My First Week in London in a Nutshell.....

Hey Ya'll, so I have been in London for a week now as of today. Thus, this post will be incredibly long and perhaps boring as I try to recap every day since I left Utah.

Day 1: Okay so we left last Thursday and flew to DC. We had a super long layover because our second flight was late and it was a mess. We flew all night and landed early Friday morning in London. Let me just say, it is beautiful. The sun was out and it was gorgeous! We took a tour bus to our flat and got our dorm assignments. Thankfully, I am in the 8 girl dorm which is located on the first floor of the flat. You do not understand what a blessing that is given that there are a hundred thousand stairs to the other levels and we were toting fifty pound bags. Anyways...after we all unpacked we immediately ran out and went on a group walk around the city. We were all exhausted and hungry and it was kinda miserable. We came back and come to find out I am in the first group assigned to kitchen duty....worst thing of my life. It wouldn't be so terrible if it didn't take 3 to 4 hours out of your day and we have just been so exhausted this week. So that first day we set up dinner, ate really fast and immediately went downstairs to start on the mile high pile of dishes. We hadn't finished and we had to go up and leave to go see Ralph Fiennes (aka Voldemort). We were in this super intimate theater and he was on stage talking about his new movie Corolinus and answering questions. This would have been super cool....but unfortunately I think over half of us succumbed to the exhaustion and were bobbleheads the entire time. We got home and I went down to finish the dishes with my group and then finally collapsed into bed.

Day 2: We were all still pretty tired Saturday as well. We got up and got all ready and then went out on another walk to Trafalgar Square. We made stops to Convent Gardens and saw a strange saw a strange street performer who was anything but entertaining. But the shops and food places were really cool. Then we walked through the theater district and raved about all the shows we wanted to see. We ended at the National Gallery....a couple of us went in and we spent maybe an hour in there and didn't even scratch the surface of all the exhibits. We left the gallery and explored the area getting lost a few times and then got delicious waffles, walked through Hyde Park, had a fireside and were assigned to our wards, and got some food.

Day 3: Sunday....kind of a mess. We were separated into various groups for church, and my group was told we met at 1. We get there and find out the new year forced the two wards in that building to switch times and we'd missed ours at 9. We stayed anyways and it was really interesting, but I didn't really get into it knowing it wasn't my actual ward. Crazy thing...It takes us an hour of travel time to get to church. I know I probably sound like a snob, but coming from someone who literally walked 2 minutes to church almost my whole life, this was a big deal. Because of travel time, church is turned into kind of an all day thing. I'm excited to get to go to our actual ward this week though and then perhaps I'll have more to tell.

Day 4: Monday we started class. Class goes from 9-12 with a half hour break inbetween classes. Then we went on the Londinium walk and ended at the Museum of London; which was awesome. But of course, my group had to rush through it a bit to get home in time for kitchen duty. :S

Day 5: Tuesday we had one class and then went for yet another walk to The Tower of London! Um...amazing. The Crown Jewels were pretty dang cool and we were just messing around and enjoying all the cool things to see.

Day 6: Wednesday, after classes we went to St. Pauls Cathedral. When we got there we saw a million tents set up for the Occupy London peeps...they were all hobos and weird and wearing masks. Not really sure what to think but that was beside the point. St. Pauls...It was amazing...that was really the moment I realized first hand how old everything is. Our tour guide was a cute little old man who seemed really excited to tell us everything. Overall is was just amazing.

Day 7: Thursday (oh good we're almost done...) We had class and then in between we went out...I think? I can't really remember...all the days are running together. But at 2 we met for our religion class. This guy comes to teach it and he seems awesome. He'll be teaching us the history of the British mission and he knows a lot and it seems like it will be really good. After that we went out and checked out Platform 9 ¾. It was not as cool cuz they took it out of the main station and now its just in this lame alcove surrounded by construction...but we still took pictures and it was fun to be out.

Day 8: Friiiiday, we don't have class on Friday, which rocks, but we had a day trip and we went to Runnymede (some field place where the Magna Carta was signed and where there is a memorial for JFK? Random?) Then we went to Windsor Castle. It was pretty awesome, but a lot was closed for cleaning so we got our passes stamped so we can go back and see the apartments. We also went to Eton College (which for those of you who don't know, isn't actually college...its like middle school...aka babies....some of the girls found that out the hard/pedophile-ish way). We looked in some cool little shops and then we went home. We just stayed inside the center and chilled for the night.

Day 9: Saturday....I woke up earlier than I should have...but later than I have been waking up. We got ready, went to Harrod's and didn't even try to pretend we could afford anything in there. Then we got free lunch in a pub....score. Then we took a walk South of the Thames, got starbucks hot chocolate deliciousness and went home. We went out again for some food and then came back and have just been chatting, blogging, etc.

So that was my week... sorry the descriptions got incredibly short. I kinda have forgotten some details and they'd probably bore you anyways. I'll try to be more diligent in my blogging....but I need feedback...If there is anything anyone wants to know about then just give me a category and I'll write about it...this should take away from the monotony of the events of the day. :) So, whoever reads this, let me know!