1/21

Hellllllooooo everybody!
Greetings from the United Kingdom, home of the sunniest weather since last summer in Japan! No kidding, we had eight days straight of sunshine (broken up by snow flurries on Friday), which finally broke today with a foggy day. But now that there's fog, the temperature has warmed up quite a lot. I've heard that there's something white on the ground back in the states--what's it called? Snow? Sleet? Freezing rain? I think it's quite unheard of here!
Anyway, my week was interesting, a cross between being a tourist and being a resident of London. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I had classes. Classes here are much easier than in the states, and if you don't do the work, it's ok. I actually do more than everyone else I have met, and I got a 97 on my first test here. I only have two essays due, both in March/April, so I really have nothing planned for awhile anyway. It's nice just to be able to enjoy life again...somehow in the process of going to college in NYC I managed to forget how to do that.
My most exciting day was Wednesday. Since it's my middle-of-the-week holiday, I decided to spend it by studying! Which lasted until I saw the sunshine outside my window. I headed off to Citibank in Oxford Circus and then to the British Airways Travel Shop in Piccadilly Circus (where I successfully spent $1000 U.S. on airline tickets)..followed by Leicester Sq. I was planning on eating homemade peanut butter & jelly in Leicester, but I was a little too close to Soho and the smells of Chinatown, so I headed off to buy myself some dim sum, which I proceeded to eat in Leicester Square. After that, I headed towards Trafalgar and the National Gallery (which is full of pigeons that will eat out of your hand), followed by Whitehall. Somehow, I don't know how, I ran into the Changing of the Queen's Guard, which was absolutely phenomenal!! Literally I was right in the middle of it! Finally, I headed down to see protests to ban hunting at the Houses of Parliament as well as the tombs of famous kings and queens at Westminster Abbey. I wanted to save money by walking home, but I was just so tired I couldn't resist hopping on the tube before I crashed back here. :oP
I also had a great weekend--my friend MarYam (who attends Middlebury) took the Oxford Tube down from Oxford and we spent a night here before heading off to Canterbury, home of the Canterbury Tales, with Geera, another American. Canterbury was totally wonderful...it still bears lots of resemblances to when it was a fortified town blocking the Normans from entering England in the 11th century. Thus, there's still a wall surrounding the center of town and the remains of Canterbury Castle, which you can climb around in. Canterbury had lots more to do than Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as lots more free stuff, so we toured the Canterbury Cathedral, famous for the martyr of Sir. Thomas Beckett, and then walked around High Street/St. Peter's Street, which is a pedestrian mall now. After fish'n'chips for lunch, we went to the castle and then walked around High Street some more. Ironically, I ran into a boy whose family we have met in Miami Beach some three times now (I heard a little British voice calling my name and was completely dumbfounded!), very strange indeed! We had Indian tandoori for dinner and stayed in a bed-and-breakfast just outside of town, so we attempted to enjoy watching the American presidential inauguration on BBC and actually enjoyed a lovely English breakfast! We hopped on the train back to London this morning, and I've been attempting to study and run errands all afternoon.
TIP OF THE WEEK: Food prepared American style means that it is:
a) big
b) fatty
c) cheap
d) all of the above.
Hope you're happy and well!
Love,
Kirsten
P.S. The answer is D.