To My London Loves

You guys are some of the best friends I could've ever made. Considering we've only known each other three short weeks, I feel like I've known you guys for a lifetime. Thank you for making today so, so wonderful. Having been in a bit of a slump all day, tonight's dinner perked my mood and made me realize how lucky I am to know you. Not that I didn't know it before, of course, but it brought that fact to the limelight again. Thank you for simply making this day magnificent. You are beautiful. <3

Your Mae.

PS - there had better be a lot of visiting this summer!

Buggershitfuckpissbloodyhell

I think I have too much stuff for my limited luggage.

Retrospect.

When the idea of coming to England was finally starting to morph into a reality, I thought that I would find myself missing the United States and all things related. I expected myself to become severely homesick within the first few days. I expected myself to want to come home within the first week. I've found that all of those things have failed to take place.

Listening to people talk about how much they miss the US only made me realize how little I miss it. Now, don't confuse the place with the people. I miss my family and my friends, of course, more than anything. I miss my pets. I miss all of those things that make a house a home. But I don't miss the country.

So many people here, meaning the Britons, have such prejudices against us. And while so many people have gotten insulted and wanted to fight back, I could only sit and nod at what they were saying. Unlike most people, I don't immediately retaliate. I want to know and understand why they believe what they do, just as I would hope they would take the time and energy to understand my beliefs. I don't immediately dismiss them as being ungrateful for past help, or for being arrogant. I believe that not working to understand how another person's mind works is one of the most arrogant things to do in life. It is dismissing a person's opinion as faulty and incorrect and is stating that you only believe yours is right. I cannot condone actions such as those.

There is such a misconception (however accurate it may be) about Americans being arrogant. I have tried my hardest to show that not everyone from the States is rude, impolite, obnoxious, loud, and conceited. I have tried, even when service at a restaurant was horrible, to stay polite. I know that I am in another person's country, one that has many differences from my own. I cannot expect them to change all of their customs and traditions just because they are different from what I am used to. I do not expect an entire country to bend over backwards for me. I am a guest, and though that demands some sort of respect on their part, I am staying in someone else's home. They deserve respect from me for allowing me to stay here for three weeks. One would never be rude to the host or hostess, and now is no different.

So, the basic point of this post was just to say that coming to England has given me an entirely new perspective on so many things. I was truly humbled by the fact that I was in another country. My beliefs and customs were not shared by everyone, and I had to swallow the things that I thought were correct in order to assimilate into another culture. I found a new sense of strength in myself and in the things that I hold dear to my heart. I had my beliefs and morals questioned and pushed, but I have come to know myself better. I have become friends with people who I might not have known or become friends with otherwise. I have conversed and interacted with cultures that were not only my own, but also not British. I have managed to broaden my understanding of culture and respect for all types of it.

And though I am horribly saddened at the idea of leaving this beautiful place tomorrow morning, I can only look back on this experience with a smile. It has been greater than anything I could have ever imagined. Had someone asked me three weeks ago today, I would have told him or her that I expected it to be fun, but that was it. I never would have thought that I would be changed in so many ways from such a short period of time here. But what a pleasant surprise.

Cheers, everyone.

Refusals.

I feel like boycotting my departure flight on Saturday. Maybe it's the sad music that I have on right now ("What Hurts the Most," by The Rascal Flatts"), but I don't want to leave. I just .. I don't know. The anxiety that I had pre-London was so intense that I debated backing out of the program. But I got over it and forced myself to come here; I mean, why shouldn't I have? It's been a dream to be here, to see all that I've seen. I've harbored the dream for so long, always thinking that it would never come to fruition. When other people talked about going to Europe, I sighed wistfully and felt like crying. I never thought I would make it here.

But now that I am here .. I don't want to leave. I feel like I've found my niche here in London. I've found a place where I feel like I fit in, completely. Well, almost completely. My American accent has gotten a bit of a bad reaction from some people, but once they get passed the fact that I'm from America, they see me as a person.

As I sit and think to myself, I begin to wonder something. If and/or when I come back to London in the future, will it be as good? Or was my experience made better because of the friends that I found on the first day? Would London be the same with Anna, Callie, Sally, Ali, and Laura? Would it be the same without the Greyhound, Kavanaugh's, Arch Angels, and all of the people we've befriended there? Would it be the same without the inside jokes? Would it be the same without hanging out at the Greyhound way past closing time? I don't know. Honestly. I don't know whether London will be as good the second time 'round. But then I think to myself .. how could it not be? It's LONDON.

Time has gone far faster than I thought possible this past year. Between the end of sophomore year and now the end of my London excursion, I don't know how time goes so fast. But it makes me realize how valuable every little drop of it is. It is so very important to milk every second for what it's worth. I hope I can keep this lesson with me once I'm back in the States.

... If I end up going back to the States, that is. (;

(Just kidding - I'm coming back. I'm just going to put up a fight about it.)

More Photos.

I've started my .. fourth album, I think it is. The links is as follows:

http://providence.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027128&l=e3bd7&id=17604057

Enjoy that.

I'm going to get down to brass tacks now and get my theatrical critiques done. So I'm off to go get to it. More will be updated later, hopefully.

cheers!

Oy.

Sorry about the lack of posting lately. I've been so busy and the Internet has not been one of my friends as of late. I had to hike downstairs to the computer lab in order to type this up. I really don't want to talk about it, so we're not going to.

I think the last thing I wrote was about the greyhound races, yeah? I can't really remember. Umm .. soo .. what's happened since then? I can't even really remember. What day was that? Umm .. hmm. I went to the Globe. That was fun. I've been there twice, and I have to go back for a third time to finish up some souvenir shopping. The exchange rate is still killing me, by the way.

What else have I done .. ooh, we ate at Med Kitchen today on Gloucester. It was delicious. I had a chicken sandwich with bacon (the bacon here, by the way, is sooo weird) today. It was so good. We went to an Italian place last night, and that was also pretty good. I had risotto with chicken and asparagus. Not enough asparagus, though. Everything else was mmm mmm good!

Oh, went to the V&A gift shop twice in the past two days. Once to buy some souvenirs and then once to go back and return them because I realized I got a little to excited .. and didn't really think of the bank account. It was an issue. And they were pretty pointless presents, as well. No need to spend money on something that isn't going to get good use, right?

Well. Yeah. Class tomorrow. The last Monday here, and it's freaking me out! I don't even want to think about, so I'm not going to. That's it for right now. Hopefully the internet will be up and working in a short amount of time (aka tomorrow). I HATE not having internet. It absolutely sucks. AH!

I think Anna and I are off to some local pub to get a drink. She's angry, I'm PMS-ing, and drinks are good.

Cheers!

Kind of Sad, Really.

We went to the Greyhound races today at Wimbledon. It was cool to be there, but I really was just sad because of the dogs. It's always sad. But what can you do, I guess. I bet four times and I won once .. on a dog named Westard Lord or .. something West___ Lord. I liked it. And it won. Woo hoo! I won 3 pound 60! Which means I almost won what I bet (I bet four pounds). I was glad to just win once, though. Anna had a lot of luck, though. She won like 14 pounds. Pretty cool.

What else .. uhmm .. hm. Oh, I'm STARVING right now. I could eat a horse. Haha. "I'm so hungry I could ride a horse. (pause) I don't get it. I could ride it to the store, I guess." Name what that's from and you win a cookie. Or something. Oy. Talking about cookies makes me hungry. I need to go get some food. Maybe I'll drag Sally down with me to the convenience store off High Street Ken. Hmm .. or maybe just some chips (or crisps, rather) from the vending machine. No, I need real food. I ate like .. five little potato slices for dinner cause I had to go with Sally to PC World to get headphones. Stupid iPod earbuds.

Tomorrow, we're meeting at the Covent Garden Tube Stop and we're going to the Theatre Museum. And then on Thursday, we're going to the Globe Museum. I'm very excited! I've wanted to go to the Globe since .. forever. Yes. As long as there has been a world, when I was just a pre-natal entity, I wanted to go to the Globe. Good thing someone came around and built it, huh?

Anyway, I'm also excited about getting to sleep in later than normal. We don't have to be at the Covent Garden Tube Stop 'til 11.30. Yay! Oh, bad news, though - I'm getting sick. Not good!

I'm off to venture for some food. I'll steal it from someone if I have to! (Sorry for the weird mood - I think it's a mix of greyhound racing and nasal cloggage.)

Cheers!

Note to Self.

When someone says, "I'm really hungry, let's go and get Greek food," and it's pouring rain outside, with huge gusts of wind, and it's absolutely freezing, don't agree to go with him or her. It'll probably be a bad idea. Although, it was really funny and once we got to the Kebab place, the food was delicious. I was so angry that I had to throw out the rest of my Hoummus. It was SO good. Ugh.

I only got up a little while ago (what a lazy git!), but today's a Bank Holiday, which means we don't have classes or anything. Most businesses are closed, but we're going to start going out and stuff a little earlier than normal. I think it's because one, it's Memorial Day back home, two, we have off today, and three, classes start up again tomorrow. So the earlier in the afternoon, the better. I can't do a 3am-bedtime tonight, especially if we have classes tomorrow morning.

It's nice to have everyone back from Paris. Callie said it was good, but that she missed London. I probably would've had the same reaction. I really do love this city, and everything about it. The people, the places, the smells, the sights, the weather, even! Which is why last night wasn't all that bad. Sure, I was freezing. And I was wearing flip flops. And my pant legs were completely soaked up to my butt (no exaggeration) when we got back. And the wind was howling. But .. it was still fun. London rain is so much better than rain in Prov. or on LI. I don't know why, but it is. It's the weather that England-ers have had to endure since they started here. And I feel like I've experienced an ancient tradition by walking in it.

Oh, Laura and I walked around Kensington Gardens yesterday. It was beautiful! I think we're all going to try to have tea at the Orangery at some point or another. Well, I HAVE to do it, whether I like it or not. It's up to everyone else if they want to come. We also want to go horseback riding while we're here. And, I have to say, I would probably crap myself senseless if we did so. It'd be absolutely .. ah! There are no words.

So, yeah. That's it for me. I rented Robin Hood, Men in Tights from the library, but I've yet to watch it. Maybe I'll watch it while I'm getting ready. Hmm .. we'll see. Sally's still in bed, but she's got plenty of time. I need to grab some food before we start celebrating the holiday, though. I don't think my shortcake biscuits are going to cut it this time.

Cheers!

One Week Down ..

It's been over a week since I've arrived in London. It feels like it went by ridiculously quick and ridiculously slow at the same exact time. I don't even know how to describe it. I think that it feels slow-moving because we've done so much in the days that we've been here, so it feels like we've been doing a lot, which we have. But then when I think about it, I can't believe a week has flown by already! I don't like this one bit.

Didn't really do much yesterday. We hung out, ran a few errands. We all ate at this place .. Namando's? Or something like that. It's all chicken. I thought it was pretty good. I got the chicken breast in a pitta, as they call it. It was delicious until I got a hefty bite of cilantro. I almost puked. But I kept picking it out of the pitta and the lettuce, so I was able to enjoy it. I don't know if the other girls really enjoyed it all that much, but I quite liked it.

Then we went to one of the liquor stores on the way back to the dorm where Sally and Anna bought two bottles of wine. I'm not a huge fan of red wine, so I bought a can of Strongbow. I only drank 3/4 of it over the course of a few hours, but it was good. Then we went to Kavanaugh's, which seems to be the new favorite place to go. I like it a lot. They had a live band for a while, then they switched to CD's or whatever, and that was good because they played a lot of songs that I knew. We had to pay a four pound cover charge, which kind of sucked, but oh well. We hung out for a little while, then Laura and I went and started dancing. Then we started talking to these two guys, Christian and Adam, who were really nice. They were a part of one of the military regimes here in England. I don't remember which one it was exactly, but I know they wear the metal breast plate and have a red plume in their hat. It's that one.

So we all just started talking, mainly Laura and Christian and then Adam and I. Anna and Sally left a little earlier than we did, but they were just a few steps ahead of us while we were walking. We stayed until the guard told us to get out. So then we walked back together to what I think was Kensington Road (I don't know it by name, only by sight), which, sadly .. was still a bit far from where our dorms were. We had to walk for another ten or fifteen minutes just to get back, but we all found our way back safely and soundly. And that was pretty much my night.

I think I'm going to try to get some of my work done today, so I don't have to do it later. The girls who left for Paris are coming back today, so it'll be nice to have them around again.

Cheers!

Post-Cavanaugh's

Well, last night was fun. A lot of fun. Not so much fun this morning, but a lot of fun at the time. I'm okay now, though. I'm going to go to that French bakery and get some food once I get changed and get ready to go.

I've started my third album. It's here:

http://providence.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026436&l=1244e&id=17604057

I have a feeling I'm going to have a boat load of photo albums once I'm done here. Which, I guess, isn't that much of a bad thing.

Okay, well, I'm off to go fill up my stomach with delicious French food. No idea what's in store for today, but we'll see how all of it goes. Maybe today's the day for tea at the Orangerie? Hmmm .. who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers!

Hurrah!

I've gone and added the last of my photos. They're in the second album, which is the second link that I posted. Enjoy them. They have a lot from the London Eye, which we went on yesterday. It was absolutely brilliant. So, check those out.

I don't know what's in store for today. Sally and I don't have class, so the day is ours. Sally went over to Harrod's because she said she got a little stir crazy, so I'm just hanging out in the room. Once Laura is done and ready, though, we're going to head down to lunch. And then maybe Sally and I will grab tea at the Orangerie or something. We'll see how that goes.

I don't like the exchange rate, by the way. The dollars to pounds conversion absolutely sucks. And I hate it. But what can you do? I just have to budget my money well. It's just that there's so much I want to do, and none of it is super cheap, as nothing in London is super cheap. Even if something is five pounds, it's still ten dollars. That's what sucks the most.

Anyway, I'll update more later.

Cheers!

Mary Poppins & The London Eye

A bunch of stuff happened since I last updated, but I can only remember two significant things.

Mary Poppins

Fantastic! I really loved it. I loved the sets, the effects, the actors .. they were all really good. I haven't seen the movie since I was at lesat in elementary school, so it was nice to see it in a different format. The guy who played the chimney sweep was pretty hot. At least, from what I could see. He was also a really good singer, and he had a great Cockney accent. The place we went beforehand was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

The London Eye

I finally went on it! It was absolutely fantastic! I got a lot of great pictures, so I hope I can upload them onto Facebook. I'll do that later. Afterwards, we walked around by Westminster Abbey for a bit and St. Margaret's Church. And the Clock Tower, which was beautiful because Big Ben started going off when we were walking by it. The moments such as that one are the ones that remind me that I'm in London. It's a great feeling.

I don't know what we're doing for the rest of the night, but we're going to figure it out. So, yeah.

Cheers!

I Saw Harry Potter's Wang.

So, Sally, Callie, Katie, and I went to go see Equus last night. It was SO good. Such a pathological show, though. If you zonk out for the quickest of seconds, you've missed a critical part of the show. I like that kind of thing, though. I like having to pay attention. It sort of MAKES your attention divert only to the characters, the story, and the words. I was a bit bothered by the two girls in front of me who moved from a different area. They kept moving all around and I couldn't see past their heads. It was ridiculously annoying. But then after intermission, they moved and it was all good again.

Daniel Radcliffe was absolutely brilliant in the show. I was actually very amazed. I mean, he's not that bad as Harry Potter (he basically is the embodiment of that character), but he gave a terrific performance last night. It's a very, very intense role to play, and I'm so glad that he was able to show the extent of his talent. And he got completely naked. As did the girl. I knew it was coming, but I was still surprised when it happened. I forgot for a bit that he was even naked, but when he goes to pierce the horses' eyes with the hoofpick, he was jumping all around, and then I remembered about his nudity. Ha ha.

The little black flats I bought yesterday were .. not very good for walking around in. Which sort of defeats their purpose, I suppose. They gave me a terrible blister on my left pinky toe and both my heels. I was limping all about the West End. Felt a bit foolish, really. Oh well.

Oh, and then we passed the theatre where they have all of the movie premieres in London, and there was something big going on. Lots of lights, lots of people in tuxedos and gowns, so we thought something really important was taking place. It turns out that they were just filming a fake premiere for some TV show. I was very disappointed. Oh, and there was also a Bollywood event that was apparently really huge going on right 'round the corner from the other theatre. In the same courtyard type of thing. Very, very busy!

We came back to Atlantic House, and the three girls went out somewhere. I think to the Greyhound. I decided to stay in, though. I needed a break. I don't know if anyone's going out tonight following Mary Poppins (yay!), but I don't think I'll go. I know we're going out somewhere tomorrow night, so I'll save up my energy for then. I didn't sleep all that well last night. I'll need to catch up.

So, yes. We're going to see Mary Poppins tonight. It's at the Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street in the West End. Very exciting! I haven't seen Mary Poppins (the movie) in so long .. I've nearly forgotten all of it. But oh well. It'll be nice to be reminded tonight.

More later.

Cheers!

Covent Garden and the West End

Great day. I slept perfectly last night. I didn't wake up once! I think it was the Snakebite and the Strongbow that did me in. I found out from Pip last night that the Snakebite is actually illegal in some bars because it's supposed to mess you up that badly. I didn't really feel it that much, but I know that only after one Strongbow, I was pretty pissed. So, I guess it did its job.

Anyway, yeah. Sleep was great. Had a weird dream about Boson Market chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn, and I woke up feeling very hungry. Very hungry. Sally and I slept a bit later than usual because didn't have to walk down to Young St. for our class. Went down and had breakfast, which was good .. until a little while later when I thought my intestines were going to shrivel up in my abdomen. That wasn't much fun, but more on that in a bit.

Met outside of Atlantic House with the rest of the class and Professor Dryden. Took the Gloucester tube down to .. actually, I forgot where. Maybe Leicester Square or something along those lines. Anyway, we were in the West End, or the Theatre District of London. It was beautiful, and SO many theatres! It was fabulous. They have a Lord of the Rings musical that I'm a bit weary about, but .. whatever. I think Sally, Katie and I might be going to see Equus tonight, and Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) is in it! It's only 25 pounds, which really isn't bad for a show. Hopefully we can get a ticket. Otherwise, I'm sure we could see something else. There's a show, The Lady of Dubuque, that has Maggie Smith in it (another Harry Potter character!) and that looked rather good. We'll just have to play it by ear and see what happens.

We walked around the Theatre District for a bit of time, and then worked our way to Covent Garden. That's when my intestines started getting all wonky on me. Luckily, we found a bathroom and I was all better afterwards. I think I'll take this as a lesson to never eat breakfast within an hour or two of my waking up. I knew that it did bad things to my insides, but totally ignored what I already knew .. stupid me.

Covent Garden was BEAUTIFUL. I definitely want to go back and spend a bit of time there before I leave. So many shops, such pretty courtyards and other such things. We went into this church that has been there for hundreds of years, and they have plaques to all of these famous actors, writers, and actresses that lived or were a big part of Covent Garden and the area. It was really neat. It had plaques from the 1700's and 1800's, and there were all these headstones and such outside where some people were buried. Most of them had been worn away completely of words or names, but it was still neat to see.

Took the Covent Garden tube back to Gloucester Rd. and then made our way back to Atlantic House. Just came back from lunch, which was actually very good. The food here at the cafeteria isn't all that bad. I don't know what we're going to be doing until later, but I want to go back to this store that had clothes for five to ten pounds a piece. If we do go to the theatre later tonigh, I want to wear something nice. I think Sally wanted to take a nap, though, and for once, I'm actually not tired. I think it's because I slept so well last night. Thank you, Snakebite! Ha ha!

Well, that's all for now. More later.

Cheers!

Before Class

Hello, eveyone! Sorry for the font change .. I've decided that I like this one much better.

Anyway, I've started a new album (you're only allowed 60 max photos in each album on Facebook). The link to it is here:

http://providence.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026137&l=49dfc&id=17604057

I'll be sure to add more as the days go on. Oh, we have our field trip today. We're meeting down in front of Atlantic House (which means very easy for me and Sally considering we live in Atlantic House), so I figure we're probably not leaving for breakfast unti 9.00. That is, if Sally wakes up. She fell back asleep. I feel like such an arse waking her up, though. I might do it anyway once I'm done typing.

I don't remember where we're going. Someone mentioned the Globe theatre, and if we do, one of my life goals will have come true. Actually, coming to London at all was a life goal. So I'm doing pretty well for myself, haha. It feels like we've already been here for weeks, when it's only the fifth day. Which is weird. But I absolutely love the people I met here, and I'm so unbelievably grateful.

That's it for now. I should wake Sally up so we can both get dressed and go grab something to eat. Although this early morning eating is doing absolutely horrid things to my stomach. Maybe breakfast isn't a good idea. Anyway, more later.

Cheers!

Fourth Day

Well, it was the first day of classes, AND, I am glad to say that the wireless is working!! This is, of course, thanks to Callie! Hurrah!

Anyway, class went well. Professor Dryden seems really nice. Typical older British man. We're going to be taking field trips to various productions and theatres and such. In fact, we have one tomorrow. I forgot where we're going (it's either Covent Garden or the West End), but I'm excited. And we also don't have classes on Fridays. It's absolutely brilliant.

Not much else has been happening so far today. We finally have had our first London rain, and I guess it's about time. I couldn't expect not to experience this kind of weather. But it's still nice out. It's just that it hinders the things that we are able to do, and that's bothersome. I can't complain, I guess .. London rain is ALWAYS better than regular, American rain. It's beautiful.

ETA (Edited To Add): Don't use the photobucket link. It's missing a lot of pictures. Go here, instead:

http://providence.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026113&l=4cb1a&id=17604057

It should work. If it doesn't, let me know via email or a comment on here. Okay, that's it!

Cheers!

Part Two - Second and third day

Second Day

Well, after checking email and updating the blog yesterday, lots and lots happened! Here's a run-down:

- took a long nap.
- missed the Chelsea v. Manchester United football match (but Chelsea won! Hurrah!)
- went shopping down on Kensington High Street.
- bought a shirt in TopShop, Kate Moss' store.
- bought a ring in Accessorize, a fairly pricey accessory shop.
- came back to the dorms.
- went out to the Builders Arms pub for a bite to eat and a pint of Guinness.
- waited for Ali and Laura to meet us there.
- became friends with Kim! (:
- went to the Greyhound pub for a pint of Strongbow, thanks to Anna, and hung out for a while.
- got invited to a party somewhere and was told we were put on the invite list, but never actually went.
- went to the Prince Albert pub for another pint of Strongbow.
- met Rohan (spelling?) and Christian and talked about America and England.
- scored Rohan and Christian's numbers (don't worry - no calls have been made).
- walked down to the Piano Bar on Gloucester Rd., got turned away cause it was past last call, but went to use the Ladies' anyway.
- walked back to Atlantic House.
- got scared shitless by Ali and Laura, who were in the international phone alcove on the first floor.
- got yelled at by the security guard for being too loud (we really weren't - we were just laughing).
- started going to bed, then got caught up talking to Callie, Anna, and Sally.
- talked to Sally for HOURS before going to bed at 4.30am.

Third Day

- woke up way too early for my liking.
- went on the sight-seeing tour of London, led by Nigel.
- almost started crying at seeing the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the River Thames.
- saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
- got a REALLY big urge to write a poem, but didn't have time.
- went to Builders Arms pub for some food (pretty tasty, but bland, as always).
- came back to Atlantic House.

So, for the rest of the day, I planned it out with Kim. After writing this, I'm going to go upstairs to my room, take a two hour nap, then walk to this adorable French cafe for a pastry and maybe tea, too. After that, who knows? But classes start tomorrow, so I don't think I'll be going out anywhere later tonight. I don't want to be completely dead and drained for my first theatre class! I'm excited for it to start. I hope it'll be good!

I took a LOT of pictures from today's tour, and I'm going to upload them onto my computer. Once I get wireless (cross your fingers for it to happen tomorrow!), I will be putting them online, most likely in a photobucket album. I'll post the link on here so that everyone can get it. Well, that's enough for me. I have to go take my nap!

Cheers!

First & Second Day

Well, here I am in London. I think it's finally started to hit me that I'm in the UK, but only slightly. Here are some updates as to what's happened so far:

Day One

- left JFK airport an hour late due to runway traffic.
- had a fantastic flight - the food was better than the dining halls back in Providence.
- watched Notes on a Scandal, but I didn't really like it all that much.
- tried to nap a bit, but couldn't do it.
- arrived at Heathrow.
- waited FOREVER to get through customs.
- got asked a bajillion and one questions by the immigration woman.
- waited a ridiculously long time again to get onto the bus to bring us to campus.
- got let off at the wrong stop with the rest of the group.
- waited fifteen minutes, trying to figure out where we were.
- got picked up by an AIFS representative who brought us to Atlantic House.
- got settled in and unpacked.
- complained A LOT about how the wireless isn't working yet in the rooms.
- went shopping at Boots and Waitrose Market.
- came back for dinner.
- went shopping again at Boots and walked around Kensington and Chelsea.
- went out to the Gloucester Arms pub & had a pint of Guinness. (delicious!)
- came back and passed out.

Day Two

- had an orientation meeting.
- ate at a delicious French cafe (tomato and mozzarella on a French baguette - mmmm!)
- came back to Atlantic House.

What's in store for later on today? Well, the Chelsea v. Manchester United football match is on in about two and a half hours, so I think a bunch of us are going to head out to either the Builders Arms pub or the Greyhound pub to catch it. I don't know what the rest of the day entails, but we might find ourselves back at the Gloucester Arms or any of the other aforementioned establishments. Maybe we'll take a trip on the Underground to Harrod's or something. I do know that I have to buy an Oystercard at the Gloucester Rd. chip station .. so maybe I'll head down there to get that taken care of. Who knows? I think that's one of the best parts of this whole thing .. it's all so .. spontaneous. And up in the air. And completely brilliant.

Some of us were talking today about the trips that we want to take while we're in the UK. Scotland, Paris, and Stonehenge came up quite a bit. And Harrod's, of course. But that's much more local can the other three. I would absolutely LOVE to go to Scotland. Glasgow, anyone? Boswell? Gerry Butler? Paolo Nutini? Sean Connery? Ha! That would be fantastic, though. I think that's where a lot of my disbelief still comes from - we can go virtually anywhere in Europe (as long as the funds hold out, of course) .. and it's not even that much of a trip. It's absolutely mind blowing.

Well, that's all for now. Once I get wireless up in my room, I'll be sure to post the pictures that I've taken so far. There isn't a ridiculous amount of them, but .. enough for only a day and a half.

Cheers!

Pre-departure jitters.

Well .. it's the night before the flight. This time tomorrow, I will be in a plane, going over the Atlantic somewhere. It's weird to think that I've gone from just trying to propose the idea of going to study in London to actually GOING. It's freaking me out a little bit.

I still have some last minute stuff to pack, like toothpaste and my toothbrush and stuff. I feel like I'm going to forget something important, and I'm worried that it's going to be something important. I guess I'll just have to double check tomorrow before I head on out of here.

I emailed people a while back to see if anyone was going to be leaving from JFK on the same day as me so that I could have someone to travel with. A kid named Ryan McKeon wrote me back tonight to let me know that he would be flying out of JFK on the same flight. I figure that if we get lost in Heathrow or London, at least we'll be lost together.

Here's to a good flight, happy travels, and .. GREAT BRITAIN! Cheers, mates!

First Entry

This journal will chronicle my time in London and England from 05.17.07 until 06.09.07, and perhaps even beyond once I adjust back to the American life.