The Stay Club – London.

My immediate reaction to the city was absolute surprise! I was expecting more ancient architecture, when in fact it seemed as if the modern and older architecture weave together seamlessly. The region in London we are staying in is known as Camden Town and it is a vibrant and youthful area known for its bohemian style and layout. Our dorms are in a place called “The Stay Club” which is located directly across from a Market, known as The Stables, full of merchants and restaurants. The Stables are flooded along with the streets the entirety of the day. Camden seems to never sleep. It helps a lot that all throughout London the crosswalks have tips written on the pavement as to which direction to look for oncoming traffic, because apparently in London cars have the right of way before pedestrians. It’s very useful for clueless tourists and others new to the area. Also, the public transportation buses are incredibly fascinating and I always ride the upper deck of the double-decker bus.

At orientation, we did a walking tour with a lovely staff member from Arcadia University, named Kimberley. She was impressively fluent and captivating as she showed us parts of the city around Arcadia. I felt that it was nice to learn about the city from someone who is so ingrained in the culture and a part of the area. I learned that one university’s library was left unscathed during World War II during the blitz of London because Hitler planned to use that building as his headquarters in the city. I also learned that scenes from The Dark Knight were filmed there as well.  At orientation is where I found out the factoid about cars having the right of way over pedestrians. Kimberley was quick to share that so that none of us got hurt! We also found out about a free deal at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). A group of Hari Krishnas gather around a plaza and people can queue up and get a free vegetarian meal! Along with this walking tour, we got a presentation on slang and how to travel around London. My favorite slang word is that the word ‘pants’ in London actually mean ‘underwear’. It was beneficial to have this so that we don’t have an awkward yet amusing mix up in the future.