Thursday: Today we had our British Experience and Contemporary British Society and Culture classes. It was three hours straight, all in the same room: first British Experience Seminar, Contemporary Britain, then Contemporary Britain small-group seminar. The classes weren't too exciting yet; just the usual first day of class routine. We said good-bye to our assistant director, Beth, as she is leaving to go on a year-long holiday traveling all over the world with her boyfriend. Our new assistant director, Jen, is originally from Kansas and now lives here with her husband. In the afternoon on Thursdays, I have my Religions of London class from 2 to about 5pm. I really enjoyed the first day of this class and already learned about the origins of the Church of England. We get to go to a few different services as well as a visit Jewish temple and a Mosque. I am quite excited to learn about and experience these different religions and cultures.
Friday: A group of 8 of us went over to Abbey Road this afternoon. We of course, took turns getting our photos taken walking across the street like the Beatles. We also checked out the Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles did most of their recording. We then ventured to the Beatles Coffee Shop where I got the best souvenir ever: an Abbey Road street sign with the Beatles faces on it. A short walk from there was Regent's Park, where we climbed Primrose Hill to get a look at the best view of the city. It was a lovely day and a lovely view. We just sat up there for quite a while, some taking a short nap in the warm sun. The weather had been so beautiful these days. This was probably my favorite afternoon in London so far. I will definitely be going back to that hill to relax on nice days.
Saturday & Sunday: These were relaxing days filled with sleeping in, buying groceries, reading, and watching movies with my new friends. Saturday night, nearly everyone in the program went out to a club called Roxy to celebrate Caroline's 21st birthday. It was a fun night apart from trying to figure out the night bus system on the way back (tubes close early). I actually ended up injuring myself a little as I tried walking up the stairs of a double-decker bus when it started moving (and no, I was not intoxicated, just clumsy and tired). Sunday morning a small group of us did go to Westminster Chapel (not Westminster Abbey) for church again. William Graham (grandson of the evangelist Billy Graham from North Carolina) was the guest preacher. I enjoyed the service quite a bit, and the church is beautiful. I am finding however, that the church's beliefs are a bit more conservative than my own. I like the church, but still am interested in other worship services in London.
Today (Monday): Today I went to my internship site for the first time! I met with the Shelagh, the manager of Bayswater Family Centre, for about 20 minutes as she described all that the organisation does. The centre is mainly a place that supports homeless families, but it provides quite an array of services. I was told I would be helping out in all areas of the complex organisation: general administration, sitting in on meetings with clients, helping in the children's centre, traveling to the outreach schools, etc. I was overdressed; Shelagh was wearing jeans and a sweater and said that dress was casual, although she dresses according to what she will be doing (dressing up more for meetings). Hopefully I know what I will be doing ahead of time so I know what to wear! Oh well, better overdressed than underdressed. I will be working at the Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, starting tomorrow at 9:30am! This means I have Mondays off, so I have decided to sign up for a yoga class at City Lit college from noon to 1pm. I like this as I will have a day to recover from any weekend trips I may take before I go to work at the Centre.
I am starting to make some travel plans. Hopefully some will get booked soon! For fall break, I am hoping to spend the first weekend in Ireland/Scotland then head down to Italy for the rest of the trip. I am also wanting to go to Wales and Liverpool over a weekend soon, probably with Shannon. A day trip down to Brighton also seems to be in the near future. I sent an email out to Anna, a foreign exchange student Sarah and I were good friends with in high school, with a list of weekends for us to possibly come stay with her in Germany. I just hope she gets back to me soon! And, I have to throw a weekend to Paris in there sometime as well! :)
Overall, things have been good. Getting better at cooking--adding lots more fruit and veggies to my meals! However I have been making the same 3 meals over and over, with some canned soup or ravioli thrown in to change it up. I just don't really enjoy taking the time to cook; I'd rather have it ready to eat when I'm hungry! ;) At least we have breakfast made for us every morning. I am excited for Mom and Uncle Scott to come in less than 2 weeks! Can't believe it's almost October!
Sending love across the pond,
Alyssa
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