week two!

check out my newly posted pictures of Chinese New Year and Covent Garden! On Sunday I checked out the Chinese New Year parade / celebration in Trafalgar Square. It was SO cool! The parade was amazing with all the costumes and dragons and such. This week not much exciting has really happened, but I did sign up for some trips with the school - I'm going to a "football" game (soccer obviously) which will be a ton of fun I think, and to Stonehenge for a day, I have really always wanted to see Stonehenge so I'm very excited for this too! And also I signed up for a weekend trip to Scotland! So i'm really excited about all those, and my weekends are filling up fast with all my visitors that are coming as well! My mom and dad are coming in about three weeks, and Dan is coming about three weeks after that, and then my Aunt is coming too! AND she is bringing me to see Mary Poppins - the Musical in the theatre! its going to be awesome. I am really starting to think that time is going to fly by here. this weekend i think i'm going to check out Portobello Market - for any of you who have seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks and remember the song "Portobello Road" thats where it is! And I'll probably go see a museum or something too. Last night I went to see the movie "Breakfast on Pluto" with my film class, it was actually really good, I would have never seen it on my own - it was about an orphaned irish boy who grows up to be a transvestite...it was a really good story though :-) today I had class all day and still have one more to go to at 6 but it hasn't been too bad.
ok well leave me some love :-)

weekend time

so at Regent's College, my weekend starts at 10:30am on Thursday. CRAZY! haha. but i have had more reading to do this week / weekend than i did all of last semester at RPI. Thursday I ventured to the British Museum for the day, it was really cool, they have the Rosetta Stone there and a TON of Egpytian sculptures and sarcophagous's. I got there too late to take any of the free tours though, so I will definitely be going back. On my way back I stopped at a grocery store hoping to pick up some snacks / things to make me able to survive. Grocery stores here are WEIRD. They didn't have anything I expected them to have, but i ended up leaving with at least peanut butter, bread and chips, woo hoo! The food at the dining hall still sucks, this weekend so far for dinners i have had white rice and PEAS one night, and a baked potato another night. oh well!

yesterday i basically devoted to reading / homework, and then later i went to the student pub with Courtney and Rachel, two girls i met my first day here. The pub was,,,,,weird. its on campus, yet people get all clubbed out to go there like its some cool hot spot. There were a ton of people too. And they allow smoking = gross! Definitely was not the Ruck, they didn't even play any journey :-p.

today I wanted to check out this place called Covent Garden, its really cool. today they had an arts and crafts fair there, and there are also lots of street performers, like one guy on a huge unicycle, and human statues. it was cool. it took me forever to find it though because i went the wrong way once, but i made it. then i decided to take the Tube back ( the tube is the subway here). it is really really easy to use but they were doing work on the lines that i would normally take home so my route was a little creative haha. also it is set up alot differently than the New York or Boston subways in that is REALLY underground. Like far far far far far underground. In the station I took it from there was a voice recording saying "There are 193 steps to the Train Platfrom Level - which is equivalent to a 15 story building. please wait for the next lift for your own health and safety." i didn't realize it was THAT far down under! and when you try to come back up to street level you have to take this HUMONGOUS esclators, looking down is not a good idea! but i made it back safe and sound just the same.

what sucks is our dining hall closes at 4 on saturdays and i just got back at 5 so i just missed it. not that they were probably serving anything good! i've had all of my classes now and they are really interesting, and monday night i even go get to see a free play with my london film class. ok i think thats all for now...miss you all tons!

second day of school - done

so classes started monday, i only had one on monday but had 3 today, doesn't sound too bad but today was 9 hours worth of class, yuck! but i have found that all the classes i've had so far seem really interesting and shouldn't be too tough. there's alot more reading involved than in classes at RPI, but its nice because it gives me something to do, and since i'm interested in the topics it isn't painful to read about them haha. So yesterday I had "London Film and Alternative Theater Scene- Focus on the Socially Excluded", yea sounds like a giant mouthful but its so cool. Its basically a film / theater class that focuses on how the soically excluded are portrayed, like the homeless, poor, immigrants, mentally unstable, etc. We get to go see 4 plays and 4 films FREE in london with the class, which is cool, and there is a community service requirement. We have to help this shelter called Toynbee Hall which helps the poorest area of London's people. The project I am going to help with is one where we take kids from a very very disadvantaged school and bring them to the english country side for a day, during which they get to do many outdoor activities and such, but i will be helping them to learn about photography and they each get a camera to use for the day to take pictures with. i think it will be a LOT of fun.

todays classes - first i had adolescent psych, which was really interesting. at first i was worried because every other student is a psych major, but the textbook is really easy to read so it won't be too bad. then i had art in london, which is bascially a field trip art history class where we meet three times at school and then the rest of the time we are out at museums looking at diffferent pieces, very cool. oh yea and almost every museum in london is FREE = amazing! then i had cultural diversity in the media, which i'm not really sure what its about yet but like it already because we watched dumbo and the jungle book in it. apparently walt disney threw in alot of racist things to his films, but i still love him anyway. so far so good. i have one more new class tomorrow, the one i am MOST excited about - Killer and Thriller, Murder in Fiction Films. thats like lindsays dream class haha. its with the same professor i had for the dumbo class and he is really great so it should be good.

also today i learned that americans are for the most part just as obnoxious as foriegners think we are. people are ridiculous.

in other news, i met some nice people today and yesterday through classes, so i'm glad about that because it was getting to be pretty hard. ok thats all for now, adios

finally have internet!

yay, i finally have wireless in my room! i was definitely going through major denial! the following journal entries i wrote the past few days, but i'll just post them all at once. also check out my pictures at the link to the right!

DAY ONE

So I FINALLY got here to good old London! The trip was really really long and I know this is going to be the longest day ever but its been ok so far. I only slept for about an hour on the plane and arrived in London Heathrow Airport at 5:20am London time (midnight our time). Then I had to wait in the terminal till 7:30 when a few other students and I grouped together to wait for our driver. We didn’t end up leaving the airport until close till 9! Our ride was very bumpy to say the least- lets just say London is like driving in NYC but closer together cars, on the wrong side of the road and 10 times faster. Also we took a “van” because we only had 5 people with us….but fitting five peoples luggage for 4 months = pretty hard. Amazingly our bus driver was able to squeeze it all in, even if we ended up a little back heavy.

So then at about 10-10:30am we arrived at our dorm in the park. Its really pretty here, the grass is actually nice bright green! On our way here it was cool to see all the little houses and stuff, everything is built and looks so different! So we unloaded our luggage at the dorm, checked in and moved our stuff up to our rooms. The rooms are a lot a lot a lot better than I was expecting, I guess I was fearing the worst! We each have a desk and closet with shelves and also a big shelve above our closet that my suitcase fits into. Oh and we have one lounge-type of chair. And a big big mirror! So its definitely good. Our beds on the other hand…pretty uncomfortable from first sit and we only get one pillow and a dingy comforter. I am very glad I brought my fleece blanket now! I actually haven’t even checked out the bathrooms yet – I heard they are nice but small for the amount of people using them. Oh and also, this place is TINY. There is one main dorm that maybe 200 people live in, and then another small one with the cafeteria inside of it. The coolest part is that every building “on campus” is connected. They were all built side by side so you never even have to go outside to get to class. But there are only like 6 buildings including the dorms haha. It is cozy. The park from what I’ve seen so far is really nice and pretty, I can’t wait to explore it further.

DAY TWO

So after sleeping from 8pm until 8am, I finally felt pretty refreshed. Today we had orientation with the school, basically they just kept telling us the same thing over and over again. Then we had a “buffet” lunch but it was really crappy and just mystery meat sandwiches. But we did meet one girl from London that goes here and also one from England so that was good. Then I tried to get wireless on my laptop, you have to like register your computer and then wait for them to set it up so its taking forever but I’m hoping I get it by Saturday. At around 6 about 75 people went on a Jack the Ripper tour walk. It was really interesting, we walked all around the city where the murders happened (if you don’t know he was the world’s first serial killer) and our tour guide was really great and very colorful in describing things. The only down side was that we left at 5:45 and didn’t get back till 9:45! It was pretty cold too and lots of walking. Oh well I could use the exercise! Then I just showered, checked my email and talked to my parents. The bathrooms are actually really clean, but the showers are even tinier than RPI dorm showers. The shower curtain attacks you and tries to cling to you while you shower, and theres no where to put your stuff so it all gets wet. However,,,,,right across the hall from is a “Bathtub” room. I guess the English really like baths or maybe it is for handicapped people, even though there is no elevator. This is a GIANT bathtub / shower with a sink and nice mirror. There is even a ledge to put all your stuff on so it doesn’t get wet. Our RA told us that people sometimes use the bathtub room for “other purposes” so she never showers there, but the cleaning people clean it everyday and if I can take a nice non stressful shower then I am going too. Haha so I have been using that one and its a lot nicer.

DAY THREE

Today I woke up early and went for a walk around the park with a girl I met last night. The park is HUGE! We only walked around an itty bitty of it and it was sooo nice and soooooo pretty. It hasn’t rained yet, knock on wood, but has been really really sunny so far. Also the grass is so nice and green, I love it! I will be posting pictures ASAP so check the link to the right that says “Pictures” or something like that for pictures of my room, the park and the BEAUTIFUL flowers that my wonderful boyfriend sent me J. Today we are going on a double decker bus tour of the city which should be pretty fun, and then later I might go out.

CURRENT
So its Monday now, and my first class is at 3:30, I am actually excited for classes to start because I am interested in all my subjects that I am taking. This morning I woke up around 9 and walked around the park for an hour, I decided I'm going to do that everyday since its so nice out and the park is so pretty. I walked by the Zoo today, yes we have a zoo in our park haha, it seems pretty huge but i'm going to wait for my parents to visit before I go inside. Ok well I need to get ready for class, leave me love :-)

leaving on a jet plane....

so today is the day! i'm leaving at 6:05pm from Boston to fly to London! ahhhh! haha. i'm not really nervous about the new country thing, more just about meeting people and getting to know people etc., its like freshman year all over again! i found out my room mate's name yesterday but thats all i know. so i'm leaving for the airport around 2pm, even though it only takes about an hour to get there, just because i am a very paranoid traveler and like to be where i need to be and all set to go hours before leaving. when i get to london it will be about midnight here and 5am there. what stinks is i guess they want us to get used to the time difference ASAP because our day starts as soon as we get to the airport. we have orientation and meetings and events until 11pm that day. YIKES! i am going to be one tired girl. classes don't start till Monday so I'll have all weekend to get settled too. i am a huge dork and am excited for classes to start because i feel like such a waste of life lately with no homework or anywhere to go haha.

well i hope that classes are going well for everyone in Troy, i bet its FREEZING there! its supposed to be in the 40s-50s in London but with rain alot....

crazy that i'm actually leaving! i supposedly have wireless internet in my dorm room so hopefully i'll be able to be on AIM and check my email within the first couple of days i'm there.

ok adios :-)

getting closer!

So it is now January 2nd and I have a little over 2 weeks until I leave, :-o!
I had a great Christmas and New Years, and Dan came to visit me for a few days and New Years which was very nice. :-) I'm trying to figure out how much stuff and what exactly to bring, and finishing up some final paper work. I'm really excited now, still nervous but I know its going to fly by and be a ton of fun. I'm not sure if I'll have a room mate, I'm pretty sure I will but I don't think I'll find out who they are until I move in, which stinks! If anyone wants to mail me anything while I'm away (which I would LOVE since I always love mail :-) ) here is my address:

Lindsay Berard
Reid Hall
Regent's College
Inner Circle
Regent's Park
London NW1 4NS
United Kingdom

Yes I know thats like the world's longest address ever :-). Also if you want mail from ME then please email me at lindsayberard@gmail.com with your address. (if you live at pi phi or 2151 I think i know the address) haha.

Oh yea and here are the classes I'll be taking, in case anyone's interested:
*** London Film and Alternative Theatre Scene - I get to volunteer at a Bangladeshi shelter for this class! craziness.
*** Adolescent Pyschology
*** Art in London
*** Cultural Diversity in the Media
*** Killers and Thrillers - Murder in Fiction Films

I think I am allowed to drop one class once I get there but I will probably end up keeping all five because I'm really interested in all of them.

Ok that's all for now! London so soon = scary but yay :-)