So the Fun Begins...

Hey everyone. It has been a long time since I last posted and a lot has happened. I've met random people in pubs and bars, turned 5 pounds into 70 at a casino, hung out with great people, moved into my flat, met the program people and had a WILD night out in London with some friends. As you can see from the picture above, I found my first Banksy sighting in public. If you're ever in London and on Old Brompton Road, just look at the doors to all the flats and you'll find it.

On a random note, London has very few public trash bins. I tried to find one to throw a bottle away and it literally took me 20 minutes to find one.

This post is short and really choppy, but that's because I'm exhausted. Next time I post I'll be more awake!

Until next time.

Henry

Fun fact: London is Amazing

My oh my, what a day this has been. I woke up at 5am Seattle time and finally fell asleep at 2pm BST (6am Seattle the following day). I didn't sleep at all for those 25 hours. I just can't seem to fall asleep on planes. Anyways,  I arrived in London at 6am and I am having a blast. I walked around for a few hours, bought a UK phone (which was a surprisingly fulfilling event), and went all over. I walked from my hotel in South Kensington to my flat in the South Bank and back and saw so many sights along the way.

Besides Parliament, some of the Paralympics, the V&A Museum, the National History Museum, and St. Paul's, I ate at a shop called Hummus Bros. It serves exactly what you think. I'll be the first to tell you that Hummus Bros. is DELICIOUS. I got a huge bowl of hummus with chicken tikka and pita for 7 quid. YUM.

I finally went back to my hotel at 2pm and promptly passed out from exhaustion and I just woke up an hour ago. I'm off to dinner soon.

So far, London is better than I could have ever imagined. If it remains even half as wonderful as it is now, my time here will still be unbelievable.

Until next time.

Henry

10 hours, 37 minutes, and 46 seconds

The time is almost here for me to get on that big old jet airliner to London. My suitcases are packed, my dollars are now pounds (by the way, the exchange rate absolutely sucks), and I'm ready to go. I've been  excited to go for some time now, but I didn't fully realize that I am moving to London until a few days ago. Now it's all I can think about. Even holding down a conversation is difficult because my mind always wanders back to London!

Despite my excitement, tonight is bittersweet. In just a few days I will enter into an entirely new world both in terms of my physical location and the opportunities presented to me. I'm going to study at a fantastic university and work in one of the most powerful governments in the whole world. I'm going to live with people whom I've never met before (well, mostly) and we're all going to experience London together. On the other hand, I'm not going to see many of my friends or my family for a long time. I'm going to miss the great guys and girls at Gonzaga that are an essential part of my friend group. Not to mention all of the ICS friends that I would have seen during breaks. I hope everyone has a great year and I can't wait to see all of you when I get back.

Now I'm going to sign off. The next time I post on ATPSMP, I'll be in downtown London! Peace out everyone!

Henry

21 Run Plan is Coming Together Nicely

I turn 21 on September 30 and I'm very excited. The only problem is that I'm turning 21 in London. There is obviously no such thing as a 21 run in Europe and I wanted to find an exciting way to ring in a new personal year. A friend gave me a great idea.

Instead of doing a pub crawl throughout London, I'm going to spend my birthday weekend in Munich, at the mother of all keggers: Oktoberfest. I just bought my plane tickets to Frankfurt and now I only have to buy train tickets to Munich. I'm leaving London at 7ish am on the 28th (I have to leave my flat at 4am to get to the airport) and I should get to Munich by 3pm. I get back to my flat at 1am on October 1st. It's going to be a wild birthday weekend.

Until next time.

Henry

25 Days, 14 hours, 24 minutes, 39 seconds

Welcome to my London blog; your one stop shop for everything that's going to happen to me this fall (and maybe spring) across the pond. There is less than one month until I leave for jolly old London town. Preparations are kicking into high gear. Technically I'm not allowed to study abroad yet because my visa has not been approved, but hopefully it will be approved soon. In the mean time, I have a lot of packing to do. For those who I haven't told yet, I'm going to be in London for at least a semester studying at the London School of Economics and interning at Parliament. I don't know where or with whom I am going to intern, but I'll find out when I get to London. I'm going to update this as much as I can with exciting news and tales of of exciting euro adventures. I fully plan on reliving most of Eurotrip, at least the crazy soccer hooligan parts. Points to whoever can guess to what the title of my blog refers! Until next time. Henry