This is a journal entry from earlier in the week. First time I had internet access to post it. I will post more about the rest of the week and our transition to northern England.

Sunday morning Emma, Chris, Jenny and I went to Hillsong. We really liked the service. I thought the message was right on. The facilities are impressive. They are located in the center of the city and are renting a theater.

We went out the night before to a club in the city. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We went to Soho which is there main bar area and we settled fairly quickly on a club. We decided to go to a club instead of a pub because we thought that this would be one of the few nights this semester we will be able to go out. I prefer pubs. It was an ok time, it is definitely not my scene. Its too superficial and way too expensive. We met an awesome British guy on our way out who gave us some advice about the area. He also knew a lot about American history. And he liked Bush. It was refreshing to meet someone in Europe who doesn’t hate conservative American politics.

We move at a very quick pace. This is kind of like Paris except that we do not draw nearly as much, which for now is something that I enjoy. Its nice to walk around the city and absorb all the information DuPuy tells us.

We checked out Southwark and Tower London after church. We spent most the day walking around. We saw some great new architecture projects. I really like the converted marketplaces. We also saw the new Norman Foster’s City Hall building on the water. I’m not a huge fan of it, but the rest of the complex was interesting. It morphed into the boardwalk that spanned the river. We also visited the Design Museum. They displayed David Chipperfield’s work who has some cool projects throughout Europe. The museum itself was very nice. It was located right on the water and had a great view of the city. It was also the first time we saw blue sky. The weather has lived up to its reputation so far.

It rained today. We spent most of the day outside too. We toured Hampton Court which is the old royal palace now converted into a museum. There are a ton of gardens. They have a famous maze that I remember visiting when I visited in middle school. We spent a few hours roaming around and then went into the town of Richmond. We ate Wagamama, which is one of the more popular restaurants that are here. It was so good—it’s a combo of thai and Vietnamese. The town was cool. It was a typical British mid-size suburb that had a ton of shops and cafés. It had some really nice houses too.

We were let out early and went to the movies. We have a London pass that gives us free access to loads of places within the city. We went to an independent theater and saw a three-hour movie about prison life. It was way too intense and graphic. And long. Afterwards, Emma and I went out on a date to a restaurant that had a twenty percent discount because our pass. It was my first time going to an Indian restaurant. I really liked it. We had a nice date and got to spend some time together, which is a good change of pace from being with the group so much.

We are having a great time overall. Our week is flying by but it amazes me how quick we are learning the city. I like London a lot. I am happy though that we will spend time in the countryside. It will be a great change of scenery.