First Week Abroad

Hello everyone! Thanks for being patient with the new blog post. A lot of changes have been happening in the past week, and I wanted to give myself time to get settled here before I wrote it all down. There won't be pictures this time around, but I have been taking some (baby steps, my friends, baby steps).

For those of you that don't know the specifics of this semester for me, I'm studying at King's College in central London, taking a couple classes that go towards my Comparative Literature minor at USC (along with a couple elective credits that I'm still trying to figure out at the moment). Studying abroad is something I've always wanted to do, and London is one of my favorite places in the world, so I'm excited to combine these two things and see what results.

With that, here's the breakdown of this past week. I arrived at Heathrow airport on January 4th and went straight to my dorm room, which is located in southeast London. King's College does not have one solitary location, so the different departments of the university are spread throughout three main campuses, and my dorm is... not near any of them. Which took some getting used to. By now I've figured out my transportation to and from school (I take a red double decker bus! The view from the top level as we cross Waterloo bridge is spectacular), but at first I was really intimidated by the surroundings. I've actually spent a significant amount of time this past week complaining about what could be improved in my living situation, but have come to realize that the complaints boil down to these three things: blah blah and blah. I'M IN LONDON! For five months! And there are some great things about my situation so far. For example, the people I've met. Most of them are other study abroad students, and it's great to have a set group of people I can go romping around the city with if I feel so inclined.

Which, as it happens, I do! A lot. King's classes don't actually start until next week, so this gives the new students lots of time to get familiar with the layout of the city. So far I've been to Trafalgar and Leicester Square, walked along three of the main bridges connecting the north and south sides of the Thames River, seen the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and visited parts of the Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, and Natural History Museums. While paying attention to the Harrod's shopping mall and some very British pubs, for the full city effect. Most of these things I've done before on previous trips to London, but it's a different experience this time around because I get the amazing opportunity to choose my pace in these places and go back if I feel I missed something the first time. Every place is distinct and has a brilliant history, but one thing keeps astounding me: the buildings are magnificent. It's crazy for me as a California girl to come to this place where the architecture recalls another time period and have it actually be more than a hundred years old. My friend and I walked by a breathtaking cathedral tucked away behind London bridge two days ago. Built in 606. Hadn't even cracked the quadruple digits yet. It's in moments like those where I will be simply walking around and it will suddenly dawn on me that I'm still in London. I guess I just haven't woken up from the dream yet.

Okay, that should do for now! Anderson out.