The Seventh Heavenly Day!

June 12, 2015

This was an early morning for me as I did not go to sleep until 1am and woke up at 5:30am to grab a quick English Breakfast, and I think that you know what I had by now.  Ike was suppose to meet me and Dr. Jolly (protected identity) in the lobby at 6am.  I got a text at 5:57am from Ike saying that he did not receive his wake up call and would be running a bit late.  This ended up being a blessing in disguise because Ike went to the front desk and asked why they did not provide him with a wake up call when he requested one earlier in the day.  We ended getting a free taxi ride out of this mishap, so thanks, Ike.  The British customs experience was not as bad as when I first arrived earlier in the week. Things moved a lot quicker and we ended waiting for about two hours for our flight.  In the meantime, I had a mocha latte' and a Cadbury chocolate and caramel egg.  This did the spot.  Dr. Jolly needed to go by a store, so me and Ike went in the store and looked around the place.  I was wearing a full backpack and as I turned around, I knocked over several items off of the shelves.  This experience made me feel like Ike did in Oxford when he knocked over several books in the bookstore on Broad Street.  

I converted my money from the British Pound to the amazing US Dollar at the airport.  After the exchange rate and fees, I still had a little over $200.  We boarded the plane, and the flight back to the states was two hours longer than our flight to England.  This was no problem because I watched three movies on the plane, which included The Imitation Game, Selma, and The Theory of Everything.  These movies were about two hours each and kept me very entertained.  I also learned that the British Film Rating System is different than the US.  For example, the British allow 12 year olds to view content that the US rates as PG-13.  The second rating that surprised me was that 15 year olds in the UK can view Rated R movies compared to 17 in the US.  I once again have to say that Virgin Atlantic is the best airline experience that I have encountered so far.  They offer a wide selection of movies, drinks, warm towels, refreshments, provide meals, pillows, headphones, and blankets.  The service is hospitable and the plane atmosphere is positive and modern for the most part.  Kudos to Virgin Atlantic.  I sat by Ike again on the flight, and I saw him  reading grants and writing some blog material.  Ike is so studious and scientific because he really is a scientist looking for a cure for cancer.  He even connected to a few individuals on the trip that were researching cancer and some other innovative ideas.  Ike actually already has a doctorate and MBA, so he really loves having titles in front and after  his name.  We love you Ike!  

There was a two hour lay over in Atlanta, so me, Ike, and Dr. Jolly ate a Bookstore and Cafe' setup.  I had some delicious lasagna and finally an Southern American sweet tea.  Time passed and me and Dr. Jolly boarded our plane to Birmingham.  I was picked up by my beautiful wife, baby girl, and father-in-law.  I sat by my baby girl, and she was mad at me for leaving for a week.  It literally took about three hours for her to forgive me and give me some positive attention.  My baby boy was excited to see me when I arrived at my in-laws' home.  I brought him back some miniatures toys that included a London double decker bus, phone booth, public mail drop, Big Ben, taxi, and tube train.  He played with those toys for about an hour and nothing else.   

As I reflect on this wonderful and educational experience, I now realize that America education is not as bad of quality as we are told or perceive. Yes, we can still do better, but we need to give ourselves more credit because several institutions in the UK are incorporating a lot of programs and services that we do.  I am currently working with the Disabilities Services contact at the University of Bath on some effective programming opportunities that she is interested in providing in the future.  This trip provided me with a closer experience with each co-hort member.  I will not forget the wonderful time that I had during this trip.  England makes much more sense to me now, but I am on cloud nine that I am back home with my family in the USA.  Please view Facebook tomorrow for the pictures of the trip.

Lovely!

The Sad Sixth Day!

June 11, 2015

Well, I got to sleep in a bit longer today, which was until 8:30am.  I grabbed a quick chocolate muffin, some frosties, and an orange juice.  We made our way to the University of Bath, which is a top ten university in the UK.  The University of Bath felt more like an American University by architecture and course offerings.  Several faculty and staff members came by to speak to us about the history of the institution, which spans five decades.  In 1856, the University of Bath was named Bristol Trade School and had serveral other names and in the mid 1900s became known as a technical college and moved from Bristol to Bath. Today, the University of Bath focuses on engineering and design, humanities and social sciences, science, and management.  There is about 16,000 students total with 13,000 undergraduates, 3,000 graduates, and around 2,000 faculty members.  The University of Bath has began to use Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to provide more opportunities for students to gain more knowledge and experience on subjects that they would not otherwise have exposure to than in a traditional classroom setting.  The courses are only 6 weeks and students do not actually receive course credit but can use the completion of the course as a continued skill to put on their CVs.  The retention for their MOOCs is in the 30 percentile range, which is good for a MOOC.  Some of the subjects discussed in the MOOCs include cancer, military life, and sustainability.  Most of the faculty members that teach on the MOOCs are either from or affiliated with the University of Bath.

I got more information to how student services are conducted on campus with the student engagement speaker today.  She works in their student union and learned that have several activities for students to participate in ranging from recreation sports, student societies, and cultural groups.  There are over 60 sport clubs.  They have skill training programs for CV writing and how to use social media etiquette much like career centers in America.  Alcohol is very prevalent in the UK and students drink alcohol, but they have to be at least 18 years old to consume alcohol legally.  To provide a safe environment for new students, the University of Bath has a alcohol free induction week, which is like welcome and orientation weeks in the US.  They have balls and international weeks as well.  During October, there is a Zombie run around on campus.  There are over 150 clubs and organizations on campus.  They have club nights twice a week.  The campus has a bar and sells discount cards to help with funding the student union and activities.  For leadership and representation, at least two students from each academic department are elected to serve on a committee. There are around 90 to 120 members that serve on committees.  First year students primarily live on campus.  The residence halls are mostly single rooms with shared common spaces, which surprised me because this is Europe, but they are moving toward suite style residence halls as well.  The departments in student services use all of the social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat, Yik Yak, and databases such as Blackboard and Moodle.  Student Services focus on bringing awareness to their student clubs by providing programs such as Lad Culture, which educates students on the harm of drinking games, banter, and inappropriate jokes.  They provide training to sport teams as well and will shut them down if they violate the rules.  All violators of the student conduct policy will have to take an awareness course.  I got to talk with a staff member that works with disability services on campus.  We talked about government mandates and emotional supportive pets. She mentioned that her department is currently being re-structured and will be contacting me via email for more information.

We heard from a few more speakers and found out that the UK accepts a 60% and above unlike the US with at least a 70% and above for test and assignment scores.  Lunch consisted of sandwiches and potato chips.  We got a campus tour and went on a trail through a field and got a great view of the whole town of Bath from an high perspective on the hill.  It was beautiful, and the pictures will be posted tomorrow or Saturday.  I slept on the bus ride back to Heathrow.  There were no silly bathroom experiences today unlike the past few days.  I had a Cadbury Twirl, which looks like a Twix but does not include the cookie, and a Nestle Lion similar to a Reese's'  Nutrageous as well as a real sugar vanilla coke. The rooms at the Crowne Plaza are huge, and I actually have a desk in the room with a queen size bed. There are bath robes to wear if I need to use one.  We had dinner at the hotel with lentil soup, baked or roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas, and some strawberry cheesecake.  At the conclusion of dinner, everyone shared their favorite memories of the trip and some tears were shed by some co-hort members making this both a happy and sad moment of the trip.  We all hugged and said our goodbyes and most of us will depart in the morning back to the good ole US of A.  I wish that I would have gotten to meet with some housing professionals and gotten a tour of the residence halls.

I will be on the plane for most of the day and will be back in the area around 5pm tomorrow.  My last blog about this trip experience will be tomorrow night, so you will know how my trip went on the way back.

Tooting Common!

The Fearful Fifth Day!

June 10, 2015

Hello again, I started my day off earlier today than the previous days.  I had breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express for the first time and have to say that the food was not as good as the Kensington Close Hotel.  The sausage was not as plump and there were not as many options here at the Holiday Inn Express.  For some reason, the British like to eat baked beans for breakfast.  Frosted Flakes are called Frosties, but they still taste good.  After breakfast, we boarded the Arleen charter bus without a toilet  and headed to the John of Gaunt School, which is basically a middle and high school.  

When we arrived at the school, the front office required us to sign in and show our passports.  Security seemed to be a big deal there for visitors.  After signing in and receiving name badges, the Assistant Head Teacher (Assistant Principal) took us to a windowless room called the Bunker, and we meet the Head Teacher (Principal).  Student Leadership at the school consists of a Head Boy and a Head Girl.  These positions bridge the gap between the 12th and 13th year students and the school administration.  Around 1200 students attend John of Gaunt within the age range of 11 to 19 years old.  There are about 90 teachers and 200 total staff members.  The school year is from September to July and starts at 8:45am and ends at 4pm with five lessons a day.  John of Gaunt is a state funded school.  We noticed pictures in the hallway that they also have proms as well.  The school actually provides lessons on gender and sexuality and had several bulletin boards with information about sexual orientation tolerance and acceptance.  We got to visit the Teaching and Learning Center that helps students who have special needs concerning their circumstances and learning disabilities.  There are 27 teachers that work in the Teaching and Learning Center.  

After our campus tour, we got to meet with some 12th and 13th year students, who are college aged.  They provided us with great insight of what they study and what they are looking forward to after graduating.  Most of them will be first generation students when they go to college, which surprised me.  The students that we got to talk with today were some of the top students at the school.  We asked them if there was a stigma about the different types of students at the school.  They provided us with the following names for each student group:

Group 1 - Nerds

Group 2 - Average

Group - Dippies

We had big laughs about Group 3 and have never heard the term Dippies.  After talking more with the Assistant Head Teacher, he said that 75% of the students that attend John of Gaunt go on to attend an university.  An interesting concern that the co-hort discovered about the school is that it is not handicap accessible and the UK government really does not mandate certain facility accommodations for the physically disabled.  That is a lot different from the US.  However, the school will try to switch classes around to be on the first level in the buildings if needed for a physically disabled student.  Lastly, the school has a school nurse to hold medications and administer first aid.  There is also a school counselor on campus for three days a week and a local social worker has an office on campus as well.  I would love to say that nothing funny happened today concerning the bathroom but that was not the case.  In search of the men's bathroom, I went down to the first floor and saw two restrooms that had women on one side and non-ladies on the other side.  This seemed sketchy, so I waited outside to see if anyone would come out so that I would know for sure.  To protect this co-hort member's identity,  I will this person Bonnie , and she came out of the other restroom and I asked her what she thought about this bathroom.  Bonnie said that it should be okay, so I went in and used the facilities and did not see anyone.  As we were about to depart from the school, there were two females that walked out of the same restroom that I did about 15 minutes prior.  I am grateful that I did not go in or out of that bathroom when those students went in or out of it.  Thanks a lot, Bonnie, LOL!  Bonnie also loves Crispy Creme doughnuts, and her husband found some for her in Bath, England.  We thought that he was going to propose to her again because he was hiding the box behind his back and had everyone focus in on what he was doing.  I guess Krispy Kreme doughnuts could serve as engagement rings temporarily if you want.

After the John of Gaunt School visit, we traveled to the downtown area of bath.  Me and Ike ate at  the Ale House and had the Ale House Pie and a real sugar Pepsi.  The Ale House Pie consisted of a flaky pot pie crust with meat chunks, carrots, and gravy.  It also came with some chips (french fries), and I have to say that it was great.  After lunch, I with other co-hort members got on another bus and went on an hour drive to see the Stonehenge.  On the way, I saw an 800 year old church still in operation today and a 2,000 year old white horse carved out of rock that towered over the hills.  This white horse was carved by the Anglo-Saxons to stave off intruders from their territory.  Well, we finally got to Stonehenge, and it was a great experience.  It looked so good that it did not seem real.  When I took pictures, it looked like I was taking pictures of a green screen with the Stonehenge view on it.  I walked several times around the Stonehenge and took pictures from every side.  Before our bus dropped us off at the Stonehenge site, the driver told us not to lose our ticket or we would be turned away.  Well, I kept my cell phone and ticket in the same pocket. It was very windy today, and the ticket must have flown out of my pocket when I took my cell phone out to take pictures.  This is why I call this the Fearful Fifth Day due to my overwhelming fear of having to take a 25 minute walk to the visitor's center. I promptly walked up to the security guards, and they told me that it should be okay.  I  met up with co-hort members Wendell, and to protect his identity, Stanley, and they began to look for the ticket with me as we walked back to the bus.  As I walked on the bus to the driver,  Stanley looked on the dashboard of the bus and found my ticket.  My fears were removed and life was good again.  We went through some exhibitions at the visitors' center and saw some cool straw roof homes from the early Stonehenge era.  

After we returned to Bath, we attended a three minute thesis competition at the Bath Brew House.  Six doctoral students at the University of Bath presented an 80,000 word thesis in three minutes.  They were timed, questioned, and judged.  The topics that were covered consisted of fly wheel clutch plates, loneliness in rural areas, lightning therapy of cancer cells, conserving energy, space weather, and converting waste sugar into plastic for better biodegradability.  The competition moved fast and the runner up was the waste sugar plastic, and the winner was the fly wheel clutch plates presentation.  Overall, the experience was great, and I admire how they made something very complex to something simple in the matter of three minutes.  After the competition, we went downstairs and had dinner.  Ike could not find a seat and tried to steal a chair from another table and the waitress gave him a stern talk.  He was about to leave until a chair from a non-reserved table made its way over to him.  I really felt bad for Ike because the last few days have been rough on him.  He got left for dinner last night too and his blogs keep disappearing from impromptu webpage freezes and computer restarts.  For dinner, I had some sticky prime rib, chips, and a real sugar coke to great satisfaction.

I had a toffee Kit-Kat bar tonight and it was amazing.  This is the first candy bar that I cannot complain about so far.  Tomorrow's blog will consist of my experience at the University of Bath, and we will get to meet with housing and student service administrators at the conclusion of our visit.  This visit is the one that I have been waiting on because I will get to meet with people that are in my particular field.

Cockfosters!

(End Point of the Piccadilly Line)

Ike has several definitions for Cockfosters, but I am using the one listed above.

The Fantastic Fourth Day!

June 9, 2015

Hello everyone, I have had a splendid day with traveling to Bath, England.  I had another wonderful English Breakfast at the Kensington Close Hotel.  The food was the same and yet still good.  We were picked up in a chartered bus with a toilet on board; however the sink did not work.  The bus was called Arleen judging by the letters on the front wind shield. Overall, the bus ride took about an hour and a half, and I saw several fields with sheep grazing unlike America that have massive amounts of cows grazing.  On the way to the Bath, we stopped at one of the oldest universities in the world, which is Oxford University.

I have to say that Oxford University is the most beautiful campus that I have ever seen.  It was like a dream and nothing really felt real.  The architecture is even better in person than in pictures and movies.  Yes, several Harry Potter films were filmed on this campus.  I saw the dining hall in New College where Harry Potter's famous gathering scenes were shot, and I also saw the Divinity School in the Library where the infermory scene was shot.  Our tour guide today said that there are 38  colleges and 6 private halls that make up the entire university.  Oxford University is a very selective university and will take only the A Level students (best of the best).  Faculty members do not really focus on teaching, but rely on being tutors or mentors to help guide students toward their academic goals.  Today was an exam day, and every student takes their exams at the same time in the same building.  The exams are the most important assessment tool that the university uses to measure student success.  We got to meet with a professor from the Merton College during our tour, and her focus is in the classics such as Latin and Greek literature.  Our time with her was brief and she mentioned to us that tenure is shrinking on campus, graduate students help in the tutorial system, and students with learning disabilities are permitted to take their exams in a different hall from the main one that the university requires.  Professor Ash stated that Merton College has 300 undergraduate and 300 graduate students that attend that particular college.  The tour guide mentioned that Oxford is still considered a public institution and receives money from the UK government to their general administration; however, several colleges have their own endowments and can support themselves.  Governmental money only helps the colleges that struggle financially.

At the conclusion, a co-hort member, in order to protect his identity I will call him Ike, dropped his electronic tablet and the screen cracked in a wicked fashion.  He was very upset, so I encouraged him to come with me to one of the stores on Broad Street.  The wind was bitting today meaning that it was a bit chill.  I am from Mississippi and am wearing a short sleeve shirt because that is all that I know how to do during the summer months.  I took Ike with me to a store called the Varsity, and I bought a red and white Oxford University letterman sweater jacket for just 20 pounds.  It did the job, and I stayed warm for the most part.  I also got a small decorative plate with all of the Oxford University college emblems on it.  It was just 4 pounds.  After my purchases, I went to the Turn Tavern where President Bill Clinton hung out in back in the 1970s with his long hair and big red beard according to the tour guide.  I had the famous fish n' chips, and I rather enjoyed that.  We moved on and saw more of the beautiful buildings on campus and as we concluded the tour I found a Dr. Pepper that said "New Improved."  After I took a few sips, I realized that this drink did not taste like a Dr. Pepper but more like a Mr. Pibb.  Why, I do not know?  Dr. Pepper does not need to taste like Mr. Pibb, but the other way around.

Me and Ike stopped by the toilets and noticed that there was a floor urinal trough in the restroom.  I took a picture of it and sent it to Karen.  She replied with "Oh wow!! Any splash back?"  I politely told her that I did not know but to ask Ike because he was all over that trough.  He did wipe his shoes off with some toilet paper afterwards (Just Kidding).   I do not know why there has been so much discussion about urination on this trip, but I figure that it has been funny enough to mention in almost all of my blogs. Ike did not have the best of days and his luck got even worse with him dropping several books off the shelves at the book store.  We departed campus on the Arleen charter bus.  My seat was directly in front of the toilet. I know poor choice.  To protect her identity, I will call her Molly.  Well, Molly went to the bathroom and apparently the door would not stay closed because the bus is moving down the road.  She had to hold the door closed and do her business at the same time and no way to wash her hands.  Apparently, she had some sanitary wipes.  Bath is a beautiful city, and I would live here if the opportunity presented itself to me because it has a nice country feel to it with some things to do with a good selection of stores and resturants. The hotel that we are staying in is a Holiday Inn Express and they have bigger rooms and beds.  I can actually put my toiletries by the sink here.  The internet is a lot better too.  Yay for an American company in Europe.  I ate at Garrick's Head and had a Garrick Burger, some chips (french fries), and a pint of coke.

The agenda for tomorrow is to visit The John of Gaunt School, which is a high school.  This will be an interesting endeavor.  After the school visit, I will go with a group to see the Stonehenge and then attend a 3 Minute Thesis Competition.  It is going to be a dashing time.  I forgot to mention that a co-hort member found an interesting menu choice at a restaurant in Oxford.  The name cannot be repeated in this blog, but it did pertain to a gay slur in America.  Apparently, a traditional meat ball with pig's liver and other left over pork is called sometime special over here.  Lastly, I told you that I had a Mars bar yesterday and that it tasted just like a Milky Way bar, so I had to investigate that theory a bit more by trying a Milky Way bar tonight.  After trying the Milky Way bar, it is nothing more than a 3 Musketeers bar.  I do not think that 3 Musketeers' bars exist over here because Ike said the English hate the French and would not sell something like that in their country.  Ike does have a point though.  Wendell was actually on his best behavior today.  Kudos to him.  I will talk to everyone tomorrow with a report of my most anticipated experiences.

God Save the Queen!

The Third Day

June 8, 2015

Hello Ladies and Gents, the third day in London has come to an end, so it is only fair to share with you my glorious experience. Of course, you can be the judge of that.  I woke up at 6:30am and strolled to breakfast at 7:15am after giving my co-hort member a wake call to avoid yesterday's
fiasco. He showed up 15 minutes later.  The food was the same as yesterday, but I still enjoyed it entirely. We made our way to St. George's College affiliated with the University of London.  This college is a hospital and medical school.  We toured the facilities and were surprised how much the hospital looked like the 1970s.  This image concerned quite a few of us; however, the parts that we saw may not have been the best representation of the hospital or maybe it was.  They are actually filming a reality tv show called 24 Hours in the A&E.  I learned that the ER is called the A&E, which stands for action and emergency.  Something else that interested me was how applicants interviewed blindly to get into the school, which meant that the candidate's application is not reviewed until after the interview.  Please keep in mind that the minimal requirements for the application are still reviewed prior to the interview.  The interviews are conducted through a series of rotations with each interviewer every 5 minutes with a 15 second gap between the interviews.  This process reminded me of how Mississippi State University (MSU) conducts their Resident Adviser (RA) interviews, which conducts rotating interviews as well.

There was a bar in the Student Union and all revenue from alcohol purchases are funneled back into the the student activities budget.  St. George's College enrolls around 260 UK students and 50 international students.  The international student population is about 7.5% of their student population.  As the day progressed, we had several college officials talk with us about their roles within the institution.  We heard from the Dean of Students and learned that the college is now embracing the student experience concept with more focus on student services and programming such as outreach workshops for 6 to 9 year olds and Tea Time with the Dean.  Our British Chaps are copying us Americans for something that we are really good at doing.  Unlike America, UK medical doctors are paid more as General Practitioners than Specialists and to actually see a Specialist the General Practitioners must provide a referral to the patient.  I found it interesting that all staff members can receive permanent positions and not just faculty members; however, every employee receives a one year probationary period, which used to be three years.  The title of professor is a really big deal in the UK and most faculty members would rather be called professor than doctor.  Students do their first two years experiencing case base learning and then shift to problem based learning for the next two years.  The average time to become a doctor or specialists is 7 to 8 years.  I apologize for these details, but this was the majority of my experience this morning.  Please read below for the fun stuff!

Before lunch, the same co-hort member who missed breakfast yesterday, who I will call Wendell to protect his identity, leaned back in his chair and the chair just snapped, and he just got up and switched the chair.  I mean it broke completely through on one side.  After a few breathless laughs, we calmed down and continued on with speakers.  I got a special sandwich because the UK apparently puts mayonnaise on all their sandwiches, and I needed to stay out of the bathroom today.  The sandwich was a warm toasted Chicken Panini, and I had a sweet British Cola with it.  There is a running joke with a female co-hort member concerning urinals.  I will call her Karen to protect her identity.  She has never seen an urinal trough in a men's bathroom.  Wendell took Karen to the men's room to show her what one looked like, and she said that "To avoid cross streaming, do you angle to the opposite side."  As Wendell told me this story, I could not stop laughing and wondered if anyone saw Karen actually go into the men's room.  I guess no one did.

The St. George's College visit lasted longer than originally planned, and the weather was bad today so we did not get to go to and ride the London Eye.  Instead, I got to go to an Indian restaurant and had some lamb and curry.  It was not bad, but I would still take some Mexican Cuisine any day over Indian food.  I got another real sugar coke, but it was flat tonight.  After dinner, I went with some co-hort members to see the play The Book of Mormon and on the way I saw Piccadilly Square, which is London's equivalent to Times Square in New York.  There will be a selfie posted to Facebook later.  The Book of Mormon was entertaining but as crude as you can possibly get.  I heard that the same person that wrote South Park also wrote this play, so you can use your imagination with the content material.  We will be traveling to Oxford tomorrow, and it will be exciting to see one of the oldest universities in Europe.  My storytelling should be more interesting tomorrow.  As I conclude my blog tonight, I had a Mars bar and am disappointed to learn that it is nothing more than just a Milky Way bar over here.  I was really craving some almonds tonight.

Mind the Gap!

Second Day in London, England

June 7, 2015

Hello everyone, my second day adventure in the Mother Land was quite enjoyable as I woke up at 8:30am more rested than the last two days with the jet lag and six hour time difference.  My breakfast was very well as I had bacon that looked like pieces of ham, as well as, sausages, toasted bread, and some delicious pastries.  As I waited for my bread to toast in the toaster, an older lady was next to me waiting on her toast as well.  The bread took a long time to toast, and she struck up a conversation with me.  As I began to talk to her, she noticed that I was not from Europe, so I told her that I was from Mississippi in the US.  The older lady with an European accent said that she was from the US too, and I said "really" in a surprised voice. She noticed and said that she was from Oregon and that she is originally from Sweden, which explained a great deal. My bread finished toasting and by accident I hit the cancel button and the Swedish Oregonian lady's bread popped out not toasted, so I quickly ran off like nothing happened.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking that is the typical behavior from a crazy American tourist, and you would be correct; however, I would do that in America as well. Awkward is my forte, so one can only expect awkward results.

Breakfast was at 9am and that time was actually set by a fellow co-hort member who did not show up to the breakfast.  After we finished our English breakfast an hour and twenty minutes later, me and another co-hort member went to the no show co-hort member's room.  There were several knocks on the door, and we heard some soft inaudible responses for a few moments. Finally, we began to actually have a real conversation through the door, and he answered the door in his underwear.  He asked us what time was it and if he missed breakfast.  After about a solid thirty seconds of laughter, we said yes and that we all had breakfast about an hour and a half ago.  He informed us that he did not hear any alarms or phone calls that were made to him.  Nevertheless, this person was on every one's case to not be late for breakfast, and he did not represent that expectation very well this morning.  Anyway, we moved on and he grabbed breakfast in short order, and I began a Big Bus Tour.

The Big Bus Tour was on a Burgundy double decker bus that had an open top upper deck. I rode on the top so that I could see the amazing sights, take some great pictures, and work on my beautiful farmer's tan, which I will add the pictures to Facebook when I return from across the pond.  Today was a lot warmer than the previous day and the skies were blue with big puffy white clouds, which I am told is a rare occasion for England. I got to see almost all of London that included the guy that wrote Peter Pan's residency, Nothing Hill, Big Ben, The Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the Shard, the Eye of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, West Minister Abbey, and the Tower of London. Unfortunately, I just saw the outside of these sights. After the bus tour, we took the boat tour and saw some of the sights mentioned above from an even better perspective.  Wait until your see the pictures!  The day for London sight seeing eventually came to a close.  For the rest of the night, we ate a the Devonshire Arms pub down from our hotel.

I had some BBQ beef sliders, which had a very sweet sauce. My main course was some good ole bangers and mash.  For those that do not know what that dish is, bangers are plump sausage links and mash is just what you can imagine.  They are mashed potatoes and some wine gravy was poured on top with spinach leaves.  It was banging or (s)mashing, LOL!  My dessert consisted of some chocolate caramel praline balls with vanilla ice cream.  My soft drink of choice (take a guess) was a real sugar coke.  I forgot to mention that my lunch was some pasta from an Italian restaurant near the London Tower Bridge but that was not really a highlight, and I do not even know why I am talking about it right now.  I digress.  Well, the rest of the evening so far is me writing this blog, which I  have pleasure-fully enjoyed boring you with tonight from the bar lounge near the elevators of Kensington Close Hotel in Jolly Ole London, England.  Tomorrow begins our university visits.  We will be visiting St. George University College and we will be riding the Eye of London tomorrow so maybe my stories may be even more delightful then.  I hear that the third day is always better as Jesus so famously portrayed.  I apologize in advance if that offended anyone.  I find humor in strange ways right now maybe my mind will adjust to this experience before I return or write the next blog.  FYI, it does not actually get dark outside until almost 10pm.

Cheerio, Lads!

First Day in London

June 5 - 6, 2015

Well, the plane ride was not that bad coming into London.  Virgin Atlantic provided several goodies in my seat when I arrived to my seat on the plane, which included a blanket, headphones, bottled water,  pillow, toothbrush, sleeping mask, and ear plugs.  I have never been on an international flight before and was very impressed with how Virgin Atlantic was with their services such as free drinks and meals.  There was a bar on the plane and it felt like Austin Powers for a moment especially with the British Flight Attendants. The touch screen monitor at the back of the seat in front of me allowed me to watch free movies and TV shows, listen to free music, and play free games.  The trip went by very fast with these services despite the almost eight hours that it took to get to London, England from Atlanta, GA.

Once we landed at the airport, we went through customs, and I not knowing how customs works because I have never traveled outside the country told the customs officer that I was there to study different colleges for a class.  Well, this led to questions about where was my letter verifying that I was there to attend classes.  I just gave them my itinerary and hoped that they understood.  After several minutes of confusion, they accepted me into this Jolly Ole country.  I should have just said that I was there to site see to make my experience a little bit easier.  Before my custom officer's experience, I was moving along the enormous line in customs and noticed that a bag was left unattended.  In desperation of not knowing what to do or the ability to find someone close, one of our trip companions yelled out "Excuse me! A bag was left unattended and needs some attention."  Everyone paused in the airport and took about five seconds to process what just happened and kept moving, and the lady came back and picked up her bag.

We got to do some sight seeing today through Kensington Park and viewed the outside parameters of Kensington Palace, supposedly where Princess Kate and Prince William live.  I cannot verify that information at this time, LOL.  As we strolled down the London streets, we settled at a breakfast restaurant called Cote' and I got a sausage baguette, which was quite delicious.  Everywhere that I went I drank American soft drinks such as Coca Cola and 7-up, which contain real sugar here.  After our brunch and park adventure, we made our way to the Kensington Close Hotel.  I was very surprised to see that my room is smaller than any residence hall room that I have ever stayed in during my college years.  The lights would not turn on unless I left my room key card in the reader by the closet. That goes for the air conditioning as well.  They are much smaller than the US.  Of course, I walked into one of those famous red phone booths and provided some poses just like any awkward American tourist would do.

The evening came and we rode the tube (subway system) to the see a play called Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre.  Before we took part in those activities, we ate at the Wellington Pub.  I got a wild boar burger and some chips (french fries) with another delicious real sugar coca cola.  The food was great, and the tomato sauce (ketchup) was Heinz but was surprisingly sweeter maybe because it too had real sugar in it.  We have to do better USA.  Okay, now back to Woman in Black.  The play only had three actors with two male leads and a female antagonist (woman dressed in black).  I was impressed with the acting but I am not surprised because it is London, England, and they produce wonderful actors.  However, the play did move slow and I was  mentally exhausted so my best focus or attention was not present tonight.  I did enjoy some wonderful cadbury chocolate caramel crunchies and a real sugar 7-Up that is served warm here with no ice.  The men's restroom facilities at the theatre were a bit cluttered.  Literally, the floor urinals were so close together in a little room that every man urinating would actually be touching in some way.  I bumped into someone's foot, and the British Chap said that it gets a bit cozy sometimes.  The ceiling was so low that I was bent over at the urinal.  With this uncomfortable state, I decided that this was not a viable option for me, so I waited for the one stall to open up.  I literally had to step over the toilet to get into the stall and to flush it I had to pull a hanging lever.

This has been quite an experience so far, and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow reveals.  I was surprised to see a Pita Pit and a Whole Foods here as well.  Good Night Lads!

Cheers!