Broken lift

Note: pictures aren't wanting to load onto my blog right now, so I will update with photos tomorrow! Sorry! I know the photos are the best part!

Sorry I haven’t been on to blog the last couple of days, I’ve been busy having an AMAZING time over here in London! Mom, you were right, I might not ever come home :)

Well, let me fill you in on what I’ve been busy doing over here! On Friday night we went to Picadilly Circus and went to our first British club. Since the tube stops running at about midnight, we decided to take the other form of public transportation: the bus. All thirteen of us made our way up to the second level of the double-decker bus. Dun dun dun. The forbidden second level of the night bus. Of course, since we were traveling in such a big group it was fine for all of us to sit up there. I probably wouldn’t ride up their by myself, but the police officer (aka “bobby” over here) that talked to us at school said that it is always very lively and entertaining up there so we had decided to try it out. You know what else we decided to try out on Friday night? After navigating our way around Victoria Station (of course led by my flatmate Jen) we decided it would be a great idea to fit all thirteen of us in the elevator (aka “lift”). A plaque inside the lift clearly states and 8 person maximum. Needless to say, we didn’t go anywhere. Actually, it hasn’t gone anywhere since Friday night. We received a nice email from our program director that says the following: “Another maintenance update for you all: the lifts in Johnson House will be having an overhaul this week and next week. This may involve down time whilst they are serviced. Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding and patience!”

On behalf of the group, I just want to apologize to flat 57 after we found this note and stroller sitting in the lobby:

Picture of sign

Our sincerest apologies go out to you and your children.

Saturday was the panoramic bus tour that I already wrote about, and then Saturday night I ended falling asleep very early. I woke up at midnight and I couldn’t get back to bed until 6 am! I think my body is FINALLY somewhat getting used to this time change. Unfortunately my immune system is pretty low right now considering it rains here all the time and I am allergic to mold. It’s not the best combo, but I’ll survive. You know what I’ve noticed? The ground is ALWAYS wet, but I’ve only actually seen it rain once. Craziness!

I went to the pharmacy today and I asked for Claritin and the guy gave me a knock off British version spelled “Clarytin.” I told him that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for and I asked for Nyquil instead. So now I am on a medicine called “Day & Night Nurse.” The box is actually really cute because it says that it treats “tickly coughs.” Hopefully I get a good night of sleep because I am going to a museum tomorrow afternoon for one of my classes.

Ah, I forgot, classes… that’s why I am here. I am taking 15 hours of classes this semester at CAPA. Each class meets once a week for 3 hours (with the exception of my Theatre class… I’ll explain later).

My first class is on Monday afternoons and it is called “British Broadcasting
Today.” It’s pretty standard, my teacher is Welsh, and he is really nice. He reminds me of a combination of my two grandfathers! Our homework for the week is to read and watch different forms of British media. Watch TV and read magazines and papers? I’ll take it!

On Tuesdays I have a very long day (I decided to take one for the team and have a long day on Tuesdays so that I don’t have to have a random class on Fridays, thus making me only have classes Monday through Wednesday). My morning class is “Advertising and Public Relations.” Our teacher is from Canada and he has taught all over the world. The first thing he said to us was that he is aware of the fact that he looks like Santa Claus. Bahahaha. What a legend!

I am obsessed with the second half of my Tuesday class schedule. My afternoon class is called “Understanding Britain.” We went around the classroom and said our name, home university, and an interesting fact about us. I told the class about when I got sawed in half at a magic show when I was a senior in high school. Something that not many people can say. I love the class because we have so many fun things scheduled throughout the semester to help us get a better understanding of their culture over here. For instance, next week we are meeting at a tube stop and just walking around and exploring. In three weeks we are visiting the Imperial War Museum, and the following week we are visiting a football match (remember that is soccer over here!). After midterms we have a homeless couple coming into the classroom to talk to us about what it is like being homeless over here. The week after that we are visiting a Mosque and having a discussion with the Imam. I am really looking forward to all the different discussions and places we are going to visit during class! The teacher also does these trivia questions before the “coffee break” (we get 20-25 minutes for a coffee break in the middle of every class) and before class is over, where he gets students to volunteer and he presents them with very tricky trivia questions. He says he is only going to ask 3 questions, but the questions all have subquestions!

After that class I have an hour of theatre class. The class is called “Living Theatre in London” and we meet for an hour on Tuesday nights, then we attend a play that night, and then we meet for an hour on Wednesday mornings to discuss the production. The lineup for the plays we are seeing this semester are as follows: Greta Garbo came to Donegal, 11 and 12, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Off the Endz, Enron, White Guard, The Gods Wept, and The Habit of Art. Our teacher is a very sweet older lady from Northern Ireland and she uses the word “wee” every other sentence. This is another class that I am really looking forward to.

In between classes I went to Oxford Street with my roommate to a store called Primark. It’s basically like a Forever21, but a little bit cheaper (somehow seems like a little bit better quality though) and they have basically everything you could need except for food. I got seriously about 10 pairs of tights, leggings, two purses, and other accessories for only 44 quid (about 75 dollars ). It was unreal!
My last class of the week is later on Wednesdays and it is called “Ethical Issues in the Media.” We talked about the famous Page Three of a few of the newspapers over here. A couple of their daily papers have a full page spread of a topless girl on Page Three every day. Literally. I didn’t believe it until I saw it, but I don’t think that is something I will ever get used to seeing in the newspaper.

Alright well I planned on writing more but I will have to save that for another day. Unfortunately I am really tired right now because my “Nurse” medicine started to kick in.

Before I sign out I wanted to share a gorgeous picture that I took on my lunch break on Tuesday when I was walking around by school! Enjoy!

Picture of buuildings