the majority of our time with and, let me tell you, the four of us make up a pretty hilarious group of goobers. It's been nothing but fun almost the entire time.
It's pretty ridiculous that in just ten days I'll be making my way to India. By the time I'm fully acclimated to the nuances that make up the culture of London, I'll be thrown into one so inconceivably different than anything I've experienced in the west. I'm excited, but nervous, hoping that I've done enough to prepare for the journeys ahead.
Until next time, mates!
Julia