Today marks exactly two weeks that I’ve been living in London on my own. My mother returned to the states on the 15th of September and I’ve been figuring my way around ever since.  While touring the city with my mother, I heard a quote on one of the tour buses. It is probably a bit cliche for English students but it really resonated with me. This is the quote by Samuel Johnson: “Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Mr.Johnson really hit the nail on the head with this quote. London is full of life,love and possibility. I have yet to find myself bored. Most days I’m scrambling to fit all I want to do in a day into my schedule. London has something for everyone and through my blog I really want to showcase the vast diversity it offers. 

I will detail the activities and places I have taken part in and visited this past  week to give you a glimpse of how I have been spending most of my free time. 

22nd September (Sunday) Witnessing the Changing of the Guards

If I am being completely honest, I do not see the massive hype that surrounds this event. It was very hard to see and really no way to distinguish what was happening behind the gates. Granted I arrived around 10:40am for an internationally known event that began at 11 am so it may be partly my fault for my lack of view and therefore excitement. It is something that I can say I did while in London. Now I am not trying to sway anyone from witnessing this historical event as I am a firm believer in experiencing everything. If I had to rate the experience it would fall very low on my scale. At most a 3/10, I found it to be very ant-climatic. However, I am happy I was able to witness or at least partly witness such a historical event. 

23rd September (Monday) Visiting the Foriegn and Commonwealth Office 

I was fortunate enough to explore this beautiful gem during London’s Open House Week. It took place this year between 22nd of September through to the 29th of September. This Open House week is a time to explore over 800 buildings in London free of cost but beware of long queues(lines)  so plan to arrive early. I was unfortunately only able to visit this building during open house week but if you ever find yourself in London during this time I would definitely recommend exploring all you can. I pulled this description from the Foreign and Commonwealth website to give a bit of background on the building. The website states, “The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a worldwide network of embassies and consulates, employing over 14,000 people in nearly 270 diplomatic offices. We work with international organisations to promote UK interests and global security, including the EU, NATO, the United Nations, the UN Security Council and the Commonwealth.” I do not know much about diplomatic affairs but the beautiful thing about London is that you don’t have too. The guides during the open house were extremely informative on the in-workings, purpose and overall responsibilities the office handles. The interior was absolutely beautiful. There were many places were photos were restricted but I managed to get a few good shots of the inside. 

24th September (Tuesday) An English Afternoon Tea

As many of you probably know afternoon tea is a long standing English tradition. One of which I was quite excited to partake in. I was and still am unfamiliar with traditional English customs so I felt as if afternoon tea would be my first steps towards an authentic English experience. I and a few friends had tea at fairly quaint but well known shop known as The English Rose Cafe and Tea Shop. A quick side note I ran into two other students from my home university (Howard University) who were visiting London from Spain. I thought that was really cool because it goes to show just how small the world really is. However back to the tea, I had a vanilla chai tea latte( Yes, I know not an english drink) and scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream. The chai tea was amazing. I was very happy with this choice. The scones on the other hand I am not a fan of. I found them to be very dry and without much flavour. Initially I thought clotted cream was just another name for butter. It is not. It is actually just made by steaming cow’s milk indirectly and allowing it to cool in a shallow pan where the cream content rises to the surface and forms “clots”.  Although I am not a big fan of scones, I will be exploring more tea shops in London in the coming weeks. 

25th September  (Wednesday) Induction Week of Classes

I officially begin school on the 30th of September but this past week I had an introduction to my courses. I was fairly lucky because I only had one introductory lecture for the week on this day which began at 9am. It was quite brief. The lecturer introduced the course schedule, moodle and discussed how the course would be taught. The lecture was in a huge theatre at the Pullman Hotel due to the size of the class. The lecturer said there were roughly 500 students registered for this module (course). Definitely the largest class I have ever been apart of. Once the lecture was over, I spent a few hours exploring and learning my way around the University College London Science Library since I plan on spending most of my time here during the week. Sadly, I have no pictures of the librayIt is a massive library. There were 5 floors and a large computer lab on the main floor. On the inside it looked like an ordinary library nothing too fancy. I studied in the medical sciences area which was very quiet so I think I have scoped out my study place for the term! 

26th September (Thursday) Rainy Day In

I decided to stay in due to the abnormally stormy weather. I know it rains a lot in London but usually in short spurts. It however rained heavily all day and into the night. Since I had been running all week, I decided to stay in and get ahead on some of my coursework.

27th September (Friday) Harrods Visit!

For starters Harrod’s is one of the largest and most famous stores not only in London but also the world. It is home to the likes of Christian Loubatin, Dior, Prada, Louis Vuitton and so many more high end designer brands. Harrod’s is a one stop shop for all of your luxury needs. The store houses accessories, jewelry, clothing, shoes and even a home and bath department. I spent about 3 hours and walked out with a 21 GPB/26 USD mascara by NARS because that is about all of the luxury I can afford! My birthday is coming up soon so I plan to take a trip back for something special. 

28th September (Saturday) Admiring London’s Street Art

London has art of all kinds but I am a big fan of street art. I was walking in Shoreditch which is a borough of London known for its street art when I stumbled across this beautiful display. I plan on dedicating a day very soon to exploring and admiring London’s street art because there is just so much talent! I am not sure who graced the area with this art but I loved it. 

What’s Next

I have 3 months left to discover London and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. It’s exciting yet a bit intimidating and overwhelming. Since I am only studying in London for a term, my time here is limited. Nonetheless I find that motivating rather than discouraging. I plan to make the most of my time here. I begin classes this coming week but I have a few exciting things planned so watch out for my next post!