Can I Go To Hogwarts Instead of Uni??

Uni classes officially started on Monday! I am having some issues getting the modules (what classes are called here) that I want, but I knew one of the ones was on Monday, which was Fashion History. I went to the class just in case I get into it, which I hope I do. The professor was so energetic and really engaged the whole time. I have that class with my friend Marli and every once in a while we would just look at each other because of the way the professor was acting. She was acting like she was modeling during fashion week... it is one of those "you had to be there" moments. At one point she mentioned President Obama, which I found amusing because rarely in classes back home do we mention other countries politics.

A lot of my friends and I don't have class on Tuesday so we decided to go to Oxford Street to do some shopping. We went to stores like TopShop (which was 3 stories, had a bakery, cafe, eyebrow waxing, nail salon, ear piercing and Ellyn said they had a tattoo parlor in there as well!), H&M, Zara, Office and ended our shopping spree with lunch at McDonalds... trust me, the McDonalds here are much nicer than back in the States!

"You're a wizard, Laura."

Ellyn and I were done shopping by that point and wanted to head to Kings Cross to live our childhood dream of finding Platform 9 3/4. We left the group and found our way to Kings Cross (such a big accomplishment for us!). We were basically running through the train station trying to find it and when we did Ellyn was almost in tears. The line to get a picture there was not long. Once we got to the front we got to choose what scarf we wanted to wear. Ellyn got her picture first and wore the Gryffindor scarf. My turn was after her and I wore the Hufflepuff scarf. The photographer was making fun of me for being a Hufflepuff but I'm proud of it! After our pictures were taken we ran to the store (there is a Harry Potter store at the train station) to see our pictures. The store had wands, coffee mugs, keychains, Hogwarts Express train tickets, scarves, sweaters... basically anything a Harry Potter fan would want! Ellyn bought a Professor Snape wand and I got Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (it's the same book as the Sorcerer's Stone but I had to get a copy of the original). While I was taking Ellyn's picture in front of the store the photographer walked by and offered to take our picture together in front of it. Ellyn mentioned to me how we should have gotten our picture taken together and the photographer heard and said he would put us in front of the queue (british word for line) if we wanted. So, naturally, we put the scarves back on and acted like we were heading off to Hogwarts again! We were so happy after finding that platform. We decided to head back to Kingston to get some dinner then head home because we had class the next morning.... we found our way back all by ourselves again! And someone even asked us for directions on which tube to take. I guess we are finally beginning to look like locals!

Ellyn and I living our dream!! If only it actually took us to Hogwarts...

I had Uni again this morning. I had a magazine journalism module at 9 am. It is really interesting because magazines are what got me interested in journalism. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love magazines! My favorite part of the class is that we are encouraged to read magazines throughout the semester, easy for me to do! I met another study abroad student who is studying in NYC back home. She got to intern at Elle Magazine and her friend got to intern at Glamour Magazine (which is one of my favorites). Right after the lecture we had the seminar for the class, which is a smaller version of the class so you can do more hands-on activities with more help. This is when I found out just how much work this module will be, but I think it will be very helpful for me in the future.

Later today I had British Life and Culture. I have a lot of friends I met at orientation in that module with me! This module is for study abroad students and you learn about the british culture (hence the name). We also take a lot of field trips to places like Parliament, Oxford and Bath. I cannot wait to go on these trips and learn about everything. I think the easiest part of the class will be the pop culture section (I listen to enough One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Olly Murs so hopefully I'll get an A on that section). I have the seminar for that module next week with Ellyn! That seminar only meets every other week.

After everyone was done with their modules for the day we hung out at the local pub. One of my friends told me she found out there was a module offered at Kingston Uni called "Muggle Studies." Now I'm wondering why I'm not in that class? Being in London makes Harry Potter seem so real.

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Tomorrow and Friday is where my schedule gets really messed up. I am going to a song lyric writing module in the morning because I am trying to get into it (just for fun). After that I have a broadcasting module that I am hoping to get out of. I have the same issue with my Friday modules but I have been emailing people about the problems so it should be cleared up soon and I will then have my official schedule.

Ever since visiting Platform 9 3/4 I just keep wishing it actually led to Hogwarts. I love Uni, but doesn't every Harry Potter fan just want to hop on the Hogwarts Express?

The Royal Treatment

Have you ever seen a castle in real life? Because that's what I did today! Kingston Uni had a trip to see Windsor Castle, which is the residence of the Queen! I'm not going to lie... I was looking for her while I was there.

Windsor Castle

When we first got to the castle we had to go through security airport style, then went to get the audio-guide. After that we were free to walk around and through the castle as we wish (the parts that were open to the public, at least). Being fascinated with anything royal I was excited all day! My friend Sarah also loves the Royal Family. We were on the lookout for Prince Harry all day. The castle was beautiful. We got to see many of the best rooms in the castle (such as where all of the big dinners are held and the queen's throne!). I have never been so excited about a building before. We could not take pictures inside the castle, but we could take pictures of the outside, and around the town as well!

We also got to walk through St. George's Chapel. There were many graves throughout the building. Some of the dates dated as far back as the 1400's! While walking through the church parts of it reminded me of Westminster Abbey, and Sarah said she felt like she was walking down the aisle like at Kate and William's wedding.

After the chapel we went into town to look at all of the shops. My friend Ellyn and I wanted to have tea and scones... we've been in England for almost a week and haven't yet! We found a little cafe and had a mini tea party of our own. It was our first time having scone's ever. We had tea the "proper" way by adding sugar and milk.

Tea time with Ellyn!

We walked around the different shops for a while (found a LOT of postcards we liked) and before we knew it it was time to head back to Kingston! We had not eaten a lot today so by the time we got back we were ready for dinner. All of our other friends had a big lunch so only Ellyn and I were hungry. We decided to go to Nando's, which is a popular food chain over here. We got seated at our table but then had no idea how to order. We tried to figure it out but then eventually had to ask the people next to us, who explained we go up to the register, place our order and give them our table number. So much for trying to not look like American's!

Nando's

Since we had such a long day of walking around Windsor Castle we were exhausted. We met up with our friends at the post office, put more pounds on our oyster cards (what you use to get on the public transportation here) and then decided to go home.

Today might have been one of my favorite days here so far. The weather was perfect, we got to see a royal castle, had a tea party and got to spend all day with my friends! With classes starting in a few days I have to start getting into school mode. My main concern is there is so much to explore in London, how am I supposed to focus on school now?

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.

Disconnected from the World

I arrived in London yesterday! I'm here and it still hasn't sunk in that I will be here for 5 months. I still have moments where I see something that is "British" and smile because I remember where I am.

Waiting to board the plane to London!

I arrived at Heathrow Airport yesterday morning. I traveled with some girls from CMU and Grand Valley on my plane. It was nice traveling with people as excited as you are! Going through customs was not even as bad as I thought it would be! I just had to give them my visa, passport, told them why I was there and how long I would be there for. I was so nervous, but the guy was really funny and made me feel more comfortable. After we got our luggage we found people wearing "Kingston University" shirts that were there to pick us up. They called the taxi company to take us to the school. While we waited for the taxi's one of the KU workers told me how she was at Heathrow the night before and saw a photographer who she thought was taking a picture of her.... it ended up that Harry Styles (from One Direction) was right next to her! I thought it was crazy that I could see celebrities at the airport or just walking around London!

Once we got to the school I got to call home. It was weird thinking I had been awake for a few hours but my family was just then waking up (I think I woke my mom up with the phone call..... oops!). Then began the long process of enrollment. The actual process wasn't long but waiting in the lines were. After enrollment we got our Kingston Uni ID cards. Getting a picture taken after a long place ride is not exactly what I wanted, but it's so cool to see "London" on the card.

The next part was nerve-wrecking... going to your house to meet your host family. I took a taxi to my house. It is the most adorable thing I have seen, but I feel like all the houses here are adorable! When I knocked on the door Peter (my host-dad) answered. He showed me around the house and helped me bring my bags to my room. I unpacked my things and then waited for Georgina (my host-mum) and Sam (another international student) to get home. Since I had not been grocery shopping yet Georgina made us dinner.

My room in my english house

After dinner, I decided to get ready for bed. That is when the homesickness hit. I did not expect it to hit me so soon! I wanted to skype my family, but the converter for my plug was not working and my laptop was going to die. On top of that I did not buy a phone to use here yet. I had never felt so disconnected from the world before.

This morning I woke up, though, feeling much better. I found another plug and my converter worked there so I got to charge my laptop! I also had a orientation at school today. This orientation was mostly to explain different classes offered at school and then we took a tour of the Uni and around Kingston. It is so cute! There are so many little shops, markets and pubs there. We went back to Uni after the tour and had lunch. Then we were done for the day!

I made some friends from Australia, New York, Ohio and even more from Michigan! We all wanted to get new phones so we went back to the stores in Kingston and bought phones (FINALLY!!!) and I got some more pounds. We walked back to Uni to figure out what to do next. They had extra food there so some of us decided to eat dinner before we did anything else. We didn't want to go back to our houses quit yet so we went to a pub for a little bit. It was nice to sit around and talk to the other students to see the differences in the culture (mostly the difference between the USA and Australia, but also a few differences between the states, as well!).

Then comes the bus ride home. This part was all new to met because I don't use a bus at CMU. Thankfully, I found out my friend Rachel lives a street next to me so we rode the bus home together. It's nice to know I have someone so close to me!

With Rachel, Sarah, Marli and Maddy in Kingston

When I got home I got to skype my parents and one of my brothers. I thought I would just start crying when I "saw" them since I was so homesick yesterday, but it wasn't bad at all! I was excited to tell them everything that had happened so far. Making friends today, being able to use my laptop and buying a phone really helped cure my home sickness. Now I can talk to my friends here easier, and talk to my family and friends back home.

All I keep thinking is coming to London was the best decision I have made so far.

Procrastination at its Finest...

I leave in 3 days. This is all so surreal! It started to hit me this week that I am actually going to London. As embarrassing as this may be, I even started to get homesick already and I haven't left yet! I said goodbye to my extended family last weekend and shed a few tears, which I wasn't expecting to do.  They are all excited for this journey I'm about to embark on.

For Christmas I got a lot of things for my trip, such as clothes, travel books and a hat from my aunt that looks "english." I have been looking through the books to get an idea of what the city is like.... I can't wait to travel around England, as well as other countries around it!

All of the travel books I got! I would suggest getting a few to anyone who plans on studying abroad. 

My parents also got me a charm bracelet. Their idea around it is when I travel to a different place I can buy a charm to remember my time there. They put the red, white and blue charm on it to represent America. I love my bracelet and am excited to add more charms to it!

The charm bracelet my parents got me.

These next few days will be filled with packing and spending time with my family. I have a habit of over-packing so I am being very cautious of what I am bringing with me. It takes me forever to figure out what I want to pack for any trip, even if it is just going to a friends house for the night. Until I have everything packed and am at the airport I will be stressing out. Maybe I should have started packing a few weeks ago...