Nearly Done

So last week I went to London, and now I’m back in Switzerland to do a large chunk of work before being done with the program. I guess, now, writing this, I realize how quickly the program really did go by, and can’t believe that I only have 3 semesters of college left! At this point, I’m really eager to be back home, to see friends and family, and have that familiarity that you just can’t get in a foreign country, no matter how much you love it.

The weekend before London was mostly one of work, although I did go with Ria and Erin to see a concert at Victoria Hall. It was only 10 CHF, and we saw the Suisse Romande Orchestre and heard some piano from Jean-Yves Thibaud. I left for London on Thursday, and within the first couple days Beza and I had done gone through all the big touristy stuff. We had lunch in Notting Hill, but unfortunately missed the market, and walked through Hyde Park. Our first day we walked Oxford and Bond Street, which are big, busy shopping streets. It was the first place I saw more American stores I could count, which was less exciting but at the same time a nice comfort. Bez and I both missed going to Borders and reading magazines in a café, so we got a relaxing dose of that when we found a Borders on Oxford Street. Bond Street had wonderful Christmas decorations up, including some fake soap-sud snow coming down over the street corner.

Thanksgiving dinner was spent in the dorm kitchen of an American student attending the London School of Economics for the year, who cooked two turkeys!! It was an interesting mix of American and English students, who didn’t really know what the holiday big deal was but were more than eager to join in the eating festivities. One guy, Chris, was really interested in the fact that we were Americans, and wanted to know all about America. We started talking to him, and one of the first things he said was, “So, tell me about America. Fat kids.” We thought it was kind of funny more than anything, and true anyway, with all the obesity and unhealthy foods we have back home, but I guess you get stereotypes everywhere.

I myself was guilty of it, as I had to keep telling myself that I wasn’t in the middle of a Harry Potter book while in London. Since it was my first time there, my only impressions of the city came from Harry Potter and movies like Love Actually and Notting Hill, which I probably don’t have to say romanticize the city quite a bit. Either way, it was still pretty exciting riding the Night bus and getting off at King's Cross, and hearing our tour of Shakespeare’s Globe with the added bonus of a British accent. Although I must say, Beza and I felt pretty dumb when we couldn’t understand what the one kid Chris was saying half the time he was talking to us, due to his fast talking, strong Southern London accent, and arsenal of slang. It was still English, after all.

Among the other typical London things we did were Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the British Museum, Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus, and Regent’s Street. We also walked by the Bank of England, Royal Exchange, Hay’s Galleria, London Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and the Imperial War Museum. Some of the stuff we wanted to do was ridiculously expensive, no thanks to the sucky exchange rate of the dollar to the pound (a pound buys you more than $2). We made sure to get some delicious Indian food at Brick Lane, complete with men standing outside the restaurant trying to convince you to come inside and offering you deals like free drinks or naan (I freaking love naan). I got to meet up with Alisha, my best friend from elementary school in Texas, as she was visiting a friend from school studying abroad there that weekend (a break from Alisha's own study abroad in Spain).

I was really hoping to see Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey, but again it cost more than we were willing to pay. I blame Mr. Hight for making me interested in British history… we did go in to an Anglican mass, which was weird since I’m used to doing things the Catholic way. Can’t forget going to see the Queen at Buckingham palace, and getting the token London phone booth pic. We made our way to the National Portrait Gallery, but decided against going to the Tate Museum of Modern Art, which my friend Nicole described as toilet and refrigerators displayed as art. We also saw a bit of Trafalgar Square, and tried to go to the London Dungeons until we found out that it cost 20 pounds each. The Burrough market was supposed to be really good, but we missed it too unfortunately.

By the end of our 5-day trip, Beza and I had seen “everything,” and decided to watch a movie, since we both wanted to see American Gangster and really missed going out for a movie. This again shows that one of the reasons I liked London so much is that it felt close to home, with people speaking English, American stores, coffee shops on every corner, and real bagels. There were also tons of shows that I was dying to see, but I guess it’s left as my ambition to go back and see one. Not only did they have the usual Broadway-esque shows like Wicked, Hairspray, and the Lion King, but some others I hadn’t heard of like Dirty Dancing and the Lord of the Rings. Talking to some of my GW friends I saw who were studying at LSE, I saw a lot of resemblances between LSE and GW, such as the dorms in the middle of the city, expensiveness of going there, and just the experience of being in the middle of the city. Taking the tube was an everyday occurrence, just like taking the metro in DC is, except the tube in London costs a lot more and gets stiflingly full at rush hour (okay, so maybe it’s not that much different from DC in that aspect) – with the addition of the lady saying “Mind the Gap” and taking the Picadilly or Circle Line instead of the Red or Blue line.

Overall, I really liked London, and am thinking of going back to LSE in the future for grad school maybe. I found out they have a one year Master’s program that sounds pretty great to me. Oh – and I almost forgot, it didn’t rain the whole time we were there! Since I’ve been back, like I said, I have lots of work to do, finishing my research and writing a report for the program, in addition to preparing a presentation for next week and missing home more than ever. It feels so close yet so far, but I can’t wait to be back in the States. I know I’ll miss Switzerland when I get back, with it’s amazing chocolate, cheese, and tranquility, but it’s just all the more reason to come back one day :-) See you all soon!