Oh, Hello London.

I've been in London for 7 days, and the reality that I'm halfway across the world still hasn't kicked in. My sleep schedule is set as if I'm somewhere between America and here, which doesn't set too well with 9 a.m. classes. I've already learned so much about advertising and the British media, just in four days of classes.

I've discovered that London is a bigger advertising city than New York. Literally everywhere you look, there is some type of advertisement.  During my travel from the airport to Regent's College, I saw advertisements on cars, taxis, double-decker buses, street signs, the walls of the subway station and airport, inside the subway train and three different newspapers.

The culture here is completely different. I haven't seen one man give up his seat for a woman in a packed subway train, or anywhere for that matter.  People here don't say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" when they bump into you. Men do not open doors for women here either. The common respect that is in the U.S. is not in London. I always expected that the London culture would put America's manners to shame, but that definitely isn't the case.

During my adventures in London, I've noticed that food is higher priced here, your general every day item is priced higher, but the clothes are higher quality than clothes in America for the same price.  For example, Olay face wipes are priced £4.75 here, and $4.50 in the U.S. Although, £4.75 equals $7.79.  That's a big price difference.

I'm beginning to think that London was not mapped out for convenience. There isn't a store here in London that has "everything", like a Wal-Mart or Target. Here, there are grocery stores, stationery stores, house-ware stores, tool stores, clothing stores, etc. It's been a humbling experience having to go to multiple stores to do my daily needs shopping, and made me realize how much I take Wal-Mart and convenience stores in America for granted.

The past 7 days have been an incredible experience, and I cannot wait to see what the next 26 days teach me. I'll be blogging on here twice a week, with photos and updates of my adventures.

Cheers!