Alexandru Popescu ( Alex ) My Experience in London

Prophile of Alex My name is Alex. I am 13 years old and I am an only child, so I have no brothers or sisters. I am born in Tg. – Jiu, Gorj county, Romania. My mother is a teacher and my father is an engineer. I am a pupil in the 7 th form.

Life at home, in Romania I am a pupil in a large class. There are 30 of us in my class. We learn a lot of new and interesting things in school. Our English teacher always brings interesting and useful information in front of the class and we often engage in stormy debates on different topics. Some of us even have penfriends in foreign countries and exchange experiences quite often, which is very useful.

My penfriend’s prophile I have a penfriend, too. His name is James Brown and he lives in England. He is my age, too. During the summer holiday James invited me to spend a week at his place in London.

The choice of England One may ask : ‘Why did you choose this trip to London ?’ First of all that’s because I like English very much and, as you know, people speak English there as being their native language. I also feel attracted to the greatness of one of the best known capital cities in the world and I also feel eager to discover every temptation that the city of London offers my sight.

The way towards London On Sunday, after packing my luggage my parents drove me to Otopeni airport, in Bucharest. After having been seriously checked by the authorities, I got on the plane and flew toward London. After about two hours’ flight time I got to Heathrow airport. There my host family were waiting for me.

My host family’s prophile The Browns are such friendly people that I immediately felt at home. James is my age and he has a little sister, Emma. Mrs. Brown is a nurse; she works in a hospital nearby, and Mr. Brown works in an office. Emma is 1. She is such a cute baby girl !

The English style The following morning I went to school with James. Students there wore a uniform, too. I had to say a few words about myself in class. Then every boy asked me questions about Romania, especially about Count Dracula. I’ve told them that there were other exciting things apart from Dracula. School is from 8.30 to and students eat lunch in the canteen. We had a very English meal : burger, chips and soda !

The habits at home When we got home, we started doing our homework for the next day at school, then we watched television for a bit. We watched a popular programme that is on every day at 5. In the evening we had dinner and went to bed.

Similarities among young people I can say I think that young people are the same all around the world. James and I like the same fashions, the same bands and we both like art and civilization. We have such similar tastes that I’m sure we’re going to be really good friends.

The social life of my host family in England Life in London isn’t as easy as one could suppose. The Brown family lives in an area which is called Lower West Side. Their address is 32, Tall Trees Street. A funny thing is that all the houses in their street look exactly the same. The family is a lucky one: they have the chance of living in a residential quarter. I was also very surprised to see people of all races there. And they are all british. James said that they had come from many parts of the world to live there. During the day the streets are crowded, while during the night they appear deserted. There are times of the day when you can find no open shop or restaurant ! The Browns have a holiday house, too, which is on a lake, somewhere in the outskirts. They often go there at the weekends.

The 3 rd day in London During the third day of my trip James and I went sightseeing. We did a tour of London in order to see as many touristic objectives as I could. Thus, I could see the huge Tower of London with the Big Bang, the London Bridge and the well-known subway. I also visited a lot of museums and I can say now that Madame Tussaud’s, the wax figures’ museum, is the greatest of all, by far.

The shopping day The fourth day, as the moment I was to leave London was getting closer, James and I went shopping. We visited the original English boutiques, from where I could buy very nice presents for my family at home.

My final impression Day after day, my trip in London has finally come to an end. Unfortunately, the feeling I experienced when I had to leave was one of a profound regret. It was is if I had been knowing that city for ages; it was a kind of a feeling of “déjà vu”, maybe thanks to the fact that I had the chance to previously learn about all those things here, in Romania, in school, reading from books or informing myself from the internet. My London experience was unforgettable!