[October 26] London: Just an average rainy day in London!

DO NOT let the blue sky in the picture on the left fool you. I took it over a month ago when blue skies were more common... Today, it's gray and rainy and feels exactly like my lovely western Washington home. 

I'm terribly behind on blogging. I've yet to blog about visiting Oxford, Stratford, Greenwich, Belgium... the posts are on their way though...

But as this week is midterms and Thursday morning we head to Scotland for four days... Well, we'll see when that happens. 

This post just has pictures of the South Kensington tube station that is closest to the Res Hall, and therefore the station I use frequently. For the first several weeks of class, I just used the tube station until one morning I decided to try using the bus. I was just fed up with walking to the tube and being squished onto the tube with a milliondy other people and sweating like crazy before I even got to class. It was just a big rush. The bus is so much more relaxed and I can sit and read and calmly listen to music and just look out the window and actually SEE London instead of zooming around underground everywhere and magically popping up somewhere. However, the bus is slower so you really need to have extra time to get to where you're going. I love to sit on the top in the very front.

Also, I'm pretty happy taking the bus especially when we get closer to Sloane Square (near my Res Hall) because there's a whole street of window-shopping (well, drooling?) at Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Gucci, Fendi, Miu Miu, and gosh I can't even remember what else. It's just fantastic. I love looking at all of the buildings—I definitely prefer the older ones. But I suppose the newer ones are in place because of all of the bombs that were dropped during WWII. It's hard to imagine London being under attack like that...

[October 10] London: The London Symphony... again!

A couple of weeks ago I went to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform... again! This time I just went by myself. The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performed a Dvorak violin concerto first half of the performance which was spectacular... My goodness! She looks so elegant and it doesn't seem fair for a woman to be that gifted at the violin AND look that amazing! It was so exciting to see her live... to have such command over a violin is, I feel, to have command over a piece of music, which can be kinda transcending on several levels...

Then for the second half of the concert, the London Symphony Chorus performed WITH the orchestra. The performed Glagolitic Mass by Janacek which I have never heard of before but it was really powerful and SO many people onstage working together like that to create something so thrilling is just hard to comprehend. I counted approximately 150 people onstage. As I sat there listening, I kept having to remind myself: the music is being created right in front of me here. This is LIVE. I will experience this and then it will disappear into thin air. 

Of course, it kind of made me miss my youth symphony days. The feeling of playing in a full orchestra is such a rush... 

[October 9] Hampton Court Daytrip

I am very behind on blogging! Part of this is because it takes FOREVER to upload pics onto here.

A couple weeks ago I went on a daytrip my residence hall offered to Hampton Court, where Henry VIII lived. It seems strange to me because or dorm advertised for this outing and only 3 of us in the entire building signed up for it. I just like it because it's easier to go places with people who know where they're going and can take care of the arrangements. Also a bonus is that IES subsidizes it a bit as well. Three students and 2 RAs set off in the morning and took a train to Hampton Court.

As I'm sure you know, Henry VII was the king who was married to six different women (not all at the same time though).

Gorgeous walls and ceiling murals:

My lunch... It was a potato and ham pie... thing. It was okay. Meh.

I definitely enjoyed the gardens, although they weren't as spectacular as I guess I was expecting:

The small group of people on the datrip:

Here is Henry VIII's dining hall:

[October 15] London: Thoughts & Musing Thus Far

I realize that so far, my posts have been very to the point: I did this, I did that, and here are a few vague thoughts to sum it all up. 

Although I don't expect you to, you may recall my very first on this blog: I listed my worries. I was worried about making friends. I was worried about dealing with my anxiety and panic attacks and dizziness. I was worried about cultural differences and accidentally offending someone. I was worried about what to pack. And I was worried about screwing up transportation as I'm not used to public transportation since, being an oil-reliant American, I drive everywhere. 

Well! I've been proven that my worries, although perhaps legitimate, have been unnecessary. I've made some really great friends and have met so many lovely people to be around, talk to about things great and small, hang out with, people with similar interests... I've been so pleasantly surprised!!! As for some of the young men I've met... well there's always your fair share of jerks and disappointments but I've been lucky and met some really nice ones...

I haven't had issues with anxiety or panic attacks which is such a relief considering I'm in one of the largest cities in the world and crowds are common and I've been packed on the tube like a sardine. I've had some dizziness issues but nothing that's kept me in bed or prevented me from doing the things that I've wanted to. What a relief! I never thought it would be like this, I never thought I could be so happy and fairly dizzy-free!

As for what I packed, I keep thinking "Oh I wish I had this from home, I wish I could wear this today..." but realistically I just couldn't have managed bringing any more with me and I've bought what I needed which was expensive and really added up in the beginning but that's part of what I've been saving up for anyway. 

Then there's public transportation... in Denmark I was a bit flustered about the train and whatnot, but everything worked out okay. As for London, the tube is incredibly easy to use which I never quite believed when people assured me this was so beforehand. I haven't mastered the buses yet although they're easy enough or really tackled the trains but it's been okay! And I always know that if I get truly lost or scared I can always take a cab, which I haven't had to do yet. I've been walking a lot; there's no way around it and so if you ever plan on visiting London I highly recommend bringing a good pair of walking shoes and being in decent shape.

Whew!

In case it hasn't been clear, I am in love with London. It already feels like home and I feel well-adjusted to life here and have for a few weeks now. I've lived here now for about 40 days. I can see the River Thames from my dorm window and the London Eye, Tower, etc. from my kitchen window. Fantastic. Every day I think, "Now Alyssa, don't you dare take this for granted." Every day walking down the street I find it hard to believe I'm in London, London, London, capital of the English-speaking world, capital of literature and culture and music... well I haven't forsaken my American pride and I could argue the same capital this and capital this about America but I'm here and I feel happy and appreciative of all the city has to offer.

Sometimes I wish I could teleport home for a quiet evening with my family to have a sit-down dinner with all of them then talk to my parents about everything and bother my brother and joke with my grandparents and cuddle with my puppy dog but for the most part I haven't been homesick despite not being able to hear the voices of my family often enough because of stinkin' inconvenient time differences. 

I fear my time here will fly by but I look forward to every minute of it. Tomorrow I leave for Belgium for a quick weekend in Ieper!

[October 7]: O'Neils

Just some pictures from a silly night at O'Neil's in Chinatown. They're very popular and everywhere and fun if you're with fun people but otherwise I'm bored of it.

The best part of the night was afterwards when Emily and I went to get midnight Chinese food and McDonalds ice cream...

[October 5] London: The London Symphony Orchestra!

Last Tuesday I went to see the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall with two other kids in my program. I sent out a message on Facebook to as many people in my program I could think of inviting anyone to come and only 2 responded! Sad. Tickets were only £14 which is like $21. Not bad, in my opinion! I think at home it would be WAY more expensive! Tickets range between £8 and £32.

Anyway, I was super psyched especially since the violinist Sarah Chang would be playing...

This is beforehand in one of the eating areas and I just thought the lights were so neat I had to take a picture:

At the symphony, which was conducted by Sir Colin Davis.

Here is Sarah Chang! She played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (which I have a recording of her playing already!).

The symphony also played Elgar's Symphony No. 2 and a modern piece that I didn't like as much. Sarah Chang was definitely the highlight of the evening for me. I couldn't take my eyes off of the performance and I felt so, so lucky! It was hard for me to comprehend that the music was coming from the stage... the room that I, too, was in. I was sitting far away, but I had a perfect view of everything. I could clearly hear the solo violin. 

[October 3] Dublin, Ireland: What a Lovely Day For A Guinness!

On October 3rd, Sunday, me and a group of people went to the Guinness Factory in Dublin. We didn't see any actual beer being made, but it was a really well-done museum that showed the process and whatnot. I was looking forward more to the 360-degree view on the top of the building to be quite honest...

We got a cab there because it was easiest and possibly even cheaper than riding the bus. The cab driver was really nice and had a fantastic Irish accent but honestly he was really hard for me to understand and I'm worried he thought we were rude but I just didn't know what he was saying for most of the ride!

Hops. Whoopee! I think Ezra Meeker (one of the first settlers in Puyallup) made his 'fortune' growing hops, right?

There was a waterfall and it looked like some grains from another exhibit had gotten into the water and a lot of them were sprouting!

And finally, the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Factory with a 360-degree view of Dublin! Fantastic! I was still having a hard time grasping 'what' Dublin is. As for London, I've seen pictures and portrayals of it constantly beginning with Disney films such as Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations and later on seeing films such as Parent Trap, Winning London, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Harry Potter, My Fair Lady, and countless others I can't think of! But with Dublin...? Hmm. Perhaps you'll have to remind me? Well, there you go.

Honestly, 11am is too early for most things in life but you get a pint of Guinness for 'free' with the purchase of your ticket. I 'only' finished half. It's yummy but it just tasted like normal beer to me! Frothy lips:

Some of the other ladies with their Guinness: