What to Consider As We Prepare

I'm asking advice from the people who have previously been with us in the UK:

1. What should I know ahead of time?
2. What should I bring?
3. What should I leave behind?
4. What should I absolutely do or see no matter what?
5. What should I miss?
6. What attitude should I take with me (as an American, student, traveler, etc)?
7. What can I expect from the experience?

I'll post the questions to the google and yahoo groups from earlier and hope for responses, which I'll pass on to you.

London Gardens

Rose Garden, Holland Park (where we'll be staying):

The Holland Park walled garden, where weather permitting, we have early morning class: The Youth Hostel garden at Holland Park:

This is either Temple or Lincoln's Inn field. It's the one by the Soane Museum in the City of London:

The Peter Pan Statue in Kensington Gardens. Or maybe it's in Hyde Park--it's right on the boundary between, just west of the Serpentine.

The Bobby Burns statue in Embankment Gardens:

John and Karla in Queen Mary's Rose Garden, Regent Park:

I think this is Tavistock Square in Bloomsbury. We couldn't stand our London lodgings that year, so we spent a lot of time outdoors:

Kew Gardens: