Well, oops. It looks like a significant amount of time has passed between blog posts, and though it wasn't intentional, it seems I've kind of...gotten a life? A revelation that's new to us all. Between schoolwork (also a thing I'm expected to do. Rude) and trying to absorb as much time exploring as possible, the internet is the last place I want to be hanging out.
Since my last post I've:
-Ridden on the London Eye with some new fantastic friends
-Paid too much for a single glass of wine with previously mentioned friends
-Purchased a shirt with young Leonardo Dicaprio's face on it
-Almost run out of peanut butter
And some other significantly cooler things, too. Paige and I got the privilege of seeing one of our favorite bands, The 1975 play the Alexandra Palace and though I was too short to see as well as I would have liked (grumble) it was wonderful. I've wanted to see them for quite a bit of time and I was not let down: Matty Healy's voice sounded perfect live, and I could not have asked for a better way to cross "attend a concert" off of my London List.
That same week, API took us to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, which I've also started calling That Time I Cried In Front Of Everyone I Know. Colleen and I couldn't even pretend to contain ourselves: we spent the entire 3 hours we were given at the studio (where the ACTUAL actors ACTUALLY filmed!!) staring and taking in every. single. artifact & coercing the people who work there to tell us a million behind the scenes anecdotes. We could have easily spent more time wandering around, but we knew it was time to go when we were blindsided by the Hogwarts castle model and had to stick ourselves in corner in order to regain a little composure.
Since my last post I've:
-Ridden on the London Eye with some new fantastic friends
-Paid too much for a single glass of wine with previously mentioned friends
-Purchased a shirt with young Leonardo Dicaprio's face on it
-Almost run out of peanut butter
And some other significantly cooler things, too. Paige and I got the privilege of seeing one of our favorite bands, The 1975 play the Alexandra Palace and though I was too short to see as well as I would have liked (grumble) it was wonderful. I've wanted to see them for quite a bit of time and I was not let down: Matty Healy's voice sounded perfect live, and I could not have asked for a better way to cross "attend a concert" off of my London List.
That same week, API took us to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, which I've also started calling That Time I Cried In Front Of Everyone I Know. Colleen and I couldn't even pretend to contain ourselves: we spent the entire 3 hours we were given at the studio (where the ACTUAL actors ACTUALLY filmed!!) staring and taking in every. single. artifact & coercing the people who work there to tell us a million behind the scenes anecdotes. We could have easily spent more time wandering around, but we knew it was time to go when we were blindsided by the Hogwarts castle model and had to stick ourselves in corner in order to regain a little composure.
And then I realized...I have to be a big kid. Since arriving in London, I've been a little (okay, a lot) in denial about the fact that I'm going to school. It's hard to convince myself when I can almost feel the city pulsing around me when I'm in lectures, and it seems like I barely go to school because all the work is independent: I'm only in classes Monday-Wednesday, and certainly don't want to spend any of my precious free time researching psychology terms or reading anything that isn't a Buzzfeed article about the best street foods in London.
However, all good things come to an end, and in this case the good thing is my denial. All of a sudden I've been coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to do work if I don't want to absolutely drown come December AND I'm going to have to do things early (something that's going to be difficult, considering I'm using this blog post to procrastinate at least 3 different things right now) in order to be able to carry all my plans through and actually enjoy them.
I used this weekend to mourn my impending responsibility: I called it my vacation weekend, and tried to take advantage of London in various ways before I have to buckle down (well. at least slightly). We had a couple 21st birthdays in my building this weekend & then I had the honor of getting to practice my tour guiding with my very first visitors (hi Ani Bethie & Leah!).
We were able to cover quite a bit of ground in a little over 24 hours: we wandered through Covent Garden, headed towards the South Bank for a bit of touristy sightseeing, ate the most delicious donuts I've ever had in Portobello Market, found the blue door and the travel bookshop in Notting Hill, had Mexican food in a semi-questionable basement restaurant, and did some shopping on Oxford Street. I think my favorite part was getting to see my neighborhood through some fresh eyes; it was nice to be able to share a bit of my very new day to day life (like the cafe in the park across from my flat & my daily walk to uni) with people from home.
It was the perfect London weekend, and one I may not be able to replicate for a while as I'm beginning my European travels this upcoming weekend with a trip to Edinburgh with Paige and Colleen. Then it's on to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris where I will be reunited with one of my favorite people in the universe--everyone take a guess--Maya. I'm going to miss London a little, I think, but I can't wait to indulge my inner explorer.
This next week is shaping up to be a bit of a whirlwind. I've got a group presentation to plan, books to read, and photos to take, but my new motto is "it's worth it". Or at least, it will be until my friends and I decide to take an impromptu trip to get chips or go on a "quick" Primark run. But who can say which is the better education, really?
However, all good things come to an end, and in this case the good thing is my denial. All of a sudden I've been coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to do work if I don't want to absolutely drown come December AND I'm going to have to do things early (something that's going to be difficult, considering I'm using this blog post to procrastinate at least 3 different things right now) in order to be able to carry all my plans through and actually enjoy them.
I used this weekend to mourn my impending responsibility: I called it my vacation weekend, and tried to take advantage of London in various ways before I have to buckle down (well. at least slightly). We had a couple 21st birthdays in my building this weekend & then I had the honor of getting to practice my tour guiding with my very first visitors (hi Ani Bethie & Leah!).
We were able to cover quite a bit of ground in a little over 24 hours: we wandered through Covent Garden, headed towards the South Bank for a bit of touristy sightseeing, ate the most delicious donuts I've ever had in Portobello Market, found the blue door and the travel bookshop in Notting Hill, had Mexican food in a semi-questionable basement restaurant, and did some shopping on Oxford Street. I think my favorite part was getting to see my neighborhood through some fresh eyes; it was nice to be able to share a bit of my very new day to day life (like the cafe in the park across from my flat & my daily walk to uni) with people from home.
It was the perfect London weekend, and one I may not be able to replicate for a while as I'm beginning my European travels this upcoming weekend with a trip to Edinburgh with Paige and Colleen. Then it's on to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris where I will be reunited with one of my favorite people in the universe--everyone take a guess--Maya. I'm going to miss London a little, I think, but I can't wait to indulge my inner explorer.
This next week is shaping up to be a bit of a whirlwind. I've got a group presentation to plan, books to read, and photos to take, but my new motto is "it's worth it". Or at least, it will be until my friends and I decide to take an impromptu trip to get chips or go on a "quick" Primark run. But who can say which is the better education, really?