The first day of my J-term experience began January 10th in Newark, New Jersey; however, it ended on January 11th in London, England. I stayed at Danielle's grandmother's house the previous night so that the transition to the Newark airport wasn't painstakingly long on top of the six hour flight. Despite this advantage, and due to a series of events, we were running late and ended up being some of the last people to check in which led to us getting seats away from the group on the airplane. This was a bit strange for us and we both kind of immediately felt disconnected from the group; however, I have faith that this will change as we begin to do group meetings and outings starting tomorrow. The actual flight itself was surprisingly decent. I was expecting to be bored, uncomfortable, and disgusted with the food; however, the personal television sets were wonderful and kept me preoccupied and the time flew by. Though I was still uncomfortable, the food was pretty good. I also got a bit of writing done. I hope the flight back home will be as easy. Though some of my fellow classmates got some shut eye on the flight, I was not so fortunate. I'm a night-owl and could not get my body to pretend it was tired. Furthermore, once we finally landed in London I was so excited that I couldn't will my body to get tired anyway. The entrance into the border was a bit of an issue. It was ridiculously hot, but what was worse was that when the woman in charge of the line told me to go with Danielle to get my passport stamped, we had an issue. When I joined Danielle at the desk the man asked, in a thick, Middle-Eastern accent, if we were related. When we said no he became confused and suspicious and began asking why we were in England for nine days. Danielle couldn't understand what he was saying and looked at me before answering. Then he asked if he could see our letter from Hartwick College...which we didn't have. Then he began asking why we would be coming to England for only nine days...it was all very strange. I mean, c'mon, Danielle and I are innocent-looking-enough. Luckily, our professors were still waiting for us and came over to verify and he let us through. The whole ordeal was strange though.
Once we finally got to the streets of London, I was surprised how incredibly non-foreign it seemed. It didn't seem strange or exotic to me at all, but rather was quite reminiscent of cities from the states. Perhaps the largest difference was the architectural variance. I feel like New York City is very uniform it it's large, rectangular, brick buildings (for the most part). However, London has quite a variety of different shapes, materials, and types of buildings. Their car displays were especially impressive. They seem to really enjoy glass and a sense of transparency or sunlight in their business buildings. This must be less depressing to those working inside all day! It also seemed like there was more space in London. By this I mean there was space between buildings and more pockets of grass and trees than New York. So despite my lack of a culture-shock, I was very impressed by the beauty of their architecture.
Once we got to our hotel we were unable to get to our rooms so our professors suggested that we get used to our surroundings and to explore. Still exited to be in London, I was excited to get familiar with the area. Danielle and I teamed up and wandered up and down the nearest streets. We spent a bit of time in Russel Square taking pictures and just enjoying the day. Compared to Oneonta, the temperature was perfect. It was a bit gray, but it wasn't raining at that point. After walking around the streets, we visited the strip mall right down the road. We visited several of the shops before stopping for coffee. Though there was a small coffee shop next to it, we ended up going to Starbucks because we didn't want to be TOO exotic yet (as per Danielle's request). So this was my first time dealing with pounds and pences. I was a bit nervous...but it's really not as difficult as my mind was making it seem...I just have to get used to the fact that the one pound is a coin, not paper. Once we had our drinks, we sat outside and enjoyed the view and day. We also noted the cinema and the grocery store for future use.
At noon our class met back up at noon to get our keys for our rooms. It was at this point that the jet lag and exhaustion had caught up to me. Since it would have been 7:00am in the states, my body was finally not happy with me and wanted to sleep- but I knew we couldn't or I'd be off even longer. Once we got our roommates we were given our keys...which are really bizarre to me. They are large golden-stick things with a key on it. Furthermore, we have to hand the keys in whenever we leave the hotel. This makes spontaneous comings and goings a bit more complicated and strange. I feel goofy keep having to give and take the key from the same guy at the desk. But the room is very nice and I enjoy the luxury of having a trouser press...despite my lack of trousers.
After we got settled into the room, Danielle and I went out to lunch at Patisserie Valarie. It was a cute little restaurant; however, we both felt a bit awkward because we weren't sure what the etiquette was about waiting to be seated or just sitting down. Eventually I asked and the waitress told us to just sit where we wanted. The food was delicious, and I really enjoyed the old-school Coca Cola glass bottles. We were unsure of whether we were supposed to leave a tip, but we did anyway. I figured it couldn't hurt.
Not wanting to waste the rest of the day, Danielle and I decided to head to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. On the map it looked relatively close...but it wasn't. We wandered up and down street after street and walked for about an hour and a half (with some detours along the way) before we finally got there. It was a beautiful experience- we saw some amazing buildings, interesting shops, and crazy museums. We also got quite familiar with how to deal with traffic, maps, and the streets. We eventually got there and it was quite enjoyable. When we got our tickets the man at the window asked where we were from and why we were visiting. He was so friendly and began telling us how England wouldn't have any good pieces of artwork if it weren't for theives...he went on a rant for a while about England and art...it was hilarious. I was glad he was friendly, especially since it was my first extended experience with a local. Once we got inside, there were several sections of wax sculptures such as actors, artists, writers, and politicians. It was eerily freaky how realistic the sculptures looked. People posed and took pictures with the sculptures (see enclosed). It was a goofy tourist-y experience, but it was nice for our first day there. Towards the end of the museum was a mini-ride where we got into mini-British cabs and rode along a track in which we saw major parts of England's history in wax mechanical sculptures. It was interesting, but I wish I knew more about the events because I didn't know some of the characters or scenes. However, I was proud that I could identify Marat's assassin because of David's "Death of Marat". It took us about an hour to get home, this time we knew exactly how to get back, which was beneficial; however, I learned NEVER to wear high heeled boots when you're walking that long.
When we returned to the hotel I was absolutely exhausted. I accidentally fell asleep while just laying in bed. Danielle had to keep waking me up. I took a quick thirty-minute power nap before we decided we should go get dinner and try and stay up to a decent time to get on London time. We ended up going to a little pub down the road. Once again we were a bit confused as to how to order or whether we were supposed to leave a time...so we just flung it. The food was fantastic- I assume we'll go back there again.
So overall, the first day was quite successful. I already feel more comfortable here than I do in New York City. I don't feel rushed or in danger or like I'm lost in a mob. Everyone seems very helpful and thoughtful. The weather is desirable (though I wish there were more sun) and the city is beautiful. So far, my only complaint is that the Diet Cola cans are smaller than normal...but I think I can get over that. I'm looking forward to getting our metro passes so we can transport further distances without walking for hours. I guess that'll be tomorrow's project!
Question of the Day: How does it feel to be in a foreign country?
As I stated above, I thought it was going to feel much more...scary or exotic. Perhaps it's because England isn't SO different from America in language, customs, etc; however, it's surprisingly welcoming. I am quite concerned about offending the locals by just being oblivious to how to do certain things such as ordering food or tipping- but I think those are just things you get used to. It's a sort of surreal feeling because I've always envisioned coming here and in my mind it was always like in the era of Sherlock Holmes or Mary Poppins...with pipes and cobble stone streets. It's strange to actually be here, but it's exciting and a great experience.
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