London is AMAZING. I love this city.
While my sister Tori flew to Seattle for my cousin's wedding, the rest of my family drove up to Toronto to put me on a plane to London. My best friend met me at the airport and we repeated the events of last January almost exactly - except that my luggage was UNDER the weight requirement for once!
I had a great flight from Toronto to London and was picked up by my lovely Rotary hosts, David and Jane, who fed me a lovely lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches (just like Nana's!) and so much cake and then took me to Paddington to catch the train to Cardiff for the Rotary introduction weekend for all the new UK scholars. I slept most of the way, despite having no watch or charged electronics and having no idea what to do upon arrival. I assumed there would be someone to greet me at the train station in Cardiff! There wasn't, but the hotel ended up being down the street and I got to walk through the center of town and see everything. I'd been literally in the air when they finalized details, so they hadn't expected me to show up - and I still got paired with amazing hosts for the weekend! Chris and Anne were so sweet and wanted to chat and I had been awake for almost 48 hours and was falling asleep standing up. We had orientation, toured the Welsh Assembly, heard Terry Waite speak about his time in prison in Lebanon and the work he does (which was amazing!), and then Chris, Anne and I toured a really nice park in Cardiff and then I head back to London.
David and Jane picked me up, all my luggage in tow, and drove (!) me into the city to my new flat!
We are a group of 6 living in a flat, and sharing a kitchen and bathrooms. The whole residence has about 40 flats altogether and we are all postgraduates at LSE. It's about a 50 minute walk or 25 minute bus to school. But I wouldn't move for anything because we are in a really trendy (expensive, but where in London isn't?) area right beside Tower Bridge. Only a minute from the Thames and a great river walk all the way along it. It's absolutely breathtaking. Especially at night when you can't see that the water is actually a gross brown colour.
My flat represents Canada (x2), America, Switzerland (German speaking!), India, and China and we get along really well so far. We have decided to celebrate each nation's holidays so tomorrow Canada 2 and I are making thanksgiving lunch/dinner with the limited resources we have. (We have an eclectic kitchen set, including one roasting tray, a cookie sheet, neon plastic champagne flutes, a single plate and a good dozen bowls someone found in the basement and claimed as our own. I'm living with really great cooks and bakers though!).
Classes are a bit overwhelming and this so far has been a great alternative to reading! I have a lighter term with my Health, Community and Development course and then Applied Regression Analysis, just thrown in there to make me cry on a regular basis. Next term are all the fun electives and then the dissertation is apparently a full time job. I'll be in Eastbourne next weekend with Rotary and will post again with news. In the meantime, I'll try to load some photos! Thanks for reading!
While my sister Tori flew to Seattle for my cousin's wedding, the rest of my family drove up to Toronto to put me on a plane to London. My best friend met me at the airport and we repeated the events of last January almost exactly - except that my luggage was UNDER the weight requirement for once!
I had a great flight from Toronto to London and was picked up by my lovely Rotary hosts, David and Jane, who fed me a lovely lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches (just like Nana's!) and so much cake and then took me to Paddington to catch the train to Cardiff for the Rotary introduction weekend for all the new UK scholars. I slept most of the way, despite having no watch or charged electronics and having no idea what to do upon arrival. I assumed there would be someone to greet me at the train station in Cardiff! There wasn't, but the hotel ended up being down the street and I got to walk through the center of town and see everything. I'd been literally in the air when they finalized details, so they hadn't expected me to show up - and I still got paired with amazing hosts for the weekend! Chris and Anne were so sweet and wanted to chat and I had been awake for almost 48 hours and was falling asleep standing up. We had orientation, toured the Welsh Assembly, heard Terry Waite speak about his time in prison in Lebanon and the work he does (which was amazing!), and then Chris, Anne and I toured a really nice park in Cardiff and then I head back to London.
David and Jane picked me up, all my luggage in tow, and drove (!) me into the city to my new flat!
We are a group of 6 living in a flat, and sharing a kitchen and bathrooms. The whole residence has about 40 flats altogether and we are all postgraduates at LSE. It's about a 50 minute walk or 25 minute bus to school. But I wouldn't move for anything because we are in a really trendy (expensive, but where in London isn't?) area right beside Tower Bridge. Only a minute from the Thames and a great river walk all the way along it. It's absolutely breathtaking. Especially at night when you can't see that the water is actually a gross brown colour.
My flat represents Canada (x2), America, Switzerland (German speaking!), India, and China and we get along really well so far. We have decided to celebrate each nation's holidays so tomorrow Canada 2 and I are making thanksgiving lunch/dinner with the limited resources we have. (We have an eclectic kitchen set, including one roasting tray, a cookie sheet, neon plastic champagne flutes, a single plate and a good dozen bowls someone found in the basement and claimed as our own. I'm living with really great cooks and bakers though!).
Classes are a bit overwhelming and this so far has been a great alternative to reading! I have a lighter term with my Health, Community and Development course and then Applied Regression Analysis, just thrown in there to make me cry on a regular basis. Next term are all the fun electives and then the dissertation is apparently a full time job. I'll be in Eastbourne next weekend with Rotary and will post again with news. In the meantime, I'll try to load some photos! Thanks for reading!