please mind the gap.

Life is, or should be, filled with people who can laugh at themselves so no one ever ceases to be amused.

Classes started on Monday! I have one class that day. Yeah, just one. Here is what my weekly schedule roughly looks like in regards to my classes.

Monday; 9am Music 202.

Tuesday; 9am English 300, 11am English 375.

Wednesday; 9am Music 202.

Thursday; 9am English 300, 11am English 375, 2pm Religion.

Yup, that’s it. Each one is about an hour, except the two hour religion class. That one is actually taught by a local institute teacher at the Hyde Park Stake Center. I am excited about all of them—oh and there’s a London Walks class too, but we only meet like three times total. We’re required to go on self-guided tours through London by following a ‘textbook’ we got for the class. When I say I did ‘a walk’ on a day, then I mean that I was doing my homework. We get food provided for us for breakfast, at 8am, and dinner, at 5:30pm, Sunday through Friday. Other than that, we’re on our own, either buying meals or stocking up in the cupboards and fridge. That sounds really simple and straightforward, but when there are over 38 other people trying to do the same thing, in the same cupboards and the same fridge…not so much.

 

Monday, a few other girls and I did a walk. It just took us around the neighborhood of where we’re staying—it was nice to get to know the area a little better. Oh yeah, half of the group went to a ballet that night, myself included. We saw Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House. It was amazing!

I tried to upload a picture of the inside of the concert hall itself but it failed miserably.

It was really like watching two people fall in love. The way the main characters, Odette and the Prince, moved together was beautiful—they were perfect. Oh and if you ever see that, it’s only kind of like the animated movie The Swan Princess. But, instead of living happily ever after, they commit suicide together. Super romantic, right?

Besides classes and running errands to get some essentials, this week wasn’t too exciting. I’ve had to remind myself that I live in London now, so that in itself is exciting. Two of my now really good friends and I have been keeping missionary hours this week and working out before breakfast. Basically, we wake up at 6:30am and go to sleep at 10:30pm (or at least try really hard to…). It’s been killer but I’ve been feeling great about it. Running through Hyde Park while the sun rises has been soo amazing.

Tuesday and Wednesday were full of classes, running around to get souvenirs, post cards, stamps, groceries, the good stuff. Thursday, in between classes, those two friends and I went to Primark. To give an equivalent to something you might be familiar with, it’s kind of like a ridiculously classy Wal-mart that mostly just has clothes. It’s huge, cheap, and just a go to place for shopping. AKA bad news for my spending money. But now I have a normal-ish amount of clothes! Yay being clothed in foreign countries.

That night, we went to an institute class at the Hyde Park building—we were late because we had to walk around the park but it was still really cool. I’m excited to get involved in the YSA (young single adults) activities!

Today, we didn’t have classes—a true Friday. Instead, we three amigos went on a walk. It was through the ‘old London’, passing the Tower of London, and a few churches and other cool sites. We got lunch at a healthy looking place and had chicken Thai curry—honestly one of my favorite foods ever. They say to get to a man’s heart is through his stomach—that is applicable to me as well.

I was going to add way more pictures, but the internet here isn't always too hot. As in right now, it's not that great. My apologies.

We stopped at the Old Spitalfield Market, of course. It was a combination of a mall and an outdoor flea market (like the one on Portobello or in Portland). The atmosphere and people made it really fun and we stayed there for longer than we probably should have. It was definitely an experience! We meandered on back via the Tube. It's become a little bit of a joke for us to repeat the intercom voice when it goes off at every stop, "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform." Every single time. It sounds better outloud since it's in a British accent. We went through the rain to come back to the center, which I guess I can call home? and reviewed some emails about the day trips we’ll be going on! Stonehenge next Friday? Oh, okay professors, if you insist.

It was raining all day too and I loved it.

 

There ya go.