We’ve officially been here for over a week now and I’ve only posted two blogs, so instead of taking time doing each day I’m going to try and recap everything we’ve done since last Monday in hopes of getting you up to date. Starting with where I last left off.

Sunday, Jan 11

This was a fun day. We began with a bus tour of the city. And by bus tour, I mean bus ride to various places where we could point out of a steamed up window and say “oh, look there’s Harrod’s” or else “so this is what Notting Hill looks like.” Rather than call it a bus tour, I really think it should have been called an orientation, since the best thing about this “tour” was that it helped orient us in the city. We got a good idea of where everything was places by driving around the major attractions and stopping occasionally like at the Prince Albert Monument, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, and the London Eye. We didn’t have time to really experience all of these places, stopping for 15 min at each place, but we learned how to get there and were able to take some really good pictures. On this day I was especially concerned with meeting up with my friend, Phil. If any of you reading this were in Steven Church’s Experimental Non-Fiction class last semester then you remember my wondercabinet partner, Phil (and Laura, of course). Well, it just so happened that he was in London with his brother Kevin after touring much of Ireland weeks before. On the suggestion of our friend Jocelyn, AKA JOROSTO, we planned on meeting at a pub called the Swiss Cottage. Josie did the London Semester in 2005 and so we both trusted that this place would be worth the tube ride there. And it was! It was a cozy bar that had a bunch of mismatched furniture and old men reading newspapers in the corner, young couples having a meal and a pint, etc. Though it looked like it wasn’t going to happen, I was able to meet up with Phil and Kevin, have a few drinks with them and trip out on the fact that we were having a drink in London of all places. We came back to my flat and played some drinking games before they took the tube home and left for Fresno the next morning. It was nice to have a little Fresno Flavor in our flat.

Monday, Jan 12

The first day of school. Yes, some of us (myself included) forget that I’m here for schooling! Our teacher met us in front of the building and walked us to school so we would know how to get there on our own. It was cute, we were like 2nd graders all over again. I wanted someone to take my picture the way moms do on the first day of school, but everyone thought I was kidding and kept on walking. Whatever. Now, I’m not very good at measuring distances (or anything for that matter) but I would say it’s about a mile away, maybe a mile and a half. Our classes begin at 9 so we’ve gotten into the habit now of leaving the flat before 8:30 and walking 20 minutes or so to class. Usually the flat mates wait for me to finish getting ready since I often take longer than I should. Oh, well. It’s amazing how many people walk here, enviable even. Granted, it would be hard for me to walk from Selma to Fresno State, but I’m going to try to walk to places more when I get home. It’s no wonder the majority of people here are pin thin, they walk or bike to places that are not far enough for a tube ride. It makes sense, right? Right. Well, school is going to really keep me busy this semester. In addition to readings for our British Lit class (which include Moll Flanders, Oliver Twist, Jekyll and Hyde, Mrs. Dalloway to name a few) I’m also taking an art tours class (pretty self-explanatory, we study art and then we go to the museum and check it out), a British theatre class, and a class on Intercultural Communication, which I’ll blog about later. I’m also doing an independent reading class abroad with Connie Hales (poetry, poetry, poetry!) and an Independent Study here with John Beynon (jealous? You should be, he’s a genius). So, I’ll certainly be busy with schoolwork while I enjoy the sights and sounds of London. Oh, I almost forgot. On this day, my flat mates Alicia and Ashley, joined me for a night of theatre! We went and saw Avenue Q. What a funny show! Have any of you seen it? Some song titles include “Everyone’s a Little Racist” and “It Sucks to be Me” and “The Internet is for Porn.” The crazy thing about this show is that there are puppets in it, so it’s often called Sesame Street meets South Park, which is a pretty fair description of the show. I thought it was hilarious! It played at the Noel Coward Theatre and we were able to score tickets at a discounted rate of around 20 pounds. This was especially cool because I got to see something in the West End of London. Some interesting theatre notes, programs in London are not free, they can cost you from 2-7 pounds depending on the show. Also, you can totally buy an alcoholic beverage at the bar before the show and bring it into the theatre to drink while you watch. You bet I was all about that! And at intermission (or interval, as they call it here) they bring in an ice cream cart and you can have ice cream while you wait for Act 2. Ice cream, beer, and cussing puppets? Oh, yea.

Tuesday, Jan 13

This is when I really started to feel like I was getting a routine. Because I’m a grad student among undergrads, I am not registered for all of the classes they are in so Tuesdays I don’t have to go in until 10 (or so I thought, more on this later). So this morning I got the chance to walk to school by myself. This was pretty fucking sweet. It’s one thing to walk around London in groups of 5 or more and stick out as a school of tourists, but I like to believe that on this day, walking all alone, I was able to pass as a Londoner. I don’t look like a typical American, right? And London is a hub of various cultures and ethnicities, so as long as I don’t open my mouth, wear a scarf and pea coat, and keep a fast paced walk away from large groups of Americans, I can pretty much blend into the surroundings. I liked disappearing into these busy streets, letting my mind wander into the windows of tall buildings. It feels good to know where you’re going in a city that is still new to you and so I enjoyed this walk, taking it in felt delicious. After school we headed over to Camden Market, Camden being indie central. This is Amy Winehouse territory, someone in class today compared it to Venice Beach and I can see the correlations between the two. They sell a bunch of stuff here, clothing, accessories, coats, and also legal “weed” (didn’t look like any weed I’ve ever seen) and salvia, pipes and Bob Marley stuff. It was a cool little market. This is where I saw a Mexican flag flying over a booth so I went over and said, in Spanish, “donde esta mi gente?” To which Shane from Ireland, the attendant at the booth, replied “RIGHT HERE.” Ha. You heard correctly. Irishman Shane, who speaks beautiful Spanish, told me he takes care of the Mexicans in London, even told me I could buy tortillas from him and order stuff like tomatillos and pinto beans from him. I was glad to make contact with him, he’s on my facebook now too, the name of their little restaurant is called “El Panzon.” Check it out. Later this evening we went to the theatre again, this time as a class, to see an “off-broadway” show called “Loot.” It’s a dark comedy which stars the runner-up of Britain’s version of Dancing with the Stars and that guy that plays Hugh Grant’s brother in Two Weeks Notice. It was a pretty cool show but I was more excited about wearing my new shoes…check them out in the picture. Pretty snazzy, eh?


Wednesday, Jan 14

School again, but the most exciting part of this day was catching a matinee of a show I was hoping to see with my sister in San Francisco. It’s actually a funny coincidence. Before I even knew I was coming to London, my sister and I made plans to drive to Frisco to watch Wicked for her birthday, which is on Jan 15. Little did I know I would be watching the show one day earlier, without her and in London. It was bittersweet because, as badly as I wished she were there with me, I thought it was a phenomenal performance. I can’t say too much because I don’t want to ruin the storyline for her (I swear Bere, we will watch it when I get back) but if you’ve seen it maybe you can email me so we can talk. Great show, I recommend it to anyone. If you can, come to London to see it just so you can say “Wicked? Oh, yea…I saw that in London” like I can. This took up the majority of the day.

Thursday, Jan 15.

School again, though we only go from Mon-Thur so this is like our Friday, if that makes any sense. After school we did something I’ve always wanted to do (I’m going to start writing down how many times I say that on this trip), which was to see an exhibit by my favorite photographer, the world renowned Annie Leibovitz. If you don’t know her by name, you know her by her work which include stunning portraits of people like Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, Brad Pitt, a pregnant Demi Moore, the Bush Administration, Nicole Kidman, etc. She’s done tons of work for Rolling Stone Magazine and Vanity Fair but, in my opinion, her most telling works are the portraits of her family, the snapshots of everyday life that depict just that: aging, living, dying. She is so candid, so honest in her pictures that they really move you to tears when you are standing mere inches away from them. Man, I felt so lucky that I had the chance to see this exhibit which is only in London until February 1. We walked around Trafalgar Square after viewing the exhibit and pretty much stumbled into Chinatown. I couldn’t believe the color of the sky in the pictures I was taking, how blue against the red of the lanterns. We walked a good while around Chinatown, watched a woman make noodles in a storefront and lingered around the Strand until we decided to get on the tube and make our way home.

Friday, Jan. 16

Oh, boy. Friday night. Ha…well, I guess I should start by saying that we’ve made friends with a local, Romeo, who was nice enough to invite us to one of London’s hottest clubs, Club Maya. He managed to get us on the guest list and so we were exclusively invited, which would make any Californian feel at home. This place was off the hizzle for shizzle! We had so much fun, the first drink was free the second drink was like 10 pounds! Which roughly translates into 15 dollars! I know, right? Rest assured, I moved on to the cheapest beer in the house, which ended up being Asahi for about 5 bucks. Regardless of how much money was spent that night, I had so much fun going out in London and dancing the night away with all my new friends in the program. We had a blast and the next morning, I wasn’t even hung over! J

Sat and Sun, Jan 17-18

These are getting shorter and shorter! Saturday was a day for resting and lounging about the flat catching up on readings for class and stuff. We went to Borough Market again since we needed more bread and enjoyed our first European dessert. Oh, my. I ate a strawberry custard tart which was so fucking good! Every strawberry on that motherfucker was super sweet and you could tell the custard and the whipped cream were made with real cream. We walked several miles there and back, so I didn’t feel so bad eating it. I didn’t even mind paying 4 pounds for it, I swear, it was the best dessert I’ve had in my adult life! We managed to avoid the storm that was brewing all day and made it home satisfied and dry.

On Sunday, this was last night (YAY! I’M CAUGHT UP), Ashley, Alicia and I went to mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Talk about a once in a lifetime opportunity. St. Paul’s is where Princess Diana and Charles were married, where Winston Churchill had his funeral services and has been the site of many royal functions, including the coronation of the current Queen. There is a quiet peace inside this church that is so much bigger than anything I’ve ever felt before. Just to think about all the people who have come here to worship, like we had, since AD 604, blew my mind. The service is Anglican Communion but was very, very much like a traditional Catholic mass. I’m not too sure what the differences are, but I think it has something to do with Henry 8 and the split between England and Catholicism. There’s too much history here and being inside for a service, all I cared about was the energy, the incredible spirit that was present for that hour when we weren’t students traveling across the world, but mere children in the hands of something larger than we could ever imagine. After mass, we went to dinner at a French café, Café Rouge, and ate baguettes, drank wine and had banana crepes for dessert.

Okay….well, if you’re still reading, thanks for making it all the way through. Tomorrow I will blog about what I did today, which was visit the British Museum. Stay tuned to find out what artifacts I saw today. Trust me, if you’re into history like me, you’re gonna turn green with envy.

I miss you guys, thanks for answering the phone when I called (some of you…) Meesh, Josie, sister, Mr. Poncho, Liz, Rachel. For the rest of you, if you see a strange number ringing you, don’t be alarmed! It’s just me wanting to say hi! Thanks for reading again and keep popping in to see what kind of crazy adventures I’m getting myself into over

The Day it Snowed

After we went to market on the first day, we came home and rested. The flight, being in a new place, and a body deprived of sleep can catch up to you; we were all exhausted. The next morning I woke up amazed at the fact that I was in London. I think that was when it hit me. London. Outside it was very dark and cold and the flat mates were already up watching TV. I couldn’t be indoors, despite the cold, I wanted out. So I suggested a walk. Once we were all bundled up we headed out to find Smithfield Market. We found it, but it was closed. So we kept walking and I’m glad we did. We began finding different historic landmarks. First, we literally stumbled upon a section of the London Wall. It was the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot. This section was near a little pond which had frozen over because it was so cold. Darrin wanted to see the ice crack so he tapped the surface with his foot only it didn’t crack like in the movies and all Darrin accomplished was lowering his body temperature further. The more we walked, the more we saw! We found St. Paul’s Cathedral, kept walking, and realized we had reached the Thames. The Millennium Bridge was right in front of us. Now, if you don’t already know, the Millennium Bridge was endearingly called the Wobbly Bridge by Londoners because after it opened in 2000, it swayed so badly. After a few days, the bridge was closed and modified to eliminate the motion. Or so they claim. Frankly, I was scared shitless crossing the bridge because A) it’s so fucking long and B) it sways like a motherfucker! Regardless, I made it safely across and even better, as we were crossing it began to snow. This was not a heavy snow in the least, and I’m sure lots of people wouldn’t even consider it snow, but to us Californians it was totally snowing. On the other side of the bridge we found so much! First, The Globe Theatre! We walked inside to warm up but didn’t get a chance to see anything really, other than the lobby and the outside of the building. Still, being there was a great feeling. We kept along on our walking adventure and found Borough Market. If you’re ever in London on the weekend (as they say here) you MUST visit this market. There were so many delicacies, cheeses from all over Europe, delicious breads and pastries, fruit, vegetables, meats, oh my! There are vendors cooking and selling food like at a fair: wild boar sausage, lamb burgers, real bratwurst. We opted for a beef burger with an amazing combination of sauces. I tried the hot and spicy and the cranberry. Man. It was heaven!

The cheese was REAL CHEESE, none of that processed singles stuff. It ranks up there with the most delicious burger I’ve ever had in my life. This was a neat area of town and you can get to the London Dungeon from there or to the Clink Museum, a prison museum. This is kind of underneath the London Bridge so when we came up from underneath we were able to walk across London Bridge, which is, despite rumors to the contrary, not falling down. It isn’t even the real London Bridge. Did you know the real one is in Lake Havasu? Some rich guy had it moved brick by brick. Nuts. We didn’t realize how far we had walked so we took the tube (the underground subway) home for the first time. More on that later!

This was a fun day especially because we got to bond as flat mates and we were open to explore a city that is both easy to navigate and amazing.

Flying and Arriving: The London Chronicles

I never thought I would be the author of a blog, but here I am and if you're reading this it's either because you are super bored or semi interested in what's been going on. Either way, thank you. If we hadn't had time to talk, yes, I am in London. We (myself and other CSUF students doing London Semester) made it here safely and here we will remain until April. Send me some suggestions after you read this (if you make it through all the way), my first post. Let me know what you want to see or if you have any questions for me.


Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start...)

The Flight:

Not as bad as I expected it to be. We flew out of the San Francisco International Airport (which had a really amazing wall art exhibit—I’ve posted pictures below) on Jan. 8 around 12:30PM and arrived in London on Jan 9 at 6:30 in the morning. I spent my time on the plane watching movies. Have any of you ever seen City of Embers? Tim Robbins was in it. Very strange movie,

I'm not quite sure what to make of it even a week later. I also saw a documentary about sharks called Shark Water (I think) which was very sad and focused on the illegal shark fin trade market, specifically in Costa Rica. Sharks a vital part of the environment, they’ve outlived the dinosaurs for fuck sake, and now they are disappearing because their fins fetch big bucks. It’s a gruesome film that really opened my eyes, if you’ve never seen or heard of it please check it out. I also watched Lakeview Terrace (it was a long flight!) finally, not too bad I suppose but certainly not an Oscar contender. When I wasn't watching movies, I was watching a screen with an airplane making steady progress across the Atlantic.

I sat next to a girl from London who was visiting family in San Fran. She apparently moved to Italy to get a masters degree and is finishing up her PhD in London. I was quite jealous, but we exchanged information and we’re supposed to meet up sometime soon. I guess the strangest thing about the flight was landing on Friday AM and not knowing what had happened to the rest of my Thursday. To avoid jet lag they told us to stay awake as long as we could and so my first day in London was a groggy one, spent in sleepwalk mode until I could get to my bed and readjust my internal clock. It was pretty cold when we got here, but we were all kind of delirious so it was fun. We took a coach to our flat and got situated. I'm living with 5 wonderful flatmates, they are Alicia, Ashley, Sarah, Darin and Charity. We have a sixth roommate coming in soon, Jennifer. As an interesting aside, Darin and Charity are actually married and I suppose this is like a second honeymoon for them, which is pretty cool, eh? Our flat is really cute, out of the three flats occupied by the Fresno State group ours is for sure the cutest. Did you have any doubt that I would use my skills to make it so?? When we got here we spent some time unpacking and booked it to the nearest market, Leather Lane Market, where I bought some tulips to spice up the flat. And spice it up I did! (Flat photos by the lovely Sarah Chandler--thanks roomie!).