I give you my apologies as it has been over a week since my last post! I am sure you are all wondering what I have been up to! Well, I will try to get you up-to-date in my life in London.
Can you believe I have been in London for a whole month now? I'm not sure how to feel about it; it doesn't feel like we have been here long yet at the same time it seems like those first few days in the new city were so long ago. We are about a third of the way through the program and I haven't gotten to do any traveling outside of England yet! But don't worry, I have many plans, mostly for weekend trips in November, such as Paris, Germany, and Wales, and of course, lots of traveling during fall break: Ireland, Italy, and Greece.
I will start with last week after my last post.
On Thursday we had class in the morning, which many of us were late to thanks to crowded tubes. Mark was not pleased with us. We were learning about different types of media in Britain. Religion class in the afternoon was quite interesting; we discussed how religion is defined and then took an online quiz to find out what religion our beliefs follow. On both Friday and Saturday, I went to Portobello Market. I LOVE this place. There are some great antiques, gifts, clothes, and food. We didn't make it all the way to the end of the market as it seems to just go on and on forever. I bought a tube map tea towel and some photos. I also found the best gift ever for my boyfriend: the first pressing of the first Beatles album, "Please, Please Me" as well as their "Rubber Soul" album. I wanted to keep it a secret, but of course, I couldn't contain myself with a gift like that, so he got it out of me. He is really excited about them though! I had Gelato (Italian style ice cream) for the first time on Friday at the market. It was so delicious. Saturday night, a group of us went out to a pub for Alex and Cameron's birthdays. It was a fun night that included karaoke which Alex got up and sang Elton John to Anna (too cute!).
On Sunday, I spent my afternoon at Hampstead Heath park up north. It is a very large park with a lot of ponds and trees that makes you forget you are in a city. I found myself a large tree that had fallen to sit and read on. I was a bit lost wondering around that place but it was quite enjoyable to hike around there on such a beautiful day. I went to Westminster Chapel's evening service again on my own and there were 3 men who got baptized during the service. It was something I had never seen before: a tiny pool under the floorboards where the person was fully submerged in. I was glad I attended that night as the stories these three men shared where quite moving. Later Sunday night, a group of us went to get poffertjes from a place called My Old Dutch restaurant as a surprise for Cameron on his birthday. It was almost like Tulip Time! ;)
Monday I went over to City Lit for my first yoga class. I really enjoyed the class; it consists of just 8 women of various ages and a male instructor who was really helpful. We went through some basic breathing and stretching exercises and a few poses. I am supposed to practice "The Cat" pose this week. However, one thing that makes me not look forward to going back there: a very awkward guy who kept following me around and asking me all sorts of questions. He told me he would see me next Monday...yikes! That afternoon, I went to see "Crazy Stupid Love" with Shannon at a cinema that was much larger and nicer than the one Margaret and I went to a couple weeks ago!
Tuesday and Wednesday I had my internship. I really didn't do much at all this week. I would go around and ask everyone if they wanted me to do something for them, but they all responded with, "No, I don't have anything you can do at the moment." They were all busy, but with things I apparently cannot help with. It was very frustrating just sitting around with nothing to do. I came here for an internship where I could get some real experience working in the psychology/sociology field, but so far haven't done much yet. I do like the organisation and what it does, and the people are all very nice and good at what they do. I have learned a bit from just listening to conversations and doing some reading whilst I am there. However, next Tuesday, I will have things to do: I am first going to another branch to help out with some things there and then in the afternoon I am going to a school with the Domestic Violence in Schools Coordinator to do those activities I discussed in my last post. I hope it all goes well and that I will have things to do all the time from now on...
Yesterday, we had class in the morning where we discussed the recent London riots and then for Religions in London, we met at Holy Cross Church of England to tour and talk to the priest about the church. It was very pretty inside, a very Catholic-like church that is 123 years old with large arches going up along the sides.
Today, we left in the morning for Stonehenge and Bath. We spent around a half hour at Stonehenge walking around on the path, and then moved on to Bath, where we toured the Roman Baths and had a little time to walk around the town. Bath is such a lovely town with a gorgeous hilly countryside (apparently several celebrities have homes there). The weather was so beautiful for the trip, and I got some really great photos of both places. The weather here has actually been very nice for about a week and a half now; sunny and warm, little rain. This weekend though, it is in the 80s!! Very nice, especially for the arrival of my mom and uncle Scott tomorrow morning! They are coming to visit me for a week with a very full itinerary! ;)
I have been very tired this week, having trouble staying awake in class and at my internship when I am doing boring tasks or sitting waiting to do something. It is the worst in the mornings, and it makes me wonder if something is up with my thyroid or if I just have not been getting enough sleep. I haven't been going to sleep as early as I would like, usually due to the noise outside or talking to my boyfriend on Skype. But, it still should be enough that I can keep my eyes open during the day! This week has also included a lot of planning for fall break trips, which can get stressful. Something I have noticed about myself lately is how irritated I get by the crowds, particularly on the tube, who get in my way as I try to get to class or my internship or other places. I guess that means I am becoming an official Londoner!
Well that's about it; you are now caught up in my London adventure. I will try to write more often this coming week as I see and do all sorts of things with my mom and uncle. Hopefully I will have more energy this week!!
Cheers!
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