Wednesday-fun day!

Today was a great day! I first went with my fun sociology friends Laura and Sarah to eat jacket potatoes and then to see The Lion King on Broadway!!! The tickets were only £20.50 for a day of student price. So amazing! I think the original seats were £53.00. They were great seats and although we were surrounded by school children it was so fun! The music, the costumes, the sets, were AMAZING. I would recommend it to anyone and would definitely see it again!

After the play we went to the Sociology department's Christmas Party which was fun. Got to see people from the program and got to eat sandwiches and Indian food. New favorite drink: cider+black currant. yum.

Today was such a great day! We are hoping to see other plays next term, especially if we can get a good deal on them. I want to see several others. I'm doing laundry now and need to do some reading. I leave so soon!

3 days

It's so strange to think that in 3 days (and many many hours of traveling) I will be at home. I am excited to have a break from school (minus the papers I will have to write due in January) and I am excited to see family and friends. It will be strange to leave London, I have grown very attached to the city. I am excited that I get to come back and spend another 8 (ish) months here and I know that there will be a lot of hard work involved but I love this city and the opportunity to live here and to travel. I already have a little (ok long) list of places I want to go while I am here.

Today as I was cleaning out my closet to begin the packing process I found my flip flops-untouched in 3 months and squished into a corner. My poor neglected Rainbows that carried me through so much at Vanguard, and now they are abandoned with the cold of a new city. I am looking forward to wearing them again in the sunshine of Southern California. It makes me think of this summer living in the sunshine and I miss it! I am also bringing my boots for Seattle. Boots and flip flops in the same suitcase. Story of my life. I love the crowded rainy city and the sunshine and beach.

Tomorrow will be a fun day. I am meeting my friends Laura and Sarah from my program to go eat living food (an obsession of Sarah's that I am slowly becoming obsessed with too!) and we are going to see the Lion King!!!! We can get tickets the day of at the lovely student price of £20.50. I am looking forward to it so much and to have the songs stuck in my head! After the play we have our department party which should be fun. Then home to clean, pack, do laundry, and of course, try to work on my papers. 3 more days!!!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Today, despite the rain I went out in the the city to do some touristy things. I started at the Victoria & Albert Museum and looked at a few exhibits. It's a huge museum, I definitely want to go back again sometime.

Then I went to Harrods. I would not recommend big department store's around the holidays. with tourists. not. fun. Also not fun is the entire 4th floor devoted to children's toys. Avoid that floor at all costs. On the other hand Harrods' is celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and had a lot of window displays and clips from the movie playing. Here is a fun display outside of the wicked witch:

From Harrod's I walked to Hyde Park... as it slowly started to rain. It got worse as the evening went on. But it was still fun.

Winter Wonderland! Hyde Park devotes about 2 acres to a Christmas Faire. It was raining and not very crowded but it was still fun to walk through.

Ice skating rink!

Carnival area. I avoid the temporary rides but it was still fun to see everything lit up and the Christmas music playing.

Another street at the faire.

A snowman jumper!

Mini Christmas trees around a dining area.

They turned part of the park into a German faire. It was very quaint. Although deserted for the most part-unless you looked into any of the 4 or 5 pubs lining the streets.

Little shops!

I really did feel like I was in Bavaria again!

Santa! with Christmas trees and a snowman!

And of course, A giant Christmas tree! I love it!

Today was fun although cold and rainy. I left Winter Wonderland and headed home, with a quick stop at Nando's for a yummy dinner. I also had an interesting experience because I found a shopping bag that had some Clinique products, etc in it and had to turn it into the supervisor at the tube. I really wanted to keep it, several people have told me that if you lose something on the tube than it's finder's keepers, but I felt bad so I turned it in. Hopefully the person who lost it will find it.

Now I'm back in my room, needing to read for class tomorrow and clean/pack for Saturday! I leave so soon!

Christmas Trees!

It seems as if overnight London is celebrating Christmas. There are trees everywhere! I walked home today but when around Tower of London and Leadenhall Market to the Queen's walk. It's cold here in London!

This is the Royal Exchange. With 2 trees!

A church on the way.

Leadenhall Market! The first reason I wanted to go is that they have a Christmas Market. The second is that Diagon Alley from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was filmed here!

It's so pretty. Their tree was very pretty and all of the trees and lights lining the walls were fun to look at.

The tree and the ceiling.

I felt like I was at Diagon Alley!

Ice skating rink at Tower of London.

More wintery pictures of the tower of London.

A Christmas tree with Tower Bridge!

Tower Bridge from South Bank.

Look what I found Drake and Josh!!! :)

One last Christmas tree around a shopping center.

Today was a full three hours of class followed by my fun but cold walk home. I need to work on some homework, nothing due before break, but I need to get an outline and maybe a rough draft of each of the 3 papers I have due when I get back in January. No definite plans for tomorrow but possibly going to Borough Market and/or a Christmas market. The weather was nice today, not rainy, just really cold. It's strange to think I only have a week left before beak.

A Good Day!

This is what I did today:

1. I walked to school only to find that the professor did not show up. So we spent some time discussing our paper that is due in January and then I went to get tea and chat with a friend.

2. Walked to the National Gallery and spent about 2 hours absorbed in art

3. Walked to Parliament Square and took some pictures

4. Ate at Prezzo and had a yummy calzone and wine

5. Went to Waterstone's. I could spend hours in bookstores (and did spend about an hour)

6. Went to Cafe Nero and had a yummy soy chai tea

7. Sat in the freezing cold to watch the Lighting Up Ceremony of the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square

8. Today was a good day. I had so much fun.

This is the pre lit up picture. Also, it's a pic of it before it got too dark.

This is Trafalgar Square. There are pretty fountains, Nelson's column, the tree, and in the background, Parliament.

Found another Christmas tree! This one is inside a courtyard at Parliament. pretty.

This is the tree after it is all lit up! The ceremony was so fun. The Salvation Army played music and sang carols. The mayor of London did the introductions and the mayor of Oslo, Norway was the one to turn the lights on. Norway has been giving England a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square for about 80 years, since England helped Norway during WW II, including providing a safe haven for Norwegians, many of whom stayed in London after the war. It was a really cool ceremony with lots of great Christmas music and a pretty tree!

Unfortunately, my camera battery died after about 2 pictures. I took a few more on my cell phone but it costs a lot to send them to my email to upload them. But I do have a cool shot of the tree lit up, with St Martin's in the Fields and a full moon. It's a great picture. It was so fun, although really cold, I am glad I went!

Tomorrow, class and a Christmas market! I am loving all of the Christmas Markets and want to visit them all before I leave! (While finishing some homework too of course.)

Today was fun. I had class this afternoon and the lecturer was Sarah Franklin who focused on reproductive technologies and sociology and it was so interesting! I am hoping to use some of her research for my paper in this class. I don't have the topic nailed down right now but I am thinking about looking at the social and biological in terms of in vitro fertilization.

After class I went to Piccadilly Circus and more specifically Fortnum and Mason. It's this beautiful old store, it's been in the same location for 300 years! It's very fancy, lots of levels with anything you can imagine for sale. I spent time around the tea section :) and enjoyed all of the Christmas trees and decorations. It's so beautiful! Apparently the store caters to lots of famous people and provides (exclusively, I think) groceries and supplies for the royal family. pretty cool.

I also stopped at Piccadilly Market which is an old antique and collectibles market which was fun to walk around and see what they had. Plus Piccadilly Circus is just fun to walk around and see the lights and the fountain and everything all lit up and decorated for Christmas.

Tomorrow I am planning on going to the Elephant and Castle Christmas Market which is down the street-and right next to Nando's... so I think I know where I am going for dinner :)

The next couple of days are going to be busy with school and work I want to get done before I leave, packing and cleaning, and of course, taking advantage of the numerous Christmas activities around London. I love living in a big active city where I there are tons of Christmas markets! Or, really, any place decorated heavily for Christmas. Which includes passing little cobblestone streets strung with lights. so pretty! I am planning on the E&C Christmas Market, seeing the Christmas Tree being lit at Trafalgar Square on Thursday, the Leadenhall Christmas Market (where Diagon Alley-Harry Potter-scenes were filmed!), and the biggest and bestest Christmas Market... WINTER WONDERLAND! It's basically 20 acres in Hyde Park devoted to Christmas. Lots of rides, ice skating, shops, etc. I am hoping to go there next week and it will be so fun! I am excited! Of course, I will try to post pictures soon too.

Since it's past midnight here in London I will say... 10 days!

Lots of pictures!

I decided to walk my bus route home for a different view of London and some really pretty pictures.

This is the front of my school: It says London School of Economics above the columns:

This is St. Clement Dane's Church right next to my school. I just found out we use it for concerts and such, including an upcoming Christmas concert that I plan to go to, just to see the inside!

This is another church on the way home. I can't find the name of it but it is so pretty, and right in the middle of a weird roundabout at Aldwych:

Ice skating anyone? This is Somerset house and this Christmas tree and ice skating rink appeared earlier this week. It's so beautiful especially at night with it all lit up! There are apparently lots of ice skating rinks around London and I hope to visit more for some fun winter pictures.

Sometimes I take photos with my camera at my side just to see what I get. This is inside the courtyard of Somerset house and I thought it was a cool angle on the archway and cobblestone street.

Walking across Waterloo Bridge. This is looking east, with a pretty view of the Thames as well as Blackfriars Bridge which I usually take to walk home.

Looking west at Parliament and the London Eye.

Between the buildings just on the south side of Waterloo Bridge is a great shot of Parliament through the London Eye.

Waterloo Station. I love the architecture here, and the rest of the station is really modern. It's so pretty.

Another gorgeous church here in London. I can't recall the name but it has a great garden and the trees around it are lit up at night.

The Old Vic. A theatre in London just south of Waterloo.

A park across from The Old Vic with benches and a view of the Eye. It's a nice little park.

St. George's Circus. I don't know much about it but it's another crazy roundabout with a statue in the middle. I should read the statue at some point but I haven't yet.

A subway (underground walkway, not the tube) near Elephant & Castle. It's quite colourful!

Elephant & Castle is a popular shopping area near my dorm. There are lots of restaurants, a bowling alley, and a market. I haven't been around there yet but starting 1 December there will be a Christmas Market and I will definitely be visiting!

So that's an alternative way to walk home. I liked walking home this way, there isn't much of a time difference in the regular way I walk home and it was nice to see the familiar sites a little more closely rather than going by quickly on a bus. I hope to post some more pictures soon, including a trip to Borough Market and Tower Bridge this weekend.

While everyone at home is enjoying Thanksgiving I have class tomorrow! (and Friday for that matter.) It's a bit strange to have class but it shouldn't be too bad. There are a surprising number of places that celebrate Thanksgiving here, mostly for ex-pats I guess. One of the cafes on campus is doing a dinner tomorrow night too. My friend and I are planning to celebrate with a dinner Friday night at her flat. Should be fun!

Sick

It's hard to find motivation to do anything when you are sick. I have a cold and have spent most of the weekend sleeping or watching movies. I am hoping to get some new pictures up this week. I am also working on an essay that is due Thursday. I have had practically nothing due for the first 7 weeks of the term...and now with 3 weeks to go I have piles of work. I don't like this system very much! Hopefully the sickness will end soon and I will be able to get my work done with very little procrastination. Also, the essay I have due on Thursday isn't assessed which makes it even harder to write and to write well.

I am excited for Contemporary Social Thought tomorrow. Judy Wacjman (head of department and main professor for this course) is speaking about Technofeminism. Should be really interesting, and I'm hoping to use her work as a base for my paper in the class (due in 2 weeks).

Not too much rain lately but it has been cold. It will continue to be cold for several months so I will try not to complain too much :)

2 Years

2 years ago VESPA was just ending. I was so sad to see the end of such an amazing trip. I visited so many great places and had the opportunity to study and get to know amazing people. It is one of the things in my life I am most glad I had the chance to do. I can't believe it's been 2 years!

Of course, I went on to Egypt with Drake and we had a blast (including Thanksgiving dinner at the rooftop restaurant overlooking the pyramids at sunset!!!), but I never imagined that I would be back to one of the places that I truly fell in love with. I love London. It's a great city, full of excitement, charm, history and a sort of vibrancy that only big cities can bring. I have such a great opportunity to live in London and study in this city and do not want to have any regrets when it comes time to leave.

I will be posting some pictures this weekend of my bus route home. The bus route is different from the walking route and it passes some great sites worth taking photos of.

The Elusive Black Beans

I can honestly say that since I have arrived in London I have not had black beans. This is directly opposite to living in Southern California. With or without Chipotle, black beans are usually in the cabinet for taco salads or whatever.

But not here. I could find black beans anywhere.

There are 2 big grocery stores by me: Tesco's and LiDL's. There are also 3 smaller grocery stores: Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local, and Costcutter's. That's 5 grocery stores in total.

none of them carry black beans!

Not only are black beans impossible to find but beans in general. I have had to ask at a couple places and have been directed to a small shelf holding a few cans of baked beans. not the same thing! The closest I have found is a can of refried beans. Along this search I have also found some garbanzo beans and kidney beans. Also near this section at LiDL's is a can of "American hot dogs" 8 hot dogs in a can. It looked gross on the outside, I can't imagine what that looks like inside. gross.

So I decided to branch out and try a place I knew was guaranteed to find black beans. WHOLE FOODS. This required taking the tube to find black beans.

BUT I was successful. I finally have a can of black beans in my cabinet (organic no less... and actually 2 cans because I have no idea when I will be back to Whole Foods)

Today wasn't just a trip to Whole Foods but to Oxford Street in general to see the Christmas decorations up. It's pretty. It was cold today too, definitely feels like the holidays are coming. I also happened to pass a Mac store and went in to ask about the battery on my computer. Apparently the batteries are compatible but I'd rather wait until I get to the states so I don't have to pay in GBP. If the computer will last long enough.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning-today marks Month 2 in London. I feel like this month has gone by so fast-especially November. I can't believe the month is halfway over. I have been so busy with classes and reading and doing social stuff with new friends, museums, etc. I have been enjoying it here.

26 days until I come home! that's crazy. I have a lot to do before then.

My poor neglected blog

At least this week I have a legitimate reason for not blogging. I had a big presentation due today that ended up taking about 10 hours to prepare with my partner and also the hours I spent researching and reading on my own. It was quite time consuming. For those who were wondering it was on the the breakdown of the traditional family, and considering what a family looks like today and whether a nuclear family ever existed and what the changes in society mean for the evolution of a family.

One good thing about the presentation was getting to know Laura, she is in my program and we now officially know the downstairs lounge of the Garrick (campus cafe) quite well. It's really the only place to get work done around campus that's quiet and has comfy seating. Laura has grown up in London and we had some really interesting discussions about the differences between the US and the UK. Namely student loans, international travel, and the biggest one- healthcare. It was so interesting to talk to someone who cannot comprehend the idea of not getting medical care when it is needed. This applies to me while I am in the UK and I can see how it would be so much of a relief to know that if you got sick or hurt there is care for you. That you don't have to wake up every day wondering how to pay for prescriptions or avoiding a doctor because of the bills. We agreed that capitalism has gone to far in many ways but especially when it takes away a basic human right like healthcare. People make money while other people suffer. This is not right. The US needs good comprehensive universal healthcare.

Besides the presentation this week was full of the regular reading and other school activities. I was a part of another group doing a questionnaire for Methods which will turn into a 2,500 word essay in about 2 weeks. I am definitely getting busier with homework. I went to a Feminist Society Social on Wednesday which was fun. I got to meet a lot of people in the Society and we had a good time. No plans this weekend yet but maybe a market or something fun to relax and get to see a different part of London. I want to keep doing touristy things while I am here so I have a good knowledge of the city and have experienced everything I wanted to before I leave.

My room

Finally my room is clean enough to take some decent pictures of where I live.

I'm pretty much standing in the doorway. This is my bed. With clean sheets :) Also, I did not choose the curtains. They are awful.

This is the other side of my room from the same spot. I can pretty much lean back and touch my bed when I am sitting in my chair. It is usually crowded with books and papers but I finally cleaned it off enough for a picture. It isn't just my desk, but my kitchen, storage, toiletries, bookshelf, and entertainment area.

A more direct view. As you can see I keep pretty much everything on the shelves or in the cabinets. The drawers to the left are mostly office supplies, camera cords and converters, and papers. The cabinet on the right is where I keep towels, dish soap, laundry soap, and on the top shelf of the cabinet has some food stuff.

This is my mini kitchen. There is a kitchen with an oven, 2 stove tops (called hobs), freezer, sink, and table and chairs down the hall but I have a few things in my room. Every room has a mini fridge and I have mostly stuff for tea as you can see. I bought an electric kettle the week I moved in because I drink tea all the time, tea cup, boxes of tea, and some fruit. By the kettle is my cute silverware, they are tan with different colored polka dots.

This is my closet. Right next to the door. It's actually pretty spacious, I have enough room for all of my stuff. In the front is my trench coat because it has been so cold here I have been wearing it every day. That and a scarf, also in the front.

Ok. On to the bathroom. It is possibly the worst bathroom ever. Except for the Caledonian Hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland. But I didn't have to use that one every day. The shower is above and slightly to the left of the toilet in a small corner of the bathroom. The floor doesn't really slant, so the water kind of pools and doesn't drain well. I know I am being too detailed but it is gross. This is the point I am trying to make.

Standard toilet, mirror, sink-except there is a cold faucet and a hot faucet. Pretty standard here. Also I don't think the picture allows the viewer to fully appreciate the bright blue ugliness that is on the walls. It is awful. And it is floor to ceiling.

Ok well that's my room. It's small but I like that I have my own bathroom and it's only my space. I haven't had that in a long time, having had roommates all of college. It's good enough or me. I will hopefully be living here during the summer too but I can't do applications for summer housing until January.

Today did not start out well. I was late getting up because I didn't fall asleep until very late last night (this morning) and had to be up at 8 for class. Then I got on the bus to go to school except I didn't have any money on my Oyster Card (travel card) and had to get off and walk to the closest tube stop (like 1/2 mile) to top up and get on at another stop. Barely made it to class. The class itself is ok, but it's a lot of stuff I've already learned from Intro and Methods. It's strange because some people in the Msc Sociology don't have a Sociology background so I think the professor is trying to get everyone on the same level. But it's kind of boring. Today was the halfway point through the term and we talked about open ended and double barreled questions... something I covered at the very beginning of studying Sociology. But hopefully it will get better.

After class I went to lunch with a friend at this place called All Bar One. It was really good. Then we walked around London and explored Covent Garden and Soho and found Patisserie Valerie. This adorable little French bakery/cafe. I loved it.

Tonight has been lots of reading for class tomorrow. And some prep/research for a presentation I have next Friday in Gender and Societies.