They're Here!

Leaving Heathrow

On Wednesday (22nd), the students began arriving. First the interns, then on Friday the rest of the students (shown above) arrived at Heathrow. Renee, Dietrich, and I went to the various terminals at Heathrow (there are 5, but most flights seems to come to 1, 3, 4, and 5) to greet the new arrivals and escort them to a meeting place. We then fetch the bus and we all head for Madison House.You'll not be very surprised to know that the 14 young women above filled the luggage area under this full size bus.

Once everyone was here, there was an exploratory walk from from Madison House (on Bedford Place) south across the Thames to the national theater. There, Dietrich gave us a few words about the theater and such things as are found thee and in the neighborhood.

On Saturday, we had another on-foot excursion, this time with a proper tour guide, Sean. He was tall, his voice projected well and he was very knowledgeable about the Bloomsbury neighborhood around Madison House.

We learned where Dickens, Virginia Woolfe, John M. Keans, and many others lived. We even passed by the London School Economics where Mick Jagger flunked out.

On Sunday Morning, we had test another walk, this time led by Marion. She gave us an introduction to he Royal neighborhood. You see below lots of umbrellas at Buckingham Palace. About 5 minutes into our walk it began to rain. It continued to rain steadily and daily hard until well past when we finish the walk. No doubt folks will go back in the sunshine to really see and photograph.

And finally, on Sunday evening, all 28 young women came out to East Finchley for dinner at our house.

While they did not all fit into one room, here's a fair fraction of them. The dinner seems to have been a hit. the candy was especially appreciated as a pre-meal and post-desert treat. We had pizza and lasagna with salad and tiramisu caters from a local restaurant. Good food and good times.

On Monday, class began. We go to the theater to see Fuerzabruta at the Roundhouse Theater tonight and
there are tours of the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Greenwich on Friday and Saturday.
Sunday 2 February is the only day off between 22 January and 6 February. On top of this, the students
have classes and internships to attend. Busy, busy.