Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly

Perfect song title. Yes, I have been waiting a month to use that as my title on the day after I woke up in London for the first time. No judgment.

Today was pretty sweet! We had class this morning, which was actually really cool. I'm super into poetry, and we had a guest lecturer from Regent's (a Brit, of course) come in and talk to us about some famous WWI poems. Brooke, Sassoon, Owen. Our instructor was so animated about it and so lively. It was excellent. Even the people who hate poetry were getting into it, and he actually stimulated a class discussion. It made me pretty happy!

After class we grabbed lunch at the refectory (I'm trying very hard not to call it a caf, it's not called a caf here) and zoomed home on the tube to drop off our laptops and other heavy items. We had a walking tour that started at 2, so my main group and I (that's Tiffany, Kalen, Alyssa, and Kristine) headed over to Charing Cross and got a real tube riding experience. The tube gets a wee bit hot during the middle of the day, with so many people and such poor ventilation, so by the time we emerged into the hot sun, we were already pretty toasty. Our whole group met up with Magee and Rebekka, and then they unleashed us upon the city.

We wandered down Strand Street and saw so many things...telephone booths, the gorgeous Charing Cross Station, plenty of theatres (I took lots of pictures for my brother, since he's a big theatre nut!), very old buildings, some very new buildings, statues of strange things, a Tesco (of course)...

We stopped at the Waterloo Bridge, which is the very best view of London. On your left you can see the "egg building," the financial district, and more bridges; on your right, Parliament, Big Ben, more bridges, and the London Eye. It was beautiful. I could have stood there for hours just watching, just staring. Particularly at Big Ben and Parliament. For some reason, that image is just wonderful to me. I can't wait to get closer and get more pictures.

Something else interesting we saw was a church that has now been turned into an RAF memorial, after it was blitzed during WWII (St. Clement Danes). The feeling I got staring at a building that I know has been through hell was just...fascinating. I mean, I know plenty of other buildings were blitzed and all that, but it just felt really neat to see it and know that that's what it survived.

And of course, we saw TONS of pubs, most of which I would love to come back and visit again!

Then we had to get back to the tube, which proved to be more difficult than expected. The nearest station (Blackfriars) is closed as part of the Upgrade Plan, which is London's revamping of the tube for the 2012 Olympics and such. So we had to wander around and find Temple Station, which we assumed would not be too far away (since the Bakerloo stations up near our flats are all pretty close together). WRONG. Temple Station was VERY FAR AWAY, and we had to walk past about 10 signs saying Temple Station with an arrow pointing us further on. We were miserably hot at this point, so there was much complaining. But eventually we found the station, climbed into the steamy tube, and made our way toward Leicester Square to meet the others.

Just kidding. We didn't get the Leicester Square as planned. The Northern Line, we learned, splits off into TWO separate tube lines, and from our entry point we were on the wrong one. Excellent. So we had to take a rather long way to Leicester...

By the time we arrived at The Cambridge, the pub where our professor was waiting to buy us all a drink, we were sweating to death and kind of cranky. Beer and cider were necessary. I, however, underestimated the potency of hard cider...and boy, that lightened all our moods. Exponentially. It was absolutely delicious, too. I wish that was more readily accessible in the USA.

So we staggered home--I mean, walked home confidently without any giggling--and rested for a few while Kalen waited for her luggage to FINALLY show up. It did (thank goodness) and then we headed up to Regent's for dinner and free wi-fi. No dinner, since the refectory was closed, but we ordered pizza (the same as from Saturday, lol) and chilled in the courtyard.

I skyped my mom and brother, and it was great to see their faces. Even Lulu made an appearance (and gave the computer a very strange look when she recognized my voice). I hope in the next week to skype my dad and Mo, and my best friends back home too. Elli and Caryn better set up a time as well so I can see the English countryside!

In sum, I am exhausted, but today was pretty great, as far as first days of school go. Tiffany and I just uploaded pictures onto Facebook (check 'em out mate!) and made a list of everything we want to see/do this weekend and next, and it's LONG, so we will be VERY busy. Busy is good, though. Busy is what I came here for!

Much love to everyone back home. Oh, also, as I'm typing this, I'm hearing it in my head in a British accent, since that's all I hear all day long. It's going to start coming out of my mouth that I way, I guarantee it...

Bedtime for those of us in GMT (00:19! How late! How confusing!). G'night, loves.

PS. Happy 4th of July, everyone! :)