In the name of SCIENCE!

On Friday, Simone and I went to the Science Museum. He had to take photos for a class, and I was just tagging along. Still, it took me forever to get there, and I'm convinced the tube strongly dislikes me. The Circle Line runs right from Farringdon to South Kensington, so theoretically, it should just be a hop, skip, and a jump away. But the Circle Line train never came. I waited for 20 minutes, and as I was already running late, I hopped on the next train to King's Cross/St. Pancras and transferred to the Piccadilly line. The Piccadilly line seems to hit every major sightseeing location in Lonodn and continues on to Heathrow, so the train was PACKED. Still, I eventually got to the museum (but more than 30 minutes late).

The museum was a lot of fun, although it's more of a "History of Science" type of museum than some of the American science museums (like the Franklin Institute). The collection is immense and very impressive. Visitors enter to an exhibit on energy, with immense examples of early steam power and engines.

The museum also has exhibits on space travel, automotive/land transportation, water transport, and eventually air travel.



However, the museum also shows the evolution of everyday, household products and some commercial products.



There was a lot to see, and it would take more than a day to really examine everything, but we spent about an hour and a half meandering about the museum. At that point, it was a little after 4PM, and having missed lunch on account of the tube incident, I was a bit hungry. Instead of heading to the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garrett, as I had intended, I came home and made dinner.

Complete photos of my Science Museum adventures can be found on Facebook. As I do not have a digital camera (and am instead taking photos with my iPhone), please excuse the low resolution.

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Food Notes:

The Rock and Sole Plaice
45-47 Endell Street
Fantastic fish and chips! Fish tastes very fresh and the breading is crisp and not too greasy. Fish takes longer to prepare, so expect to wait a few minutes or call in advance. The chips are fantastic and for £1.50, you can get a MASSIVE portion of chips for takeaway.

Jeepers Creepers!

On Friday, I met Taylor at the Borough Farmer's Market. The market was incredible. Incredible. I took the Northern Line from the Angel to London Bridge station. When you walk out from the tube station, there's a large overpass with an archway in the center. If you walk down this passageway, you find yourself amid the hustle and bustle of the market.

Here's a choppy, unsteady video of the approach. I was trying to be discreet about taking the video, but it just ends up feeling a bit like a roller coaster ride.



I enjoyed numerous free samples and while I bought a few luxury items (mozzarella di bufalo, proscuitto, cheese aged in red wine), I also got some fresh vegetables and fish for my regular meals. Some of the prices were better than the grocery stores and the food was much fresher, so I'm considering getting some of my vegetables at the market in the future.

Also, they had a lot of exotic or unusual food items. For instance, one butcher was selling ostrich meat (£4 for a steak). Others sold duck eggs, pheasants, partridges...



I've never seen anything like this in America, and it makes me love England all the more. I would definitely consider coming here for graduate school or a job. What an incredible city!

Yesterday, Taylor, Abbey, Matt, and I bought student rush tickets for the Woman in Black, a thrilling play that has been running at the West End since 1989. We had a bit of time to kill before showtime and wandered around Covent Garden.

We encountered a very strange man with a unicycle. The man was shirtless with gold, glittery pasties with tassels. There was a huge crowd gathered to watch him perform although he was pretty much just taunting this little kid named Boaz (or something) who couldn't throw for beans.



We went back to the theatre and found our seats. The play was fantastic! I'd seen the movie, but it translated so well to the stage. It was interesting and suspenseful. The audience was very involved and there were several moments where people actually jumped and gasped. The whole play was done with a cast of two people, and they pulled it off beautifully.

Week One: The Adventure Continues

So, I finished my first week of classes, and so far, I'm really excited about all of them. Also, I currently, don't have class on Fridays, which is fantastic. I'm hoping I'll be able to do a couple short weekend trips to some of the surrounding areas.

Also, I got my hair cut. I couldn't decide if I wanted just a trim or my hair short again, so I compromised and it's a little shorter than shoulder length now... No picture, sorry!

On Wednesday, my friend, Taylor, and I went to Marine Ices to try their pizza. It was very good. Crisp, thin crust but a -little- heavy on the cheese. Still, a very enjoyable meal.

Last night, I went to an 80's party at King's. It was fun but a big change from my quiet nights at home with a movie and a litre of fruit juice...

Today, I'm going to a Farmer's Market in the hopes of finding some fresh vegetables for a reasonable price as the nearby grocery store has a small selection of sad-looking veggies. Also, this market is supposed to be incredible, and I'm mostly just looking forward to being surrounded by fresh, delicious food.

Tomorrow, a few friends and I are going to see a play, The Woman in Black. I've been really excited to see this show since I heard it was playing here. I saw the 1989 movie about a year ago, but from what I've heard, the play is a lot different.

Anyways, I'll update soon with a bit more about the weekend. Now that I'm settling in, life's starting to calm down, and I have less to post...

Aaaaand They're Off!

Classes: Day One

Linear Circuits seems VERY promising! It might be a bit of a challenge, as I don't have the same math/engineering background as some of the other students, but the professor is fantastic.

Next, I had Operating Systems, which is a very interesting topic. The class itself, however, wasn't stellar. This could be attributed to the class being three hours long. Or it could be that a lot of the class was read from Powerpoint slides. Either way, I was underwhelmed. Still, it's just the intro, and it could get better next week.

On Mondays, I'm in class for 5 hours straight (1PM-6PM). I was very hungry when I left, and I had some grocery shopping to do. When I got back, laden down with bags, my kitchen cabinets had been emptied out, and something seemed different. As it turns out, my microwave was replaced, based on my morning's complaint. This one doesn't have oven capabilities, but I can use Abbey's upstairs if need be. At least it's working...

Also, they removed the previous tenant's toothbrush from my drain. Of course, it was left on my sink countertop, but hey, it's no longer in the pipe.

I put up some photos last night, and the room's starting to feel really homey. Anyways, I'll post more tomorrow. I have class at 9AM, so I should be going to bed now!

Adventures in London and Wales

On Thursday, I went to see a free Vampire Weekend concert at Somerset House with a friend. Somerset House is really incredible. The building is so regal, and there's ice skating in the courtyard. The concert was fun, but the sound went out about halfway through.

Afterward, we hung out for a bit and then went on a mission to find cannoli. The city of London is stubborn about not having cannoli, and the mission continues. If you or a friend have any information that can lead us to the apprehension of "cannoli," any clues are greatly appreciated.

On Friday, I met up with another friend, and we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for a light dinner. This is probably my favorite restaurant so far. It was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire, and it feels like it hasn't changed at all since then. I had my first steak and kidney pie! A lovely experience overall!



The next morning, I woke up early for Wales. The trip is really easy. The Tube line wasn't running, so I had to grab a bus to Paddington station. From there, it was a 2 hour train ride to Cardiff Central Station and a bus to Queen Street. The theatre was pretty much a few steps from the Queen Street station.



Queen Street was a large pedestrian shopping area full of touristy little shops. Mostly American brand clothing stores with a Burger King, Starbucks and McDonald's interspersed. I grabbed lunch at a buffet style restaurant. It was very inexpensive and the food was good. I walked over to Cardiff Castle, but I didn't want to pay admission if I wasn't going to have a lot of time to explore. I went back to the theatre for the show.



Every few seats, there were binoculars for rent, but I was pretty close to the stage.



The show was A LOT of fun! Totally worth the trip! There was even an ice skating performance in the middle (it was a dream sequence)! My train wasn't for a little while, so I waited by the stage door. A lot of the cast came out to greet people. At that point everything was closed, so I took an earlier train back to London.

Overall, an excellent weekend!

HELP!!! I don't know how to use my microwave!

Okay. So, I don't have an oven, but I DO have a microwave... I just don't know how to use it. There are two dials, "power" and "time." I understand how the time one works, but the power one confuses me.

Here's a picture of the dials. You can't see the settings, so I drew them larger on a piece of paper.



I've tried 5 minutes on the bottom setting, the rightmost setting, the setting with the snowflake, the setting with 4 water droplets. The rightmost setting seems to act like an oven with no microwave action (my microwave-safe plate gets hot and my food feels less cold). For every other setting, my food and plate just stay cold.

Is it broken or am I using it incorrectly?

Course Schedule

So, I haven't done much the past couple days. Finalized my schedule, met fellow study abroad students (and Liberty House residents, too!), and rested (trying to make a 100% recovery from my cold before classes start).

But, in any event, I have my final schedule (I think):

Linear Circuits
Monday 1:00PM-3:00PM
Thursday 2:00PM-4:00PM

Operating Systems
Monday 3:00PM-6:00PM

Early Modern Britain II
Tuesday 9:00AM-10:00AM (lecture)
1:00PM-2:00PM (seminar)

Programming Applications
Tuesday 10:00AM-12:00PM (lab)
Wednesday 11:00AM-1:00PM
Friday 1:00PM-2:00PM

Meaty, Meaty Heaven

This morning, I went to the Smithfield Meat Market in the hopes of getting some affordable, local meat. The market is huge, but for the average buyer (namely, me), there's a main aisle where every butcher has a little shopfront where there are various animal parts in refrigerated display cases. Behind the shopfronts, there's a glass enclosure where several pig carcasses are strung up and butchers are cutting the meat.



I ended up getting some chopped beef, chicken breasts, bacon, and sandwich meat. Everything was sold in large quantities, so I'll have to freeze some of it so it lasts long enough for me to eat it all.



To get an idea of the size:



Great, meaty success!

Exploring London: A Tale of Walking and Crowds

Food Notes:

The Modern Pantry
48 St. John's Square
Innovative, tasty food. Friendly waitstaff and interesting atmosphere.

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So far, I absolutely love London. It's a gorgeous city that has a little of everything, from history and culture to great food and nightlife. My flat is (more or less) within walking distance of many major sites, and I'm equidistant from 3 tube stations for those locations that are not easily walkable.

Yesterday, I was hoping to travel outside my little walking bubble and see more of London. I wrote down a few interesting locations and their nearest tube stations. Although first, I had to run over to Argos to pick up a few essentials (yes, I accidentally bought a 12 pack of teaspoons. I thought it was a flatware set. Who needs 12 teaspoons?).



Argos is this incredible store that sells EVERYTHING, and it's cheap. Cheaper than IKEA. Amazing, right?

Well, anyways... Once I leave for my adventure, I quickly discover that 3 tube lines are not running on account of track repair. I don't have a bus map on me, so I decide to change my plans. I'll walk to the Hunterian and British Museums today and figure out the bus routes for tomorrow.

The Hunterian Museum is INCREDIBLE. It's sort of like the Mutter Museum but with a stronger emphasis on science. The museum is part of the Royal College of Surgeons and has many specimens used to study various abnormalities. In addition, they also have Charles Babbage's brain, Churchill's dentures, and the skeleton of a Dodo.

It had some more gruesome exhibits; for instance, there was an exhibit on the start of plastic surgery in World War I, which had some pretty morbid pictures of face wounds from the war. For the most part, the museum was educational and interesting. Also, it was free. Win!

Next, I went to the British Museum. Honestly, the British Museum is incredible and immense. But it was packed! Some of the exhibits were manageable, and I was able to look through the Parthenon exhibit.


(from left to right, unidentified reclining male, Hermes, Athena, Poseidon, Iris, ???, Amphitrite)

I was excited to see some mummies, but it was impossible to get near ANY of the cases in the Egyptian wing, and I resolved to come back on a weekday. Outside, it was snowing pretty heavily, so I came straight home.

I'm exhausted from walking and unpacking and getting all set up. When I woke up this morning, I felt a little sniffly, so I decided to stay in and take it easy. I went to brunch down the street, and now I'm going to relax.

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Here's a traumatizing British ad about not taking unmarked taxis.

Musings...

Food Notes:

The Fryer's Delight
19 Theobald's Road
Claims to be "Tastiest Fish & Chips in Town." Wide selection of fish, kinda pricey, but HUGE portions. Tasty but couldn't finish the whole thing. Location feels very authentic, old-fashioned, and greasy.
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So, I checked my mail today, only to find the typical takeaway food flyers; however, I found this one particularly interesting...




I had to head over to campus today for a meeting with my study abroad adviser. I went over a bit early to see if I could get my class schedules (not much luck) and ended up wandering around the Strand a bit. While I was climbing the stairs to the history department (8th floor), I was struck by the view from the stairwell. My iPhone barely does it justice, but here it is:



After seeing this, I decided to wander along the waterfront for a bit, and I took this photo.



Unfortunately, my iPhone kind of butchers the picture, but hopefully, you get the idea. I also wandered down the Strand until it became Fleet Street, so for all you Sweeney Todd fans out there:



There IS a barber shop on Fleet Street, but it looks far from sinister. The shop was apparently located at 186 Fleet Street, but I couldn't find a marker.

I also discovered that I live right down the street from London's biggest meat market, Smithfield. This MIGHT explain why I've been so dissatisfied with Tesco's meat options. Unfortunately, it's only open on weekdays, so I won't be able to explore until Monday.

Oh, and I got my UK cell phone! Now, I just need to make friends who can call me... Hmm...

Well, cheerio!* Expect another post sometime this weekend, as I will hopefully be out and about, exploring London!

*I actually heard an old British man say "Cheerio" today. Best moment of my trip!

Welcome to London!

Food Notes:

Onion Sandwich Bar
1 Sicilian Avenue
Small, friendly sandwich shop near King's College. Delicious chicken melt!

The Banana Tree Canteen
412-416 St. John Street
Relatively inexpensive Asian fusion.

Today, I went 'splorin, and I bought a bunch of essentials for my little kitchenette! In case you're interested, here's a tour of my room. It reminds me a bit of Bruce Willis' home in the Fifth Element, but I really like it.



I'm thinking about taking a trip to Cardiff to see John Barrowman in Robin Hood: The Pantomime Adventure. It may sound a bit extreme to travel to Cardiff to see some guy perform, but I think it's a great opportunity to see Wales and the train ride is really easy.

Other than that, I have no major plans before classes start. I'd like to see some museums, more of the city, etc. However, I still need to pick up an Oyster Card and a cell phone... Tomorrow, with any luck!

The Trip to London (And So It Begins...)

Yesterday, I departed from Newark airport. I was full of hopes, dreams, and that warm, happy feeling you get when watching dog food commercials. In no time at all, I would be snuggled into my bed in London, just awaiting the adventure of study abroad! But, alas, it would not be so easy...

First, as was expected, the line for security at Newark was abysmal. There was one long line from which they then sorted us into smaller lines, where our passports were checked and we were filtered into the security check lines. This took about 40 minutes. No biggie! When I arrived at my gate, they were beginning to board the plane (it was still 50 minutes before departure time).

After boarding, we waited at the gate for 50 minutes because apparently, we were missing some equipment. Still, we made up the time in the air and arrived above London on time. I use "above" London because we were unable to land for a full 40+ minutes as it was snowing (the most snow they've seen in 20-30 years, I was later told). Well, we landed safely. And that's what matters, right?

Well, we were funneled into passport control, where the line wrapped around and around almost to the gates (and only 4 employees were on duty). It took 2 hours to get through passport control. By the time I got through the last train from the airport had departed, and I was forced to take a taxi. The taxi cost £75. I make it up to my room. It is now 1AM. I check in with the family and go to sleep.

Not an hour later, I wake up with a splitting headache. Mind you, it was not from dehydration, as I proceeded to drink about a quart of water (thank goodness I bought that Poland Springs!). I had no pain killers and the headache persisted ALL NIGHT. I barely slept more than an hour total. The headache lasted until about lunchtime today.

That's the exciting story of my arrival in London. Luckily, the day was better. I met a few cool people and got to wander around London a bit. Also, I'm officially a KCL student. Check it out!



Mind you, I blurred out some to prevent people on the Internet from knowing too much... BUT, I'm part of the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering! I ROCK!

Now, dinner, organize my room, and sleep... It looks like my classes might not start until January 18th, so I'll have plenty of time to explore London.

COMING SOON: A tour of my room.