Tag Archives: transportation

Tokyo Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Trains are the most common form of travel in Tokyo bar none. While it can be overwhelming, it is actually easy to get around once you know what you are doing. To be fair, I’m from the Philly area (like half of Penn State) and I’m very much familiar with the trains and subway because of an internship I had in the city. My friends from other cities in the US without public transportation did find it a bit difficult, but they quickly adjusted after a few weeks! Personally, I find the Japanese train system much more advanced ours at home. Each line is color coded so it is easy to verify which train is going where. All trains have digital name plates first stating the location in kanji (chinese characters), katakana (Japanese writing), hiragana (another form of Japanese writing) and English. So no worries if you don’t read Japanese very well because the Tokyo transportation system is very tourist friendly.

When traveling in Tokyo, it is best to avoid rush hour(s), which in Tokyo is 7am to 9am and 5pm to 7pm. Otherwise you will find yourself getting extremely close to those around you and not in the way you intended when traveling to Japan.

Platform at Nishi Funabashi in Tokyo during rush hour.

A lot of salary men getting off a rush hour train – beware they can get aggressive. So move quickly!

The average Tokyo train (during off hours).

A view from the window of a Tokyo train. One stop (Minami Funabashi to Shin Narashino) one my daily 45 minute commute to school.

Can’t Sleep, Let’s Talk

All I can say is, “WOW, what a flight!!!”

I can’t complain because it was an estimated 22 hours, cut into 16! It’s only been my 3^rd time flying, NEVER for this long though. My first flight was to Atlanta, second was to Puerto Rico (ranging from 2 – 4 hours respectively). Now it was to HONG KONG! It still hasn’t hit me yet, or has it?! It is 4 in the morning and I CANNOT sleep, LOL. I don’t mind though. It is giving me the chance to jot down my thoughts!

So……. I didn’t really read much on the plane, I thought the movies were much more interesting and made the time go by a little faster. Economy class sleeping wasn’t so great until I found the perfect position! Ahhh , I laid the open seat’s tray out beside me and put my head right across it! Nice way to think of the idea with only 4 hours left, ey!? Come to think of not so bad things – The food was pretty all right too. Not the GREAT breakfast my dear mother cooked me before leaving 5:30 in the morning, but still good! I enjoyed every moment of it!!

NOW to the hard stuff! J I know experienced travelers told me to pack light, but hey I am an over packer by nature! I thought I did pretty well with my two suitcases, backpack and large purse.

DON’T judge me! Haha I put a lot of things back that I thought I would need……….. okay want. I did wish I packed less traveling from the airport to the University, but when I think about it I rather have everything I need and not have to worry about buying things right away – then scramble for it when I get there. But back to my point – if you have patience and strength, the train and bus aren’t impossible; they just require lifting and great steering. If you don’t have patience and have limited strength take the taxi! Our route was off plane at 230pm HK time (go to immigration, pick up bags, get HK money, then buy bus ticket), bus, then train, then shuttle to guesthouse on campus arriving around 530pm HK. It was quite a ride, but when you have people to talk to it flies by! It funny because after all of that, I wouldn’t even call that a journey. That was the short trip. I would call the campus we finally arrived to an EVERY DAY journey. WHY? Because we are up in the mountains with steep hills, water surrounding us, and buildings not so close together.

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This campus and country will change me for the better. I already envision great things! Talk to you guys soon!

Location: Guesthouse clinic road, shatin hong kong

Es Cultura!

That saying above (translated: It’s culture!) has pretty much been our group’s mantra the entire time we’ve been here. Even though Mexico is right below the U.S., there are so many differences. It’s been really interesting to learn and adjust to them, so prepare for a long entry!

Transportation. Let’s just say that all Mexican drivers are city drivers at their worst. It’s pretty much lanes/ turn signals optional, with no visible speed limits. My Mexican mother is a pretty safe driver, but some taxi rides have been terrifying. The public buses are really convenient and cheap, but there are no schedules, so you just have to hope a bus with your route on it passes soon. Believe it or not, I miiight just miss the Blue Loop a little. They tend to not come to complete stops when it’s time to get off, so you just have to hop and hope for the best. We’ve been successful so far and pretty much have the routine down!

Food. It is GOOD. I have tried so many new foods– REAL (delicious, amazing) Mexican foods (far from Taco Bell style). The mealtimes are fairly different, though, and it took a little while to adjust. Breakfast (desayuno) is pretty much the same, with the sole exception being that, in place of my typical granola bar, my mom here feeds me to the point of immobility. But that goes for every meal; Imy stomach has expanded significantly since my arrival. The next meal isn’t until around 3 or so, and it’s “comida”–the main meal. It’s pretty much to Mexicans what dinner is to us; my father and brother come home from work, my sister’s home from school, and we all eat my mom’s delicious cooking together. The last meal is sort-of-dinner, or “cena,” and with my family it consistently consists of sandwiches or quesadillas and maybe some fruit or sweet bread. Cena is usually around 9 or 10, and it’s the time of “platicando,” or chatting.

Other things about food that I love here: every kind of “pan dulce,” or sweet bread/ pastries, has its own name. There are also tons of delicious fresh fruits, and a home-made hot salsa or peppers are placed out with almost every meal. They also adore salt here, but normal pepper cannot be found. Oh- and, as my father said, [translated] “Coca-Cola is the drink of the gods.” They LOVE it here, and, when it comes straight out of a cold glass bottle, who are we to disagree?

Interacting with people. It’s been hard to switch between Ud. and tu forms of addressing people (the first being formal and the other informal). When you meet people, it’s with a handshake and kiss on the cheek. I will not, however, miss “propinos,” which are essentially call-outs to (mostly) women and very common here; since we’re noticeably from the US, our group has received a fair share of these. Bartering and negotiating is also the norm here; from markets, where it’s expected, even to taxi cabs, it’s an art I haven’t yet mastered.

Other little things. Many people keep dogs on their roofs to keep watch for robbers. The public computer keyboards are set up completely different–it took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to access the “@” sign. Public bathrooms here can be a nuisance; there is a 50% chance that you will either have to pay a few pesos or there won’t be available toiler paper (or both). Museums and historic sites can sometimes have as much security as airports, but to enter and see what they have to offer is almost always worth it.

And the weather! It can get very cool in the mornings/ evenings (especially after rain), but it is pretty toasty most of the time. I’ve been loving it! However, almost all locals wear jeans and/or sweaters; we’ve even seen people running in sweatshirts, which seems crazy to me. We definitely stick out as foreigners in our shorts and t-shirts. I keep adding, but lastly, I love how close my family is here. When they’re not at work or school they’re essentially together. Whether we sit and chat for hours at mealtimes, play games (like dominoes below), or watch television, it’s just the norm to spend time together. All members of my host family- mom, dad, sister, and brother- are so witty, funny, and wonderful. I’m going to miss them so much when I leave next week!

All in all, there are lots of things I’m looking forward to when I head back home, but there are so many things I’m going to miss about here. I feel like I’m finally just getting really used to it all, and it’s about time to go…

Location: Puebla, Mexico

Truffles from Brussels <3

To say that Brussels was a better trip would be an understatement. I can’t describe in words how much I love the city of Brussels. This time, our coach ride there was during the day (it left at 8am); it was not the most pleasant bus ride but it wasn’t horrible either. When we left the station, we heard two little British boys sitting behind us talking to their parents in the seats behind them. At first, I couldn’t help but think how cute they were with their little British accent! However, as the ride went on my frustration grew. The entire ride they were kicking my seat, screaming at each other, and whining about one thing or another. I was most frustrated at the parents because they were both asleep with their face masks on. Oh well, nothing I could do about it!

When we finally got there, I was nervous to see all the signs in French again. I had such a hard time in Paris because no one was willing to talk to me in English and I didn’t want to have to be lost all weekend again! Since there were six of us going, we decided to pay for a triple hotel room and sneak 6 people in. it was genius because we ended up only having to pay 25 euros each for the 2 nights we were there! I forgot to print off the name and address of the hotel, so I had one of the girls traveling by eurostar text me the address. Still, we didn’t know how to get to there, so we went up to the information desk. When the man asked me where I was looking to go, I didn’t even know what the street name was as opposed to the hotel name so he just asked to see my phone. He was so nice; he showed us on a map exactly what we had to do to get there. We had to go into the other line with “his friend” to get our tickets for the metro and when it was our turn, the information guy that helped us took over and got the tickets we needed and asked for the money. He was so nice and helpful I wanted to cry and kiss him (but I didn’t)! The metro itself was actually pretty nice (especially after Paris).

Even though the information man told us to get to the hotel by tram after the metro, we were really confused as to how the tram system worked. We must have looked really confused because someone came up to us and asked us where we were trying to go; all I had to do was show her the text and she said it was within walking distance and then directed us in the right way. I was happily surprised by how nice everyone was! The area that we were walking through reminded me of home in Chelsea (London); it was super high end stores and really fancy shops.

When we walked into the hotel, we didn’t want to make it obvious that we were sneaking people in so as three of the people staying in the room were checking in, the other three took the elevator to a random floor to wait for the room number. We’re so sneaky! The hotel itself was gorgeous; I couldn’t believe we were staying there for so cheap. Since it was already 6pm by the time we were checked in and settled down, we went out for dinner and to a bar near the hotel. Apparently you’re allowed to smoke in bars in Brussels because it was really smoky in there.

Saturday, we headed out with the first destination being the Grand Place. It was only a 20-30 minute walk from our hotel so I suggested that we walk everywhere while in Brussels. As I always say, it’s the best way to explore. To my pleasant surprise, everyone agreed! On our way there, we walked past 2 antique markets and a ton of chocolate places. Apparently, Godiva Chocolates originated in Brussels! As we approached the Grand Place, I could see parts of the buildings from the side road. Once we entered the square, I was speechless. This was the most strikingly gorgeous and breathtaking square I’ve ever seen in my life. The architecture style was Gothic (not sure which era); which is my favorite style. I think that seeing different architecture is one of my favorite things about traveling to different places.

We all stood there kind of speechless for a while before taking a ton of pictures. Since Belgium is obviously known for their waffles, everyone wanted to find a non-touristy place to go for breakfast. We walked a short way from the square and found a little place to eat. I was also told that you had to try the coffee (and beer and fries and chocolate) while in Belgium, so I ordered a coffee for breakfast. Everyone else ordered waffles with toppings and chocolate. My coffee was absolutely delicious and everyone else’s waffles looked so good – and they apparently were!

We walked through one of the markets and then we went into a chocolate store called Chocopolis. It was really expensive chocolate but it looked so delicious. Since I don’t eat dairy, I asked the workers if they had any “dairy free” truffles (when I was in Stratford-Upon-Avon, there was a Belgian truffle place that had a whole list of dairy free truffles!) but this time, the workers looked at me as though I had 7 heads. I walked away thinking that there was no way I’d be having any chocolate this weekend. Bummer. We left there and set out to find the Chocolate Museum. When we got there, I went up to one of the people working and asked them if there was any chocolate that didn’t have dairy in it. They told me that any of the dark chocolates they make are all dairy free (there are 3 different kinds of dark chocolate). They had little bowls all around the museum of the 5 different kinds of chocolate, so I got to sample all of the dark chocolates, yay! The chocolate was extremely delicious. The museum itself was really cool inside because there were chocolate statues, art, and information all over. About 10 minutes after we went inside, we got to watch a demonstration of how the Professional Chocolatier makes the chocolate.

Luckily for me, he was making dark chocolate so when he finished, I got to taste fresh made chocolate. It was unlike anything I’ve ever had before! After the demonstration, we walked through the rest of the museum and then left to go adventure more. I didn’t realize this, but there’s a Royal Palace in Brussels; so we headed in the direction of that. There was a really pretty “garden” across from the palace so we walked through first and then made our way to the road to cross the street to the palace. The road was so incredibly wide! I don’t know how people drive on it without lines; it’s totally beyond me. Before we crossed, we noticed the lions that were “protecting” the gardens and the palace; they looked so scared!

I’ve never seen lions that had that kind of face so it was funny. We didn’t spend too much time there; it really wasn’t all that impressive. We ended up finding a cathedral as we were walking around, so we went into it to see what it looked like. It was really pretty inside; we left shortly after going and walked back to the place where we wanted to try the “frites” right across from where they had breakfast. The thing that’s good about the fries here is that they aren’t gross and sopping in grease, they’re actually potatoes lightly browned (in grease LOL). One of the girls was dead set on seeing the Manneken Pis, so we figured out where it was and arrived there quickly. It was so much smaller than I had imagined!

Seriously, there were chocolate replicas that were bigger. There were at least 6 chocolate stores around the statue so we went into all of them to look at their presentations of truffles and check out the prices.

Everywhere we went, I asked if they had “dairy free” truffles and at each place I was looked at like I was an alien. I found that most dark chocolate bars were dairy free, so I bought them instead. As we were leaving the last store, it really started to rain. I was one of the only people with an umbrella, so we headed back to walk to the hotel and rest before dinner. We left for dinner around 8pm and walked back to the Grand Place; we found a restaurant there that seemed pretty cute. One thing about Europe that I’m finding – waiters usually take pride in their jobs, they don’t always take your order unless you tell them you’re ready to order, and they don’t ever give you the check until you ask for it. I was so amused for the whole of the dinner because they had a food elevator and a phone to ring the kitchen upstairs, place the orders, and then the food would be delivered via the food elevator! I couldn’t help but watch it – I was mesmerized.

Apparently there’s a bar in Brussels that serves over 2500 beers and has 3 floors. Everyone wanted to see what it was all about, but I didn’t stay for very long. It was really late and I was exhausted! I headed back with one other girl and I thought I knew exactly where I was going. We got a bit off course and I started to get nervous because it was late and dark and we weren’t on a main road. Luckily, I quickly saw outdoor elevators that we were standing near earlier in the day so I knew that all we had to do was get on the elevator and go up and we’d be on the street right by our hotel.

Sunday, we had to be checked out by noon. Luckily, we were able to leave our bags at the hotel, which was really nice and unexpected. We headed back towards the Manneken Pis because there were chocolate stores everyone wanted to go into. On our way there, we decided to stop at a chocolate store called Leonidas as we were passing it. I went in and approached the women at the counter in a different way; I asked them if there were any truffles that were free of milk and cream. They looked at me and asked if it was an allergy and I said that “I don’t know if it’s the same word here, but I’m vegan”. The younger girl looked at me and said “oh, yes! Vegan!”! She pulled out a huge binder and looked through everything for me and showed me what I had to choose from that was dairy free. Apparently, I approached the question wrong in the past. I was so happy that I was actually able to get chocolate truffle-like treats!!

Since it was Sunday, most of the shops (other than souvenir shops) were closed. We spent the remainder of the day walking around the deserted fashion district and traveling on the metro to get to places that were further away. Apparently, when there was the “World Fair”, every country had to have a specific site that was theirs; Brussels built an “Atom” was considered the site for Belgium. I think it’s supposed to represent the different countries connecting together in Europe. You can walk to the top and through the connecting bars, but no one wanted to do it.

After that, we went to the area that is the headquarters of the EU. It was so windy and cold but we walked for a while to find the buildings. As it turns out, you can take tours of the buildings during the week but since it was a Sunday, the buildings were all closed. We got to see a part of the Berlin wall and all of the EU flags.

We headed back to the area of our hotel and went into some final chocolate stores.

When we got to the coach station, there was hardly anyone in there. I double checked that our bus was coming at 10:30 (it was about 9:45 at this point); it’s a good thing we looked because the coach was coming at 9:45. The bad thing about taking coaches everywhere is that they leave at whatever time you’re ticket says whether you’re on the coach or not; they don’t announce boarding or check in either. When we got out to where the coaches were waiting, we saw that a coach to London was already sitting there. Apparently, you have to check in at the Eurolines office; we didn’t know that so literally at the last few minutes, we checked in and ran to the bus 2 minutes before it left the station. Talk about lucky! When I woke up from my attempt to sleep, I was really confused because we weren’t at the train station; we were driving into the waiting lot of a ton of ferries! They were huge and I was scared at first because I thought you just drive on and then sit in the coach. Well, apparently that’s not how it happens because when we parked, everyone got off. We followed and went inside; holy crow it was like a cruise ship! There were 7 floors total and 2 of them were filled with shops, a restaurant, a caf� and bar, toilets everywhere, and an outside deck.

It was so incredibly nice! I wasn’t expecting it at all. The ferry ride probably lasted a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes and it was a relatively smooth ride. We were back in London around 5:30am and it was so lovely to hear Camille’s voice (we named the voice that speaks over the loudspeaker on the buses). Even though I love to travel and adventure, I am so glad that I’m living in London. It is such an amazing city and I hope there comes a day when I can actually live and work here.

Location: Louise, Brussels, Belgium

The French don’t like American’s? Hm, what a surprise.

Hey everyone! Following up from the last message, here’s the picture of a delicious meal at Hummus Bros. I love this place so much!

I swear the time has switched into ultra fast gear over the past two weeks. Every Wednesday, the only class I have is a Historic London class and instead of meeting at the campus, we meet at different sites around London and walk around for our lecture. Last Wednesday, we went to Borough High Street/Borough Market. If you ever come to London and you want to go to a really cool market- go there! Even though it wasn’t fully opened (it wasn’t a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) it was still really cool to see the set up and the variety of fresh food they offer.

Last weekend, I left Friday night for Paris! Again, we took the National Express (via Eurolines) coach there and back. This was my first time taking the coach across the ocean, so it was interesting! The first thing we encountered was when we had to stop at border patrol. The police came on the coach and took our passports and then we had to get out and to take all of our stuff inside a building for the customs officers to check our stuff. Once we were back on the coach, we had to drive to wait in line for the train to come. Apparently, we were taking a train through the tunnel (I didn’t know if we were taking a ferry or what). It was kind of weird because the coach drives into a train car that’s attached to the front of the train. After we’re positioned in the car, a metal wall closes the coach in so that it has its own car and then locks it in place.

It gets so stuffy inside the coach because it has to be shut off while the train is in motion. I almost freaked out at first because I could feel the train moving but I couldn’t see anything (I tend to get motion sickness); I didn’t like that part but I sucked it up and tried to fall asleep. The rest of the ride wasn’t bad at all. We got to the airport (where the coach was set to drop us off) and we found out we had to pay 9 Euros to get to the hostel. I didn’t like that part but oh well! After we dropped our bags off at the hostel, we walked to a nearby church. I just stood at the top of the steps looking over Paris and I couldn’t help but think “how did my life get like this?!” It really is insane; I can’t believe where I’m at and all that I’m doing here!

Our first day was a pretty dreary and rainy day in Paris. Most of the people I traveled to Paris with are very interested in museums, and well, I’d much rather walk around and see the city. Since I was with someone else who would rather walk around outside then in the Louvre, we did just that! We walked to the Louvre with everyone, and then split off to walk to The Eiffel Tower. We took side streets and what not so it took us probably 2 hours to get there but I loved just walking around and seeing little shops. There were so many bakeries!!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed the first time I saw The Eiffel Tower. I think it’s because it was a really rainy grey day, but I kind of thought it was ugly. Right as we got there, it started pouring so we hid under a porch of a ticket booth. We tried to find a metro but walked around for 2 hours in the rain because no one would tell us how to get there (in English). I have always heard that the French could be not so friendly to Americans, but I didn’t know it was that bad! Literally, no one would talk to us in English even after we attempted to speak in French.

The second day we were there, it was cloudy but it luckily didn’t rain. It was Sunday, so the places that were open didn’t open until around 11am so I got to sleep in. That was nice because I didn’t want to be too run down for the day. We all went souvenir shopping and walked around the more expensive stretch of shops leading to the Arc de Triomphe.

When we were done wandering around, we went back to the Eiffel Tower. It was a little nicer when we went back that time, but I still am not a huge fan. My favorite part of the day was when I got a French Baguette — it was SO SO good! Our ride home was great (for me) because I literally slept the entire time; with the exception of border control. Tomorrow, I leave bright and early for Brussels, Belgium!

I’ve learned that when you travel, you can’t go into something with expectations. I expected so much of Paris – the glamour, high end fashion designers everywhere, and an overall clean city (Paris smells like “homeless pee”) – and I got none of them. It was definitely great to see Paris, but it’s just not the place for me! Hopefully Brussels will be a better trip.

Location: Paris, France

Don’t call it a tube, you’ll sound far too American.

Here’s a picture of our dorm room (like I promised)!

Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since the last blog – this past week and a half has been packed full in an attempt to prepare for the start of classes and adapt to life in London. Since it’s been so long and I have so much to blog, I’m making it into 2 parts!

Last Tuesday morning we had a free day so some of us decided to wake up and meet downstairs around 10am to journey over to City University. Our plan for the day was to find our way around the campus, go to a 99 pence store (comparable to a dollar store – “pence” is their change), and find the closest ASDA (Wal-Mart). The weather that morning was actually nice; it began as partly sunny. However, I knew that I was in London and I took my umbrella with me anyway. We took the underground and got off right near City University. When we arrived, we got our bearings and headed to the University; it only took us about 5 minutes to walk to the campus. When we got there, my initial thought was “it’s a lot smaller then Penn State”! We walked around the small(er) campus and to the back side of the buildings where we entered the student building. When we got inside, there we’re very pleasant receptionists sitting there so we decided to ask them where the closest 99p store is. It turns out that it is located in the beginning of a shopping market right by the underground station. The market had a lot of great shops and stands with great prices! We took a walk to the end of the market and then finally found the store. We were able to buy a lot of necessary things in there; I ended up getting most of my toiletries and soaps there for only 12 pounds! From there, we found a cute panini caf� that had a lot of options at a very low price. The panini’s were really good! We got back on the underground and headed for (what we thought) was the right direction to ASDA. We found out after arriving that we went in the wrong direction. I was perfectly fine with that – it’s all part of the adventure! We hopped right back on the underground and went in the right direction. We arrived at our destination after about a 45 minute underground ride. We then had to get a bus to take us the remaining distance (this was one of the first times I was on a double-decker bus). Once we got to Clapham Junction (location of ASDA) we were ecstatic to finally be there! As we were walking up the hill to get to ASDA, I spotted a Whole Foods!! I was so happy! I didn’t go in that day because I wanted to see what ASDA offered so we walked to ASDA and spent about 2 hours in there. This store is not even comparable to Wal-Mart back home; it is amazing! There are so many organic brands there; ASDA even has their own organic brand which makes buying organic much cheaper. I was in heaven. I picked up most of the staple items I needed and after a long while spent roaming through the store and a long time in line, I was finally at the register. I was scared to see how much I was going to be spending; to my surprise, I spent under 40 pounds! The prices were great; even though it is much more expensive when converting to dollars. Collectively, we had so many bags to carry back to the bus stop. It was incredibly entertaining and I’m sure hilarious to watch but it was quite challenging. Nonetheless, we arrived to the bus stop and were able to get off at the stop right in front of our dorm building. Later that night, a few of the girls wanted to go to a pub for a light meal and some drinks. I’m not a fan of beer or hard liquor so I decided to have a rose wine. It was fun just hanging out and talking with the girls and getting to know everyone. Only one other person that came out was from PSU, one of the girls is from Wagner and another is from a small school in Minnesota. I was pleased that I was at least meeting people from somewhere other than Penn State.

Wednesday morning, we had to get to City University at 10am for our first day of orientation so we left the dorms around 8:50. My commute takes about a total of 45 minutes, but I am the type of person who needs to get to my classes early so I usually leave an hour and 15 minutes before I have to be on campus. When we arrived at City, we realized that we had 10 minutes to get to the room and no idea where it was! We ended up finding our way, but we were about 5 minutes late. The orientation lasted from 10am-4pm (16:00) and then at 4pm, we met for a Cheese and Wine welcome social. That was really fun because we got to meet other people in our program that were living at the University dorms. When we got back, I had to put together my timetables for my classes. Timetables are pretty much equivalent to schedules at home. There is one huge difference here; they don’t make you schedule the class time you want to attend, just the class name. I thought that was pretty odd; however, I was reminded that attendance for European students is very unimportant and class time usually doesn’t mean much to them. Thursday was a tough day for me; I celebrate Russian Christmas on January 7^th and Thursday was my Christmas Eve. This year was the first time I have ever been away from my family for Christmas. Thankfully, our meetings at City were mainly about our academics at the school and didn’t take too long. That night I was able to come home and skype my whole family; it still boggles my mind that I can video skype my family internationally (with no fee)!! Later on that night a few of us were sitting around trying to figure out what we could do so we took the bus to a place called Piccadilly Circus for a while and walked around. This area is more or less a smaller version of Times Square in New York City. It was pretty cool to see all of the nightlife and shops around there. There was also this really cool frozen yogurt place called Snog’s. It was so cute; the ceiling changed colors and it was very trendy. We didn’t walk around for long because it was close to midnight on a Thursday so most places were getting ready to close. Friday morning, I found where a Russian Orthodox Church that my uncle recommended was located. I went to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition and All Saints which was only about a 15 minute bus ride/walk away from my dorms. I had a bit of trouble getting to there because I got lost when I started walking but I eventually made it to church (and only 5 minutes late). I like to think that I have a pretty good sense of direction but I was still very happy when I found it. It was a beautiful church and a familiar service but there were so many people there! The church itself is pretty small so it was a tight squeeze. It was very calming to be in a familiar setting for Christmas morning; although, I was really upset that I was away from my family. This was a weird feeling for me because it was the first time ever that I was truly homesick. By the end of the service I was calmed down and confident that I was alright; this is all part of the experience. After the service, I traveled back to the dorms and met the girls downstairs. We decided we were going to spend the day at Harrods, Top Shop, Zara, and H&M. Harrods was unbelievable! The size of this department store was enormous (an entire block!!!) and it included every single designer you could think of, cars, a grocery store, a bakery, a restaurant, a (Harrods) gift shop, and a cafeteria. I was in awe! We left there after about 2 hours and went to Zara, Top Shop, and H&M. We then left our shopping extravaganza and journeyed home in the pouring rain. It was already dark when we were heading back but it was before 5pm (17:00).

This week really threw me right into life in another country. I was thinking about it and one of the reasons I like traveling so much is because I get to be somewhere that is different from what I’m used to. Although London is probably the closest thing to an American city, it is definitely still a change from home. British products are different, people are different, different words are used, and so on and so forth. Like I said, I love that about traveling to new places. Something that is going to take me a while to get used to is military time. If you noticed, throughout my blog I converted the afternoon to military time in parenthesis because that’s how they tell time (I probably missed a few spots in my blog). Hopefully, within the next week or so I’ll be using military time too. Also, everyday life and college life here is going to take some getting used to. So far, London has been very good to me and I love living here!

(The continuation blog should be posted tonight) 🙂

Location: Chelsea, London, England

Education Abroad GeoBlog

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