Day 2 of classes, first trip to the british museum
Its safe to say that by now, a week into my experience in UK, I’ve become completely comfortable with the currency. Its exactly the same as in US, except dollars are pounds, and cents are pence. The way you’d say 3.50 here tho is “3 pound 50.” Pence are also known as “p,” so if it costs .20, its “20 p.” Also, there is no 1 pound bill, the smallest bill is 5, and the biggest I’ve seen yet is a 50. As a result, you end up with a ton of change in your pocket. The pence pieces come in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pence, and you can also get a 2 pounder, or of course, the 1 pounder. I empty my pockets out each night onto my small nightstand, and there’s at least 10 coins. Its ridiculous.
So the house problems are getting solved here and there. The internet is going to be wireless, its going to be installed “soon” our estate agent said. The heat is fixed, for the first time last night the radiator next to my bed was pumping the room with heat! And the best part is, you can now take a shower while the heat is on, simultaneously, its amazing. And I took one tonight, and it was my first in the house (ive taken 2 others) that wasn’t cold. Very encourageable. Im excited to put pictures up!! I’ve also been taking a lot of pretty high quality video with my little digital camera, so I wonder if theres a way to put that up… I really want to display it, its amazing stuff.
So today was day 2. Yesterday I had class at 1040, today at 915 in the morning. That means I had to leave at 830, which is the HEART of the early morning rush. I swear, we were packed in the tube this morning like sardines. And they were handing out free samples of this energy drink called “shark” so I had that half open, and it was down to my side, and it was just an uncomfortable situation. Fortunately tho, we weren’t late, infact we were pretty early… so tomorrow I’ve got class at 9 (advertising), and that will be another early morning experience.. but tomorrow I plan to record the rush- video style. By the way, just remembered – theres a contest for the best video/photography/writing about our experience in London (its thru dipa, I might try the contest and try and pick up some extra cash. Anyways, back to the morning commute seeing the packed tube made me think about how devastating the 7/7 bombings really were. When they happened, it didn’t really have much meaning to my life, but today I tried to figure some more out about that day. What I found out was very disturbing. Its all very sad, i feel absolutely horrible now that I’ve been riding the trains and enjoying the city. I cant believe anyone would possibly do this. So, it turns out that the bus that was bombed that day exploded RIGHT outside of the hotel we were staying at, the royal national. Even more, theres a couple tube stops in our geographic area, and the first day we came out here to check out the flats, we took the “circle line” which goes in a circle. And on 7/7 a bomb went off at that exact stop that we took, the edgware road stop. Now, we don’t take the circle line daily, we take the central line and get off at marble arch, because its on the same train line as the faraday house for class. One other bomb happened between russel square and kings court on the picadilly line, which is very familiar to all of us, it too is right near the hotel. So that’s all very scary, I hope that doesn’t freak people out too much back in the states, but I think we can say that its not going to happen in the same place if it does happen again, God forbid. But the whole thing is, over the summer I was visiting Courtney at the time, and they didn’t really effect me that much, but now, its all too powerful. I don’t feel too scared tho, I think we’re all set, at least I hope so.
Lets talk about the beggers for a mnute. The beggers in this city are very strange. They’ll sit on the ground against buildings…. But they won’t say a word! They don’t beg! Some of them have magazines or cds that they sell, but even then, they don’t say “buy this” or anything, its all mum. And theres not that many of them, only a few. Its different, than what I thought would happen in a big city like this.
Totally off topic, but funny: we live on Brendan street, there’s 8 of us, 4 boys, 4 girls, sound familiar??? We now go by: The Brendan Bunch. I’m greg, the older one, Courtney is Marcia, and Patrick and michelle, are the parents, since they are the 2 that live together. But it works perfect, cuz we have 2 rooms with the 3 kids in each sex. We’re going to print out pictures and everything, but that’s another day.
Speaking of the bunch, we’re starting to think about trips we want to take. We’re thinking of going to italy over spring break, and Greece over the 5 days off that we have for easter. The rest of the weekends we’re going to just do little trips, and go to france a lot. The thing is, I want to go to france a lot, and we might be going to italy for comm. Design on a field trip (our teacher, Francesco, is from Venice). But Its only 2.5 hours on the train to paris, which is unbelievable. I want to get all over the continent while I’m here.
So tomorrow (weds) is my day to cook…. Little nervous, but I think I’ve got it under control. We’re talking soup – 3 cans for 99 pounds, and I got 9 cans, and then a little grilled cheese and crackers. Sounds really easy, pretty cheap, and good for everyone. We’ve got a couple of picky eaters (not me, actually, I eat whatever they give me, i.e. the cal or whatever that green leafy was, I’m doin good), so you have to be careful about what you cook.
Today for the masterpieces of London class, the one with all the trouble, but everything is officially fixed today! we went to the british museum! which is FREEEEEE! So im going to go there alottttt! Because it’s the coolest building! I took so many pictures of the outside (it looks kind of greek, with pillars and stuff), and I took videos, which I’d love to share! But anyways, theres lots of stories around the museum, but theres a lot of famous stuff there. Pretty amazing! But all the museums in London are free, which is wonderful.
So last night I made myself a sandwich, bought juice boxes at the somerfield’s, and put some of my granola bars all in the fridge, to take to class today, but I forgot it this morning! It was a very early morning! So me and a group member/house mate, Lindsey, went to an Italian sandwich shop near faraday house, and it was a great experience. They jipped me on my sandwich bill, tho, they over charged, but we argued and got the right price. I had a baguet (a big one) with chicken, basil, and mazzerella cheese for only 3 pound 50. It was nice, before the trip to the museum. today was the cmd450 class, which is the same one that I took last semester, and I’ll take next year as well. This one seems ok, not as busy as it would be in syr, but it will keep me busy. Time management is going to be huge! Tomorrows class is advertising, and art history. Yes, 2 art history classes, one meets at the national gallery and the british museum, and the one tomorrow goes all over I’ve heard. I’ve heard its very fun.
So I think that’s whats going on.
Courtney bought me pop tarts today because I said I wanted some if anybody found them, which I’m really excited about. If I don’t get internet by Thursday, I’ll be bringing my pictures to the faraday house to post, because I feel like I’m leaving everyone with my crappy verbal descriptions, so I want to get some real pictures in my readers’ heads.
Hope everything is going well back in the salt city,
Till the next time,
Cheers!
Jamie
So the house problems are getting solved here and there. The internet is going to be wireless, its going to be installed “soon” our estate agent said. The heat is fixed, for the first time last night the radiator next to my bed was pumping the room with heat! And the best part is, you can now take a shower while the heat is on, simultaneously, its amazing. And I took one tonight, and it was my first in the house (ive taken 2 others) that wasn’t cold. Very encourageable. Im excited to put pictures up!! I’ve also been taking a lot of pretty high quality video with my little digital camera, so I wonder if theres a way to put that up… I really want to display it, its amazing stuff.
So today was day 2. Yesterday I had class at 1040, today at 915 in the morning. That means I had to leave at 830, which is the HEART of the early morning rush. I swear, we were packed in the tube this morning like sardines. And they were handing out free samples of this energy drink called “shark” so I had that half open, and it was down to my side, and it was just an uncomfortable situation. Fortunately tho, we weren’t late, infact we were pretty early… so tomorrow I’ve got class at 9 (advertising), and that will be another early morning experience.. but tomorrow I plan to record the rush- video style. By the way, just remembered – theres a contest for the best video/photography/writing about our experience in London (its thru dipa, I might try the contest and try and pick up some extra cash. Anyways, back to the morning commute seeing the packed tube made me think about how devastating the 7/7 bombings really were. When they happened, it didn’t really have much meaning to my life, but today I tried to figure some more out about that day. What I found out was very disturbing. Its all very sad, i feel absolutely horrible now that I’ve been riding the trains and enjoying the city. I cant believe anyone would possibly do this. So, it turns out that the bus that was bombed that day exploded RIGHT outside of the hotel we were staying at, the royal national. Even more, theres a couple tube stops in our geographic area, and the first day we came out here to check out the flats, we took the “circle line” which goes in a circle. And on 7/7 a bomb went off at that exact stop that we took, the edgware road stop. Now, we don’t take the circle line daily, we take the central line and get off at marble arch, because its on the same train line as the faraday house for class. One other bomb happened between russel square and kings court on the picadilly line, which is very familiar to all of us, it too is right near the hotel. So that’s all very scary, I hope that doesn’t freak people out too much back in the states, but I think we can say that its not going to happen in the same place if it does happen again, God forbid. But the whole thing is, over the summer I was visiting Courtney at the time, and they didn’t really effect me that much, but now, its all too powerful. I don’t feel too scared tho, I think we’re all set, at least I hope so.
Lets talk about the beggers for a mnute. The beggers in this city are very strange. They’ll sit on the ground against buildings…. But they won’t say a word! They don’t beg! Some of them have magazines or cds that they sell, but even then, they don’t say “buy this” or anything, its all mum. And theres not that many of them, only a few. Its different, than what I thought would happen in a big city like this.
Totally off topic, but funny: we live on Brendan street, there’s 8 of us, 4 boys, 4 girls, sound familiar??? We now go by: The Brendan Bunch. I’m greg, the older one, Courtney is Marcia, and Patrick and michelle, are the parents, since they are the 2 that live together. But it works perfect, cuz we have 2 rooms with the 3 kids in each sex. We’re going to print out pictures and everything, but that’s another day.
Speaking of the bunch, we’re starting to think about trips we want to take. We’re thinking of going to italy over spring break, and Greece over the 5 days off that we have for easter. The rest of the weekends we’re going to just do little trips, and go to france a lot. The thing is, I want to go to france a lot, and we might be going to italy for comm. Design on a field trip (our teacher, Francesco, is from Venice). But Its only 2.5 hours on the train to paris, which is unbelievable. I want to get all over the continent while I’m here.
So tomorrow (weds) is my day to cook…. Little nervous, but I think I’ve got it under control. We’re talking soup – 3 cans for 99 pounds, and I got 9 cans, and then a little grilled cheese and crackers. Sounds really easy, pretty cheap, and good for everyone. We’ve got a couple of picky eaters (not me, actually, I eat whatever they give me, i.e. the cal or whatever that green leafy was, I’m doin good), so you have to be careful about what you cook.
Today for the masterpieces of London class, the one with all the trouble, but everything is officially fixed today! we went to the british museum! which is FREEEEEE! So im going to go there alottttt! Because it’s the coolest building! I took so many pictures of the outside (it looks kind of greek, with pillars and stuff), and I took videos, which I’d love to share! But anyways, theres lots of stories around the museum, but theres a lot of famous stuff there. Pretty amazing! But all the museums in London are free, which is wonderful.
So last night I made myself a sandwich, bought juice boxes at the somerfield’s, and put some of my granola bars all in the fridge, to take to class today, but I forgot it this morning! It was a very early morning! So me and a group member/house mate, Lindsey, went to an Italian sandwich shop near faraday house, and it was a great experience. They jipped me on my sandwich bill, tho, they over charged, but we argued and got the right price. I had a baguet (a big one) with chicken, basil, and mazzerella cheese for only 3 pound 50. It was nice, before the trip to the museum. today was the cmd450 class, which is the same one that I took last semester, and I’ll take next year as well. This one seems ok, not as busy as it would be in syr, but it will keep me busy. Time management is going to be huge! Tomorrows class is advertising, and art history. Yes, 2 art history classes, one meets at the national gallery and the british museum, and the one tomorrow goes all over I’ve heard. I’ve heard its very fun.
So I think that’s whats going on.
Courtney bought me pop tarts today because I said I wanted some if anybody found them, which I’m really excited about. If I don’t get internet by Thursday, I’ll be bringing my pictures to the faraday house to post, because I feel like I’m leaving everyone with my crappy verbal descriptions, so I want to get some real pictures in my readers’ heads.
Hope everything is going well back in the salt city,
Till the next time,
Cheers!
Jamie
posted by Jamie at 4:26 AM
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