So my first week in London was absolutely fabulous! So far since my last post I have been to several historical sites, an insanely large store full of overpriced, ridiculous apparel and stuffed with overdressed shoppers, a park with some shady Italians who tried to kiss my friend, Wimbledon (sort of), more than one museum, a wonderful Mormon ward that meets in a church converted from a fire station, and an Indian restaurant to rival the one I love back home. Basically I'm killing my feet with walking, getting excellent at maneuvering the Underground and just generally having a blast. So I thought I should continue my list of quirky little things I love about London:
* The way how when it started to rain yesterday, the rain fell in huge drops like clear paintballs hitting the sidewalk.
* How Britons think beans on toast is somehow an ok breakfast food.
*The way all the chimneys are different shapes and lined up on the rooftops like terra cotta soldiers or chess pieces.
*Khans Indian Restaurant: They seat you immediately but then they wait an eternity to take your order. And then two eternities to bring you your food after that. What's up with that? Oh and they give you moist towelettes wrapped in silver after dinner and the girls I was with totally thought it was some sort of dessert and squealed excitedly until I burst their bubbles with: "um those are to wash your hands with" Haha
* Meat pastries. They sound so iffy but in reality are delicious.
* How everyone on the street calls everyone else dearie or love. I even got a darling the other day. I think that's an extra two points. :P
* The doors in our townhouse are real wooden doors. Not those flimsy, hollow cardboardish contraptions BYU housing likes to put in their doorframes.
* Tottenham Court Station. My favorite tube stop. It's all decked out with tile designs that look Aztec and pretty much just make me happy.
* In British ads and billboards almost no one is smiling! They all have weird expressions on their faces. Like in this deodorant one on the tube the girl looks like she's trying to look chic but instead just looks bored. Yeah, that makes me want to buy the product. And the airlines have ones that have nothing to do with airlines. For example, they will be advertising cheap rates to Paris and have a picture of a girl taking a bite of icecream while her hair is blowing awkwardly in her face. I mean, seriously?
* The Victoria and Albert Museum. Amazing! I've been twice and could go again. Friday night they had a big bonanza with a draw-off. Basically two teams of illustrators competed to fill a big white canvas in an hour with no sketches or prior planning. It was soo cool!
* Also in the V&A, the jewelry room. It's all dark inside and the jewelry glows. It's kind of like being underwater surrounded by necklace-shaped glittering jellyfish. Or maybe outerspace with rings for stars.
* How much Britons take advantage of their parks. It's excellent when it's adorable little five-year-olds kicking around soccer balls almost as big as they are. Not so hot when its old men wearing nothing but speedos out tanning (that actually happens with distressing frequency).
* Playing tackle frisbee in Hyde park. Grass-stains and banshee yells. Pure quality.
* The little British boy in Wimbledon who was walking with his grandma and suddenly stopped dead, stared at a garden and said, "Look! It's like an explosion of life!"
* The crown jewels.With diamonds the size of tangerines, who wouldn't be awestruck!?
* How in Beauchamp Tower where they held all those famous traitors of the state, like Anne Boleyn, the prisoners "graffitied" by carving things like scriptures or their family crest into the wall. Clincher: a lot of times they didn't even carve it themselves. They hired engravers to come and do it!
* How the Shogun of Japan sent a suit of armor to James I back in 1616. 1616! I mean honestly, who knew that Britain even was aware Japan existed back then! News to me! And the armor is pretty sweet. The face mask is all black and making an expression like something out of Where the Wild Things Are.
* The clouds here aren't just dull gray or whitish sky cover. They seem to have a million shades of blue and silver and white and usually are really interestingly shaped, like gigantic scoops of cottage cheese spilling across the sky.

So yeah, that's what I'm loving right now about London! I put pictures up on facebook for anyone who wants to check those out. Till next time, cheerio!

So I have finally arrived in London! My journey was rather unremarkable; first I flew from Oakland to Phoenix, from 60 degree weather to 100 in just an hour and a half. It was so cute when I got off the plane the little boy in front of me asked his mother, "Mommy, what planet are we on now?" haha. To me it certainly felt like a different world. I had finally discovered a place I found as unattractive as Utah! But thankfully I only had to spend a couple of hours in Phoenix and then it was off to London! So now I am here and it is marvelous and I am already over any jet lag I might have had. Here are a few of the things I have noticed that are quirky or that I love about London already:
* On our way from the airport to the London Center our shuttle driver kind of gave us an informal tour of London. He was so funny and really said things like "cheerio mates!" We drove by Buckingham Palace and I can report that the guards really do wear those funny hats. I love it!
* The bathrooms are called Toilets. Way to be frank Britons. And the stalls all go pretty much all the way to the ground. They're like the choir dress to the American mini skirt
* The architecture is all old and gorgeous! The townhouse I am living in is ancient and complete with fabulous moulding on the walls and the ceiling that makes me feel like I should be dressed up all the time. Downside: the plumbing sucks and the electricity blew out in our room this morning after it ate my hair dryer even though I used an adaptor!
* School kids have to wear uniforms and they walk in two straight lines just like in Madalyne!
* They don't sell peanut butter here, which is just weird.
* They do however sell this awesome candy called Randoms. Its basically like gummy bears but lots of different random shapes like sunglasses or icecream cones or turtles. My kind of candy :)And they're really yummy.
* The telephone booths. They're just cool looking.
* Free public museums! I went to the British museum today and the National Gallery. At the British museum I found out that certain sea salts can turn glass green (who knew!) haha. The National Gallery was awesome. It had paintings by all my favorite artists: Renoir, Marisot, Fragonard, Vermeer, etc. Outside there was a man doing these amazing chalk drawings and it was really funny because he drew himself a collection bowl.
* Some front door handles are in the middle of the door. What's that about?
* I love the tube! So, so helpful! We all got Oyester cards (Which is the really random name for the Underground passes) and I've used mine a lot already.
* Exit signs don't say "exit" they say "way out" which is way cooler sounding. And if it's an emergency exit it has a picture of a man running which I just think is funny.

Anyway that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure I will add to the list frequently. I already have a million things I want to do, like go see Peter Pan the play performing outside in Kensington Gardens. I think this weekend some of us are going to try to go see part of Wimbledon... and the Transformers movie. Whatever we do I'm sure it will be awesome! I'll keep posting every few days or so, so stay tuned. Anyway I have to run but I will try to get some pictures up soon! Toodles!