THE DOCTOR WHO EXPERIENCE! WHAT?

So, one of the things I was most excited for when I first decided I wanted to study abroad in London this spring was to attend the Doctor Who Experience. However, as I did more research into it, I discovered it was going to close a few weeks before I arrived in London. I was devastated. But then, one day, to torture myself over the fact that I couldn't go, I went to the Doctor Who Experience's website. And on the front page, it said that the Experience would be open until 22 February now. I still remember how much I freaked out. So, once getting to my uni in London, I made it my mission to make a Doctor Who friend as soon as possible and convince them to go with me. The very first night, I became friends with two other Americans who were Whovians (Michael and Evalyn). Michael agreed to come to the Experience with me, and we went on Saturday. It was perfection in the form of an exhibit.
The first half of the experience is a walk-through that makes you feel like you're walking through some of the places the Doctor has been and doing it all with him. It is amazing, but I don't want to give too much away. The second portion of the experience is an exhibit of several Doctor Who things: costumes, monsters, the inside of 10's TARDIS, the outside of two TARDISes. And then, there is a gift shop, which is dangerous because I wanted to spend all of my money there (but I managed to keep it under 50 quid).
Anyways, here's some pictures from the exhibit. Enjoy!

Museums

One of the really amazing things about this beautiful city is that all of the large, government-run museums in London are free to the public. So, on Sunday, me and my other international friends took the tube to the central part of the city and went to the museums. It ended up being a 10 hour day in the city, and by the time I got back to my flat at 8 pm, I was exhausted. But I really did enjoy the museums. Going to places like that would've cost me in the States, but here I was able to walk right in and see everything there was to be offered.

First we went to the Natural History Museum, which was gorgeous on the outside and inside:

Polar bears are my favourite animal, so I was happy.

Then, we went to the Science Museum, which wasn't that great:

A Dalek from Doctor Who in the Science Museum!

 Michael planking in front of half a Mini Cooper.

We finished our museum day at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I wasn't that impressed, but it had a beautiful garden that I want to come back and eat at when the weather is nice.

The garden.

We then finished our day by going to Harrod's, a world famous department store that is seven stories high and features things that are all way too expensive for me. However, there was a Harry Potter shop within Harrod's that was absolutely beautiful (and expensive since it had stuff used by the actual cast). But I still got extremely excited, and my friends and I had to pose for a picture in the Great Hall.

The beginning of my term at uni

Last night was wonderful. I drank with my friends, went clubbing, drank some more, got a lot drunker than I had planned to, and ended up meeting a boy who held my hand the whole way home and didn't want me to leave his flat when I decided to call it a night. I looked like crap by the end of the night, but here's pictures:

First Day

Today is the first day of class, and with that a touch of the slightest sadness has crept into my body and threatens to take over. It's not that I'm homesick, it's that I'm alone. One of my flatmates still isn't here, another has been in class all day, and I don't know where Scott, my other flatmate, has been all morning. All my other friends live in other buildings and are doing a thousand other things, so I'm sitting in my room, bored out of my mind, wanting some social interaction.
I had to walk campus about an hour ago to find my department's office to get a problem with my Writing London class sorted. Walking made me feel worse. I passed so many students talking to friends, having a great time. And then, here's me. I hardly know anyone besides the other international students, and I only ran into two people I knew while walking. I'm an introvert, but after the liveliness of the past four days, I'm not a huge fan of the silence and being alone.
I can't wait for tonight though. Re-Freshers week is about to start, which means going out and drinking every night of the week. Tonight, my uni actually sends free buses to take us to the club. So awesome.

First few days in London

I have no time here, so here's a list of the things I've done in London so far.

05 January:

• arrived at Heathrow
• met people on the bus to my uni
• killed every muscle in my body carrying my luggage
• took a campus tour with Caroline, the student representative for my uni
• went grocery shopping/got an oyster card
• went to Putney with a large group of people
• Got a bit tipsy with them
• Decided to call ourselves the Real World London because we really should have a TV show

06 January:

• woke up way too early
• did loads of orientation stuff
• went to ASDA
• had the saddest excuse for a dinner
• drank a lot of wine at said dinner
• went to buy alcohol
• set up my phone
• got drunk
• went to a party on campus
• danced like crazy and met so many people
• came back and talked to my flatmate, Scott, for an hour
• got 4 hours of sleep

07 January:

• missed my bus going to central London
• lost my day Travelcard
• went all over London
• took so many pictures
• Michael planked EVERYTHING
• got super tired
• Ate at The Green Man
• had the waiter at the bar call me "gorgeous"
• went to King's Cross only to have Platform 9 and 3/4 be closed
• went to Baker Street
• rode the bus for awhile just to sit down
• came back to uni
• met up with Dennis (from the Netherlands) and his friends and chatted while they drank

08 January:

• didn't leave my room until 2 pm
• tried to find my classes. Failed that.
• went to ASDA to buy food
• discussed with Royce (from Hawaii) how London is like Skins in real life
• made ramen
• hung out with my American friends
• went to the campus pub to hang out with Dennis
• met some English guys that invited us to their house on Friday to drink before going out