The day I saw James Franco was the day that changed my life!

I've successfully been here a week, and I'm having a great time thus far...no homesickness/culture shock in sight.

We went on the Jack the Ripper tour on Friday night. We went to a very sketchy area of London down near the Tower of London and went up and down the alleyways that Jack the Ripper used to kill his victims in. It was a gruesome story, a bit scary, and very cold. Our tour guide read us the indepth autopsies and police reports on the murders. All but one of Jack's victims were around 5'2," brunette, and stocky. For once, I am happy to be almost 6'. And of course, decided to tell us that there was a copycat killer on the loose...hopefully, it is a joke, but just in case I'll make sure to stick with a very large group when I'm in that part of town. After Jack the Ripper, we decided to make it an early night and caught the Tube back to our dorms.

The next morning (Saturday), my roommate Amanda, my friend Katherine, and I got on the Tube to go to the Tate Modern museum. I am so happy that we decided to go on the day that we did and the time that we did...because it was at the Tate Modern that we saw James Franco. We didn't get to talk to him because he was getting on the elevator that we had just gotten off, and we didn't want to be stalkerish. BUT WE SAW HIM. It was the definite highlight of my trip so far.

Here is a picture of Amanda, Katherine, and me outside of the Tate Modern:


In addition to the James Franco excitement, I really enjooyed the Tate Modern. There were some of Monet's waterlily paintings, some of Matisse's painting, and quite a bit of Picasso. We didn't understand how a pile of bricks on the ground or a octagon cut out of white paper and pasted on the wall were considered "art," but they were all on display! There was some pretty disturbing video art as well that I could have gone without seeing (when it says 'disturbing imagery' in Europe...they mean it!), but the museum was a great morning trip, and most importantly, it was FREE!

After our exciting day at the Tate Modern, we got back to the dorms in time to start getting ready for the Superhero Boat Party on the Thames. I dressed up as Cat Woman and had such a great time! The view was beautiful, with the London Eye, Parliament, and the Bridge lit up, but unfortunately it was misty and very cold, so we spent most of our night inside on the dance floor.

Sunday was lazy. We grabbed a late lunch and then went to the Harry Potter tour of London. We saw where the Ministry of Magic, Knockturn Alley, and Diagon Alley would be if we followed the directions in J.K. Rowling's books. We also heard a lot of background about the character's names and the inspirations behind the Philosopher's stone and the Invisibility Cloak.

Here is a picture of the witches with our wands!
(left to right: Stacie, Julianne, Awesome Tour Guide, Katherine, Amanda my Roommate)
After the tour, we had to prepare ourselves for the beginning of classes. :(

My frist class of the day was pretty chill for me. My first class wasn't until 3:00. Katherine and I went to Kensington High Street (the closest area for shopping) to get some stamps and toiletries, but ended up also going into H&M and Topshop. I found an awesome skull and crossbones scarf (YAY SIGMA!!), a houndstooth, equestrian looking blazer, and black skirt all on sale for 10 pounds or less at Topshop. It was quite a successful shopping trip.
We grabbed lunch and this sandwich, salad, and soup place that seems to be everywhere in London called Pret a Manger and headed back to eat. If you "eat out" at these places, rather than eating in the dining room, it is about 1 pound to 1.5 pounds cheaper! So needless to say, as college students on a budget, it is in our best interest to get it to go whenever possible.

My first and only class of the day is History of London, which seems like it will be a pretty nice class. We have only one day a week in lecture class, and then on Wednesdays we meet up at different locations around London to go to museums and sights. This Wednesday we are going to the British museum to look at skulls of early Britans. I'm pretty excited about it.
Tomorrow I go to my Travel Writing, Political Sociology, and Childhood, Socialization, and Culture classes. And then only two days until the weekend since I don't have any Friday classes!