Last Saturday was another beautiful London day with blue skies and the sun shining. No sarcasm there, it actually was beautiful out, so my friends and I decided it was time to see the sights. I took many shameless selfies with the historic London buildings and monuments to create some memories I will never forget. The London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, and SOHO were all crossed off our bucket lists in one long, but wonderful day. We stopped in China Town for dinner and headed home to The Court, a pub down the street from my dorm. Closing time came and the group decided to hang out in our dorm's lounge for a little while. In came many groups of British students that were nothing but welcoming and excited to meet some American exchange students. Majority of the time, we just laughed about how they have different words for many objects. It was a blast getting the chance to meet some of the British students though, and to see some familiar faces in the dining hall this week.
Classes started this week which has been a bit of a wake up call as to why I am in London for five and a half months. Registering for courses has been a nightmare for every student I have talked to. They pretty much have only showed us the website to register on and told us to take two courses in our main department. Being a Psychology major here, I already had my two courses picked out before getting to UCL, but that did not mean that I automatically would be placed in them. Psychology of Individual Differences and Developmental Psychology will both be very interesting and useful courses for me even when I return to U of I. My two other courses are electives. So, along with every other study abroad student, I hoped to get into a History of Parliament class and Renaissance Art in London Collections class that take field trips around London to show you exactly what you are learning about. On the first day of registration, all the history classes were filled. It was really a miracle that I got into the History of Art class, though. I enrolled for an Introduction to Moral Philosophy class which I attended on Monday to only find out Tuesday night that I could not take it for some unknown reason. After waiting for my advisor for a half hour today, then having to email her instead, I got my schedule worked out to take a History of Philosophy class. I have a friend who was registered for it before me and she said it was already confusing. Wish me luck! I am just relieved that my courses are all worked out and I can hopefully get back into the swing of reading, studying, and attending lectures. Though, culture shock again has come upon us and I realize how different reading, studying, and attending lectures is over here. Reading for a class means at least 50 pages a week in a book that no one buys, but goes to the library to borrow. Studying means having a week break mid-February to catch up on course work and a four-week Easter break to study for a four-week final exams period. Attending lectures means, usually, one lecture a week and, if you got unluckily, a seminar once a week per class. As of now, I do not have class on Wednesdays, and only one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Today, without a class to attend, Athena and I decided to actually wake up at a decent hour (noon had become our usual wake up time), and have a productive day. Fed, showered, and errands run, by lunch time I felt the day had been a success. This afternoon, though, I ventured into Covent Gardens with a group of three other girls in my group. One had heard about a cheese shop that let you sample as many cheeses as you would like. It was amazing. A big cheese-lover myself, I was in heaven, and of course ended up buying some to bring home. Walking around Covent Gardens was really enjoyable. All of the cute shops and interesting people made it worth the 20 minute walk in the rainy wind. Definitely, another great day seeing and experiencing London.
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