January 29, 2009
I’m going to the opera! My friend BC, who is originally from London, invited me to go see Puccini’s Le bohème at the English National Opera in London, with him on Monday night! I’m so excited. I cannot wait to go. Thanks for inviting me BC!
In other news, I’m going to see the doctor on campus tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll start getting some answers.
Wish me luck!
-J
January 28, 2009
Yesterday after class I finally decided to go out exploring on my own. I was in a great mood after finding out I was accepted to my third law school. At around 11am, I took the Underground to Embankment and walked to the National Gallery. The weather was perfect. It wasn’t too cold and the sun was finally out.
The National Gallery
The National Gallery is enormous. You can probably spend two or three days. I like to take my time and examine each painting. I was looking at some paintings from the Italian Renaissance when I started having trouble breathing. I reached into my bag and grabbed my inhaler. As I was doing this I noticed that my hands were red, the allergic reaction was coming back. I tried to ignore it for another ten minutes or so but I quickly realized I needed to find a pharmacy to buy an anti-histamine.
Trafalgar Square
Reluctantly, I left the Gallery after not even being there for a full hour. I asked a man if he knew where the nearest pharmacy was and he pointed me in the direction of Piccadilly Circus where there was a Boots (a pharmacy chain like CVS in the United States.) I found the pharmacy with no problem and found the allergy section. I had no idea what to buy but I bought this one brand of medicine that said it was for hay fever and skin allergies. I took a pill and tried to relax. I decided not to go home immediately, hoping the medicine would just kick in and be fine. I continued walking around and taking pictures.
Piccadilly Circus
After Piccadilly Circus I found myself near Buckingham Palace and decided to take a walk through the park. I was feeling better and the park though quite small made me think of Central Park back home. I love Central Park. This park was really charming with a little lake in the middle of it. I took a lot of pictures.
St. James's Park
After the park I kept walking and found myself by the Household Calvary Museum. I didn’t go in, but the building was very pretty and outside there were people on horses dressed as guards. I watched them for a while.
Household Calvary Museum
I then found myself in Chinatown which again made me miss New York quite a bit. Monday was Chinese New Year so Chinatown was still decorated and people still seemed to be celebrating. Unfortunately I then realized that the allergic reaction was coming back full force.
Chinatown
I found the nearest Underground station in order to take myself back to the hospital. By the time I got there my throat was swollen and I had trouble swallowing. I spent about 6 hours in the hospital. This time they took blood and ran a few tests. They still cannot figure out what’s causing this reaction. It’s not the laundry detergent. The doctors advised me to find a general practioner here so that I can be regularly monitored.
I’m having a great time in London except for this health situation. I really hope it gets worked out soon.
-J
January 24, 2009
Go to the store and buy yourself a jar of Nutella because World Nutella Day is right around the corner.
World Nutella Day is the brainchild of two of my favorite expat bloggers Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso. Check out their blogs and check out the details about World Nutella Day here!
The website has a lot of yummy looking recipes for things you can make with Nutella. I can’t wait to try them out!
I will definitely be participating this year because well, I have an unhealthy love affair with Nutella. Yum!
-J
January 21, 2009
I didn’t go to class on Tuesday. Between having to re-wash my clothes and the side effects of the medication, I had barely gotten any sleep the night before. When I woke up on Tuesday I had a terrible headache and decided it was best to take it easy and let my body recover from the traumatic events the day before. I emailed my professors and rested.
However, no matter how sick I felt, there was absolutely no way I was going to miss watching President Obama’s inauguration. I originally had planned to go to this big American Expats event to watch the inauguration but since I wasn’t feeling 100%, I decided it was best to stay local. Instead, I decided just to go to the Student Union run bar called Drapers on campus. I met a few of my friends there and my friend C from Long Island was nice enough to give up his seat for me so I wouldn’t, “collapse during Obama’s speech” since I’m so “fragile.”
I was teary eyed through most of the ceremony. If I hadn’t been in London, I definitely would have been in DC with my political friends watching it first hand. Even though watching the inauguration with a bunch of college kids wasn’t exactly how I wanted to watch this historic event, I’m still so glad I had the opportunity to watch history be made.
I thought President Obama’s speech was excellent. I have faith in him and believe that he’ll be a great president.
It was really extraordinary to see how the entire world was watching and I’m proud to say I was watching with them.
(Unfortunately right after the inauguration was over, the allergic reaction started coming back. I took my medication. It wasn’t spreading fast this time and wasn’t as red but it was still really painful. I really hope this passes soon!)
After the inauguration, C came over and we watched Madagascar online. Hehe! I had never seen it before. It was extremely cute. We’re supposed to watch Madagascar 2 sometime soon.
I’m now anxiously awaiting news of President Obama’s first actions as president on his first full day in office. My fingers are crossed that he’ll sign an executive order to repeal the Global Gag Rule.
Good luck, Mr. President. Please continue to make me proud!
-J
January 21, 2009
It took me all of two and a half weeks living in London to have to take a trip to the emergency room. It happened on Monday. In between classes I had decided to put in a load of laundry. Afterwards I came back up to my room. Within five minutes, my right hand felt like it was on fire. I ran to the bathroom and immediately washed my hands. By the time I came out from the bathroom, both my hands were as red as a bottle of ketchup and the rash was rapidly spreading to my wrists. I immediately picked up the phone and called my mother back in the United States to inform her that I was having some weird allergic reaction and that I thought I had to go find a hospital. She agreed. I called up OH and asked her to come with me to find a hospital since I was really starting to panic and didn’t want to go alone. By the time I was off the phone with her, which was no more than a minute, the rash had spread 3 inches up my arms and on my face around my mouth and nose.
I met OH outside my flat a few minutes later and we head out to Student Health Services on campus. Unfortunately the doctors were gone for the day (this was at like 3pm.) The receptionist told me to go to the Walk-In center by the hospital. That was about a fifteen minute walk from campus. During the walk, the rash started spreading up both my arms. By the time I got to the Walk-In center it was up to my shoulders. The Walk-In center took me immediately due to the severity of the case but once they got me into triage they quickly realized it was a bit too severe for them to deal with so they told me to walk to the emergency room or the “A&E” (accident and emergency) as they call it in the UK. I walked over and gave my name to the receptionist. She told me to sit and wait for triage. After waiting for 5 minutes the pain from the reaction was really starting to take its toll on me. I was getting a little light-headed and I swear if OH wasn’t with me I would have been hysterical. When the triage nurse came out, I explained that my mouth and throat were starting to get affected and that I was afraid the reaction was starting to internalize. Also by this time, the rash had spread to my ears, stomach and back.
Luckily, being asthmatic often has its perks, and the threat of the reaction starting to internalize meant I was taken into triage next. The doctor in triage examined the rash (with no gloves which was incredibly weird.) He took my vitals which were dropping a little since they were taken in the Walk-In center and wrote instructions on my file that I should be given an anti-histamine immediately.
Now in the United States, you don’t have to walk by yourself to a doctor. But here in the UK, the doctor in triage told me to follow the yellow tape on the floor and hand my file to a nurse at the end of the yellow tape. Of course the yellow tape had probably been there for years and eventually wore off so OH and I wound up in X-Ray by accident. The technicians in X-Ray pointed us in the right direction and we found the end of the yellow tape. The nurse looked at my file and immediately administered an anti-histamine before even getting me into an examination room and examining me. OH and I just sat in a chair for a while, waiting to be called into a room. Within twenty minutes the rash finally started to lighten and disappear. I was then finally called into an examine room and was examined. The nurse took a full medical history and decided on a further course of treatment. She also decided I should wait in the ER a bit longer to make sure I didn’t relapse and get worse.
After at least an hour she came back and told me I could go into the discharge room and wait there until the discharge nurse was convinced that I was well enough to go. The nurse gave me more medication to take immediately and more to take home with me to continue to take for the next few days. After another half hour I was finally allowed to leave.
I was completely exhausted, weak and still in pain but I was so glad to almost be in my own bed. I, of course then had to re-wash all my clothes with a different gentle detergent wearing rubber gloves and so it was another 2 hours before I could finally lie down.
Things I learned during this experience:
January 12, 2009
On Saturday morning a group of about seven of us left Queen Mary at one o’clock in the afternoon and took the District Line train to South Kensington to go to the Natural History Museum. The building itself looks like something out of Harry Potter! It’s absolutely beautiful. I wish I took a picture of the outside of the building, but it was freezing and just couldn’t bear to take off my gloves! If I have a chance to walk by that area again, I promise to take a picture of it and post it for you all to see.
Anyway, once inside we spent the bulk of our time in the Dinosaur exhibit. We were pretty goofy and took quite a few pictures roaring like dinosaurs.
There's a giant T-Rex behind us but you can't see it in the picture!
Another Dino Pic!
Then we went to the “Dino-Shop” and had some fun there too!
Oh no! He found us!
Next we moved onto the mammal exhibit. On the ceiling there was a life-size replica of a blue whale, just like the whale in the cafeteria in the Museum of Natural History in New York. I’m still in awe of just how big they are!
By the end of the exhibit I was absolutely exhausted and my back was hurting from all the walking. However, much to my dismay, my friends insisted on going to see the Creepy Crawler exhibit. And yes, the Creepy Crawler exhibit is exactly what it sounds like, BUGS. Anyone who knows me for longer than a week knows how absolutely terrified I am of bugs, especially bugs with wings. I tried to keep my fear of insects to myself until I passed by the gigantic picture of a bee. Then, I decided it was time to sit down and close my eyes to avoid looking at the pictures or samples of dead bugs (and a few living ones too… ewww!) Thankfully, the museum was closing so we couldn’t stay very long in the exhibit anyway.
We then took the train back towards Queen Mary and quickly stopped at the supermarket called Sainsbury’s. I have literally been to the supermarket about four times since I have been living here. Since it’s about a ten minute walk from my flat I have to shop light in order to carry it all home. There are two supermarkets closer but they’re more expensive and have a much smaller selection. It’s worth it just to make multiple trips to the Sainsbury’s.
That night we were all so tired we just hung out around campus. Despite the exhaustion, it was a great day!
On Sunday it was finally a little bit warmer in London. In the evening, we went to a pub to watch the Giants game. Unfortunately the Giants lost, but I shared a really good sundae with my flat mate P and OH so the night wasn’t too bad.
OH is a really fun girl I met from Ohio but goes to school in NYC. My second day in London, OH asked if she could sit down next to P and me for dinner. We’ve hung out every day since. OH is really great at making friends so we’ve assembled a nice entourage to travel around with (which you can see in our dinosaur pics!)
Each day I’m getting more and more comfortable with my surroundings and in turn liking London more and more. This week I’m hoping to do more exploring. I’m also really excited because an old friend from high school that I haven’t seen in two years is going to be in London for the next two weeks. I’m really looking forward to seeing her!
I heard it’s really cold in New York. To all my friends and family back home, keep warm! I miss and love you all very much!
January 7, 2009
Day Two:
I tried my hardest to sleep my first night in London but unfortunately my insomnia kicked in and I only got about two hours sleep. The heat in the dorms is really strange. You have to press a button every hour to turn it on. In the middle of the night it gets absolutely freezing which is probably part of the reason I had so much trouble sleeping. I’m definitely going to have to buy another blanket for my bed.
Queen Mary gave the study abroad students a free breakfast before we had orientation. I stuck with my two new friends and attended both, followed by a free lunch as well. The food was absolutely awful but I can’t complain; free is good.
After lunch the University had an optional bus tour of London. There was so much to take in! The city of London looks so much different than New York. It’s older and smaller but really quite pretty in many areas. It was really cold and gray out but the tour guide allowed us to get out in two locations to take pictures. The girls and I met a nice boy who sort of joined our little group which was nice. Towards the end of the tour though, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I was still incredibly jetlagged but determined to stay awake and figure out a place to watch the Dolphins playoff game against the Ravens.
London Bridge
In front of Buckingham Palace
Royal Guard
I gathered a little group together of about four boys and two girls including myself to go watch the game. After the tour we walked in the freezing cold and found a pub that had the game on. Even though my beloved Dolphins lost, I still had a lot of fun. Luckily the meal was really inexpensive (3.50 pounds for a veggie burger with fries and a pint glass of beer!) Good company, cheap food, cheap beer. Things were definitely looking up.
Day Three:
I finally was able to fall asleep but sadly was awakened at 6:00am by the fire alarms blaring in my dorm building. The entire building was forced to evacuate in the freezing cold and wait across the street as the fire department checked out the situation. Apparently some idiot broke the glass by the fire alarm and it set the alarm off. We were able to return to our rooms about twenty minutes later.
It was the first day of classes. I was excited and a bit nervous until I realized that the website did not list the room number of any of the classes I was registered for! Then I started to panic. I was told to go to the Department for each class to find out the room numbers. Okay simple enough. Well, no not really. The website also did not list what building or room the Political Science Department was in. After about an hour of running around I finally found the Department Office and found out the classrooms I had to go to.
I went to my first class on the British Political System. I was really excited about this class at first but unfortunately it is a full year class which means students have been taking it since the Fall semester and there were only a handful of study abroad students coming in for the second term. The professor immediately started teaching the lesson and needless to say I was completely lost since I have none of the background information. I ran into the same problem with my next class on European Union Integration but the professor was very kind and offered advice on how to catch up.
I then realized I someone lost my day planner along the way (which had the map of the University in it!) I was really upset about it but when I got back to my dorm I was pleasantly surprised to find out that someone had found the planner and brought it to a Departmental Office. Luckily my email address was inside and an administrative assistant sent me an email to come pick it up. Wow! If this was New York someone would have taken the planner for them self or just thrown it in the garbage. This is another exciting discovery in London.
In the evening I went grocery shopping and out for Chinese food with a friend.
Day Four: (Current)
I woke up bright an early for a 9am class on Art Since 1965. The professor was really nice and the class was really interesting. I think I’m really going to enjoy that class which will include trips to art museums. The professor is also originally from Milano (Milan, Italy) and he was happy to see my very Italian surname. Haha!
After class I had to officially enroll in the school, which like everything here, was a lengthy and unnecessarily hectic experience. I managed to get through it and then afterwards I finally got my cell phone set up here.
Now I can’t sleep because there’s apparently a crazy party in the flat next door to mine. There are young drunk Brits screaming in the hallway and throwing beer cans at each other. It’s 3:00am and I’m exhausted. I feel like an old lady.
January 7, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Day 1: Getting to Queen Mary
I arrived in London early Saturday morning. My flight arrived in Heathrow airport, Terminal 5 but I had to figure out how to navigate my way to Terminal 3 to meet the Study Abroad Officers for Queen Mary University in order to take a coach bus to the University. I knew this was going to be difficult considering I wasn’t exactly traveling light. I had one large sized suitcase, one medium sized suitcase, and a smaller carry on sized suitcase. I also carried on a backpack. I weighed the large and medium sized suitcases before I left. They weighed about 52lbs each. My small suitcase probably weighed another twenty and the backpack maybe another five pounds. In other words, my luggage weighed a lot more than I do. I tried to pack lighter, I swear but it was sort of impossible. Now before I get into this story I should also warn you that I have a messed up back to begin with. Well I certainly paid the price during the trip from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 for my over packing.
At the baggage claim site I easily lifted my entire luggage onto a cart. It was heavy but not unbearable. I was relieved and began following the signs to the Heathrow Express train that would take me from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3. I found the train with no problem but then realized that in order to get on the train I would have to leave the cart behind because there were metal rods preventing you from bringing the cart onto the train. Now, I started to panic. I removed my luggage from the cart and one by one dragged each piece through the metal rods. That took a full 10 minutes. I then had to figure out a system to pull the three overweight wheeled suitcases onto the train. Again, this was not easy and I was frankly sweating like a man by the time I managed to get on board. I can’t even tell you how many people watched me struggle but offered no help.
To my dismay, the train ride was barely 2 minutes. I hadn’t even caught my breath yet and I had to maneuver my way off the train. A woman was reading the newspaper by the door and would not move out of my way even though I was obviously struggling and had no way to get by her. When I accidently bumped into her paper she got annoyed and finally moved. My luggage would still not budge off the train. I was near tears as I finally pulled each piece off the train. Once I was off the train a 20-something year old Scottish couple took pity on me and helped me by pulling one of my pieces of luggage about three-quarters of the rest of the way to Terminal 3. The last quarter of course was an uphill ramp because well, that’s my luck.
I finally found the representatives from Queen Mary and a group of other study abroad students and about forty-five minutes later we were on a bus to Queen Mary. I spoke with a couple of people along the way.
Once I got to Queen Mary, I was given a key to my dorm room and a British student helped me carry my bags. Of course, I got the dorm without an elevator and that meant pulling two 50lbs bags up three flights of stairs! Once I got up the stairs and the Brit left, I cried for twenty minutes. I was jet-lagged, in pain (I’m still literally COVERED in bruises) and I felt extremely alone in this foreign country where I know absolutely no one. My dorm room was also dirty and that was the icing on the cake for me. Within ten minutes, I left my dorm in search of a supermarket to buy cleaning supplies. I know, I’m aware, I am completely psychotic. I found the supermarket easily and scrubbed down every inch of my room which took about 2 hours. I took a shower and passed out feeling much better.
I met one of my flat mates later that night and we had dinner together along with the other study abroad students. Another girl sat down at our table. The three of us have been sticking together ever since. I’ll get more into the friends I’ve made so far in my next post which I promise will be a lot more upbeat and positive than this one was!
I am very lucky to have this experience to be spending the semester in London. However, at the same time it is definitely going to be challenging. I think I’m up for it though, even with the bruised arms and closet sized bathroom! 
Quack Quack Getting Comfortable in His New Home
My bathroom is the size of a closet but at least I don't have to share!
January 3, 2009
I just arrived in London a few hours ago. I’m in one piece besides many bruises on my arms.
Note to self: Never attempt to travel to a foreign country alone with three suitcases and a backpack weighing a lot more than my own weight ever again.
Anyone know if it’s possible to buy something like Lysol spray in the UK? (aka a disinfectant that can be used to spray any surface.) All I found in the supermarket was a spray that you could only use on hard surfaces and have to wipe away. I’m using it for now but I’m sort of a germ freak and this isn’t going to cut it for 6 months.
I’ll give a full update soon with pictures of my dorm room and how I’m adjusting. Now it’s time for a nap though. I’m so jet-lagged!
-J
