Chapter 1

     SURREAL. That is the only word that can describe this journey so far. Yesterday morning I watched from my airplane window as the sun rose above the Atlantic Ocean and took the place of the morning star that had been shining all night long. We flew through SIX TIMEZONES…try to wrap your head around that. When we finally landed in London, it took forever to go through customs and then I headed out to catch the train to the middle of the city. It was SO quiet and clean! Most of the people were on their way to work reading the news papers or a book. I looked out the window as the train flew past the landscapes and I began to realize just how beautiful the city is. Even the graffiti was proper—one said something about “bad behaviour.” I love the little differences in the language like the extra Us or the “premises for let” (space for lease) or how they have “way out” signs instead of exit. Upon arriving at my train stop, I hailed a cab and headed for the Imperial College. Never have I felt so independent, so free! By 9:30 AM (London time) I had arrived at Evelyn Gardens in the district of South Kensington and Chelsea (South Ken, as the locals call it). My plane landed hours before the New Orleans group arrived, so I planned to unpack and walk around the city. The unpacking went smoothly—our room is so quaint! But I ended up catching up on that jet lag until our meeting at 3.

           We gathered with our group, met each other, and took off to the city. Our instructors taught us how to use the tube (Underground railway), we went to Trafalgar square, London Chinatown, and Covent Market where My Fair Lady begins. After that, we broke off into groups of our own. My group went to a little café in the Covent Market and watched street performers in the square. When we got home, my roommate Morgan and I went into the gardens behind our dorms and we met Matt, an Imperial grad student from New Jersey. He has lived in London for a year and a half and told us all the basics about how to maneuver the city and where to go. He was eager to hear about the states and was happy to talk to Americans! We inquired of the time and were extremely surprised to discover that it was 9PM though it was light outside like 5PM! Morgan and I decided to take a walk around our neighborhood before it got dark. We spent about an hour and a half cruising the city in awe of how old and gorgeous the flats and shoppes and streetlights (believe it) are. Matt had told us that our dorms are located in one of the most expensive postal code in the ENTIRE WORLD, and it was evident as we walked the surrounding streets. When it finally started to get dark around 11, we came in and read a little of our political science books before we went to sleep.

     Yesterday was one of the rare sunny and hot days in London, and as there is no AC, our room was sweltering last night. We woke up at 5 unable to sleep because of the heat. So we got dressed and headed into town! We ate breakfast at a café (so European) and walked around downtown. We took a taxi to the grocery and got what we needed for the week. It is 8:15 now and we have had what feels like a full day!