Zab in London | Days N° 8-9

I'm sorry to disappoint, but I haven't done anything thrilling over the last two days. Because my midterm is coming up on Wednesday, I've been studying as hard as I can.

I have been trying to find some peaceful places to study, though, particularly ones that are open a bit later in the evening. On the left is the 5th View at the Waterstones Piccadilly, a top-floor cafe with views of the city. I went there this evening for dinner (bangers and mash! yum!) and then sat down in the classics section to do some studying. Like I said in a previous post, Waterstones is very well-kept, quiet, and beautiful. They have nice comfy couches too!

There are a handful of cafes on the Kingsway where I've taken a couple of hours to sit down, have some tea, and study at: Bill's (pictured below), Paul, and the Delaunay Counter. All have outdoor seating, which is irresistible in this perfect weather.  Another favourite would definitely be the New Academic Building on the LSE's campus, which I've also mentioned before.  I love the open space, big windows, and views of the city. Does anyone sense a pattern here?

I was only able to visit when I first arrived, but the Victoria Embankment Gardens on the Thames was beautiful and I'd love to return to sit and read in the garden. Every day here has been only lightly cloudy and in the 70s, so I'm taking every possible opportunity to be outdoors. The picture above, at Waterstones, was the first afternoon of real London fogginess - which was equally wonderful because it was so cosy!

While I haven't done much besides study over the past couple of days, I'm still learning more about this city, culture, and people that surround me. Honestly, it hasn't completely sunk in that I'm in London, in the United Kingdom, in Europe. I don't know if I'll even totally wrap my mind around that until I leave! I've wanted to be here for so long, that it's still quite surreal now that it's actually happened...

A difference between US and UK culture that has become more apparent over the past week is the study habits of the students here.  Whereas the library and study rooms at my university in Virginia would be absolutely packed with students during the evenings, late at night, and during the weekends (even when exams weren't coming up!), the campus here (the study lounges and library and such) are essentially empty over the weekends and during the evenings. The buildings close earlier here than they do in the US (William & Mary's library is open until 2:00 every morning and 24-hours during exam weeks, whereas the LSE campus closes around 18:00). Here at LSE, the 2,000+ summer students currently in classes all have midterm exams in two days. When I went on campus to study over the weekend, I expected all the study areas to be full - but they were almost completely empty!

I've also noticed that a surprising number of students don't spend their extra time studying at all, whether on campus, in their rooms or elsewhere. Of course, some certainly do, and very good for them - but there have been plenty of weeknights (and certainly weekends) where people are coming and going early in the morning, masses of students are congregated in the residence hall lounge drinking and socialising for hours, and I find beer cans lying around on weekday mornings all the time. As I slave away at my schoolwork all day and all night, I can hardly believe that these people can spare enough time away from their books. I suppose they must be taking easier classes, or be naturally brilliant. Either way, it's very different from the study habits at William & Mary.

Of course, I am perfectly studious and never get distracted. Teehee! I wish. I'm trying to strike a balance between seeing the city and friends and dedicating enough time to schoolwork to do well in my class; usually, this means that I'll go out in the city where I can be around people and see a new place, but will always bring my notes from class and go over problems and readings. I'm not a natural finance genius, and where some people might find this coming easily to them, I have to study my little booty off to get good grades. But it will be quite worth it! I'm interested in LSE for their Masters in Finance programme, so I know the extra hours of studying will pay off!

Zab in London | Day N° 7 | Studying on Aldwych

Piccadilly at evening-time

I've now been in London for one full week! How exciting. I feel like an expert already and have great disdain for any tourists and Americans I run into. No, not really, but I do feel like I've learned so much about this city already in one week.

Like I said in my last post, I had to dedicate much of my day to studying, and I'll do the same tomorrow. However, I tried to make my day scenic anyway! When I woke up (pretty late, I'll admit, since I had been out the night before), I had lunch at Prince of Wales pub on Drury Lane: vegetable pot pie with mashed potatoes, and hard pear cider. Absolutely delicious, though I'll admit drinking a pint of cider before going to study isn't the best idea.

I spent my afternoon on the rooftop garden of the LSE's New Academic Building, which has gorgeous views of the city. The weather was perfect, almost a little chilly, but I can't believe that every day is so perfect here. In Virginia, and even in Chicago, it gets muggy and hot, and there are always tons of bugs... Here, it's breezy, lightly warm, and I haven't seen a single insect since I arrived.

Studying on the rooftop of the New Academic Building

It was tempting to just rest my head and take a nap up above the city, but I spent a few hours studying my notes from class, trying to put together something of a study guide for myself. There're more than a dozen formulas that we need to memorise by Wednesday, of which I know about two, and more than twenty problems that could be used as models for the ones on the midterm. Math, math, and more math!

When it got a little later I went to have tea at the Delaunay Counter, which is my favourite London cafe so far. Though it's modelled after a Viennese tea room (I think), it's just the perfect London cafe. They also serve big glass French-press pots of Earl Grey tea, enough for at least three big cups... which is close to the amount of tea I can consume in one sitting, but not quite! Anyway, I'll take it.

The Delaunay Counter 

Aldwych and the Kingsway (where LSE's campus is located) is my favourite part of London so far. It's close to river and there's a smattering of gardens, but it seems less touristy and more upscale and beautiful than some of the other places I've visited. The Strand and Knightsbridge and Oxford Street are interesting, and the historical areas are obviously amazing to visit, but they're all just stuffed with people. Aldwych and the Kingsway is more professional, classy, and much less touristy than these other areas, and it's so relaxing to sit outside, listen to the city, and watch the (well-dressed) Londoners pass by.

Anyway, after studying further at the Dalaunay Counter for a couple of hours, I traipsed down to Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly to visit the large Waterstones bookshop (the one on the LSE campus is a smaller version). It's absolutely beautiful and very well kept, located down the street from the National Gallery on Piccadilly and across from the gorgeous Le Meridien hotel. There are at least five floors, one of which is dedicated to a cafe, and it puts American bookstore chains to shame. As an avid reader, I could spend the rest of my life in that building. Unique collections of books are arranged on circular tables that fill the rooms; the shelves are well-organised and filled with innumerable books that I'd never heard of before; sections are dedicated to collector's editions of children's classics, or teatime in London (with recipe books from all the most prestigious tea rooms), or classics for boys becoming men. So cool!

I spend most of my time in the science-fiction/fantasty and children's floors looking for gifts for my family (hint hint!) and found unique printings of some of my most beloved books, especially the 50th anniversary printing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy which was unfortunately too expensive to buy. I love finding UK editions of book that I'm familiar with: right now I'm reading the Game of Thrones series, and the printings of these books are different here. They're in-between the sizes of the US paperback and mass market editions, and most of the books are divided into two-parts, which in the US you don't usually see.  There was also a number of cool editions of the Chronicles of Narnia series, from a collector's paperback series with colour illustrations to careful reproductions of the first editions from the 1940s and 50s (one of which I got as a gift for my little sisters, who are reading the series now). I spent only an hour in the bookstore and it was nowhere near long enough! I'll have to see if I can make time to return.

Tomorrow I plan on making an early-morning trip to St. Paul's Cathedral, and then I hope to take a ride on the London Eye when it opens at 10:00 before settling down to study. Though I have a lot of schoolwork to do, I'm trying to chip slowly away at my list of places to visit!