For four months, I studied abroad in London, England. These notes are select entries from my experiences in the United Kingdom and Western Europe from that time.

Sunday, October 25 –

I awoke this morning around 7 a.m. in Penzance before grabbing a quick shower down the hallway. I then dressed and packed before going downstairs for my English breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, toast and tomato. I checked out of my room and bought three postcards on the way out.

Cornwall is a beautiful land. The coast is rugged and beautiful. I began the morning by walking the coast area along the Atlantic Ocean. Then I strolled through town and toured the Cathedral of Penzance.

All over town, In noticed a few signs in a strange Celtic-looking language. I learned it was Cornish. The language has been revived in recent decades and is an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage. Like Welsh and Breton, Cornish is descended directly from the Common Brittonic language that was spoken throughout much of Britain before English became dominant. Cornish was a community language of Cornwall until the late 18th century, but started to dwindle. It was spoken in some Cornish homes up until the 20th century when the revival began. Today a number of Cornish books, music and films are appearing. It’s also being taught in Cornish schools!

Afterwards, I waited on a bus for St. Ives. Unfortunately, I started feeling not well from something I had eaten. Therefore, I decided to scratch the rest of the day and went to the train station to catch the 10:35 train back to London-Paddington since I was not feeling well. I drank some orange juice on the train, which helped considerably. It was interesting to see the flooding caused by the heavy storms from the day before. Flood waters came precariously close to the tracks on both sides at one point.

Our train arrived at Paddington Station at about 15 p.m. I then came back and slept from 15:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. I woke up and worked on some business papers and organization before going back to sleep.