I live in London... how did that happen?!

I've been in London for a little over a week now, and the fact that I will be living here for 1.5 months is still a bit surreal! It's a really great city - there's so much going on, and I have utterly enjoyed the accessibility (and sheer quantity!) of museums and galleries here. I've been to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum, and the Natural History Museum so far. I've also been visiting the odd market (far too much money spent on turkish delight!) and am enjoying the busyness of the place in general. At the same time, though, I don't know too many people yet, and it's been hard to be, well, a social butterfly with no social circle! I think that will come with time, although I also think it will be harder to meet people without school. The first weekend was a bit lonely, but my friends Kirsti and Steve were here from Ontario (Kirsti was doing research at the London Museum) and we met up for dinner, which was great.

I made it to Down House, Charles Darwin's home, for its grand re-opening on Feb. 13, the day after his 200th birthday was celebrated all over the world. It was really neat to visit the site, although I was less than impressed by how difficult it was to get to, and I ended up waiting a ridiculous amount of time for the bus on each end. That said, the trip was worth it. Yesterday Liz and I went to see the Darwin Exhibition at the NHM, and it was very different than when it was set up at the ROM! While the latter presented it in a way that focused on the chronology of Darwin's life, the NHM version focuses more on the theory of evolution itself, and how Darwin arrived at it. Many of the display boards that were used at the ROM have been excluded at the NHM, and other elements (like the tortoises) have also been left out. It will be interesting to do a more in-depth look at these differences in my research.

I've been making positive progress on the research project so far as well. I finally made contact with the right person at the museum, and I have a meeting for this coming Tuesday... wish me luck!! I've got most of my documents in order now, and I've devised a methodology that I hope they're generally agreeable to. Now I just need to find a place to print stuff - it's always the silly little things. :P

I've felt really fortunate to be staying with Liz and her housemates, who have been totally fantastic and very generous. I was feeling a little stressed about finding a place to stay, but I managed to defy all the odds of finding accommodation in London by taking the first and only place I made an appointment to see! The apartment is in the NW in an older building, Edwardian style, and it's so cosy and decorated beautifully. I have two flatmates, Jenny and Emma, and they both seem lovely too. I'm very excited! I move in on Wed. I will, however, miss the cat (named Hobes) at my current house; he's great company during the day, and it will be a bit lonelier without him. Makes me miss my Mr. Mowgli even more.

Busy start to the week, but things are falling into place. :-)