belated blog

I apologize for blog number 2 being so late, unfortunately our internet was down for a few days and then things began to get busy. Then I was busy last night so here I am today writing this blog instead of finishing my homework.

well let me think... I'm not quite sure where to start! Thursday was my last day of classes for the week, and it was... interesting. My British History professor took us to see the National Maritime Museum, which was absolutely amazing except for the fact that it was the longest class I have ever attended. Our classes are supposed to be three hours, either 9 to 12 or 1 to 4. Despite the fact that we told him most of us had class again at 1, he kept us over by almost half an hour on Wednesday so we had to scramble to find lunch before 1. On Thursday he had us arrive at 8:30 instead of 9 so we could get started earlier, but he just talked for 30 minutes and we departed at 9 anyway. We took 2 tube (subway) transfers and then switched to the DLR (which is an above ground train) to get the this museum, loosing at least 1/4 of our class along the way. Upon our arrival at the museum he told us to meet back outside at 11:45. I raised my hand and asked "doesn't it take an hour to get back to school?" to which he nodded and I said "but some of us have classes at 1 and we need to get back-" and he cut me off with some reply along the lines of "shit happens" or "deal with it". I was most annoyed because not only was there a possibility I would be late for my Islam class, but if we didn't make it back in time I would not get to eat until my second class ended at 4, and I hadn't eaten anything since 8 in the morning. Well we did get back with about 15 minutes to spare so I had no other option than the burger king. Unfortunately eating this hardly even made me feel any better because I felt like that stupid American who comes to a foreign country and eats our own food anyway... I was however pressed for time and it was the only way.

Saturday: Christina and I ventured out into the middle of no where in London to find a Fashion Museum... we call it the epic quest because it took us most of the day to find this museum and it ended up being the tiniest museum I've ever seen in my life. Twice we ran into dead ends on the tube because various lines and stops were closed for construction. Then we got a bit lost trying to find the actual museum. Luckily the exhibit was amazing even if it was tiny. It was a history of women's under garments, from the 1800's corsets to present victoria's secret stuff. It was fascinating and I took a bunch of pictures. We are planning to go back so Julissa can come this time and so that I can sketch for our historical costume drawing assignments.

Sunday: I went to church with Christina. We attended a Nazarene christian church because thats the kind of church she attends at home. She was eager to find a church here that she liked but was worried about going to an unfamiliar area and it was also our first use of the bus system. It all turned out well and we went to church singing, dancing and eating chocolate! haha certainly the most fun sermon I've ever heard... and the first time I ever caught myself singing or humming a church song a day later.

Monday: after my British Life and Culture class we went to the grocery store so that we could make some dinner before going to the welcome reception for FIE students. I'm not sure exactly what we expected it to be like but we were all a bit shocked by the reality of this "dance". It was like time traveling back to an awkward middle school dance where people stand and chat in their own little groups, where no one dances or mingles outside their circles ... the room even looked like a dressed up gymnasium. Then they dimmed the lights and started playing 90's music... ahh the image was complete! There was one dramatic difference between this and middle school - free alcohol. Besides the good food, free t shirts, etc. that functions for college students usually include to bribe us to show up, there were also two free drink vouchers per entry. I only used one of mine and ended up giving the other one away to a friend.

Tuesday: well I have been planning this Tuesday for the last two weeks and it certainly did not go as I had hoped. My main plan was to take all of my homework and walk to the park. I love the park here, its probably like a 15 or 20 minute walk but totally worth it to me. I also hoped to wander a bit and find some of the museums that are within a few blocks of where i live. Unfortunately none of these grand ideas worked out because when I woke up on Tuesday it was pouring. So I guess I'm back to planning out next Tuesday's adventure...

Well I've got to get to class now... I promise I am going to try really hard to make these blogs a more consistant part of my routine here so I can keep you all updated on how wonderful it is here <3