Today was a heck of a long day. It started bright and early at the University of Westminster Orientation. We took the Northern line from Old Street to King’s Cross Station and switched to the Victoria line and got off at Oxford Circus. A couple friends and I had some coffee at Cafe Nero. It had this cute little downstairs area with nice and comfortable seating areas. At the orientation,we finally got our University of Westminster ID cards and were given a brief intro to our summer study abroad program here. We then had a break for lunch that was provided to us. We were able to see some of the main campus. It was really modern and colorful and I really liked the seating areas. Then, at 1pm we headed to our respective classes. I was the first to arrive to my class: Print Journalism - The London Experience. Some more people walked in a little later and two nice girls from California sat next to me. Our teacher, an elder British woman started the introduction to the course. She’s literally the British version of my high school English teacher! She's so passionate about London and I absolutely love it. She’s terrible at technology though, and she just couldn’t get the PDF files to work properly. It was really cute and funny. She’s a nice lady and she seems very driven. It’s very clear that she wants us to enjoy our time here in London and really incorporate ourselves into the city. She explained the objectives for the course, which made me really excited. We are required to write a museum review, pick a topic or place in London and write an article on it, and also a small section on our favorite part about or place in London. We then make a cover page for it. At the end, she will compile all of our pieces to make a magazine called My London. I’m SO excited! It seems really cool and lenient to our individual interests.
After about a half an hour, our class set out on a tour of some unique places in London. Our teacher first took us to Carnaby Street, which was a shopping street filled with tons of cute little stores. It was really unique and I’d like to visit again. We then walked through China town and into Soho. Soho was previously a red light district in England. Now, it is buzzing with night clubs and is subtly still a red light district. No worries, we were there at like 2pm, Then, we walked through little ally ways and ended up at Leicester Square. Here, there are many opportunities to enjoy the theatre. In London, shows such as the Lion King, Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Wicked, Mamma Mia, etc., are available at a very low price. I’d really to have this experience as well. My friend and I are thinking about going to “Viva Forever!”, based on the Spice Girls. We then walked to Covent Garden, another place with many small shopping areas. The Covent Garden place is a cool square with an Italian square. Here, there are the famous Apple market, St. Paul’s church, and street performers. One can also enjoy some delicious macaroons at Laduree. Finally, we crossed the Waterloo Bridge to the South Bank, where we were able to catch a beautiful view of the London Eye and Big Ben/Houses of Parliament.
A couple other girls and I were very tired at this point, as we had walked about 3.5-4 miles. We decided to find Waterloo Station and take the Northern Line back to Old Street. However, we walked too far and arrived at Lambeth North Station. We had to take the Bakerloo Line to Elephant & Castle, and then switch to the Northern to come back to Old Street.
After coming back to my room I checked in with my family. Then, I headed downstairs to meet some people in flat 13. Four of us headed off to meet the one kid’s friends who were in a soccer game. We actually went back to Elephant & Castle and found the name of the station hilarious. When we got out, it was a really shady area. Almost like New York’s Queens. There was graffiti everywhere and it seemed like the poorer area of London. We probably walked on almost every single street. It was super confusing trying to find Imperial Park, where the game was. When we finally figured out which direction to go in, an hour later, the people we were supposed to meet up had already finished and were at a pub called Horse. Then, we tried to find this place, which took forever! We finally arrived and spent some time with them. Then, we came back to Old Street and went to the local pub, Roadtrip, for some food. It was a really comfy place and my friend and I shared some chips (french fries).
We called it a night and headed back home at around 11.
Tomorrow is pretty busy too. I have class and I’m going to Harrod’s for the famous tea later in the evening
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