London I: Hello, London!

Quick note: I'm still exhausted. Hopefully this post makes sense.

I have kind of spent two days in London. I say “kind of” because I spent 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. getting through customs and waiting with four of my classmates at the airport for the rest of the group. Heathrow really is a lovely airport.

Traveling itself isn’t too bad. I had a book and a personal entertainment system, which was essentially a touchscreen in front of me with games, movies, TV shows, and the weather. My screen had technical issues and often didn’t work when I pressed the buttons, but it fascinated me, so I kept pressing the buttons. It had to eventually work, right? I felt like a lab rat. You know, the kind that presses buttons and randomly gets a treat? That’s how I felt. I knew a movie wasn’t necessary to survival, but I couldn’t resist. It rewarded me with The Hobbit. Besides having two screaming children behind me, the trip was lovely.

Once the whole group got together, we lugged our baggage on the tube, up several flights of stairs, and through a section of London to Regent’s College. We found our rooms, bought cheap international cell phones, and ate dinner in the park and explored. We made friends with Marvin. He fancies fruit.

Meet Marvin

Marvin's home

We had orientation today, where they told us not to hop the fence because several people have accidently impaled themselves. Because that’s normal.

After orientation, a few of us went on a bus tour of London. Might as well be as touristy as possible at the start, right? We sat on the top of a double decker bus and took hundreds of pictures, squealing with delight when we saw icons like Big Ben, the London Eye, and the bank that inspired Gringotts. Basically we saw every iconic London circle, street, square, building, etc.

Here are some glimpses from the tour:

Okay, I'm fading, and I have class tomorrow, so I best be off.