Back in the U.S.A.

Well, I made it back here, but not without problems.

Friday night I did go out to the King's Head, albeit breifly, and then I returned to my favorite spot down by the river. It was a nice way to go out.

Satuday morning I woke up early and everyone cooked everything they had left so as not to waste food. Then the 5 of us on the group flight boarded a full-size coach (so that's where our money went) for the trip to the airport for a 4:00 flight. We finished check-in at 2:00, when we found out our flight was delayed til 8! We got 10 dollar meal vouchers (which we used to gorge ourselves at Burger King), but that doesn't make up for the 6 hours we spent in the airport doing god knows what to pass the time.

And then, our plane didn't take off for more than an hour. So by the time we landed, it was after midnight and the trains to Philly weren't running. So Deanna's parents were nice enough to drive me to their house and let me crash for the night.

Then, after breakfast, I hopped a train back here to Philly. After I do laundry and rest up, I'll be heading up to New York for the rest of my short break.

So, that's the story of my trip to London. I hope you had as much fun reading about it as I did living it.

One more day

This really is the end, isn't it?

So thursday night everyone met up in the basement to do some chill drinking and tell stories from the trip. Impressions were done, confessions were made, and everyone had a great time. Then people went out for the night, most everyone going to a bar/club in Leicester Square. I went for a bit, but I wasn't feeling too hot and wasn't really having fun, so I came back home and called it a night.

Today Knaresborough has started to empty out, and everyone remaining did the things they still wanted to do in the city before they left. Deanna and I did some shopping on Marylebone St. and took a rowboat out in Regents Park. Now it's dinnertime, and it's going to be a feast because everyone is making whatever food they have left so as not to waste it.

Tonight, some people may go out, a bunch don't plan on it. Me? Not sure yet. We leave for the airport tomorrow at noon, so the fun's almost over. I'm coming home soon.

Oh, and we got our finals back. Got a 92, which means an A for the course overall. No sweat.

The home stretch

Pictures!!
http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=gcg1fla.s9a3bn2&Uy=nvoclm&Upost_signin=BrowsePhotos.jsp%3fshowSlide%3dtrue&Ux=0

Two more days...only more days and then we're home - assuming the hurricanes don't keep us here any more, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

So Wednesday morning we had a "review" for our exam, which somehow lasted 3 hours without us actually reviewing anything. And no, I'm not sure what we actually did during that time.

That afternoon, Courtney, Erica and I went to Camden. The girls wanted to do some shopping, and Courtney and I went and got tattoos for relatively cheap? What is it and where is it? You'll have to look at my pictures to see.

This morning was our final exam, and it was certainly harder than the midterm and harder than I expected. But I'm sure I did fine, we didn't learn a hell of a lot these five weeks, so what could have been on it.

This afternoon we all went to a nice hotel in Sloane Square for high tea. The tea was great, but even better was the champagne and the little de-crusted sandwiches. Tonight, we're having a Real World Style confessional, and then all going out on the last night everyone's here.

You win some, you lose some

So, monday was a big waste of time, to put it as gently as I can. In the morning we took a "Diana Walk", which really didn't relate to Diana at all, or anything else for that matter. We then took a self-guided tour of Kensington Palace, which was the most boring thing we've done here so far. We all sped through it as quick as we could - if we had actually paid the 10.50 for admission, we would've been majorly pissed.

Then in the afternoon our guest speaker was some PR guy. I really don't know nor care what he said, as I was too busy dying in the hottest classroom ever.

At night, I was still exhausted from the weekend, so I just turned in early.

Today was much better, however. In the morning we met our guide at the Imperial War Museum, which was possibly the most interesting one I've been to since I've been here. We only spent a couple hours, which wasn't nearly enough, and I'd like to go back but I really don't think I have time.

Then we took a Thames Cruise down to Greenwich. Instead of sitting on the top deck and burning in the hot sun, 6 of us went below and decided to make it as much of a booze cruise as we could in the 1 hour we had. We performed admirably, I think.

In Greenwich, we toured the Royal Observatory, which looked interesting but it was unbearably hot and the place smelled like B.O., or as I put it, "Europeans." I did take the requisite tourist shot on the Prime Meridien, so my father will be happy.

Then 5 of us went to a Middle Eastern restaurant for dinner, where we sampled lots of good stuff, and finished it off with tea and a hookah. It was a relaxing end to a busy day - it's kind of frightening to think there's only a few days left. I'll be home soon.

Back Home (London)

Part of me doesn't ever want to leave here, but part of me is so exhausted that I can't wait to sleep for a week straight.

So Thursday night, Deanna took me out to dinner. I'm still not sure why, but I wasn't about to complain. We ended up at a local Filipino buffet, which was great, but not just because it's a buffet. That didn't hurt, however.

Friday morning we were out of here before dawn to catch a 6:30 Eurostar to Paris! The train was nice, nothing special, kind of like a classy Amtrak. It definitely hauled balls - we made it through the Chunnel in 20 minutes. And once we got settled in at our hotel (small, sparse, but cute), we didn't let down. We climbed Montmartre to get to Sacre Coeur, an amazing basilica. There we met up with the other Templers who were in Paris.

After that Deanna and I mastered the Metro and went to Notre Dame. We toured the interior and climbed to the very top of the place to see the gargoyles and get a beautiful view of the city. Then we met up again with the group for dinner, then went to the Eiffel Tower, where we boarded a boat cruise of the Seine. We didn't go up in the Tower because the top level was closed, so we called it a night.

The next morning, Deanna and I went to the Arc du Triomphe, and by that point my legs had turned to jelly from all the stairs. But the worst was yet to come. We walked down the Champs Elysses to meet the rest of the group at the Louvre, a walk of at least a couple miles, on the hottest day of the summer in Paris. After we did the Louvre, we walked back down the Champs, because they hadn't done it yet. When we got back down to the Arc, D and I took a train to our hotel to shower and change. We all met up at the Eiffel Tower for a picnic, which for me consisted of quiche, grapes, a peach, and a bottle of cheap champagne. Then Deanna, Liz and I went up to the Tower just as the sun set and watched the lights come on around the city from the top of the world. Then we had the best crepes ever (ham, egg and cheese) and D and I went to the Latin Quarter where we walked around and watched some street performers. Then we took the bus home and passed the eff out.

We had an early train this morning, so we woke up, ate breakfast and came back to London. We went our separate ways, I went to the London Transport Museum which was a lot of fun. It's the most interactive museum I've ever been to - even got to "drive" a train. Then D and I met up for dinner, but everything was closed so we just went to a supermarket and bought some dinner. What'd we have? Buttered toast, sausages and omelettes. After a couple days of continental breakfast, we were really in the mood for a good English breakfast, even if it was at 8 in the evening.

I'll probably go to sleep early tonight, because I'm beat. But I haven't gone to sleep early yet on this trip, so we'll see.

I should've gone to college here

Today we took a coach to Cambridge and got a guided tour of the city. It's what you'd expect - that olde style university look that the Ivy Leagues can only try to emulate. But we learned a good deal about the education system in Britian, and I liked what I heard. First off, when students turn 16, they begin focusing their studies on 3 or 4 subjects of their choosing. Then, in college, they don't mess around with any subjects other than what they are studying. For me, that would mean journalism classes and only journalism classes for four years, which I would relish. I would graduate so much more prepared than I am going to from Temple.

Schooling is cheaper over here, too. The universities are subsudized by the government, which means tuition runs only 1000 pounds a year. Add in fees and housing (everyone lives in dorms, unlike Temple where no one does), and it's only about 6000 pounds per year, and that's for Cambridge or Oxford, the top two schools. That's only for EU citizens though, so I would end up paying through the nose. Pretty much like Temple, I suppose.

Waking up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to catch the early Eurostar to Paris. I'll be out of touch, but rest assured I'll be living it up!

Knaresborough Suck

I'm starting to realize that we really got the shaft when it comes to living arrangements. We're in the one building without heat or AC. Our shower's so small my shoulders touch the opposite walls. The communal ovens barely heat up. The washing machine breaks down fairly regularly. And the internet is down more than it works, currently down for three days. I guess Temple gets shat on no matter what country we're in.

Tuesday we finally got to go to the BBC, although it wasn't what I expected at all. We weren't at their main headquarters, but their television complex. And it wasn't any kind of special tour - it was the basic tour that anyone can go on. So we didn't get to see anyone at work, or talk to anyone who works there. If you've ever seen a television station, this was more of the same.

That afternoon I took the make-up midterm. Everyone had been going on about how hard it was, how long it took. Well, I dunno what they were bitching about, I was done in 20 minutes. How'd I do? We'll get to that later.

Then, the rains came. About 6 oclock, the skies opened up and the strongest storm I've ever seen started. Lightning, thunder, monsoons, the works. It came on so fast that when it started raining, I walked from the kitchen down the hall to my room to shut the windows, but when I got there my bed and my laundry was already drenched through. The whole storm lasted about an hour, but it played havoc with the city. Things essentially shut down - the roads, the Underground, everything flooded.

It wasn't until today that we found out the extent of the damage. The amount of rain that fell in an hour was about equal to London's average rainfall for the month of August. One boy was killed by lightning, and several others were struck and are still in the hospital. The Victorian-era sewers overflowed into the rivers, killing about a third of the fish in the Thames. This city is woefully unprepared for what happened.

That night, Deanna and I took the Jack the Ripper Walk, which was suitably creepy. We made sure to go on a night when a certain guide was leading it, he's this tour company's main attraction. He's pretty much spent his life studying the Ripper case, written books and everything. There must have been over a hundred people on this tour, compared with the 40 or so that have been on the ones I've already taken. It's funny how that case still grabs the imagination - unsolved crimes are the most fascinating, I think.

This morning we got a tour of the rebuilt Globe Theater. I was struck at how small it was, and how sparse. They say it looks exactly like it did in Shakespeare's day, and I believe it.

In class this afternoon we got midterms back. I got an A Minus, which apparently is one of the top two or three grades in the class. I'm not sure how that happened, as I really didn't think it was hard at all. And I don't even take notes in class. These are the people who got accepted for study abroad when Temple came damn close to rejecting me?

Tonight we had the option of going to see Romeo and Juliet at the Globe, but I passed. First off, I've seen and read the play about 8 million times. Second, Temple wasn't willing to spring for the couple extra bucks to actually get us seats, under cover. So I wasn't about to spend 3 hours standing in the rain. It would have been cool to see, but I have better things to do with my remaining time in London.

Tomorrow we're getting a tour of Cambridge! I'm wearing my letters - maybe we can start up an AEPi chapter over here?

Sleeping in's for wusses

So of course I woke up bright and early Sunday morning - I've kind of accepted the fact that the only time I'll get to sleep will be when I'm dead. Or in Philly. Same thing.

I took another guided walking tour that morning, this time it was "The Dark Side of Kensington." I learned about all the murders that have taken place in my neighborhood, and all the Nazis who lived there, and all kinds of good stuff.

Then when I got home, everyone who was still here this weekend packed up our beach stuff and headed to Hyde Park. There we laid out in our swimsuits and enjoyed one of the hottest sunniest days in recent memory. I evened out my tan from Cardiff, which is good. We were laying right by Speaker's Corner, so when we needed a break from the sun, we went over and listened to some of the nutcases. One Marxist fellow was going off on how the Tube is the worst subway system in the world. One person was saying how Muslim men all beat their wives. Someone was attacking free trade in South Africa. And there were Jews for Jesus all over the place.

That night, to celebrate all our flatmates coming back from their weekend trips, we threw a toga party! You can take the guy out of the frat, but you can't take the frat out of the guy.

Today I woke up absoultely sick to my stomach. Please believe me when I say it absolutely wasn't wasn't was not related to drinking last night, I swear. Today was our midterm, so I valiantly dragged myself down to Foundation House, where I promptly got up from my seat and ran to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up for the next 45 minutes. When I came back, I must've looked like death, because Pat Bradley let me put off taking the test until tomorrow. I dragged myself home, threw up some more, and passed out til 7 o'clock. It's now 8:30, and I'm still really sick, and I know I need to eat something but I don't think I will be able to keep it down. I'm baking a quiche, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll just starve to death.