The week in rewind

It is hard to belive that I have only been in London for one week. I have seen and done so much and I am actually starting to feel like I fit in. It still hasn't escaped me that I am in a foreign country but when I hear five different languages during a 15 minute train ride, I know I am not alone.

Classes are in full swing and we already have a paper due on Wednesday but this is, of course, not the type of classroom experience that I am used to. As I haven't kept up my blog this week, I'll give a short run through of my week.

Sunday: We all arrived at different times and settled into our rooms. The ACM has rented out what is like a long-term hostel and there is a kitchen and bathrooms on each floor. All of the girls live in rooms of four people. I live with Maggie from Ripon, Caitlyn from Macalester and Heidi from Monmouth. We are all very easy going and get along well but I can tell that we weren't put together because we are the neatest of people. At 6:00 we all had dinner with our professors and program coordinator - and were releived to find out that we didn't have class until the next day.
I ended the evening by heading to the pub across the street with a few other people from the program.

Monday: Class involved a lot of housekeeping tips but we also went for a walk (essentially around the block) with our "host" Goran. He pointed out all of the great places to go and things to look for in our neighborhood. We are staying in Earl's Court, which is in Kensington and Chelsea aka the Southeast part of the city. We had the rest of the afternoon free but had to meet at the Comedy Theatre by 7:30. The performances included Pinter's The Lover and The Collection.

Tuesday: We had another brief class in the morning for more tips on how to survive in London. One of the best tips was John's introduction of the Sainsbury's Basics. It is a line of items at the grocery store that are dirt cheap compared to the other brands. However, even though some, like pasta, are really comparable, some are not. John says he is stuck eating his two boxes of granola that he believes even horses would refuse. Again, we had the afternoon free but had to meet at the Orange Street Theatre at 7:30 for The Woman Hater.

Wednesday: Today meant a BOAT RIDE down the River Thames where we saw all of the quitessential London landmarks, during class. We ended our walk with Sarah at Tower Hill and then were free to roam about the City. That night we went to ANOTHER play. It was Metomorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith. The performance was incredible. The set was divided into two levels but Gregor's room on the second was positioned very differently. Everything was attached to the vertical back wall as if it were the floor. His body movements really transformed into that of an insect. The performance was emotional and visually stunning.

Thursday: Today, for class, we divided into groups to discuss the past three performances. After class was over Ben, Lee, Maggie and I went to the Natural History Museum where we saw huge skeletons of dinosaurs, a replica of a blue whale done to scale and a huge exhibit on Earth's jewels.

Friday: Sarah took us on another brisk walk around London where we were able a few last remaining chunks of the Roman wall and we spent a lot of time talking about the Tower of London. I can't wait to take the tour. After class ended and our weekend started at noon, we took the tube to see Big Ben and other parts of the City up close. It is amazing to see things that I've only seen in books.

Saturday: Amanda, Emily, Sarah and I went to the Tate Modern and were able to see their huge exhibit on Surrealist works. Being right in front of the actual pieces done by Duchamp, Max Ernst and Jean Arp brought me right back to my FYS. I imagine Evelyn Kain would be proud. Then, I spent most of the night just hanging out and spending time with people at home. We also made a trip to the Burger King down the street. Don't Judge. They have blizzard-esque things for only 99 pence.

We are certainly trying to be conservative with our money because the exchange rate is so terrible but becuase of that we are all very greatful that we have been given monthly tube passes by the ACM. They allow us to go nearly anywhere for free. It is very suprising how quickly we have gotten a hang of the routes and I can definitely say that I love the public transportation. It's just hard getting used to how croweded it is.