Today marks my one month of being in London! This past month went by so fast, and it’s making me realize how quickly time can go by when you’re enjoying your life. You truly have to appreciate every single moment.

This past week has been busy and productive and very, very fun. I’ve been cracking down on da books, went shopping on Oxford Street (that was the productive part), and met up with friends I haven’t seen since I’ve been in London. On Wednesday, a friend I met while in Salisbury in March, Matt, was in London to see a band play.  During the day we met up and wandered the streets for hours until it got to be unbearably cold and we hit the pubs! Unfortunately, we got there around 5pm, just as all the business men of London were leaving work and getting drinks. It wasn’t really our crowd…  But Matt is definitely one of the strangest and most unique characters I’ve ever encounter in my LIFE and I’m really happy to have been able to see him again.

On Friday I met up with my friend Anjelica’s friend, Paul, who she knew while she lived in Germany in high school, and then saw Michael later in the day. Paul and I met in Camden, got coffee, and explored the infamous market together. We’re going to a 1940s-themed party when Anjelica visits in March, so he was shopping for an uniform to fit the part. If this doesn’t make any sense, here’s a link to the party’s website. It’s going to be AMAZING! http://www.theblitzparty.com/ I have to get a new dress!!

Over coffee, Paul, who grew up in Germany and has been living in London now for two years, and I talked about how we both realized quickly after leaving home for new place how strangely patriotic we became. He summed it up pretty well, “It’s like, when someone asks you if you’re from Germany (or America), you wanna be like ‘HELL YES I AM!'” It’s not that I’m homesick or want to be back in America yet; I guess it’s that whole “grass is greener” thing. While living in America, everything foreign seems magical and exotic, and now that I’m living here, not just touring the city, I can see that London is an incredible city, but it’s also a place where normal people live, eat, sleep, and breathe, and that America is a pretty spectacular place that we shouldn’t take for granted.

Later, I met with Michael in Trafalgar Square, we got lunch, and then basically just spent a few hours wandering down the Thames taking pictures. It was good to see him, especially in London.

Location: London, England