So yesterday (Friday) was the first day it rained a lot here... it rained pretty much all day! That day I went on the London duck tours with the Economics department. It was really fun, minus the rain! The tour took us all around London and then we went into the Thames and the bus turned into a boat. Afterwards, me and a few other Econ majors went to Buckingham Palace, and unfortunately we missed the last tour by 15 minutes. It was not only the last tour of the day, but the last tour until July! I took some pictures anyway, and we walked around St. James's Park which was really nice, even in the rain!
Today I went to Camden Market with my friends Kate and Radhika, and it was really cool. You can buy some really cheap clothes there, so I got a dress (had to).
I finally have my classes sorted, or at least I think I do. I'm taking Environmental Economics, Economics of Labour, European Macroeconomics, and Europe in the Late Middle Ages, 1000-1500. Classes start on Monday, finally--it's amazing that I haven't done schoolwork since early May.
Fresher's week has pretty much left me exhausted (I have been out every night), but tonight is the last night to really go out and have a good time before classes start. It has been great having this week to be able to explore London without having to worry about getting any work done. I have also been walking around so much that I have blisters all over my feet (and some of those blisters are from FLATS!)--at least I'm getting my exercise.
Check out my photo page for new photos of the sites from the duck tours as well as Buckingham Palace and St. James Park, also some random photos of friends :)
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Freshers' Week
So on Saturday "Freshers' Week" began. It's basically a week of orientation for the freshers at UCL, but it is so unlike orientations in the US. The week started off with an icebreaker party at the Union bar, which is a bar on campus that is relatively cheaper than other places in London. I have since started walking from UCL's campus to my house by myself at night, which I feel comfortable with now. I'm confident that the area I am in is pretty safe.
Earlier that day I met up with Samantha and her friends and walked around different areas of London, including Covent Gardens, where there were a bunch of crazy street performers (such as a guy juggling knives on a ladder).
On Sunday I went to Spitafield Markets with my friends Adrian and Emily, who both live in Astor. It was a lot of fun to walk around, but everything was very expensive. I bought 3 prints of London for 7.50, so my room could have a little life in it.
On Monday I had a meeting with the Econ affiliate tutor. He approved the two classes I wanted to take. Unfortunately, I am still nowhere near figuring out my classes. Each course has both lectures and tutorials. The Econ department gave us the time table for the lectures, but not the tutorials. The History department, where I want to take a class, will not tell me which classes are available to take until Thursday. Meanwhile, the Econ department puts not caps on class sizes UNTIL Thursday (so as long as you enter your classes officially by Thursday, you'll get the ones you want). However, I don't want my history class to conflict with Econ. Finally, the SSEES dept has no timetable whatsoever for their classes. It's a very complicated way of doing things.
After my meeting, I went to the Tower of London with Emily, which of course was a field day for me, but a little boring for her. We also walked down Oxford St and bought a frying pan, spatula, and a small spaghetti pot (I think it's actually a sauce pan, but whatever). The only place we could find these was in a department store, so of course they were expensive. The frying pan was around 8 pounds, the spatula 8.5 (I know, what?!), and the pot was 19 pounds. But, I need to start cooking and stop eating out, so I had to pay the money.
Monday night I went to a club with my friend Kate and and English student named Nick. It was fun, but we didn't keep track of the time and left around 12:30 (when the tubes were closed). We had to walk from Leicester Sq back to UCL, which was a long walk full of creepy guys talking to us on the way back.
Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to realize that I had caught my friend Adrian's cold. It's not TOO bad, I just feel very weak and my throat hurts. Plus I have no appetite whatsoever. Hopefully the cold will be shortlived!
That's all for now. I updated my pictures website with pictures from the past few days: http://www.picturetrail.com/justinekelly
Earlier that day I met up with Samantha and her friends and walked around different areas of London, including Covent Gardens, where there were a bunch of crazy street performers (such as a guy juggling knives on a ladder).
On Sunday I went to Spitafield Markets with my friends Adrian and Emily, who both live in Astor. It was a lot of fun to walk around, but everything was very expensive. I bought 3 prints of London for 7.50, so my room could have a little life in it.
On Monday I had a meeting with the Econ affiliate tutor. He approved the two classes I wanted to take. Unfortunately, I am still nowhere near figuring out my classes. Each course has both lectures and tutorials. The Econ department gave us the time table for the lectures, but not the tutorials. The History department, where I want to take a class, will not tell me which classes are available to take until Thursday. Meanwhile, the Econ department puts not caps on class sizes UNTIL Thursday (so as long as you enter your classes officially by Thursday, you'll get the ones you want). However, I don't want my history class to conflict with Econ. Finally, the SSEES dept has no timetable whatsoever for their classes. It's a very complicated way of doing things.
After my meeting, I went to the Tower of London with Emily, which of course was a field day for me, but a little boring for her. We also walked down Oxford St and bought a frying pan, spatula, and a small spaghetti pot (I think it's actually a sauce pan, but whatever). The only place we could find these was in a department store, so of course they were expensive. The frying pan was around 8 pounds, the spatula 8.5 (I know, what?!), and the pot was 19 pounds. But, I need to start cooking and stop eating out, so I had to pay the money.
Monday night I went to a club with my friend Kate and and English student named Nick. It was fun, but we didn't keep track of the time and left around 12:30 (when the tubes were closed). We had to walk from Leicester Sq back to UCL, which was a long walk full of creepy guys talking to us on the way back.
Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to realize that I had caught my friend Adrian's cold. It's not TOO bad, I just feel very weak and my throat hurts. Plus I have no appetite whatsoever. Hopefully the cold will be shortlived!
That's all for now. I updated my pictures website with pictures from the past few days: http://www.picturetrail.com/justinekelly
Friday, September 21, 2007
First Adventure
So last night I had my first "adventure" in London. A couple kids from my dorm--Adrian, Anton, Emily, and Camille, and myself walked all around London. I should note that Adrian is from Seattle, Anton is from Toronto, Emily is from NJ, and Camille is from France... so I've been meeting a very diverse group of kids. Anyway, we walked all the way from my house, which is in Bloomsbury, to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. We walked over Waterloo Bridge and past Convent Gardens. This probably means nothing to the people who don't know anything about London, but it was a VERY long walk! My feet still hurt today! Everything was gorgeous, especially Big Ben which looked amazing all lit up. I will be posting pictures on both facebook and my new picturetrail website right after I post this, so check it out: http://www.picturetrail.com/justinekelly
I have also been doing some academic-related things lately (shock, I know). I'm going to try for 2 courses in the Economics department, as required, one class in the History department, and one class in the Slavonic and Eastern European department (I know that may sound surprising, but there is a class called "European Macroeconomics" that I am interested in). We basically finalize everything next week, which is why lectures and tutorials don't actually start until October 1st.
Tonight I hope to meet Samantha (who is studying at King's, for those who don't know) for dinner and then hopefully go out with some friends. It's hard because tonight Yom Kipur begins, and every person I've become friends with is Jewish. One girl, Maya, is half-jewish and not very religious and she agreed to go out with me later. Anyway, it's pretty funny because every time I say to someone "Oh it seems like everyone is doing something for Yom Kipur" the response I get is "Oh yeah... I should do that, too."
My only complaint so far about London is that the drivers are nuts. There is no such thing as "yield to pedestrians" over here, and it doesn't matter if you're standing in the middle of the road--the cars will not stop. There is also definitely some anti-American sentiment over year. My friends and I got this awful look in the grocery store yesterday when we didn't realize the queue started farther back. I apologized to the woman we almost cut in line, saying "I'm so sorry, we didn't realize the line was back here"... my American accent must have ticked her off because she didn't say anything, just gave me this horrified look. We learned during orientation that the British are very shy and reserved, and they don't like Americans because we are apparently very loud and outgoing and likely to embarrass the Brits we encounter.
Few last pieces of news:
I bought a travel size hair dryer at Boots for only 2.5 pounds.
I ate Thai food last night at this cute place right down the street from me
I found a Chinese place that you pay 3 pounds and fill up this tupperware container full of food to take out.
Tesco > Sainsbury's
I have also been doing some academic-related things lately (shock, I know). I'm going to try for 2 courses in the Economics department, as required, one class in the History department, and one class in the Slavonic and Eastern European department (I know that may sound surprising, but there is a class called "European Macroeconomics" that I am interested in). We basically finalize everything next week, which is why lectures and tutorials don't actually start until October 1st.
Tonight I hope to meet Samantha (who is studying at King's, for those who don't know) for dinner and then hopefully go out with some friends. It's hard because tonight Yom Kipur begins, and every person I've become friends with is Jewish. One girl, Maya, is half-jewish and not very religious and she agreed to go out with me later. Anyway, it's pretty funny because every time I say to someone "Oh it seems like everyone is doing something for Yom Kipur" the response I get is "Oh yeah... I should do that, too."
My only complaint so far about London is that the drivers are nuts. There is no such thing as "yield to pedestrians" over here, and it doesn't matter if you're standing in the middle of the road--the cars will not stop. There is also definitely some anti-American sentiment over year. My friends and I got this awful look in the grocery store yesterday when we didn't realize the queue started farther back. I apologized to the woman we almost cut in line, saying "I'm so sorry, we didn't realize the line was back here"... my American accent must have ticked her off because she didn't say anything, just gave me this horrified look. We learned during orientation that the British are very shy and reserved, and they don't like Americans because we are apparently very loud and outgoing and likely to embarrass the Brits we encounter.
Few last pieces of news:
I bought a travel size hair dryer at Boots for only 2.5 pounds.
I ate Thai food last night at this cute place right down the street from me
I found a Chinese place that you pay 3 pounds and fill up this tupperware container full of food to take out.
Tesco > Sainsbury's
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
London: Day 1
So I finally made it to London today! My orientation for IFSA-Butler was actually in Feltham, which is a suburb of London (and not the most exciting suburb either, might I add). After a 2.5 hour flight to Newark and a 6 hour flight to London (after waiting forever in Newark because we were late boarding), I finally arrived. Going through Immigration was a breeze, it took about 2 minutes. After we got our bags, we went straight to the hotel and just hung out for the day. A bunch of people bought pay-as-you-go cellphones (which turned out to be quite a hassle for all of them--so thanks Daddy for getting me a UK simcard), and I bought a straightener at ASDA. We learned during orientation that Londoners are suppressed, repressed, and depressed, and that's why they all wear black. We also learned that England is the nation of thieves, and we were pretty much assured that we would, at some point, get mugged or pickpocketed. I'm trying my best to cling to my purse as much as possible.
We finally arrived in London today around 2pm. UCL and Butler didn't work everything out too well and we were late for the Welcome Assembly at UCL. There are only 2 other Butler girls living in my house, but I'm good friends with one of them already and it was nice to be able to walk with someone else to and from the house. I have a great single room with a big desk, big closet, plenty of draws and shelves, and a sink with a mirror above it. It's better than any room I've had at Conn, of course! The bathrooms also look brand new, which is nice. The walk to UCL's main campus is about 5-7 minutes. We attended a Welcome Reception tonight from 5:30-7:30, where we thought we would be served dinner; however, the reception was just lots of free wine and small appetizers. Afterwards, me and about 7 other kids went to a pub around Astor (conveniently, Tottenham Court Road is a hopping street--lots of pubs, bars, and stores) and got some food and I bought alcohol for the first time. It was a lot of fun but I went back early with Adrian (the girl who lives in Astor with me) because I really need to catch up on some sleep. Fortunately, Butler provided bedding for us, but the bedding is quite insufficient (the pillow is hardly a pillow at all, and we weren't given a top sheet, just a duvet. Considering how chilly it is in my room right now, and the fact that it doesn't look like I can control the heat, I'll need something more. On a similar note, I'm kicking myself for not bringing my winter coat here, and it looks like I'll have to buy one at some point... my fleece jacket isn't enough for this weather!
That's about all I have to update for now. Tomorrow we have a few orientation things, including meeting with our departments in the afternoon. I made friends with a girl named Claire and a boy named... well I forget his name but they are both in the Econ department, which is good. Until then... cheers!
We finally arrived in London today around 2pm. UCL and Butler didn't work everything out too well and we were late for the Welcome Assembly at UCL. There are only 2 other Butler girls living in my house, but I'm good friends with one of them already and it was nice to be able to walk with someone else to and from the house. I have a great single room with a big desk, big closet, plenty of draws and shelves, and a sink with a mirror above it. It's better than any room I've had at Conn, of course! The bathrooms also look brand new, which is nice. The walk to UCL's main campus is about 5-7 minutes. We attended a Welcome Reception tonight from 5:30-7:30, where we thought we would be served dinner; however, the reception was just lots of free wine and small appetizers. Afterwards, me and about 7 other kids went to a pub around Astor (conveniently, Tottenham Court Road is a hopping street--lots of pubs, bars, and stores) and got some food and I bought alcohol for the first time. It was a lot of fun but I went back early with Adrian (the girl who lives in Astor with me) because I really need to catch up on some sleep. Fortunately, Butler provided bedding for us, but the bedding is quite insufficient (the pillow is hardly a pillow at all, and we weren't given a top sheet, just a duvet. Considering how chilly it is in my room right now, and the fact that it doesn't look like I can control the heat, I'll need something more. On a similar note, I'm kicking myself for not bringing my winter coat here, and it looks like I'll have to buy one at some point... my fleece jacket isn't enough for this weather!
That's about all I have to update for now. Tomorrow we have a few orientation things, including meeting with our departments in the afternoon. I made friends with a girl named Claire and a boy named... well I forget his name but they are both in the Econ department, which is good. Until then... cheers!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Predeparture Post!
So I leave on Sunday night for London (after flying from Fort Myers to Newark), and arrive at 9am London time on Monday. From Heathrow I'll be going to St. Giles Hotel in a suburb of London for my IFSA-Butler orientation (fun fun, after a night of no sleep I have to go to orientation all day!). I imagine I'll be moving into my UCL housing on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm living in a self-catered student house called Astor College. I've heard great things about the house; it's in a great location (on Charlotte St, which is 5 minutes away from both the UCL main buildings and Oxford Street. Charlotte St is basically full of restaurants) and I also have a single. I'll be arriving a few days before all the freshmen, so I'll have some time to settle in.
I guess that's about it, next time I update, I'll be in London! :)
I guess that's about it, next time I update, I'll be in London! :)
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