Today began, as many days do, with breakfast and class. After class we stopped in and at lunch at Ramsay Hall. They fixed pizza, which actually wasn't too bad. We had to wait a while on the pizza though because the staff didn't make enough. I am trying not to criticize, but the way the cafeteria is ran here is not very impressive at all. Besides rather lackluster food, they constantly run out of things and just give me the impression they're not very well prepared. It would seem much more economical and sensible to me if, instead of making us eat at Ramsay Hall, they had just taken the price of our meals off of our costs of coming over here or given us a Tesco card. I think I discussed this here earlier. Sorry for beating a dead horse.
After class I went to the British Museum. I spent a little over an hour and a half there and really ended up speeding through the exhibit. The other day it came to me just how little time I actually have left here. I have three weeks, but in those three weeks I all ready have several days planned out where I won't be able to see things around London, so I'm trying to get everything in while I can, yet still not make myself exhausted. I did get to see pretty much everything at the British Museum, though admittedly I would like to have a day or more to go through there and thoroughly examine everything. In every room, every object they have, is cataloged and they have signs in the cases which explain what everything is. Keep this in mind when you see my photograph of entire rooms and realize that it is way too much stuff to fully examine in a day.
I picked up a few souvenirs and some batteries on my way back from the British Museum. By the time I got back to the dorms and cashed a few traveler's checks it was time for our afternoon half-way point meeting. It was a bit boring and basically told us stuff that most people should all ready know. Of course, I'm glad they had the meeting because they ended up addressing some behavior issues. There are a lot of folks that keep talking in the halls at night (you can hear everything) and who seem to slam their doors constantly (again, everyone can hear it). But, I didn't see the main culprits of this action at the meeting yesterday, so it's quite possible they didn't hear it at all, which would be a disappointment.
After the meeting I went down to South Bank with intentions of going to the London Eye. Let me say this: I can now understand why the London Eye is the most popular tourist attraction in the world. Apart from the spectacular views of London, it is so very well managed that, unlike many other attractions, it's not a hassle to deal with. It is a little on the pricey side, but I think it's completely worth it. I exchanged the voucher they gave me at Madam Tussuad's for a London Eye ticket in about two minutes, I then stood in a line which seemed really long, only for about five minutes. They usher you onto the capsule with a great deal of politeness (all of the staff was very nice) and you ride for thirty minutes. In those thirty minutes you get to see just about every conceivable angle of the London skyline. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are right in front of you. The Gherkin and the financial district, as well as St. Paul's, are to the east. In the thirty minute span you get some really great views. They put about fifteen people in one of the capsules, which are air conditioned, and I never found myself without the ability to capture a great shot. They don't crowd you in or anything like that; it's quite roomy.
Once I was finished at the London Eye, I made my way back to the dorm and ate dinner. Several of the other students and myself sat around just telling stories and laughing about some of our experiences in London. I know this sounds weird, but some of my funniest experiences have involved little girls on the Tube. There was another little girl there today that wanted to sit up on one of the side seats (it's hard to explain), but she was too short. She had to scramble up and when her mother told her we were at the stop Embankment, she replied with "Embank-what?". The English accent on little girls is really funny. Anyhow.
We ended up going to South Bank after the sun had set and walked around taking photographs. London, especially from South Bank, is amazing at night. It was a bit chilly, but the views were awesome. The lights and the whole atmosphere of the city were well-worth checking out. We spent a little time there at South Bank then decided to catch a bus back to the dorms. Donald and I got on a different bus from Katie and Jennifer. Donald and I got onto a double-decker bus and rode a bit out of the way before going to a Tube stop and getting back to the dorms. We got to the dorms a little late, which is why I didn't write here last night.
I got a card from Nana last night, which was fun to read. I've enjoyed getting letters and e-mails from everyone because it's nice to keep up with what's going on back home, and also it gives one a real feeling of maintaining connection with the people you love. So, thank you all for writing to me.
Pictures of today's excursions around London can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/page2/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/page3/
P.S. My Flickr account only allows 200 photos to be visible at any time. I took 699 photographs on Sunday and Monday. Although I'm only uploading a few at a time, realize there are a lot more. I apologize for not being able to show all of them.
