I am slacking in this whole write in a blog to keep people updated, but as of today I have been here for two weeks! I love it here and don't think I could have made a better choice about studying abroad.
I am staying with a host family and four other students, all girls. The house is about a 5-10 minute walk to the KU Business and Law campus (Kingston Hill). There are four campuses and we were placed in accommodation according to what we were studying. When receiving my timetable (or schedule) I was informed that business classes were split between Kingston Hill and the main campus, Penrhyn Road..all of my classes turned out to be at Penrhyn Road. Penrhyn Road is about 3 miles from where I live so instead of walking (got really lost the first night here trying to walk home)I catch the Uni bus (free) from Kingston Hill to Pehrhyn Road. It is about a 15 minute bus ride depending on how many stops. I have learned that when waiting for a bus to pick you up, you have to stick your hand out to let the driver know to stop. It was lovely when I thought it was stopping and it passed right by and I had to wait another twenty minutes for the next bus to come. Likewise, when on the bus and it announces your stop you have to hit the button that lets the driver know to stop and let you off. Once again I didn't realize that my first time and I had to walk from the next stop back to my house.
There are 3,000 international students studying at Kingston this semester, with about 130 of them being Americans. I started classes this week and enjoy them much more than my classes back home. The professors here are much more approachable and they have much more interactive classes. I think I am going to like the classes here much better and I feel like I will also be learning a lot more here than at home.
So what have I been doing for the last two weeks before classes started?
Well, I have enjoyed a lot of days just walking around Kingston and the open-air markets and trying the fresh foods, looking in overpriced shops, siting and enjoying views of the Thames River, and going out to local pubs and restaurants meeting new people.
I have taken a couple trips into Central London with some friends. Central London is where you would picture all of the touristy attractions like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye etc..Central is about a 30 minute train ride from Kingston, or about an hour by bus. I also took part in a Thames River cruise to Greenwich. Greenwich biggest attraction is being a place where the Prime Meridian runs through. So, I did the touristy thing and stood in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres at once. We were going to go into the Queen's house, but it was shut down because they were currently shooting part of Sherlock Holmes the day we were there. Wandering around, a couple of us ran into a Harvest Festival going on so we stopped and tried some of the local food samples. There were also very big markets and tons of street food everywhere you looked.
Another event put on for us was a day trip to Brighton. Brighton is a gorgeous ocean-side town. It is where King George IV had his "cottage/summer home/water-view" palace built. We went on a tour of his palace and it was gorgeous..learned a lot of neat and interesting things about him. We were also able to check out the Brighton Pier which had a bunch of carnival type activities, food, and shops on it. It was a very relaxing place to be around.
After the trip to Brighton, 7 of us hopped on a train and went to the Chelsea vs Fulham football (soccer) match. It was an incredible time. The fans were absolutely insane and it was nothing like being at a sporting event in America. Fans were were chanting and moving the whole time throughout the crowd. When they play football matches here, opposing teams fans are only allowed to buy tickets behind their own goal, and that part of the stadium is not accessible from where the home fans are. This is to prevent fights and riots breaking out. They also do not serve alcohol while the match is being played. You are only able to get alcohol before the match starts, or at halftime. They are also very strict about when play resumes after half. I witnessed one guy buying beer and then the associate got a nod from his boss that the play resumed so the next guy in line was not able to buy it. Even if you do buy alcohol, you are not allowed to bring it back to your seat, you have to drink it in the lobby area. The game ended up going into a shoot out after 90 mins of play and then two extra 15 minute halves. Chelsea won 4-3 in the PK shootout. The Fulham goalie saved the first PK, then the Chelsea goalie saved the 3rd PK and the stadium ERUPTED. So in the 5th round the Chelsea player scored, then the Fulham player hit it off the top post and it dropped directly down but did not go in. The stadium went nuts!! Everyone was just jumping around and singing. I was glad to be wearing a Chelsea jersey. I was told this was the game to go to because it was a rival match since the Chelsea stadium is actually in the city/town limits of Fulham. Quite an eventful day to say the least!
One other trip I did was to Camden Town. Which is still considered part of London, but it is a place with TONS of street vendors and outdoor markets. You able to barter with the people at the shops and then they also have a lot of great food that people are just cooking as you walk along. I had some Chinese noodles and different types of chicken and sat and enjoyed views of the Thames. I think I paid 3 pounds and they give you tin filled with as much as you want. You just keep telling them different choices and they keep piling it on! So good!
I know that was quite a long post but it was really quite short considering everything I have been doing. I tried to just give a short overview of the two weeks here. I will try and update more often!
I will also be adding pictures to the photo albums so be sure to check those out too!
Cheers.
Nick
