Day 8

Today was our first official day in London! We didn’t start class until 11 today since we got in so late last night. Our classes are in the institute room in the Hyde Park chapel, which is only about a 5-10 minute walk from our flat. The chapel is a really cool building because it is just right in the middle of London next to 3 famous museums. Besides having an actual chapel in it, it also has a family history center, a floor for institute, the stake president’s office and it is the headquarters of the England London mission. So we had class and mainly just talked about Ireland and what we had seen while we were there and the different dialects we had heard. After class, we went as an entire class (there are 30 of us) down the street to the bank by the South Kensington tube station so Dr. Chapman could get us some cash to buy our Oyster cards with (oyster cards are travel passes for the busses and the tube). However, the machine at the bank didn’t work so he told us he would just meet us later with the money for our passes. So we ate lunch and went back to our flat to get situated.

After we got back a few of us decided to go grocery shopping! How exciting. I am not planning on making all of my meals since we will be out and about so often, but I wanted to have stuff for breakfast and to make lunches and etc. We went down the street and found Gloucester Road which intersects with our road, Queen’s Gate Terrace. We went to a store called Waitrose and shopped, and it was an experience. It wasn’t too different from any grocery store in the U.S., but it was weird because I am used to knowing the brands and knowing what I like, but here I just have no idea. We got some essentials: milk, bread, peanut butter, cereal, you know. The college staples. We went back to the flat and organized our room and got all settled in.

But about where we live: Robyn and I share a little tiny room in Metrogate, which is one of the 2 main residences our group is living in. The other is called Hyde Park Gate, and it is about a 10 minute walk away from us. It is in this amazing neighborhood in South Kensington and on a street of adorable tall white buildings. Also in this building are Marissa and Mandy, who are the two girls we have been hanging out with the most, so that is nice. Also even though our room is very small, we also have a tiny little bathroom to go along with it so that is amazing- if there is one thing I hate it is having to share a bathroom with a trillion other people, which is one reason I don’t like hostels. Anyway, I love where we live! It is really close to Hyde Park and museums and 2 different tube stops, so it is really easy for us to go anywhere we want. This is our address in case anyone wants to send us anything fun:

Metrogate
3-7 Queen's Gate Terrace
London SW7 5PE