Strike & Bike

London weather...I was warned. Didn't have "the best" first day of classes that I've ever had. The London tube crews went on a 24-hour strike on the day of my first class, and of course the bus system was jammed and traffic was awful. I gave myself about an hour to get to class, twice as much as it would take me to get to that location on a normal day. We got about halfway to the building in that hour, so I ditched the bus and started running the streets of London. In jeans & a sweatshirt, with a backpack, oh, and did I mention one of my roommates got me sick? Why do I ALWAYS get sick the second week of being in a new country. (I was horribly sick for about 4 days my second week in South Africa, had to skip a lot of nights out and even one day at school.) I showed up half an hour late, and to my excitement, the professor hadn't even shown up yet. No, he walked in a full hour after I did.

So I decided I wouldn't let this happen to me again. I have been kind of in my cocoon of the hotel, my flat, the school building, and their surrounding areas. I've been to a few local restaurants, cafes, and pubs, but nothing of extreme interest. Yesterday I met up with my friend Vince (who I lived with in SA) and he gave me a personal walking tour of some of the neighborhoods. It was good to see somebody from that group of people. Anyway, I am starting to look into a new program that the Mayor of London introduced about two months ago, where there are bikes EVERYWHERE that you can borrow for up to a half hour for free (if you pay a small weekly or yearly access fee) - it's a really good bargain, even if you only do it like twice a week. Here is the info for anyone who is interested.I am going to wait until I can breathe properly again, and then I might give it a shot. I also might bike through Hyde Park a lot, since I live within a two minute walk of it. I haven't even ran in Hyde Park yet! God, I wish I wasn't getting sick so that I can enjoy London, now that I realize I've been here a week and basically done nothing but grocery shop, move into my flat, and go to informational meetings. I miss the excitement that Ireland offered - we hit the ground RUNNING with no time for adjustment, and that is more my style. I came to London with the intention of spending as little time in my flat as possible, and just enjoying the excitement of the city - free museums, world class shopping, nightlife, history, unfamiliar architecture, etc. I think tomorrow I am going to spend the few hours I have in between classes just exploring the city without an agenda...except making it back for my next class on time of course.