Do other countries have a fourth of July?

Of course they do! They just don't celebrate it like Americans. (Although, on a few British websites, I saw recipes and barbecue ideas suggesting that some people do celebrate it over here. And there were some restaurants that were running specials on burgers and beer!)

It was ironically our first full day of class here in the UK, and the fire alarm went off 15 minutes into class. We had to stand outside for another 15 minutes because they couldn't figure out what had triggered the alarm. It was definitely a different experience to go through an emergency here. In the building, there were curtains that came down to block the elevator shafts so that they couldn't be used, which I had never seen before. The officials were very polite when they were letting us know about what was happening: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have turned off the sound of the alarm, but please do not re-enter the building. Just stay outside and enjoy the fresh air." It was so funny!

Eventually, we were able to go back into the building. I had British Art & Architecture that morning. We learned about the early royal painters and also about Inigo Jones. Class ended around 12:30. I went back to my flat, had lunch, and decided to go exploring around London with my new friend Joanna.

We went to Kensington Palace, which is absolutely beautiful from the outside. It is currently undergoing renovations because it will be the London home of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. We didn't get to go inside, but it was neat all the same.

We walked around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens for a while. I had no idea how large it is. Together, they cover over 625 acres! It ended up being a lot more walking than I had anticipated, but we found the Peter Pan Statue, shown below,

The statue was sculpted and placed in Kensington Gardens in 1912 by the author JM Barrie. The site where the statues located was mentioned in his first story about Peter Pan, the boy who would never grow up. It was actually quite controversial that a private author should be allowed to promote his work in a public park, but children and adults have so loved the statue that it has remained for almost 100 years.

Then, we made our way to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain.

It was opened in July 2004 and was designed to reflect her life. The flowing water of the fountain invites the public to wade and feel refreshed. It was just a beautiful sight to see children playing in the water, and I'm sure it is something that Princess Diana would have loved.

We somehow managed to get out of the park and find our way back to Surbiton. Being American, I wanted to do something to celebrate our Independence Day. I couldn't think of something more American than McDonald's. So, I had a double cheeseburger and fries. Then, it was back to the flat to hang out with the girls. We had been inside for a while and we heard loud noises outside. We rushed out, and there were fireworks going off across the River Thames! It was a great ending to the Fourth.