London: Hello London!

I arrived in London three days ago and it has been a whirlwind! I sat with a bunch of girls in the airport before the flight to London. They were all embarking on their study abroad journeys and just talking to them eased my nerves! Once landing in London, we had to wait on the runway for an hour while a plane was defrosted in order to open up a spot in the terminal for our plane. My luck went up when I was bumped up to first class on the train from the airport to central London!

In my short time here I’ve picked up on a few interesting things:

The British are much quieter people than Americans. We have consistently been the only ones talking on the tube, bus and in elevators!
SO many people use the tube (which I think is great). Today I watched three packed tube trams pass by me before I was able to squeeze onto one. I thought third time is the charm, but I guess on the tube fourth time is the charm!
In order to take full advantage of all the discounts offered to students, you really should have no less than three student discount cards that save you money all over London! Good thing I cleared space in my wallet!
The best way to fully appreciate the British museum is to go for an hour and look at one or two exhibits. I’m planning on spending lunch breaks at the museum since it is a half block from my school!

Finally, I learned an interesting (non-British) fact on a tour of London today: The origin of use of the word “john” meaning the toilet was developed when John Quincy Adams moved into the White house. He had a toilet installed and so Americans coined the restroom as the “Quincy,” which was later shortened to the “john” after Quincy himself.