Week 1 London: A walk for nothing, or why you shouldn't wear white pants on grass

Hello, all my fans! I have finally arrived in the U.K.! Well, I technically arrived yesterday, but I am getting a bit ahead of myself. I do need to summarize my past week. I ended my vacation in California, taking with me a couple ceramic projects my aunt Julie put me up to, as well as a picture frame I had made for Ben as a going away gift like any friend would do. I was only home for two days before I would be whisked away to rainy London. Those two days blurred together as I raced around northern Colorado to wish my last goodbyes to family and friends. I am still missing all of you! Sending hugs and tea from across the pond!

Spot the rabbit! My aunt Julie sculpted it!

 Unfortunately, I caught a cold before leaving the U.S., which only made my journey more lethargic. My parents drove me to the airport, where we ate lunch and discussed family matters, all of us pretending I wasn't about to step on a plane.  When the time came for me to head to the sesspool of security, my parents and I shared tearful hugs and goodbyes. I miss you both. 
After reaching my gate, I relaxed for a bit before the flight attendants began boarding us passengers in our flight to Frankfurt. It was cheaper to fly to Frankfurt, then London as opposed to just London. This meant that I had a five-hour layover in Frankfurt, which I used to binge-watch Season 3 of the Office, on Netflix (bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica). I only slept three hours on the flight to Frankfurt and spent the rest of the time watching movies such as Deadpool 2. Nothing much else to report about the plane trip, except that if you haven't been on an international flight before, they do give you better food. Not much better mind you, but better. I was able to get some food and coffee in Frankfurt during my short stay.

I arrived in London at 3 P.M. (GMT), which for my Yankee friends and family is 8 A.M. your time (MST). We're 7 hours ahead here, so if you're doing the math it's easier if you put it in military time. To say I was exhausted is an understatement. I scrambled out of the airport to find the uber driver I had booked. Thankfully he was understanding at my confusion over where to meet in the Heathrow airport. The drive to my flat was silent but enlightening for me, as I was able to see the buildings and parks that I had previously missed due to arriving past dark the last time I visited London. I lugged my 50 lb suitcase down my rickety stairs to my basement flat. Never have I ever been so close to death before. Granted, it is not the way I would have chosen to go, as falling down the stairs holding a giant suitcase seems a bit measly for my taste (I'd much rather follow suit to Agatha Christie and be a Body in the Library lol...). I then spent the next several hours unpacking my suitcase and the four boxes I had already shipped, despite the fact that I hadn't eaten in several hours and was extremely exhausted. I was able to fit everything in and make my flat seem homey. Yes, there were plenty of shelves for my books. Though it's really tempting to not fill all of them.

I'm convinced my room was the living room at one point due to the fireplace. 

I think I lucked out with having the one room with a big window in the basement flat. My poor roommate Jessica lives under the street! Poor girl, though she's moving soon. I met all of my roommates. The couple is Mohammed and Kerry, who is leaving at the end of this month, so I won't see them that often. There's also Min, a Ph.D. student at Imperial College. She told me where the nearest grocery store is, and a bit about the college as well. She's leaving in November, while Jessica is leaving in October. So I will have new roommates soon, though I like the ones I'm living with now. We all keep to ourselves, staying in our rooms. Min is the only student, but she gets home close to when everyone else does, late in the evening.

Part of our small kitchen

When I finished settling in, I skyped my sister, Rylee, as I was feeling lonely. I hadn't had a normal conversation with anyone at all in the past 24 hours and needed someone to pull me out of my head. My sister, like my family and some of my friends, are good at that thing. We're only 17 months apart, so we're fairly close. She was also having a bad morning, so we were able to motivate each other and chat for a while. That made me feel better. After my skype call, I decided to get some food. I didn't know where the nearest market was at the time (it's literally around the corner), so I walked 20+ minutes up to Kensington high street to Whole Foods. They had 3 levels, and I lost myself in the random brands of food I had never seen before. I got all the basics, knowing I would find somewhere cheaper to eat in the future. I walked all the way back to my flat toating groceries. Thankfully, London is such a diverse place that people carrying their groceries is a natural occurrence. Honestly, almost anything seems to be a natural occurrence, it's a laid-back city.
After ravenously devouring a bowl of pasta, I watched some more Netflix then went to bed. I slept for a good 10 hours, rare for me. I felt better and got up around 8:30 the next day.
My friend Lucy, who is also in my master's program, was paying me a visit in the morning to drop off some bags. I ate breakfast and met her at the front door. Apparently, her friend and she are going to Marseilles for some beach time. I had a twinge of jealousy as I closed the door behind them, but it passed.  I decided today was the day I explored more of the city and grabbed my visa card from the post office. Using my city-mapper app, the post office I had to go to was 40 minutes away walking. So I toodled along in a northern direction, taking pictures of the streets that wowed me, due to architecture, or balconies, or...well...see for yourself.

For all the Whovians 

Beautiful balconies

Because our mailmen aren't cool enough. 

I enjoyed the balconies on this building

I enjoyed the lovely architecture, even though there
 was a lot of construction

A hidden walkway next to this gem of a house

My path of walking took me straight into Kensington Gardens, where I decided to stop for lunch and do a bit of reading. I bought a deli sandwich at Sainsbury's (their local grocers), and found a shady patch of grass to sit on as it was hot in the sunshine. I pulled out my book (1599 by James Shapiro, decent read about Shakespeare writing Hamlet and Henry V). I sat for an hour eating, reading and people watching. Eventually, I repositioned my legs and noticed that the dead grass of Kensington Gardens did not want to let go of my pants, shoes, or jacket! If this wasn't bad enough, the pants I had chosen to wear for the day were white. So in the glory of Kensington Gardens, I stood up and brushed off my pants and jacket, including making some delicate and polite brushes across my butt region.

The dead September grass

I continued walking down Kensington Gardens until I reached a large iron gate with gold. I smiled as I realized that I had found the Kensington Palace completely on accident. Of course, I blended in with the tourists and took some photos, but I enjoyed wandering through the hedges and fountains knowing that I didn't seek this place out, but instead it seemed to find me. By that time my phone was on 15% battery, and I wanted to make sure I knew my route home, so I walked back to my flat to recharge my phone and put my feet up. 

Once more I made the trek, arriving at the designated post office only to be told that my visa card had not arrived yet and that I should return on Thursday. Ugh! I couldn't say I wasn't disappointed. So, I decided to walk back down Kensington high street and explore that route a bit more. It just so happens that Waterstone bookstores in on that street, and I couldn't help but go in. I have a job interview with the store on Thursday to work with them, hopefully using the skills I learned at Barnes & Noble. Waterstones is a beautiful store with three levels, but on each one, the books seem randomly organized in my opinion. 

You start to observe things in a bookstore once you've worked long enough in the book industry. For example, Barnes & Noble organizes their stores into many sub-sections within a genre. So within the "business" section, you will find subsections such as "motivation and management," "job hunting and personal finance" or "investments." In Waterstones bookstore, I found little of that, with bigger genres being separated into "history" or even "British history," and then alphabetized by author. No sub-sections beyond this, which is annoying if you're trying to find a book on World War II, do you go to history or British history? 

The circled items help clarify sub-genres

Another thing you notice is which publishers print in paperback and which in hardback. In the U.S., any Barnes & Noble employee (or at least those who care enough about their job to pay attention) can tell you which books we only offer in hardback. Even the books in paperback are around $23.00, depending on what version of the book you're buying (if you're confused please comment below, or if you're bored, please comment below). In Waterstones, most publishers print their books in paperback, with different covers than the U.S. editions, as well as cheaper prices. I was astonished and a little annoyed at myself by how cheap the books were and how many were in beautiful paperback editions that Barnes & Noble didn't have! I do have to say that I'm excited to hopefully learn more about the U.K. book industry from working at Waterstones. But I digress...

I did also go to Sainsbury's later for some snacks, as I propped my sore--again--feet up in my room. It's been a busy day, but it's also been nice not to be cooped up in my flat room and feel lonely. Being around other people allows me to be out of my head, to see that other people are there, and I'm not alone here. To me, that is a comforting sight. 

So tomorrow my plans??? Hmmm...probably walk around campus and figure out the buildings. As well as find out how to get to Stratford-Upon-Avon.