Cappuccino Culture

What an incredible week this has been in the beautiful city of London! A lot of things have been happening, so it's time to update the blog. My first class titled "London Architecture and Urbanism" started this week, and so far has been my favorite class I've ever taken. The instructor, Caroline, is an expert in her field and really makes the lecture interesting. My abroad program makes classes run very differently than in the States. In fact, this class runs only for about two weeks and varies in lecture hours from 3 hours up to 8 hours! The course consists of 50% note taking in class and then about 50% traveling London! On our first meeting, we got to visit the British Museum. Here, we got to see the Rosetta Stone, touch the Parthenon, and learn about the influences of the Roman Empire on London. Wicked awesome! Later in the day, we were taken the British Library, which didn't turn out to be your typical library. The British Library contains an incredible amount of archives that have been collected for decades andrange from the remains of the original Magna Carta, scribbles of the first Beatles' lyrics for their hits such as "Yesterday" and "Michelle," and even original copies of Shakespeare's works! Pretty frickin awesome place they have there.

For this course, one of the goals is to learn how to navigate around the city of London and

understand all the 32 boroughs that it consists. This means every time our course meets, we will venture out to a new destination using the Tube (which is sick) and learn about the area's history, tourist attractions, and useful everyday cultural things that locals can benefit from. Thus far, I've seen the area called "City," which is in the center of the city of London and was the original enclosed area of London when it was first settled. Enough of the history lesson. It

was SICK. City contains many of the star attractions of London such as the Tower Bridge, London Bridge (which is wicked lame haha) and City Hall. This area reminded me of NYC because of its density and huge buildings. Definitely my favorite area experienced so far.

Something I found interesting from the lecture was a quote from my lecturer Caroline:

"The dirtiest word that begins with a "C" is class."

First thought for me was 'I can think of dirtier words that that..." but she began to explain her thought. She described that "class" creates a division in society that raises concerns for every individual on each level. Interestingly enough, she had a good point. The people of London always

underestimate their "class" in fear of declaring themselves of too high of a "class." For centuries, society has made huge efforts to either be accepted or marry into the Upper Class, but to no avail. It was interesting to learn how a simple five-letter word could be the dictator in such a respected culture. Get it, Caroline.

I also learned how separate the United Kingdom has been from the rest of Europe. Considering themselves an 'island race," England especially has always been last to forward their culture at the same pace as the rest of Europe. Whether it's technology, food, or drink, England typically is on the back of the strug-bus. London, however, has been a huge advocate of this new European-esque "Cappuccino Culture." What is this exactly? Basically, it is what you think it would be. London has been pushing for new cafes where locals can purchase and enjoy lattes and other cappuccino drinks in a social venue. Interestingly enough, it seems that the locals have been enjoying this movement to become more European and "hip."

I finally had my orientation for the Royal College of Music!!! Woo!! Prepare yourself when I tell you my class schedule for the semester. *clear throat* Mondays: class from 9:00am-16:30pm. Wednesday: choir from 10:00am-12:30pm. Fridays: class from 12:45pm-13:45pm. Ready to add to the joke? Choir stops midway through October. LOL. So I'm not complaining. Actually, I'm ecstatic (understatement). Ironically enough, the song "I Love College" came up on my Itunes shuffle for this whole paragraph, I kid you not.

So typically floor events consist of movie nights, or pizza nights, etc. However, in Europe we believe in fun floor events, like bar nights! TOO MUCH FUN. The GFlat (name for the ground floor, which would be called the first floor in

America) went to the Imperial College Pub and had a blast! This pub is actually a two minute walk from where I live, and the drinks are wicked cheap (only about 2lbs a pint. awww yeaaa). Nothing says welcome to your new institution like tequila shots with your RA! Unreal hahaha

Earlier this week, a group of friends and I went out to a bar (not sure what it was called. oops.) and experienced an amazing night of drinks, dancing, and awkward Brits. If you ever wanna cause a scene, start doing the Stanky Leg in the middle of a group of Europeans. It's almost like dropping a porpoise in the middle of a hockey rink. Not quite? I'm still working on my metaphors..Anyways the night was incredible, and I was still able to wake up and survive my lecture the next morning. Tonight will be Round 3 for this week in celebration of Mia's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Mia!!! Let's hope my body will bounce back well for tomorrow's

eight hour lecture beginning at 9am. Fingers crossed! Even if I strug my way through class, it'll all be worth it knowing I'm just living the dream.