London: Week One!

Since I’ve been in London for almost a week, I thought it would be good to finally post something! I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time, but here is a nice long post about all of our fun adventures starting out with the trip over to London.
Didn't sleep super well on the plane, but I spent most of the time watching "He's just not that into you" and listening to my ipod. I think I slept maybe 45 minutes or an hour total, which was better than most of the other girls. It was stressful trying to get my boarding pass worked out, but I think it was a good way to start out and be assertive about things. It gave me some more confidence in being able to work things out on my own.

We found the shuttle just fine and were able to all ride in to the city on the shuttle. It was definitely weird to be on the wrong side of the road, but the city itself was beautiful. Even just flying in everything looked so GREEN. It's interesting to see so many old buildings standing next to huge, modern, glass buildings.

We're staying just a couple blocks away from Notting Hill and Portabello Road. The area is incredibly nice. The buildings all look like Victorian townhouses, although our buildings are some of the cutest ones! We've seen a lot of cute colored doors with the knobs right in the center. We've already been laughing about some weird British quirks. Like in the airport, there was an announcement over the pa system that "any bags left unattended would be destroyed."

The inside of the centre is absolutely incredible. It looks just like it must've when it was the Swedish embassy. There are two doors, one iron grate one and one wooden one. They give us the code to the door so we can get in and out. Straight ahead there is a foyer and then the staircase. To the left is the dining room and the sitting room, both very opulent and gorgeous. The library is on the right in the second apartment building as well as one of the rooms and the directors and their family live in the upstairs. Past the stairs is the servery with a small kitchen attached with a fridge for leftovers and an ice machine for drinks of water (which I’ve been drinking a ton of). Downstairs from the servery is the laundry room (our dorm is assigned to thursdays to do laundry or saturday is a free day) and the kitchen, where we help with the food. I'm really grateful that I don't have kitchen duty this week because it's hard enough fighting the jet lag.
Up one set of stairs, then there's a landing with the phone closet, up another set and there's Room 2 (a one person tiny room that the graduate student TA is staying in) then go up another set of stairs and there's Room 3, my room! The walls are a creamy color with really decorative crown molding and stuff on the ceiling. There are three bunks on one side, closets, and then eight bunks (where mine is. I can see out the window from my bunk down Palace Court (our street). I'm on the top bunk and Tricia is underneath me. I've already pinned up pictures of my family and friends on my corkboard by my bed. There's also a little shelf by my bed that I'm keeping my alarm clock, contact stuff, scriptures and a few books on.

Right by our room is the shower/sink bathroom. There are four sinks and three showers, although only 2 showers are currently working (and for awhile only one was working!) The WC (toilets) are up another flight of stairs. They're little rooms with toilets and a sink.

The internet has been a little choppy for everyone, but I think they're working out the kinks. The internet adaptor thing I've had works great. And, there is plenty of storage space, so no worries there.

One of our first assignments our first day was to take our first "London Walk" from our book that they gave us. It gives step by step directions around the neighborhood and gave interesting facts about places. On our walk, we went and bought our "oyster cards" that will allow us to take the tube for the month. It was about 100 pounds for the whole thing and the directors just gave us cash to buy it with since it's covered in the cost. Also, on the walk we walked by Hyde Park which is beautiful! The turning point of my day was buying a bottle of diet coke for about a pound at a grocery station. It gave me my second wind and helped ease my stomach a little. We ate dinner together at 5:30 and the food was amazing. Staying up the first night was a definite struggle, but it was well worth it since I’ve slept through the night.

Oh, and another fun random fact, I've been seeing names of places from books popping up all over. On the plane, the map showed Worthing ("It is a seaside resort..." from importance of being e), and we passed pembridge wells road on our walk (also mentioned on our walk). I saw eastborne on a map ("I wouldn't trust you as near it as Eastborne!" Mr. Bennet).

Now that classes have started, I'm starting the delicate balance of trying to interact with everyone and have fun, but also get my homework done. Luckily, they seem pretty relaxed about assignments (so far). The English reading has taken me a long time to read so far (the first half was sections of Canterbury tales, written in old english). For biology, I'm going to try to work on assignments with the other kids in my class. English class itself was really philosophical and deep. We talked about the article (written about building, dwelling and thinking) and discussed mortal's connection with the earth, sky and deity and how that relates to environment/geography description and influence in literature. Then, in biology we just met and talked about what we want to do with the course.

Thursday after culture class we went over to the park and played frisbee with a bunch of people. We're definitely labeled "noisy Americans," even just playing in the park. I've tried to fit in a little more, I think in some ways I'm more british by nature. They don't really talk on the tube at all, even if they're with people they know.

St. Paul's was definitely a highlight of the trip so far. It was overwhelming how big and ornate it was. I saw where florence nightengale and william blake were entombed, so that was cool. We climbed over 300 steps to get to the Stone Gallery where you could look out over the entire city since it was such a clear day. Incredible experience.

Friday, we visited the tower of London (just “The Tower” to Londoners). While we waited for the whole group to make it over on the tube, we took pictures by the Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge like everyone thinks it’s called). We were able to explore all over the tower and grounds (it’s actually more of a fort with a tower in the center of it) including seeing armor owned by Henry VII and the crown jewels. We also visited the Bloody tower and another tower where prisoners were kept.
On Saturday morning, we walked down Portobello Road. It was amazing to see all the shops and all the people! I’ll definitely be heading back there to buy some things. Then, we hopped on the tube to go to Leicester Square (pronounced “lester”) to get half price tickets. We got tickets for 12.50 to see The 39 Steps. It was a fantastic British comedy and we had great seats. The theater was really intimate and gorgeous and all four actors were fantastic. After that, we met up with some others from the group and went to a middle-eastern restaurant to have dinner. I can’t remember what the kind of food I had was called, but it was chicken and cabbage in a pita and it was dang good.
This morning, we headed off for Church at 8:00. Between the tube, train and tram, we got lost a couple of times because we were turned around with vague directions. Luckily, we made it to the meeting, albeit a half hour late. The members were so warm and welcoming. We attended the young adult/gospel principles class and then I went in to the young women’s class after that. We’ll be getting callings next Sunday before Church, so that’ll be fun to help out in such a fun ward.
Even though this is so long, I haven’t even scratched the surface of all the neat experiences we’ve been having. I’ll continue to write whenever I get the chance (mostly on Sundays) so everyone can be updated on all the fun here!!

Twas the night before London...

Since I leave for London tomorrow, I figured that it would probably be a good idea to start experimenting with this blog! So far, it has been a great summer. Finished up finals at BYU and moved home for a few weeks. Getting my wisdom teeth wasn't the best thing I've ever done, but I'm glad it's over. While I was recovering, I got an infection in my sinuses and had a fever for a couple weeks.

Luckily, I was pretty much recovered for our family vacation to Hawaii. After a stressful tax season for my dad, surgery for my mom and stresses of school for the rest of my siblings, a nice break in Hawaii was well deserved by all. My mom's Uncle generously let us stay in his fabulous condo for a whole week. We spent most of our time at the beach boogie boarding, snorkeling or reading some great books. I re-read the 6th Harry Potter to refresh my memory for the new movie coming out (while I'm in London!). We also spent a lot of time at two gorgeous pools by the condo. I came away from the trip refreshed, with a new tan and a bottle of my favorite perfume: Maui Rain. (It smells just like my favorite flowers:plumeria). For pictures of this trip and everything else that I'm doing this summer, check out my facebook page until I figure out exactly how to post pictures the way I want on here.

After getting back to Hawaii, I returned to my job from last summer at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I was grateful to have a job, especially since I could only work for about a month before leaving for London. It was great to see all my old friends at work and serve some crazy functions. One of the highlights was serving at a function where President Thomas S. Monson spoke and getting to chat for a minute with Elder Dallin H. Oaks. I'll definitely miss all my friends at the Jo while I'm gone, but I won't miss the black polyester uniforms.

Now, I'm all packed up and ready to head off to London. Every now and then, I have moments where it all feels real. But, for the most part, it feels too good to be true. I can't wait to actually be there and be able to live my dream of visiting a place I've been fantasizing about for as long as I can remember. There is no way I could've been able to go without my parents' help and support, so a big thanks to them, as usual. I'll post some more when I'm actually at the Centre!! Hooray!!