First day of classes...

    Bonjour!! It's been an exciting weekend and Monday here at Queen Mary.  Saturday I met up with my friend Becky from Rockhurst.  Well, meeting up took longer than expected.  We were unaware that they had closed half the tube for engineering repairs for the weekend, so it took a tube ride, a few walks, a replacement bus line, and 45 minutes for us to finally catch up with the other! But after that, it was a great afternoon.  We took the tube into central London (which always freaks me out because whenever I'm in the tube I think of that scene from Atonement where they use the tube stations as bomb shelters during the Blitz and a water main breaks and everyone inside drowns... cheery thoughts as I'm walking down in to the bowels of the city!!!) We walked all around Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus, which are big tourist/shopping areas of the city.  It was ridiculously busy and packed with people.  Luckily, it wasn't raining, and the sun even made an appearance in the late afternoon, which is always a nice surprise.  That evening was pretty relaxed, and I skyped with my friend Erica from back home and later with my brother Sean! :)

     Sunday morning was the bus tour of the city, with stops at Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's Cathedral.  We didn't go inside either sites because of money and time constraints, but it was good to get a glimpse.  I definitely want to go back to Buckingham Palace to see the history there (Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live there in the mid-1800s).  St. Paul has a tour that allows you to climb to the top of the bell towers to see over the city, which would be a very cool thing to see.  We saw some amazing buildings that still showed damage from the Blitz, but did not critically harm the building so it was not repaired.  That was truly a sight to see.  Later I skyped with the parental units, and then I went out with my flatmate and a big group of people to the nearby pub called Half Moon Theatre.  It was a lot of fun and we spent a couple hours there just hanging out. 

     Monday morning, I had my first class.  I got up at 9 intending to look around campus to make sure I knew where the classrooms are.   At 945 I'm sitting at my desk, eating a bowl of Frosties, half-dressed and I looked at my schedule (called a timetable here) and notice that my class was actually at 10.   Fortunately I made it on time and even got to chat with a student.  The class is Society and State in Britain from 1450 - 1720, and apparently, its a course that runs all year long, from September to May.  So myself and a couple other girls are coming in halfway through with no idea what they covered before the Christmas holiday (they will take the final for the class in the spring).  Needless to say, we feel a little overwhelmed and unprepared for the course, but the teacher seems very helpful.  After an hour lecture, we have an hour seminar for the same class, which we meet in smaller groups to discuss topics more in depth.  It's definitely a different system than the States, but so far, I like it. It allows for students to ask questions in the seminar, and the teacher can discuss what the group seems to be having trouble with, rather than taking class time.  My second class is Architecture in London: 1837 to Present.  This consists of alternating lectures and field trips, so next week, we are meeting at Westminster Station to look at the Houses of Parliament (which, I can tell you from my lecture today, were designed by AWN Pugin, who was a Catholic architect at the time when Catholics were not allowed in political positions, therefore it was not publicly addressed that he was designing the seat of power for the monarchy and state!) 

     Tonight, the school hosted a Thames River boat cruise.  It was a lot of fun for being freezing cold on the river and there not being enough seats for everyone on board!! They had a buffet dinner and a dance floor.  I bet they got a laugh out of watching us Americans dance!  I was supposed to meet my flatmates at the pub on campus for a little get together, but we walked by and the line into Drapers was about half way across the quad.  It's Monday, which is one pound pints for the students, so apparently many take advantage of that! Next Monday I'll have to get my seat early. 

    Tomorrow is another day of classes. I have the International Politics of the Developing World, which sounds incredibly interesting.  That class also includes a seminar.  I also plan to go talk to the history department to see if I can get into a class called Europe since 1890 because I really want to take a class on World War II in England.  It's one of my favorite periods in history!  Wednesday I have no classes, and Thursday is U.S. Foreign Policy (but if I change into the new history class, I won't have any class on Thursday or Friday, which would be exciting to have no class on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, which I just realized. I don't even know if that's legal here!! That would be amazing!! I'm almost giddy with the idea of it! That's so much traveling I could do for five whole days every week!! I have to go mull this idea over!!)

     Here are some more pictures (since I've epically failed uploading any to Facebook...my bad).

Becky and I in Piccadilly Square Saturday afternoon!

The amazing Buckingham Palace.  This is still the royal residence, but Queen Elizabeth II was not in residence that day, which is indicated by the color flag flying above the palace.  This custom started after the death of Princess Diana, when the Queen was not in residence, and there was no flag to fly half-mast for the mourning of the Princess.

This is the Parliament buildings lit up at night from the boat on the Thames River cruise. It should be noted that Harry flies past these in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. :) 

Alright, I'm off to bed as its an early morning tomorrow!

Until next time!

Megan