Home Away From Home

I've been in London for one week and I already feel like I can call this place home.  I'm pretty confident reading the tube and I even have a go-to pub! Thursday night, I went to The Ten Bells with some other Iowa students I'm here with. It's a good place to go for a few pints with a fun atmosphere and is located in Spitalfields just a couple blocks away from where we're staying.  Historically, I learned Spitalfields is the area where Jack the Ripper killed his victims and two of the women actually worked at The Ten Bells! The pub has been there since 1752 and although it was called Jack the Ripper in the 80's, they changed back to the original name.  Our first night there we met local Londoners, an Irish bartendar and even some Parisians! A prime example of the many different cultures you can find all over London.  We've decided it'll be a good place to go for a beer after a day at work, which seems to be done everyday around here.  At about 5 or 6 all the pubs get busy with everyone getting off work and ready to have a drink with friends and co-workers.  You can walk a city block, go past three pubs and they will all be bursting with people in business suits standing outside on the street corner just having a pint. Since there aren't any open container laws in London, you can stand outside on the street with a beer until 11pm.  I'm interested to see what its like working in an office and what the social behavior is like when going out to a pub with your boss and co-workers.

On Saturday, we went on an amazing tour of Westminster.  I had never been inside and it was beautiful, its amazing to think how old it is and how they were able to build it so well that its still standing today.  It was also cool to see exactly where William and Kate where when they got married. Yup, I got up to watch the wedding last month and was able to see that whole building in person.  After the tour we went on a River Cruise on the Thames to Greenwhich, the sights were great and I really liked the Greenwhich area.  A nice little area with a lot of shops and traditional English restaurants.
I did manage to try McDonalds already and it wasn't too bad.  There's a little different taste to the ketchup, but the chicken selects tasted pretty much the same.  I heard the burgers were a little different and the portions for everything are smaller, but it was good to have something familiar.  I've had to get used to the fact that there aren't any free-refills and some places even charge you for tap water.  There are definitely some differences, but nothing that has really been a huge surprise. 
Tomorrow will be my first day working and I'm feeling really good about it! I'm excited to meet everyone and get started.  I think starting a daily routine will get me feeling like a real Londoner.  : )