Mate! She's a bloke!

My first week of classes are over. We haven't really gotten to the meat of our subjects, but I have for sure been introduced to a lot of new concepts and teaching styles.
Mom, you'll be glad to know that I am actually STUDYING while I am studying abroad.


But that doesn't mean that I haven't been able to have some fun. On Thursday night, we went to a Member's Only Club. Richmond was able to rent out the bottom floor of the VERY nice and VERY expensive club. My friends and I had a lot of fun there, but since the tubes close between 12:00 and 1:00, we had to take the Night Bus back to Kensington High Street. The buses are quite difficult to navigate during the day when it is sunny and semi-warm, but at the end of the night when we were tired, cold, and super wet, they were even harder to navigate. It was still a really great experience, and we now have a better understanding of the bus system. I still prefer the Tube!
Picture of my friend Rachel and I before going to No. 5 Cavendish Place.

On Friday, we had a pretty relaxing day, just walking around Kensington High Street looking in the shops and had lunch at Wagamama's. Wagamama's is one of our favorite restaurants in London. They serve all natural, fresh food...they have Rramen, noodle dishes, and rice dishes. Everything there is great, and you feel good after eating such fresh food. That night, we went to our local pub, The Gloucester Arms, grabbed dinner, and chatted up some locals. The people can seem to be a little standoffish on the street (especially since I'm used to 'Southern Charm'), but once you meet them in their environment (the pub), they are quite friendly!

The next morning, we got up early and headed downtown to the British Museum. I had already been on Wednesday with my class, but it is such a large museum that we felt that a return trip was necessary. My friend Katherine has a very handy book called "Top 10 of London," and we were able to locate and see the Top 10 most important things at the British Museum. We saw the Rosetta Stone, the artifacts found at Sutten Hoo, the Elgin Marbles, etc. It was a great way to spend the afternoon! After that, we went to a little souvenier shops across the street that I went to the last time I was in London. It is called "Fancy That of London" and has great, touristy souveniers for low prices.

That night, we went to SOHO to a live music night at a Pub called Spice of Life. It is definitely one of our favorite places in London thus far. We had dinner in the downstairs performance area, and waited around for the bands to begin playing. The three acts were all really different and fun.

Today, I met up with Sara Naeseth (a sorority sister of mine from P.C.) for some Lebanese food in her neighborhood of South Kensington. They have all kinds of food in London, and Lebanese did not disappoint my palette. There was a great deal where you could get a starter, main course, dessert, and mint tea for only 10 pounds. So we jumped on that! I had falafel (my favorite food over here) as my starter, a lamb salad for lunch, and assorted baklava for dessert. Then, I went back to her flat and met some of her friends. Her flat is so much nicer than my dorms....and I am definitley jealous. After that, I came back and met up with Katherine and Amanda (my fellow Harry Potter freaks) took the Tube to King's Cross. We found the Platform 9 3/4 monument and had a lot of touristy pictures taken there. After that, we found a really great pub for dinner. I had a traditional English breakfast for dinner: sasuage, bacon, sunny side up eggs, toast, beans, and roasted tomatoes. I finished the dinner off with a Strongbow. It was just what I needed for dinner if I couldn't have a breakfast dinner at WaHo.

P.S. If you are reading this blog and want to leave me some love, feel free to! I feel like I am writing this blog to myself sometimes!