Seven Days Left in this Amazing City: Olympics and Last Minute Sight-Seeing

It’s been a really fast month, but I’m beginning to pack and get ready to come home. There is still SO MUCH MORE that I want to do.

This weekend I’m spending actually working on homework for my classes abroad and hopefully getting in some last-minute exploring. I’m also going to Brighton Beach for the day on Saturday and I’m really excited about it. Lianna and I are trying to go to a London goth club this weekend because they are supposedly awesome here, but I don’t know if it will happen. I also want to see We Will Rock You, if time permits and I can get tickets. And do some more shopping. before I go home and go completely broke.

I went to the Olympics on Monday, and it was quite possibly one of the coolest experiences of my life.

I did a tour of the Olympic Park a few weeks ago and it was crazy to go from seeing the absolute ghost town to seeing it with about 100,000 people there. We saw women’s handball Brazil vs. Montenegro and then Norway vs. Sweden. I didn’t know a whole lot about handball, other than we played it in gym class and I seriously hated it. But seeing it live was AWESOME. The sport is so violent (which of course I love) and intense.

I’m usually not a big fan when the Olympics come on TV, but seeing it live was a whole other experience. I loved the energy of the crowd and how much people really get into supporting their country.

Other than that, this week has mostly been busy with school and lectures, rather than our field trips.

When I go home, I think I am going to have a different view of the world. I see I’m too dependent on technology and I need to spend less of my time stressing about work and more on things that are actually important to me. It’s strange how just spending a month in a country that isn’t that different from the US is such a growing experience.

Busy Busy Busy

So only about two more weeks left in London. It’s pretty depressing although in some ways it will be nice to go home. I’ve been pretty homesick lately. Something I wasn’t expecting since I barely come home when I’m at school anyway. I’m also pretty excited to sleep in my own bed when I get home.

I think part of the problem is that there has been so much going on, london and elsewhere, that it’s really hard to take it all in. But then, I dont want to miss anything so I keep pushing myself until I’m feeling really drained. I also don’t want to ruin anyone elses experience but I feel like a joy kill a lot of the time, so I end up keeping to myself.  Plus, I’m really sick and don’t know if I should be resting and trying to get better or *enjoying the London experience* or whatever.

Regardless of a few bumps in the road and being the perpetual Debbie Downer, I am actually having a good time overall. I went out on Monday night with Lianna, Steff and this British guy we met, Alex. He took us to some of his favorite local pubs. They were pretty dead for a Monday night but they were actually pretty cool places. For the first time since I’ve been here, I actually forgot where I was and got to feel “at home” for a while. I had a lot of fun even though it was a pretty simple night out.

The weather has been in the 80s, with literally no clouds in the sky, which feels wonderful. At least it’s not raining all of the time anymore. I think the weather definitely helps brighten my spirits.

So since it’s been a while since I updated, a little run through of what my week has been like. Paris was seriously fantastic and could beat Toronto for my favorite city that I have ever been to. Pretty much all of my friends that have gone there have hated it, called it dirty, etc, but I really LOVED it. Even though I almost got pick pocketed (but that’s another story) the city and music scene are beautiful. Next time I go I really want to go to a jazz club there and get to experience more of that. In addition, I still really need to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Apparently, as the girls I went with found it, it gets *turned off* after 1 am, so none of us got to see it. I also understand why it’s considered the most romantic city. if I have a soul mate, he will one day take me to Paris.

We also finally got to see Abbey Road! It was a little anticlimactic (kind of like Stonehenge… oh it’s a road). but I got my obligatory pictures. There was also a while behind it where people signed their names. Still, it’s pretty much a pilgramage for every music fan to see once in their lives so I’m glad I finally got to do it. It’s such a strange feeling to see all of these places I’ve dreamed about my whole life. It’s amazing really.

Today we also got to tour the BBC, which was really awesome. And made me want to be a journalist even more.

Other than that, I’m taking it easy tonight. I leave for Amsterdam tomorrow, so this weekend is going to be pretty awesome. I’m also hoping I can get scheduled for a doctor’s appointment tonight but my insurance company hasn’t called me back yet so I don’t know how likely that is.

Anyway, hopefully will have another update soon! I keep forgetting I’m going to the Olympics Monday. Another awesome thing crossed off my bucket list.

Exploring London Continues

The past few days have been a lot less stressful, mainly because I’m starting to run out of money so I have just been going on the class trips and taking it easy otherwise. This weekend we are going to Stonehenge (on Friday the 13th, no less) and Bath, which I am super excited about. I really just want to get outside the city and see some nature again.

Class is mostly guest speakers and field trips (which is pretty awesome) and the assignments are pretty easy (a blog post and a photo essay), so I’m not super worried about that. We had a guy come in yesterday to talk about his work at the BBC and what it has been like for him to work all over the world.

On Tuesday we went to Olympic Park, to see where the Olympics are going to be at. Surprisingly, it’s a really run down part of the city. They’re hoping that having the Olympics there will improve economics and create jobs. However, the tour guide told us that most other Olympic Parks have been neglected and are just eyesores in the city. So hopefully the London one will be different, considering a lot of people were forced to leave their homes so the city could build it.

We also went to the Prime Meridian line so I got to stand in two hemispheres at once. Pretty cool.

Today, we went to the British Library and saw original manuscripts of the Bible, Beatles’ songs and Handle’s Messiah. We’re also going to see a play tonight… 39 steps. Which I have seen before and hated it, so hopefully the traditional English version will be a lot better.

Anyway, just a brief update. Hopefully after Stonehedge I will have a longer one.

 

T-minus (a couple of days) and T-mobile (really sucks)

So I don’t want to calculate exactly how many days I have left lol because that is overwhelming right now, but I leave Monday night so you can figure it out if you so desire. I am in denial, so I would rather not know.

REGARDLESS I leave very very soon and am by no means prepared. I was pretty productive yesterday by getting a bunch of little things done so I don’t have to worry about any of it while I’m in London. Yet, somehow more and more keeps getting added on. I had to call T-mobile today to try to make a cheaper plan for me out there or if I can decrease my texting and data when I’m in England, but as with everything T-mobile, the conversation took a half hour and after the guy promising me that he could help me out… No dice.  But I am not going into my T-mobile rant right now, I swear.I’m still not sure if I want to buy another phone when I’m over there. I can text and make phone calls through my I-pad, so I might just carry around my phone during the day, try to resist using it, and make I-pad calls at night.

Such white people problems.

Anyway, I’m sure the next couple of days are going to fly by. I’ve started saying my last goodbyes with friends and hopefully will have a get together with a few more of them on Sunday… But really, five weeks is not going to be a very long time.

My other main concern right now is about money. Travelex (basically an international debit card that converts your money and you can use pretty much anywhere) kind of ripped me off with their fees and my 1000 dollars that I put into it is worth next to nothing. My mom is going to help me out when I’m there but I’m still not sure how much I should be spending and I really feel bad taking all of her money. But if I use all of my own money, we calculated that I have the equivilant of 20 dollars a day to spend on everything. Yeah… I can buy about one meal a day and nothing else. That’s going to work out.

Just a few more days. Still doesn’t feel real. I swear this blog will be a lot more exciting when I actually leave. More pictures, less ranting.