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Tahlia We arrived in London at 8 am. Around 1000 foreigners waited patiently & silently to go through customs. When we finally stopped talking, we realized that we were the only ones making any noise. Everyone else was just staring forward. It was eerie. I have to admit I had some anxieties about getting on the tube after the bombings, but they were quickly swept away by the mixture of languages, colors of signs, advertisements, accents, fashion, and just trying to stick with the group. We were met by a very cheery and awake Keith Beebe. Slave driver that he is, he led us all around London to keep us from falling asleep. We ate our first meal in a pub, where most of us got fish & chips. By fish and chips, the British mean a whole fish, up to 12 inches long, sometimes skin and all, deep fried. It is definitely a staple for us here, as it is for some of the local fat pigeons. In my sleep-deprived and jet-lagged state, the most shocking and enthralling things to me were BMW scooters, red telephone booths, Vespas, smart cars, other ridiculously small modes of transportation, skinny business-suit-clad Brits, and how closely people park to each other. In the morning we woke up to a German breakfast. There were all sorts of the most amazing cheeses, sliced meats, tea, coffee, cereals, and breads. It was a good thing that we were able to try German bread, because later in Scotland I was asked by 2 German boys if we all we had in the States was white bread. Keith taught us something about the history of Christianity, we went to evensong at Westminster Abbey, and we explored London. But mostly we learned each others' names and soaked up English culture. Back to Off-Campus Studies >> British Isles Study Program >> |
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