First day in London!

When we arrived in London on Wednesday (January 9, 2008) morning, we took the train, then the tube, then a short walk, to the BYU London Centre. It wasn’t too bad, although we had our luggage. There were some stairs, but they seemed paltry compared the ones Mom and I conquered in Italy. I guess it was good conditioning. Also, I was kind of surprised that most everyone had more stuff than me. I brought my rolling suitcase and the matching carry-on size one. I wanted to be able to have space and stuff to bring things back.

After we got to the London Centre, most of us just got our room assignments and did some unpacking and showering and things like that. It was nice to finally arrive—this was in the early afternoon on Wednesday.

One of our classes is London Walks, and we have eight walks to complete by this Saturday. They are to help us get oriented in London. There are tons of sights and things we see, but we don’t take much time since we have a lot to get done and are going to back to see all we want over the next few months. Anyways, we did our first walk on Wednesday before dinner. The walk was nice, it was short—about an hour—and just right around the blocks surrounding the London Centre. It was nice to get fresh air, as I was a little nauseated from traveling and stuff. Also, it was nice to not be carrying bags while walking around. It was cool to get out right away and see the area we’ll be living in over the next few months.

After dinner we were lucky to go so Les Miserables at The Queen’s Theatre. A few people were disappointed since we had been awake for 30 hours and they felt like they’d fall asleep—and some did. Les Mis was amazing, and really a great way to start out the trip. I was so happy to see it and I’m so excited to see more plays and such at the theatre. After we got back from the play I just crashed. I was so tired. It was Wednesday night, around midnight, and I was so tired, having been up for about 34 hours or so. I was also really proud of myself for not falling asleep earlier. I’ve been told so many times that if I make it through the day and stuff and start out on the right schedule, jet lag won’t be a problem. And while I’ve been tired from going and going since I’ve been here, it hasn’t been ridiculous or overwhelming. Just a little bit more tired than a normal busy week, but nothing unmanageable.