Week One

Sorry for the delay! My camera is being a loser and I didn't to post without adding pictures, but today I went with Emily and Megan to some of the tourist-y places and so with triumph I am back!

To start where we left off on Saturday: we went to a local pub for dinner, where I met many people and was mildly embarrassed by the size and volume of our group. But it's all good; hopefully if I ever want to go back they won't remember me. I got carded, though, by this very intimidating bouncer guy, which was exciting. Then as we went back a guy professed his undying love for Lauren. Otherwise, the evening was uneventful. Collapsing ensued.

The following day we were up and at 'em pretty early. We went to a quick ISA orientation and then road on a double decker coach tour (see Amanda? I'm getting it), for which my pictures are marooned on my camera, but rest assured it was really cool. I was sitting right in front of where "The Royal Duchess Catherine Middleton" sat to get to a wedding (not hers, though). The coach driver was very proud. And even though I fell asleep (much to the amusement of those around me), I really did enjoy it. The bus was just so warm and lovely! Plus the tour was two and a half hours long...but I digress. Hopefully I'll be able to contact the Nikon people about getting a new cord.

Then we headed back to the dorm, and found ourselves wandering the streets of London to find an Indian place recommended to us: Aladin's. As someone who has only had Indian food once, I was very very impressed! The food was delicious; I had Tikka Masala Chicken, and it was very good. If anyone is visiting me, that might be somewhere we go to eat. Once again, I was very aware of the size of the group; only seven of us and we were louder than the restaurant combined. Americans don't even realize how noisy we are. Then we managed to navigate the tube back to the dorm! All in all, pretty successful.

On Monday, we were up to the Westminster orientation early - and it was long. But informative, I suppose. Got my student I.D. card and such! And my timetable. So unfortunate - class on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm sure I can work around it though...hopefully.

From there, we shopped around Oxford Street - the longest shopping street in London. It was really fun; we went to a bunch of places, but Primark was my favorite. I got a great bag for five pounds and a scarf for three! Fantastic.

One of the things that has been most difficult for me to adjust to is how everything is switched. And I don't just mean what side of the road people drive on, either. People walk on the left side of hallways in the tube, walk on the left side going up and down stairs, go in the left of two double doors, and so on. Even which way to look across the street before crossing; it's all opposite. I didn't know that was something I'd have to adjust to, and I didn't even realize it was something that needed adjustment. It's so reflexive! But I'll get it - just in time to come back to the States and re-learn it again. On a brighter note, I've been adjusting much better to the tube than I thought I would, so that's good! A few mishaps, but nothing major, and nothing to do with navigation errors. Yeah!

Today, we went around to a bunch of different places. First, to Big Ben (fun fact for all those Yanks who don't know: Big Ben is the bell, not the tower). Right as you get out of the tube station (to impress you at home, we took the Jubilee line from the Bond street entrance to get to Westminster) Big Ben is right. There. I took a lot of pictures - Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are so, so cool to me. I want to do a tour at some point, but I'm not sure when. I'm sure we'll work it out!

Then we walked to Westminster Abbey (which we'll be touring with ISA later) and grabbed some lunch at a stand and ate outside. We then grabbed the tube to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was in residence! The guards marched around a bit, but we were too late to see the changing of the guard (we plan to come back, probably in the summer, when they have the red coats on again.) But it was still cool. We went into the gift shop of the Queen's Gallery, and enjoyed perusing the various books and such that they had on her. I'm still bummed I'm missing the Jubilee - but I'm sure I'll see the preparations, though!

And now I'm back at the dorm! We're going to head to Convent Garden for dinner, then back to Skype with Doug! :) It's been good so far - starting to get a little homesick (and collegesick - is that a thing?), but I'm sure we'll be keeping busy when classes start and I won't notice. This weekend is the Tower of London, and Shelby and I have tickets to the Doctor Who exhibition! That'll be great - and kind of weird to see a familiar face in a strange city. Very exciting. I'll post again soon, I promise. Cheers!