School Impressions and Weekend in Wales

This is going to be a long, text-filled post with some pictures at the end, so get ready if you're actually interested in what's going on! It's about to get real.

Okay, enough of the music! I've finished my first week at school, and though there were some scheduling problems at first, all of my classes will transfer their credits to USC and I'm on track with my Marketing and PR/Advertising classes.

Classes so far are good! But very different from at home. Normally a full schedule is 15 hours (5 classes), but here a full load is 16 hours (4 classes). Instead of classes going through different phases, as in, you have to take intro classes before you take higher level classes, courses here are taken in "levels." For instance, a level 4 class is like taking a freshman or introductory class. Level 5 is a sophomore/junior level, level 6 is a senior level class. Most students studying abroad try to take their electives or easy classes that don't necessarily go towards their majors while they are abroad so that they don't have to stress too much about the school work. Unfortunately for me, I pretty much completed all of my electives during my freshman and sophomore years, so I'm taking Marketing and PR classes. I'm pretty good in those areas, though, so I'm not too worried! I'm scheduled to take these four classes:

Consumer Behavior (level 4)
Distribution and Retail (level 5)
Personal Selling and Sales Management (level 6)
PR and Sales Promotion (level 6)

So I'm taking two senior level classes. I tried to get out of them, but most of the other level 5 business classes have filled up, so I'm out of luck there. I have group projects in three out of my four classes, which I'm not really looking forward to, but I've met some nice people in my classes that don't seem like slackers.

All of my classes are at the Marlyebone campus, which you can see here on Google Maps. Clearly the Google Maps car came around in the spring or summer, because London absolutely does not look that gorgeous right now. Actually, as I'm looking out of our kitchen window in my apartment it's snowing!


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It is definitely different having all of my classes in one building, but it also takes away the rush between classes. For each of my classes I have one lecture in a large class, then a small seminar with a different professor. I have class everyday, and my earliest class of the week is at 10:00 am, which gives me plenty of time to make it there on the tube. I won't walk there, since to walk it takes about an hour, but by tube the commute is only about 30 minutes. If you're wondering how I get to class or where the campus is in London, click here.

I haven't met tons of Brits yet, but seeing as I've only been there a week, I'll have a little more time to do that. I have met a few people from Germany, Iraq, Australia, and Spain in my classes who have all been in London a while and are very welcoming! Unfortunately, I couldn't get out of my Friday seminar at 1:00, so I'm the only person I know with any kind of Friday class, but the people in the seminar and my professor are all super friendly!

After my first week of class I've had a big weekend. I signed up for a tour group through Westminster that will be taking us on various tours and activities over the semester, and our first tour was a weekend trip to Wales. It's been snowing quite a bit for the last few days or so (and people in London are apparently just as used to it as people in SC are), so our plans changed a bit, but we had so much fun!

Saturday we met with the tour group at 7:30 am (SO DIFFICULT) to get on the bus, which was a little touch and go for a while since apparently some roads throughout England were closed due to the snow. We got into Wales around 11:00 and made our way to the Caerleon Roman Amphitheater, which was used for entertainment and executions when the Romans had control of the UK. Here is a photo (I took off the Caerleon website) of what the ruins normally look like.

Here is what they looked like when we went this weekend.

Granted, the green, luscious shot above had a better angle, but you get what I mean. There was lots of snow. I wore leggings under my jeans. It was that cold. Though we didn't spend as much time walking around the amphitheater as we would have had we been able to see the ground, our tour guide (whose name I forget) was really knowledgable and we learned tons! We also got to see the ruins of the Roman barracks where the soldiers lived.

Here is what they normally look like:

And my perspective:

Here are some more photos from the trip! On Sunday we visited an old castle (the name of which I can't remember, but I'll be sure to look it up) that dated back to the 13th century. Because of the ice it wasn't open, but the castle itself was beautiful! I can't tell you how many people slipped on ice trying to get around to take a good picture, though we managed to not hit the ground!

We also went to  Lacock Abbey, which was used in some of the filming in the Harry Potter movies. In some of the photos, especially of the courtyard, you can recognize parts of Hogwarts!

 

So that's it for now on the updates. I have to go do laundry for the first time in two weeks, so I'll be busy for a while tonight, but if you have any questions, ask away!

More Music...

This is Ed Sheeran, one of my favorite musicians. Ever.

Augustana

In case anyone is interested in music, I've been listening to a great band called Augustana pretty much non-stop since I got to London. They've had a couple of hits, but they're by no means a famous band. This cover of "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac is soooooo good.


In case you're curious, here's a video of one of their original songs, "Steal Your Heart."


...And here's another song because I love them so much.

My Crib

It's definitely taken some getting used to living in a dorm again instead of home or in an apartment. These are pretty nice dorms, seeing as I get my own room and we have a kitchen (with a refrigerator, oven, stove, microwave, etc.), but it's still not what I'm used to. I've tried to make my room a little more "me," so I figured I'd show those of you I can't Skype with a little glimpse! Welcome to my Instagram-ed dorm!

Also, that super flattering mirror pic of me is to show off my super comfortable first day of classes sweater I got from my new favorite store, Primark. It has pink stripes and elbow patches, y'all. What more could I need? It was like £8 (like $14-ish). So there's that too.

If you're wondering, I made sure to bring the necessities: tons of scarves, purses, and nail polish. I have all my jewelry in a little plastic sandwich baggie since I can't think of a better way to organize it. Also, that close up is of my IKEA bedding that was £3. As in about $5 for two pillow cases and a duvet. Score.

50 in London

In my hopes to keep relatively organized (as much as I can) while in London, not only with school and changes in habits, but also in what I do with my time, I've created a list of 50 things I want to complete by the time I return to the US of A. Some of these are super small (like #1 or #3) and doable, others are a little more daunting (#50). I'll make sure to update y'all as I cross them off! I made this list before I left, so since I'm just now getting to it I'll share pictures and cross off what I've already done in a later post!

1. Decorate my dorm room!
2. Go on the London Eye
3. Wash and dry my first load of laundry ever in a laundromat
4. See Big Ben
5. Spot the coat of arms and dragon (if you don't know what I'm talking about, click here - it's so interesting!)
6. Find my favorite coffee place
7. Walk around Regents Park
8. Check out the Oxford/Cambridge Rowing Race
9. Give someone directions and actually know what I'm talking about
10. Visit the White Cliffs of Dover
11. Eat fish and chips
12. Be able to get to class by myself without having to look at signs in the subway
13. Pick up some English slang and subconsciously use it
14. Visit Ireland
15. Take fun street sign photos a la Winning London
16. Visit my friend Natalie in Madrid
17. Have a fun roomies night in to get to know each other
18. Have my first good cry in London (because I know it'll happen...)
19. Take a day to do nothing but explore fun shops
20. Introduce non-Southerners to grits
21. Take pictures with the guards of Buckingham palace
22. Find a new running route (and not get lost)
23. Visit the Gamecocks in London group to watch a Carolina baseball game
24. Go to a concert (i.e. Passenger in January!)
25. Sing at a karaoke night
26. Hail my first taxi
27. Go to Shakespeare's London Theater
28. Have a One Direction/Adele/Gwyneth Paltrow/other famous person sighting
29. Drink my first pint
30. Take photos in a red telephone booth
31. See a member of the royal family
32. Ride on the second floor of a double decker bus
33. Visit Buckingham Palace
34. Find my family's ancestors in the London archives
35. Perfect my British accent
36. Check out the London Ice Sculpting Festival
37. Receive my student Oyster Card
38. Take a walk around Primrose Hill, which is apparently where all the celebs live (maybe where I'll cross off #28?)
39. Take a picture at Abbey Road, where The Beatles photographed their iconic Abbey Road cover
40. Go to the London Zoo
41. Ride a day and night bus
42. Attend high tea
43. Have a fancy brunch somewhere that serves macaroons and mimosas
44. Go one week without looking like a slob in class even once
45. Go to a show of a local London band
46. Meet my first friend from England
47. See the Royal Albert Hall
48. Sneak a peak of London Fashion Week
49. Take a photo in London with the Southern Weddings issue I contributed to
50. Do the "Where the Hell is Matt" dance in fron tof a London monument (and have the video to prove it)

London is Cool

That last post was a little depressing, but needless to say London has already captured part of my heart. Once the shock of the move wore off I really got to see how amazing being in a big city like this is!

First of all, I need to talk about how AMAZING it is to just be able to go on the subway anywhere in the city! My friend Mevy and I have done a bit of exploring different parts of the city (maybe Regent and Oxford streets, London's big shopping area, a little too much) and we've been able to check a few things off of our to do lists.

We've been able to find a hair dryer and hair straightener, which was pretty high on our lists. No more wet hair buns! We've found a couple of different places to buy groceries that are fairly close and have pretty good deals (M&S and Argos being my favorites).  We've pretty much found our favorite new place for breakfast and lunch, which is a cafe right across the street that has awesome sandwiches, fish and chips, and burgers.

We've tried to stay as un-touristy as possible - even we are starting to spot the tourists and locals based on their actions and nature - but we were able to check out Buckingham Palace yesterday! Didn't see any royals, but I'm sure Prince Harry will be calling me once he gets back from Afghanistan.

Saturday evening Liz, some of Liz's friends from her study abroad group, Mevy, and I went to a pub close to the apartments that serves traditional English food and Thai food. Though I wasn't hungry I hear it was excellent, so I can't wait to go back! Sunday was our big IKEA and Tesco adventure, which used up all of the money I had put on my Oyster Card (which was supposed to last me through the week until I get my monthly student card). According to one of our student peer guides, Ibsa, we went to London's "ghetto," so since we made it out just fine I feel pretty confident in our problem solving abilities!

Monday we had our orientation for Westminster and got some information about classes, the UK education system, and things that we should look out for and get involved in. After that Mevy and I walked around the Regent street area and found our new favorite coffee place (that's not Starbucks) called Joe and the Juice! We sat on the second floor and got such a cool chance to people watch. The place had couches and den chairs to sit in instead of normal restaurant chairs.

Tuesday we did a bit more exploring and finally got our UK phones. It's been a challenge getting used to using a phone that's not an iPhone, but I'm getting used to it! I never knew how easy it is to not keep up with other technologies when you get swept up by Macs and iPhones and Apple. We also had a welcome dinner hosted by CIS at the Old Bank of England on Fleet street where I had my first meat pie (and it was sooooo good). I didn't realize until later that Fleet street is supposedly where Sweeney Todd (as in, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street) supposedly worked and killed his victims!

Tomorrow I have the boat party hosted by CIS that will go around the city in the evening. I think it'll be fun, but I have to make sure to bundle up since it'll be after dark. It's been getting dark around 4:30 lately, but it hasn't been terribly cold until today. This weekend or early next week we're expecting a bit of snow! The highs will be in the upper 30s, so I'll have to break out the hats and gloves!

I have a complete bus tour of London on Friday and then classes start on Monday, so cross your fingers I can find my way to my classes - maybe in the snow!

First Impressions

I'm officially in London! It's been such a shock getting used to actually being here instead of looking forward to it. I don't think I quite realized I would be staying here until May until Friday morning...which left me fighting off tears in the morning, but letting them pretty much completely flow on the way to the airport, then in the entry. I didn't just cry a little - it was like red face ugly crying.

But I knew that would happen. So I've had my first few good cries while here, and I get to check that off my list. Getting through the first night is always the hardest, which is why I'm lucky that I had Katie to text at 4:30 AM over here when I woke up after 3 hours of sleep. Combined with my dorm being ridiculously hot (even with the heat turned off completely), and not having bought bedding (or pillows, etc., I used my flight pillow and a blanket last night) and having had absolutely no sleep on the plane, I think a good cry and sister-to-sister late night text is exactly what I needed.

Today I woke up at the crack of 11:30 after being able to get back to sleep around 6. Jet lag is really kicking my butt, because I would never wake up around 11:30 at home. My friend Mevy, who came here with me, and some new friends and I decided to go to IKEA to pick up some household things we needed. It's so easy to forget that you need things like scissors, soap, and pillow cases when you've always had them with you. We thought we would take the tube down to the Tottenham Hale station, then take a bus to IKEA since it's on the outskirts of London, but the city was doing maintenance on the Tottenham Hale station, so we had to get off at the Seven Sisters station, find a bus to take us to the Tottenham Hale station, then get on a bus to go to IKEA. It was definitely stressful and took more time than we had hoped, but IKEA was a success! I was able to get a duvet cover and two pillow cases for only 4 pounds, which is like $6. When we got home around 5:00 it was completely dark. I guess days are shorter here!

We were also able to get some groceries for the time being at Tesco, which is like the British Walmart. I found out that to use the buggies (that are chained to each other) you have to insert a pound coin to unchain them, then when you put them back together you can get your pound back. It makes so much sense! I'm sure they don't have to worry about loose buggies everywhere in the parking lot and around the store.

That's about it for now - I'll post some more later this week! I have orientation tomorrow, then class registration on Tuesday. Classes start next Monday so we have a lot of time to explore before then!

Top left to right: Sunset on the plane from Charlotte to Detroit, Bus ride from the airport to our dorms with a Polish driver who didn't speak much English, A photo of the flight details on my tv screen in the plane a little over half way across the Atlantic (it was -64 degrees!), Mevy and my roommate Liz on the way to IKEA today, my first meal in England! a BLT, Super English bread I got in a mini store/grocery store near my dorm today

First Post!

Hi everybody! I have only a few days until I am on the plane to London and I can already feel the nerves kicking in. I'm trying to not think about it or stay busy, but it's difficult given the amount of planning and preparation leaving for five months requires. I'm ridiculously excited and I can't wait to head out, but there's definitely a sense of caution and anxiety.

I don't have much to talk about yet, but I'll definitely fill everyone in on this blog as I go! I already have a few trips and events planned through a tour group that include:

• A weekend in Wales
• Billy Elliot the Musical
• Stonehenge and Bath tour
• A walking tour of the Harry Potter film sets
• Boat Cruise tour of London
• Canterbury and Hever Castle tour

I also have tickets for a show by Passenger, a great one man gig I saw last year in the states. He's very folky and bluegrass-y, so if you want to check out his music click here. I'm also planning to see a great band called the Lumineers. They aren't super famous, but almost everyone has heard their most recent single, Ho Hey.

My next post (which will be after I touch down in London) will have more details and photos! Can't wait to share!