Getting to know London

Living in any city is about getting to know the city and today was definitely all about getting comfortable. We started out with a security meeting and practical walking tour which gave us feeling for our neighborhood and its name. We're close to Soho, China Town, the theater district, Convent Gardens, and Westminster. So after lunch and study/email break, we went exploring. After a slight diversion to gelato (chocolate and triple berry, yum) and shoes, we headed toward the Thames. We're very centrally located; the Thames is maybe 20 minutes away.

I really liked visiting the Thames and it was really windy today, but it was really nice to see the waves. Since a lot of fun places in London are on the Thames, I'm pretty happy that I managed to get there and back two different ways. I feel really comfortable traveling in at least part of London now. It was a real adventure to make our way back because we decided to take Charring Cross instead of going back the way we came, via Convent Garden. While we never lost, we did get a bit turned around and ended up passing our chosen road. But we did get to see the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square and the edge of Piccadilly Circus (one of my favorite detectives has an office on Piccadilly).

But the best thing about London, so far, is the beer. I'm traveling London by pub! Kind of the way some people travel by food, I plan on trying lots of different beer. Last night I had a larger and tonight I had a pint of London Pride. I'm pretty sure it was an amber ale, but don't quote me on that. It was very very good. Not too bitter and just the right amount of flavor.

p.s. We have hot water. YES!

Fantastic Flatmates but no hot water

The previous tenants left us this nice note that definitely bodes well for our apartment. It's going to be great. There are four of us: Tara, Alesha, Katie and me. So far, its started off awesome... with the exception of the no hot water. We're not really sure how this came about, but here it is. Hopefully everything will be fixed tomorrow.
We live in the "attic." It's awesome to be able to see across the street and down to the sidewalk but its a ridiculous long walk up the stairs. They're winding and very narrow; it was a bit of challenge with the luggage. We're all gonna be in great shape when we leave.

From our street we managed to get grocery, find dinner and get to a great pub. It was definitely an exhausting day; jet lag has a tendency to roll over you like waves. Some times I felt really energetic and ready to go and other times all I wanted to do was sleep. The center is in a great location; so much is easily accessible, which will be apparent in the days to come.

The group has been so helpful. Since our hot water disappeared, neighbors below and next store were offered up theirs. We have a wonderfully sweet group and I'm indebted to my awesome downstairs neighbors for letting me take a shower. THANKS!

Mobile Success?

Recently I became a proud owner of an iPod touch. What happened was my sister's iPod died and she went out and bought a new one. Her prevoius one was really old so it was nice she got a nice new one. Unfortunately she found out almost immediately that she would be getting one with her new Mac which is required for school. By that point she had already used her new touch so the one coming with the Mac was offered to me at a discounted price.

So now I'm trying to see if I can blog from this mobile device can aid me in my web 2.0 adventures. It does seem appropriate since more and more these days mobile devices are an important way to access the net. I'm going to try again at the airport while I wait to get on the plane. If this posts, I think it would be success.

Nearly Ready

Tomorrow I fly to London late in the evening. I fly out of O'Hare in Chicago which is unfortunately infamously well-known among fliers as a terrible airport despite its vast and amazing city. A city with a giant sculpture dubbed "the Bean" is awesome by default, right? It's here, pictured to the right. It even looks awesome on a freezing February evening.

I chatted with a friend from undergrad today and got some great ideas for places to visit and things to do while in London (Thanks Brooks!) This chat made everything seem a bit more realistic and realism feels essential at the moment. Not only did we get to catch up, which I've been failing at miserably ALL summer along, but it was nice to get some advice from an American who lived in London. He studied in London for year during the same year I was in Spain, though we weren't friends at the point. Brooks's advice includes:

• Take buses. You see so much more of London on a double-decker than the Tube. (I agree. For my brief visit I took a bus and it was really fun.) 
• Check out Camden's market on the weekends. It's huge marketing on north side. Lots of food, merchandise and lots of fun. 
• Walk as much as you can. London is a great walking city (like lots of Europe I think.)

We talked about a few other things but those were a few bits that I thought were particularly helpful. Living abroad in a city is different than just being a tourist. You actually get a chance to make your own routine/home. Therefore his advice definitely pushes me in the right direction at feeling comfortable and at-home in London. I know that's not really the point of the trip and we are going to be there for such a short time, but why not? The best part about going anywhere is settling in, finding your groove and discovery another country/culture.

3 in 5

It's only a quarter to midnight here in IL so technically its July 12th and technically I am not late. I hope this late night posting will not become my habit but I have a sneaking suspicion it might. I seem to be running that way at the moment.

I am almost ready to leave and feeling pretty good about it. I think I'll be nervous Wednesday, but for now, I have too much to think about to be very nervy. The heaviest thing way on my mind at the moment is an HTML class I am taking online. Now I knew when I signed up that it would be ending while I was abroad. I didn't think it was going to be too much of a problem; we're done with most of our coding at this point. However, my teacher posted the next three weeks of content online already: five labs, a project, three quizzes and a final. My goal is to get them all done before I leave on Wednesday since I don't have to work about; basically three weeks of information in five days. It's possible I have lost a few of my marbles but I figured why not give it a try.

I'm actually doing pretty well. I read an entire textbook last Thursday/Friday. I did all five labs on Friday night. I did a quiz yesterday, two today and I'll take the final tomorrow. The project is turning out to be a bit more time-consuming that I thought but if I get everything else done, I can work on that somewhat leisurely.

It's a bit of a stressful way to prepare to leave and its not obligatory but it actually makes me feel more prepared. It means I can now concentrate on London: having a great time, seeing some wonderful places, drinking awesome beer, posting on this blog on time (hopefully), etc. The bit of stress will pay off on Wed when I get on the plane.

Speaking of London, Ellie is extremely excited as well. The Door County travels last weekend seemed to put her right in the mood.
See how she dreams of beautiful places?

Here's Hoping

Packing for this trip was a bit complicated for me. This mostly had to do with the fact that I was trying to pack up my clothes that will be moved when I get back at and pack for London. When I return to Madison in August, I plan on living on my London clothes for the rest of that week so it became process of weeding. Can I use this shirt/pants/shoes now and in a month? Yes or no?

Once I got through deciding what I needed for London, then I slowly made my way through laundry (complete with a broken dryer, extra 1.25 which I didn't have, and spilling laundry detergent all over my apt floor) and packing up the rest of clothes. I did find out that socks and clean work out clothes make great packing padding. When I left this morning, my apartment had basically been decimated to about 8 to 10 boxes.

I'm pretty happy with my choices. I've probably brought too many clothes but everything fits into one small rolling suitcase, so I couldn't have gone too far overboard. I have to do a bit of rearranging before I leave, but the whole I feel like I'll be prepared. There's only one major problem with checking a bag and that's the possibility that the airline will lose it. I am flying from one major airport to another but this is US travel so some type of mix-up is almost certainly inevitable. So on top of deciding what goes in the check-in, I tried to chose of a couple of things to go in my carry-on. This consists of a couple of t-shirts and essentials and lots of hope that small rectangular black rolly bag will come around the conveyor belt in four days time.

Tomorrow (well at this point, today) I leave to go back to IL. It's been a busy week since I've been trying to finish up homework for another class, pack for London and pack up my apartment. I'm moving about a week after I get back from Madison so I'm trying to make sure I'm ready. Since I seem to leaving for England in sections, I consider section 1 completed!

I'm going back home to IL so I can spend some time with my family and then my mom is very kindly driving me up to Chicago to catch the plane. It'll be nice to have my mom see me off, though O'Hare's Terminal 5 is not exactly conducive to long goodbyes. It's a very bare terminal; dozens of check-in counters, a small food court and then security check point. They really don't like you lingering.

I'm looking forward to leaving Madison for a bit even though I like living here. There's something soothing about taking a break from your life, despite the chaos absence tends to cause. Work, school and other requirements are all thrown into disarray when you take a vacation from everyday life, but there wouldn't be any fun if you didn't.
I decided to take this class not only because I found the topic extremely interesting and exactly what I wanted to do, but the idea of going on abroad to "live" was very appealing. It's not exactly like taking a break from your "real" life, but its more like choosing cover for the story (not the greatest analogy, I know). Regardless about how much I'm going to miss Madison, my friends and my family; despite the insanity and stress preparing for this trip has caused me, I really can't wait.

So Bye-Bye Madison! Hello London!