South Kensington

This morning we had a safety talk with a police officer.  It was pretty informative.  Basically he told us not to get so drunk that we pass out on the walkways, or bother the police.  Then he ranted about how Americans cannot drink, and how British beer actually has alcohol in it, nice.  Then he said that basically all drugs that are illegal in the USA are illegal here as well, and there are worse consequences over here.  Then he talked a bit about terrorism.  Apparently there are no trashcans on the streets, because they are afraid that people will put bombs in them.  They freak out if you leave anything unattended.  Oh, and you can have open alcohol on the streets, just not on public transport.  Sergent Paul was so funny talking about us Americans, but most of it was very helpful.  By the way, pepper spray or mace is classified as a firearm and so is illegal here.  If you get caught with it, it is a 5 year jail sentence.  Wow they are serious about this stuff if you get turned in, but from what I have heard, the police are really good about giving warnings. 

Well today I explored South Kensington.  I walked along Harrington then up Queens Gate to Cromwell to the Natural History Museum.  I accidentally got on the wrong street, so I took the long way I guess, but at least I know more about the city now, at least that area.  Right as you walk in the front door, there is this huge dinosaur skeleton.  The Natural History Museum is huge.  I stayed only for like an hour so I didn’t get to see much, I just looked at the hall of mammals.  They had just about every animal you can imagine either stuffed, skeleton, or both.  They even had a huge whale, Ito probably took up a room almost as big as a football field, I never realized how big they were.  I also saw a giraffe, elephant, and mammoth skeleton.  Then I went to the Human anatomy area.  It is a lot like the discovery center, except for just this part of the museum is as large as the whole discovery center.  I did this one thing where they play a video of a crime scene and ask questions.  It was to see how good we are at remembering things when stressed or distracted.  I got some of the stuff right but most of it I got wrong. 

I stopped at a place called Cafe Nero for a muffin around 3:30.  They have free wifi, so I will have to remember that. 

After the Museum, I went to find the Regency Hotel.  All of the CAPA students went for a traditional cup of English Tea.  We had raisin scones with what tasted like butter but I think it was their clotted cream stuff.  I also had a cucumber sandwich and some cake with mandarin orange topping.  It was amazing.  I even tried to drink the tea like the Brits do.  I put some milk and sugar in my first cup, but then realized that the milk does not make the tea taste good when it is cold.  It doesn’t have much of an effect when it is hot.  We sat and had tea with some guys from MLP like us. 

Last night was kind of interesting.  Sometime around 1:00 am, these boys, who were clearly drunk, were running up and down the stairs yelling at each other.  Amanda went out there and told them to be quiet, but she didn’t say it like that.  What she said was very funny, but I won’t repeat it. 

So I have figured out some things since I have been here. 

• NHS is like free health insurance that everyone gets in the UK.  Mostly, anyone can use it, even me, since they don’t really ask for ID or anything and they treat everybody at their walk in clinics. 
• Car Insurance is very expensive here.  I heard it was 1.500 pounds for some girl about our age. 
• I apparently don’t have a Mountain Grove accent when I talk normally.  Supposedly most people from MG do.  My excuse is that I have been mostly living in Springfield for two years. 
• I can kind of tell the difference between British accents and what that means. 
• Also, on the escalator, you stand to the left and walk to the right. 

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• I think I have an idea about the tube lines.  The inside bars to hold onto  color of the tube line for bakerloo(brown), circle(yellow), and Central(Red).  I haven’t been on any other tube lines I don’t think, except for I might have been on the district line accidentally, but I don’t remember if the bars are green. 
• If you stop walking, people will run into you. 

I think that is all for now.  Tomorrow at 9 am is the panoramic tour of London, I hope we get to sit on the top deck of the bus.