And Class Begins

Monday- Wednesday January 11-13th- Sorry about the few days with no new updates or anything, my camera mysteriously died. I took it to 5 different camera stores and no one could fix it so I ended up having to buy a new one, thanks parents! But now that I am back with my all new handy dandy click-click I'm back snapping pictures!
I am half way done with my first week in London and I am loving it :] Classes did not start on Monday like they were supposed to but I didn't have a problem with that! One of the girls in the group was not here yet. We thought she was still coming and because we were waiting for her to get here, classes started a day later. Instead, on Monday we took a class trip to the Museum of London and St Paul's Cathedral. The Museum is being renovated so according to it, London only exists from 3800 BC - 1580 AD. That's still enough history for me though. It was very interesting. We even saw a mosaic from the roman times! It was very interesting. I must not have ever payed attention in World History because I didn't even know that the Romans had conquered as far north as England. I think my favorite part of the museum was not seeing the mammoth fossils they had (did anyone know that England used to have mammoths and elephants?? I sure didn't), or the interactive game that taught you about the patron saints of the church (it lit up and made sounds, was attention grabbing), or the documentary about the Black Death that was on a blood chilling loop (every 2 minutes it would start again showing all the horrors of the awful disease that only left 20% of the population alive), but the section about the Tutors where you could dress up in authentic looking clothes :] This is a picture of Cam, in an archer/messenger boy's leather tunic, me, in a lady of the court's head dress, and Calvin, in a monk's hat (forgot the word). .
After that little adventure, the group went to St. Paul's Cathedral. I expect all you Disney fans to know what that place is. Not only is it the place where Princess Di got married, but it's also the place where in Mary Poppins the old lady feeds the birds. (I start singing the song just thinking about it :]) We had a worksheet to fill out while we were visiting and I thought it would take away the excitement of the place, but I actually enjoyed doing it. It pointed out the interesting non-touristy sights of the building. Here are some shots from the outside of the building:










It's gorgeous huh? The inside is even prettier but no photos were allowed (even though I snuck some) This is the American Memorial, dedicated to all the fallen soldiers of WW2:
Me lighting a candle to show thanks for all fallen soldiers everywhere:
And my personal favorite, Florence Nightingale's tomb! She is one of my heros and seeing this made me tear up a little bit :] It is kind of dark because 1-no pictures were allowed so I had to be sneaky and 2- my camera was dead so i took this on my Flip recorder that has no flash: . I am very glad that we went to these places.
As it turns out, the girl who we were waiting for decided not to come so I got to move out of the lonely single room and into her spot in the 8 girl room! I am roomie to 7 of the best girls in England and I'm very glad I'm not alone in what was dubbed as the Harry Potter closet (because it is so small) anymore! One cool thing about the Harry Potter closet was on the back of the door there was a whiteboard that had strange writings on it. People tried to decipher it but we couldn't, if anyone knows please tell me!
Classes today were as good as classes can be. Class is held in one big room on the 3rd floor, so only one class at a time. The teachers are all great and the classes are small, the only bad thing is there is so much to do here that I don't want to do homework! :] Monday's classes were Political Science and the history of the Church in Britain. Then after Tuesday's class a group of 16 of us went to see Wicked! I was so excited!! It was amazing with the accents!! Some of the duologue and lyrics were different than the American production but it was still just as good :] I still cried when Elphaba sang "I'm not that girl" and when she and Fierro (spelling??) got together :] *sigh* Anyways... I love all the shows that are so close to me here!
Wednesday's classes were Greek and Roman mythology and Shakespeare. I think those two will end up being the most work but being my favorites :]. After class on Wednesday I went with one of my new roomies, Sarah, and went to buy my new camera and then to the Mecca of all shopping- Harrods. . I wanted to buy everything in the store but I didn't think my parents would like that very much so I limited it to 5 things :] 3 of which are surprises for my sister and my mom I'm not saying what they are but I hope they enjoy them. If not then I want them back :] hehe but I have an inkling that Alyssa and Mom would like them especially since they are from Harrods! I also saw so many toys I wanted to get for my brothers but I didn't have thousands of British pounds to burn (the money kind of pounds, I could have a few of the British food pounds burn though hehe) but so they know I was thinking about them, here is what I wanted to buy for them: A GIANT LEGO MAN!!! Price- 3,500 pounds (that's a little over $6,000 if I'm doing my math right)So sorry boys, no giant lego man for you.
I think I've blabbed enough for today, I'll write more later! Have a great day!