Entered on 2001-09-28 at 1:24 p.m..

Karen in London

That's right folks, I've finally made it to the UK. I'm having trouble with the funky keyboards over here, so please bear with me.

The flight over was un-eventful, but boy was security a hassle. Not that I don't fully support security, but I don't support the hold -the-bag-open-and-look-for-stuff method which most of them are using. I have to say that I was rather dissapointed with the airline, VA that we used. Both BA and AL are much better airlines in my opinion, but that could of course be based on individual airlines. The airplane was mostly empty, especially the upper classes. Despite this, the flight attendent still didn't let me sleep up there.

So I've been here for two days, but the first day nothing was planned accept a ride on the London eye. big ferris wheel This of course made it very hard to stay awake, but with two cups of strong british tea, I managed until about 8:30 that night. We are staying at a very cheap london standards hotel wich is about on par with most B&Bs I've stayed at before. It is called the Tavostock Hotel on Tavostock Square. For those of you familiar with London it is closest to the Russel Square and the Euston tube stops.

Yesterday was the best day of the orientation. We received a tour of Parliament with a fabulous tour guide. The chambers are larger than they appear on TV, but rather small considering the number of people that they cram in to them. The UK has around 639 members of parliament, and the camber can only hold about 380 "any degree of comfort". The house of commons is made primarily of carved oak and green leather, while the house of Lords is made of gold and red leather. I've finally found a country with a good appreciation of color. As I said the tour was wonderful.

We then had our picture taken outside on the terrace before heading to a briefing by the 2000 Marshall Scholars. They didn't have much to say, or much good advice. But they did mostly have slightly british accents, so it will be interesting to hear how my accent changes. I have noticed though that british people seem to speak much more softly than Americans. Our scholarship coordinators, Lisa and Mary didn't stand a chance against 40 of us.

In the evening we went to a reception at the Foreign Office the equivalent to the state department We were welcomed by the Secretary of the Marshall Commission. His speech was very good and my favorite part was when he said that the British have always had a very tenuous relationship with plumbing. We were all rolling. Afterwards the alcohol began to flow. The caterer's were ruthelessly efficient at refilling wine glasses, so we were all rather well drunk by the time we left. It was very interesting to get to know both the sober and tipsy side of everyone within the span of a week. There was one Anapolis graduate who demonstrated the Tailhook tendency. I'll elaborate to anyone who wants to call.

So this afternoon I'll be off to Switzerland on Easyjet. Hopefully I'll make it ok.

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