Tour of London

The class went on a coach (bus) tour of London today and the students (reluctantly) allowed me to take lots of pictures of them in front of St. Paul's cathedral, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace.  It was hard to digest all the information that was shared because our tour guide was a walking encyclopedia. She provided a good overview of the city and suggested a number of activities for the rest of our trip.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

Tower Bridge 

Big Ben and Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Orientation

We checked in at Ashburn Garden Apartments today. Unfortunately, one of our group members has not made it yet, but we are looking forward to her joining us soon.

After unpacking some, we met with Jena from AIFS. She walked us over to Asa Briggs building—where we will have our classes.  Amy from AIFS shared information about Kensington, the apartments, groceries, and other necessities.  Sgt Paul talked with the students about how to stay safe and out of trouble.  

We logged in to the computers in the AIFS computer lab and everyone checked email and Facebook. I directed them to our Moodle site and talked about expectations and what work needs to be done before our first class.

Our next stop was Sainsbury’s for groceries and then back to the apartments for dinner. 

Hello, London

I arrived this morning after a very easy flight from RDU.  As we were leaving the plane, we were told that a strike by UK Border Agency staff was likely to cause delays today.
Read more here:
http://www.airportsinformationblog.co.uk/gatwick-airport/uk-border-agency-strike-29-30-june-2011/

Luckily, I got through customs quickly and did not have any problems with my work status because of the letter by AIFS and NC State. 

It is a lovely cool day--only 51degrees when I got off the plane! Clear skies and a light breeze--quite a change from the weather at RDU last night.

I will be meeting up with the students tomorrow morning.

Arriving in London

Some students are already overseas--Rome, Paris, other areas of England.
Some students are arriving Thursday.
Some students are arriving on Friday.

On Friday we will all check into our apartments in Kensington. We will attend an orientation session with AIFS (http://www.aifsabroad.com) and then get unpacked and start our London adventure.

44 Days and Counting

In about seven weeks we will be heading to London for ENG 331. We will use this blog to keep family and friends updated on our adventure this summer.