I'm in LONDON!!!

It's safe to say it finally sunk in that I am living in London for a few months. I can't wait until I feel like a local, although I can give some directions around the Kingston area.

Phone Booth!

Yesterday we saw Jersey Boys at Prince Edward Theatre. It was our first trip out of the Kingston area and heading more towards central London. To get there I rode the top of the double decker bus, a train and the tube. It was so different to have to ride so much public transportation! The show was very good. I love musicals and was looking forward to this since I had bought tickets. We must have looked "American" because as we were getting ready to leave a couple asked to make sure we knew where we were going so we wouldn't get lost. I heard a lot of things about people from London, but so far they are very nice!

Jersey Boys 

That night me and some of my friends decided to stay in a hostel near central London since we had to go there the next morning. I had never stayed in one before, but it was like a hotel/dorm room. There are several bunk beds in one room and you have your own bathroom. It worked out perfect for us! While we were there we started talking to a boy who is from London (the first british person we met besides our host families and people at school!). We were talking about the differences between England, America, and Australia (one of the girls with us is from there). It is so interesting to hear what they think of us. One of the things that shocked me and my friend Rachel is that neither of them grew up with American Girl Dolls. We thought they would have different versions of the dolls since they are so popular back home, but they don't. We also found out that we stayed in one of the nicest part of London, Kensington, which is where Prince William and Kate Middleton live!

Today we had a walking tour of London. One of the weirdest feelings to experience is seeing a well-known building on tv all the time and then seeing it in real life. The first sight of Big Ben was so exciting and weird at the same time. It is much smaller in person than you would think, but it is also much prettier in person. We also saw other landmarks, such as the London Eye, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. The tour was interesting to hear all of the information about the different buildings, but it was cold! By the end of the walk my toes were frozen.

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

One of the girls from CMU that is studying at Kingston with me also worked at the summer camp I worked at. Lorraine and I know some "internationals" (it's strange to think that I am an international now) that live in the London area, so after the tour we met up with one of them for dinner. He took us to another part of central London that we didn't see! Just going one or two streets away from where we started showed me that I really need to go back to the city soon so I can really look at all the buildings and spend more time at each stop. The tour was nice because it showed me where everything was, but now I can go back on my own time and get to see everything up close and for more time.

One of the reasons I love the british culture is because of the Royal Family. Tomorrow morning we are heading to Windsor, which is one of the residence of The Queen.