"Cry God for Harry, England, and St. George"

That quote doesn't have anything much to do with what I am going to say, except it includes the word England, which is where I am (!!!), and I read it in "Henry V" last week, and it reminds me of "Sherlock Holmes," which puts me in a good mood.
All that to say, good evening (or rather, in your time, good afternoon), friends. I write this from the narrow stairwells of my hotel in London. I am in the stairwell because the wifi in the rooms is atrocious, and for some reason, it's better out here. England is not terribly good at internet, it seems. So, a recap of the past two and a half days:

Friday night we took the coach to the airport, checked in, and settled at our gate for three hours. I proceeded to scrutinize our London map and circle everything I might possibly want to see and plan activities for all twelve days here. Upon boarding the plane, the pilot informed us that a radio was broken, and it would be a fifteen minute delay. About twenty minutes later, they told us they were filling out the paperwork and we would be underway soon. About ten more minutes, and the pilot announced that they had found a problem in one of the tires and would have to replace it--fifteen more minutes... Long story short, we sat there for two hours before taking off. The flight itself was fairly uneventful. I slept fitfully through the night, and seven hours, two airline meals, and a few naps later, we found ourselves circling over London in very turbulent weather. This continued for some half an hour, during which I grew increasingly impatient, and most people on the plane grew increasingly motion sick. Praise the Lord for Dramamine!
At first, London did not seem very different than Chicago. Airports are airports are airports, and no amount of Englishness will ever make them more pleasant for me. However, I couldn't help leaning over to my nearest fellow student and whispering, ecstatically, "They talk in British accents!" Of course they talk in British accents, but it was just so unusual for me. I haven't been in the UK for a very long time.
We piled into our coach and started driving to the hotel, passing the Victoria & Albert Museum, Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, etc on our way. The traffic in London is absolutely insane. People jaywalk continuously, very brave pedestrians weave in between cars, people drive terribly close to one another--I am extremely glad that I do not have to drive here.
Our hotel is charming, clean, and fairly quiet, just a ways off major roads, and nicely laid out around a small enclosed green. I love British bedcovers! They're so nice and heavy... anyway, we checked in and then one of my professors led us on a walk about the neighborhood. We saw the major sights--you know, the laundromat, the grocery store, etc. Also, we stopped at the British Museum for a moment, as it was closing. So excited to explore it again!
A group of us decided to pursue some dinner--we ate at a nice Italian place on Southampton, and then walked north to King's Cross Station to find the mock Platform 9 3/4. I had understood that it was by platform 9, but apparently they found it more convenient to put it outside the station, and it was only a couple sheets of posterboard with bricks on them and a luggage trolley "embedded" in the wall. However, it was an adventure, we got some fun pictures, and the building above King's Cross/St. Pancras is gorgeous.
We got lost on the way back to the hotel, and arrived right around 9 in the evening, just in time to get ready for bed and crash. I actually slept very well, only waking up once because my cell phone alarm did not adjust to the time change and woke me up at 2 am instead of 8. But other than that, I slept like a rock. The breakfast here is magnificently British--beans and eggs and sausage and bacon and tea and toast. I bolted something down--hopefully will get to enjoy it more tomorrow morning--and a group rushed off to Matins at Westminster Abbey. That's right, Westminster, folks. It took us a solid hour to get down there, because we had to keep stopping to take pictures--we saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall and Downing Street and Soho Square and the Horse Guards and Trafalgar Square! So many thrilling things! Matins was nice, although we were sitting far outside and couldn't see anything because there was a wall between us and the high altar. We stayed for Sung Eucharist, which follows Matins and is the full Anglican service, and enjoyed it so much. I got to sit in the very front! What a magnificent house of God. For a while I felt uncomfortable with how ornate it was, because I couldn't help thinking, "Could this money have been used for something better?" "Was this built as a status symbol, or as a sincere offering of worship?" But I felt that God brought two things to my mind: one was, no matter the motives, nothing can be undone, and because this church still stands as a house of worship, it can bring glory to God. I should enjoy its beauty. The other thought was that Solomon's temple was equally elaborate and expensive (if not moreso), so no one can say God does not appreciate the majestic and splendid as well. Anyway, it was a glorious experience. I took communion in Westminster Abbey! Speaking of which, I loved that they were so open. The ushers were so helpful with getting our group seated, and they let anyone take communion who takes it normally at their church. One girl behind me felt ill during the sermon, and one of the men in the very long red cloaks, whose titles I do not know, very graciously helped her out. It was fantastic.
Anyway, we wandered out, grabbed a bite to eat, and sat down in Trafalgar Square, where some West End casts were performing--notably the cast of Mamma Mia and some random knockoff band of Glee. It wasn't a very good knockoff band, either, but in general, the performances were enjoyable. Speaking of the West End, Rupert Everett and Diana Rigg are playing in Pygmalion here, and I desperately want to go!!! We're also going to try to see Les Mis.
I have to go to bed soon, so to encapsulate our experiences: we saw a statue of Abraham Lincoln, explored two book stores: Foyles, which is huge and way better than anything we have in America, and a tiny shop that had a basement of books for one pound. I bought a tiny crucifix at Westminster. We arrived back at the hotel with very sore feet, Rissa and I crashed and watched "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," and now I am typing to you. Best go get cleaned up and off to bed. What a blessing to be here. More introspection on the experience later, but for now, praise the Lord!