London: day three

I feel as though I have been sufficiently orientated. Again, the first part of our day was consumed by hours of necessarily boring information. Though today’s topics did include discussing the field trips which actually DO happen to be interesting. Unfortunately, Scotland is off the list for me – at least through IES. The trip is so full that I didn’t even make it onto the wait list. In good news, though, because my classes require that I attend the trips to both Brighton and Stratford upon Avon, those trips I will not be charged for; freeing me up (especially since I cannot go to Scotland) to put my name on the list for trips to Bath, Cambridge, and York. Crossing my fingers and hoping I can go on them all!

For lunch, we got to eat at the Thursday farmer’s market which sets up just outside of Birkbeck. Everything smelled and looked so good, it was difficult to decide. Loaved bread, pastries, meat pies, lasagnas, fresh vegetables. Because we have to cook for ourselves, I think that I may go back next Thursday and find some breads and such that will allow me to sample some of the local, cultured foods, without breaking my bank at the same time.

After another round of orientation, this time for those attending classes at City University, our group was lead around the campus to give us an idea of what to expect. Classes for City do not begin until the27th however, so I am still in the process of figuring out the details of what it will look like for me to take a class there. Despite the stress of figuring those details out, I am tremendously excited to attend class at a true British University.

Upon returning to NIDO, I was forced to spend the next few hours locked away in my room, sorting out paperwork, emails, and activating my UK SIM card in my phone. But in the end I got it all sorted.

Tula and I then met up and decided to go to dinner, we wandered around the streets, venturing a little farther and taking a street here and there that we had never been down before. Eventually we found a promising Vietnamese place which did indeed turn out to be very good. During this time, it was nice to get to know her a little better. One of the funny things about being in London this way, is that during conversations with fellow American peers, it is easy to forget altogether that one is in a foreign country. Then, when the waiter speaks up with his British accent or asks if you would like your food for “take-away” instead of asking whether or not you want a “to-go” box, or a bright red double-decker bus goes blasting by on the street; one feels a minor shock and the thought occurs, “Oh yeah, I’m in London!”

After dinner, Tula and I wandered the streets aimlessly, peering into shop windows and admiring the beautiful storefronts. Every corner of the city is occupied; no space is wasted and it is all extraordinarily compact. Stores layered within stores, tiny shops squeezed between the larger ones, steep staircases leading to basement flats, rooftop terraces and circular community gardens placed conveniently in the middle of a large roundabout. We wandered for quite some time before deciding to make the adventure a bit more interesting. The two of us went to a bus stop, briefly glossed over the map and then got on the first bus that looked like it was going someplace interesting. Our bus of choice: “London Bridge.”

The bus wove in and out of the labyrinth of streets at the typical breakneck pace. There are no square city blocks in London; rather, the streets are arranged in a more “splatter” type pattern – in other words, no patterns, and some buildings even share a similar architectural style. We passed by statues, and monuments with huge columns, pubs and shops before the road opened and we found ourselves driving across London Bridge. Now, the bridge itself is not much to look at, very standard and plain actually – there is very little that is special about it. However, it is from London Bridge that one gets an absolutely stunning view of Tower Bridge, and the HMS Belfast which is moored along the South shore of the Thames between the two bridges. The skyline of skyscrapers was broken by the dome or tower assorted cathedrals, beautifully lit to show off their architectural holiness. Also to the South, the Shard towers overhead, startlingly close. We got off when the ride terminated, and skipped on over to the bridge where we took pictures and poked around in a few of the pubs, side-streets, and Southwark Cathedral which is no more than a block away from the bridge. Cold, we eventually decided to see what it would be like to waltz into a pub and see what it would be like to order a drink and sit inside. We both ended up with a “London Lager” which we got just because it sounded right –neither of us having been very experienced in the art of ordering beers. It turned out to be good, still don’t consider myself much of a beer person. But it was worth it to sit in the warm, and loud coziness of the pub. Someone was celebrating a birthday at the bar, but for the most part, people just sat chatting at the tables, not getting too rowdy. Here in England, the pubs are the main social centers; they are the places that people go to socialize over a casual drink, usually after work or for lunch, not to get wasted. They are cozy, often beautifully decorated in ornate woodwork with green, gold, or red painted accents, dimly lit but the occasional candle on a table helps to warm it up considerably. They are seldom quiet, and are usually filled with casual conversation, only a little on the loud side. So Tula and I enjoyed our drink, then decided to catch the tube back to NIDO sometime around midnight. Our first stint at going out to get intentionally lost turned out to be quite the success.