Orientation Week

I am nearing the end of my orientation week, and whoah has it been a busy week!

The flights in general were not too bad. I flew out of Atlanta around 1:30, go to D.C./Dulles around 2:30, and then waited for my flight to the U.K. I was lucky because I ran into Christina Armistead (who goes to P.C.), and she was on all the flights that I was on her way to studying abroad in Grenoble, France.

The flight over the Atlantic was good...if a little cramped. I was lucky to have an aisle seat, but I still felt a little like a sardine in a can. I was only able to sleep about an hour total for the entire trip and watched "Eagle Eye" and "Lakeview Terrace" instead. We touched down at Heathrow at 5:45 their time...which was early morning our time. We got on a charter bus for the university at about 7:00 a.m., and drove through rush hour traffic to get to the neighborhood of Kensington.

The neighborhood is so quaint and scenic, but when I first got here, all I really wanted to do was sleep. Since my roommate wasn't here yet, I unpacked fairly quickly and then took a two hour nap until she arrived. And after that period of tiredness, I havn't really been jetlagged at all! After we got her all settled in, we went on a scenic tour of the area. There are quite a few famous people's homes in Kensington and the surrounding areas that we visited: Winston Churchill, Winston Churchill's secretary, John Stuart Mill, T.S. Eliot, etc. I got very excited to see T.S. Eliot's house, and I am going to be passing it every day on my way to class.

After our walking tour, we had dinner, went to an orientation general meeting, and then we went to the Tube to buy our "oyster cards." Oyster cards are cards that cost 3 pounds and then you can load them with however much money you want (20 pounds in my case). That way, when you want to ride the Subway, all you do is swipe your card, and there is no fooling around with tickets.
After buying our cards, we went to the pub. The Builders Arms is literally 100 yards from my dorm room. It is a really nice local place that serves food and drink to the locals and of course, the college students. We met up with a couple of more people there, and had a great time just sitting around, shooting the breeze.
And, I am quite ashamed to admit, after the pub closed at 11:00 p.m., we all took a trip to McDonalds (P.C. people, I guess life isn't too different much over here....but there are NO Waffle Houses) on Kensington High Street. It was the classiest McDonalds I have ever been to. There was a grand piano. And two levels.

The next morning, we went to our classroom building (Asa Briggs Hall), and I was able to finalize my schedule.
In the afternoon, we went on a 3 hours bus tour of London. It was a great way to give us ideas for where we would like to go back when we have time to explore places in depth. Places on my list: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, walk across the Thames to see Big Ben/Parliament, Trafalgar Square, etc.
That night, we all gathered up, and went out to Central London to explore what nightlife they had to offer.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a lot more chill. A group of us went to buy pay as you go cell phones, which allow us to communicate very cheaply.
We also signed up for tickets to events, but unfortunately, even though I was in line 45 minutes before ticket selling occurred, me and a couple of my friends were unable to get tickets for any of the West End shows. Thus, we made our own fun, and went to a pub for some appetizers and a pint. The Gloucester Arms is the pub's name, and it is very classy and suprisingly inexpensive (by British standards). After everyone else got done with their shows, we went out to another club called Opal, which was decorated like an underground cave.

Today, we have to go to a library orientation in order to get set up, and then my roommate and I are going ot buy costumes for the Superhero Boat Party on the Thames tomorrow night. Later tonight, we are going on a Jack the Ripper walking tour!

Things I like about London:
-The hustle and bustle
-The pubs...they aren't only centers for drinking, but also a GREAT place for socialization and meeting locals
-The AMAZING strong beer on tap
-The history
-The people
-The accents
-Basically, everything

Things I don't like about London:
-The showers are super cramped
-On the sinks, you can't mix water temperatures. There is a hot tap and a cold tap, and any mixing of water temperature must occur in your hands
-Everything is quite expensive