24 Things In 24 Hours

I'd like to share with you 24 things I learned over the past 24 hours:

1. I learned that I won a Kindle! Those of you who read my blog before my trip (all 3 of you) know that I have been wanting a Kindle for quite a while. I even wrote about how I wanted one in a few of my other, older blogs.

A few weeks ago, I went to a church conference called Catalyst One Day. There were a ton of people there and they only gave away one kindle for free...and I got a call yesterday on the way to the airport that I was the one!

The only bad part is that now I won't get to play with it until August, but still, totally awesome.

You can check out Catalyst's website HERE and you can see what a Kindle is HERE.

2. I learned that young children should not be allowed on international flights. You guys know me and you know I love kids, but I do not love kids who cry throughout a 9 hour flight and I certainly do not love kids who allow me less than 30 minutes of sleep.

3. I learned why TV shows make fun of coach seats. Normally, I fly Southwest were all the seats are equal. There is a definite difference between coach, business class, and first class on British airways.

4. I learned that the new airport rule is that not only are you only allowed liquids in 3 oz or smaller bottles, these bottles must all fit inside a sandwich sized plastic bag. I had to throw away one of my bottles of sunscreen. My pasty white self needed that bottle!

5. I learned that no matter what you say with a British accent, it will sound good. It could be the ugliest sentence or word in the English language, and a Brit could make it sound good. Its just that simple.

6. I learned not to eat suspicious looking yogurt given to you on the plane as it will make you sick to your stomach all day.

7. I learned how to navigate the London subway system. It think its much easier than driving!

8. I learned that Canadians are friendly. Today, I helped a Canadian woman find Kensington Palace. Then we started chatting and ended up taking the palace tour together. She was probably 60 something, gave me a caramel candy and called me love. It was wonderful.

9. I learned that the road signs in London are much less visible than they are in Texas. I found walking around London to be much more difficult than taking the subway.

10. I learned that in London, if you just walk around for a while, you'll find something interesting to do and eventually, you'll get where you were trying to go in the first place. Today I set out to find Kensington Palace and found the Natural History Museum and Hyde Park first before stumbling upon my original destination.

11. I learned that the water in the Princess Diana Memorial fountain is really cold:



12. I learned that Brit's are very friendly. Everyone of them answered all my questions with a smile.

13. I learned that the Kensington Palace is a beautiful and historical place (see below). I really enjoyed touring it. I got to see a lot of rooms in the palace, and they had a cool exhibit on Princess Diana's famous outfits. I used to love Princess Diana when I was younger, so it was cool to see that and to visit her memorial (see above)

14. I learned that no matter how cool you are, when you take an audio tour, you are automatically going to look like a nerd. I don't think there are any exceptions to this rule. If I could Photoshop, I would Photoshop an ultra cool celebrity wearing audio tour gear and prove it to you, but I can't, so you'll just have to trust me.

15. I learned that in general, Europeans are 92% cooler than Americans. I can't yet prove that statistic, but I'm pretty sure its true.

16. I learned that the Brit's were nice enough to put writing on the ground to tell you which direction you should look for cars from. I kept trying to look for cars coming in the direction they would be coming from if I were in the States! Whoever came up with the "look right" and "look left" signs on the pavement: genius. You probably saved my life today.

17. I learned that parks in the middle of cities are beautiful because they are unexpected and I suspect because the people in the city appreciate them. Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens were wonderfully beautiful.

18. I learned that you should confirm that a person you are going to ask a question of actually speaks English before you end up having a confusing, broken English conversation with them. I wish I wasn't so inept at other lanuages.

19. I learned some British translations: litter-trash, loo-restroom, holiday-vacation, lift-elevator, tube-subway, bless you-have a good day, bugger-rascal, peckish-hungry

20. I learned that you should time your trips out of the airport better so that you don't sit in the terminal for 4 hours waiting for your flight and having to make lists of things you learned so you don't die of boredom.

21. I learned that there was a small group of college kids on my flight from Dallas to London that will also be on my flight from London to Uganda. They are going to do mission work in a small town outside of Kampala. They are not with my group, but I hope I get to sit by them and talk with them some more about what they will be doing.

22. I learned the flip flops I was wearing are not ideal for walking around London.

23. I learned that the architecture in London is gorgeous. All the building are so pretty!

24. I learned that all the extra money you donated to Empower A Child will be used to help build a youth vocational training center. You are helping kids in Uganda learn a vocation and end the cycle of poverty in their families and communities...I started tearing up writing that. Seriously, you guys are AWESOME!

The next time you hear from me, I'll be in Uganda.

Loving London,
Jenna

P.S. I know that technically for you, it hasn't been 24 hours since I left, but over here, its 8 PM, so it has been for me.

P.P.S. In case you're wondering, if I've done my math right, Uganda will be 8 hours ahead of you guys.

P.P.P.S. I'm trying to load my pictures from today so within the hour, you should be able to see them HERE

Sorry for all the PS's but I didn't want to ruin my list of 24.