I'm here!

Ok, so I can't believe I'm writing a blog, lol, but here it goes. I'm going to try to write in this regularly... haha, with 'try' being the keyword. We are going to be doing sooo much this semester I've realized the only way I'll remember half of it is if I record it in a diary... so yea... there are definitely going to be some adventures in here.

I guess there is a lot to talk about since I've been here... 4 days. We're doing so much each day feels like 2.

The trip here went smoothly. I fortunately was seated next to a UNC Grad student in Sociology who specializes in Labor Sociology, so she was a pretty interesting person. Also she didn't talk too much either, which is a big plus.

Our flight attendant liked us - he insisted I drink wine with dinner and encouraged me to get drunk, lol. I decided arriving in London schnockered wasn't a great idea... so I was responsible and turned him down :-)

The plane was actually nice - I didn't feel like I was crammed into coach. There seems to be a bit more room and everyone has their own little t.v. Even the food wasn't bad.

When we arrived we had to wait in customs for about 40 minutes... it was a REALLY hot, long wait. But once through Barry was there to pick us up. He is from Ireland I believe and really charming. He's apparently known my father for years. During the flight I was actually pretty sad about leaving the States. I've finally found the true friends I've always hoped for and saw first hand that I would have had an amazing semester at UNC. I'm so glad I got to go to Bid Day, but I really hate I'm not getting to know our new girls - they seem so great! Well... I do know Danielle and Abby ;-) and they are wonderful.

Anyways... back to the point... once we started driving through the England countryside I finally began to feel excited. The houses are so different and the countryside is beautiful. Also it started to hit me I'm going to be living in London.

At one point we passed a pub called the Piccolo, and a minute later we passed the "Whistle and flute" (which my dorky, flute playing self couldn't help but comment on, lol) and apparently Whistle and flute were used to refer to a man who is dressed up in a suit and tie. It's a cockney expression. Barry feels that they are stupid and often will use 10 words to describe something simple. During this convo he was like "You know what dog and bone is..." of course I didn't... "a phone"

ok, it makes sense, lol - the point: cockney expressions are stupid

When we arrived in London Acorn didn't have our keys ready for us... which was REALLY sucky since I had emailed the program letting them know we would be in early. Someone messed up, and I'm guessing it wasn't the program's organizers. We had to unload our luggage and were sent to do whatever for 4 hours, and at 2PM "they might be ready" for us.

Chris, Heather, and I decided to get food then visit the British Museum. First we just sat around and people watched. Then we went in there. It's not my favourite... maybe it'll grow on me. I guess it is difficult to say, because by this point I had only gotten about 30 minutes of sleep for the night, lol. But lack of sleep leads to interesting commentary :-)

Next we decided to try to get to know the area, and fortunately we ran into Professor Oehler who helped us get our keys and bags. We then walked 7 blocks with our luggage to our flats on Gower Street (ya know... a short walk, lol, especially when you're dragging 80lbs worth of luggage... and about that: you try and pack your life for a semester, haha)

Haha, other than that incident there has been very little to complain about. Oh wait... the size of our room. OK, so I was picturing everyone shared apartments. That was completely wrong. We are basically in hotel rooms with mini kitchens. Sapna and my's apartment is the smallest by far. Haha, I walked in and was like... "you've got to be kidding." It was worse when we saw how much bigger most of the other rooms are. But on the positive side our closet is the biggest and our shower is nicer than most.

That night Sapna, Andy, and I went out. The area we live in, Bloomsbury is really safe overall. In fact, I feel pretty safe in the city. But at night... not quite so much. We roamed around looking for a pub to drink in with people. After walking around for 40 minutes we finally found the London pub and drank for about an hour. It was nice - but pubs are a place to hang out with friends... not really a place to meet new people. I don't like Old Speckled Hen lager. Haha, by this point we had no clue where we were, but about 30 minutes later we found our way home.

Sunday morning was our bus tour. Sapna and I barely made it up... lol, thank god she set her alarm. Our tour guide was great. It is amazing how huge this city really is - in fact it's really actually 2 cities that are put together.

Afterwards I made a list of the top things I want to do before I leave:
Stuff I want to do before I leave:

Portraits museum
Natural History museum (see the dinosaurs!)
Shopping
Walk in Kensington Gardens
See a concert at Royal Albert Hall
See at least 3 musicals
See another opera (other than Carmen)
Tower of London
That enter at your own risk museum
Ride on the Millennium wheel

also apparently there is a festival sometime this week at the Thames river. Mary mentioned a Tango dancing festival... I definitely want to check that out.

After the bus tour we took a nap... jet lag is a b*tch. Later in the afternoon we went to shop for groceries and buy cellphones. Here they have orange service which is pay as you go. It's really convenient. I've been to the grocery store: Sainsbury... 3 times. This is one thing that makes me really miss having a car. Carrying heavy grocery bags for 10 minutes sucks... and I can't buy everything I want in one trip. But it's cool... I'm getting there :-)

Later Sunday night the whole group of us hung out in Andy, Tyler, and Cory's room. It's pretty big and it was a good time. Haha, I bought this terrible WPG (or something) vodka drink at the store - I was intrigued bc it actually had real vodka in it - but it tasted like Blue Rasberry soda... which eventually got old. I'm going to stick to wine and beer from now on, lol

Monday was our orientation. We're not allowed to bring people in to stay at night... haha, not like Sapna and I would be able to put someone anywhere. Seeing the University of London Student Union was really cool. Unlike the UNC student Union they have a whole floor dedicated to a bar and hang out area. Can you imagine a bar in the student union!? lol, it's soo cool. We definitely plan on checking that out. They also have tons of clubs for us to choose from so we can meet British students. I'm planning to join the salsa dancing club (of course) and I believe they have an orchestra... so I'm doing that if I can :-) haha, if not maybe I'll do canoe polo. They try to create different sports - like REAL tennis, which is the original game. Apparently they use wooden paddles and a hard ball... and the goal is to hit your opponent. Lol, I think that maybe it went extinct for a reason... BUT I'd love to see people painfully getting hit in the face.

In our tour of the library I almost fell asleep, lol. It's nice... yea... that's that.

After that we went and took an hour nap. Then we went and sat in Bedford Square which is a nice little park right near our flat. The weather here is GORGEOUS. It has only sprinkled once. It's not hot, not cold, just perfect. I definitely plan on staying outside as much as possible before it gets colder. On our way there we got free tabloids - yes, they hand them out for free here - and it talked about how much of a whore Britney Spears was at the VMAs, lol. Sitting on the perfect grass, talking and hanging out was amazing.

Then we decided to check out Regent Park. It was about a 15 minute walk. It was completely worth it. It is soo gorgeous... there is no better word. I have no idea how they maintain it so perfectly, but walking through it is breathtaking. It's like the minute you walk in there it's hard to imagine you're in a city. So we took pictures and hung out there for a while... walking around and whatnot. We didn't make it there, but there is even a freaking zoo in the park... actually, the oldest zoo in the world maybe as a matter of fact. I want to go, lol

For dinner we headed over to Trafalgar Square. I was really antsy to start seeing the city. This definitely calmed me down, lol. First off I finally got my oyster card, which lets me ride the Tube whenever I want. The Tube here is sooo much nicer than DC's metro. Haha, I actually am not afraid to be on it... the seats are nicer and it's brighter. The square is pretty near Big Ben and right next to the British National Gallery. We inevitably took as many pictures as possible. Lol, and Katherine and Kaitlin got on the Lions. I had a terrible time trying to get up onto the monument... good grief. I am so afraid of standing higher than 6 feet off the ground. Plus you had to climb up... which took 3 attempts to accomplish. Haha... yea... it was worth it though.

By this point we were all really hungry. We went to this small Italian restaurant for dinner nearby and it was AMAZING. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was wonderful. lol, I was craving spaghetti and meatballs.

Last night was ridiculous. After dinner we decided we wanted wine, lol so we made a pit stop. When we got back everyone was getting ready to go out so we changed quick, basically drank the wine in 20 minutes, then headed out. Haha, the sad thing was the wine was actually pretty good... it was a waste we had to drink it so quickly. But going out was worth it :-)

It is about a... 20 minute walk to Soho, which apparently is the place to go out. We had hear on Monday nights this bar/ club had pound pints so that seemed like the perfect place. It was awesome. haha, earlier in the day I had been telling the girls I really wanted to go clubbing and seemed to be the only one. Little did I know I'd be in a club that night. Our group is so much fun. I guess it's just the European atmosphere, but everyone danced. Haha, maybe it's because the Europeans are such bad dancers our guys weren't intimidated.

They started the night with pretty modern music - Jay-Z, Akon, etc... but when things started picking up they totally pulled out the techno, lol. Soo much fun, haha. They played Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" 2 different times... haha, but it was set to a techno beat. In fact... they set a lot of rock classics to techno. It was exactly what I thought Europe would be like, but better :-)

We danced for 2 or 3 hours... and then had to walk back. Unfortunately I wore my new black pumps and they completely tore open my heels... so drunk Christina took off her shoes. Thank god Tracy was sweet enough to give me her socks to wear. So far today I've felt fine... so I don't think I have tetanus :-) Plus it's so warm I can wear rainbows, so it's not too bad.

Today we had our first class. Shoot, it's hardly even class. I love it. It's our Active Listening in London course with Professor Oehler. Basically he's going to teach us to review and critique concerts. We are required to see 20 concerts and review 4 of them for grades, although in order to do well we are going to need to review most of them we see. He does have very high expectations regarding our writing. But still... it's going to be so much fun. I would go see that many concerts anyways.

Most of the class was actually going to see our first concert. We were late... our bad... but only by 5 minutes. We had a hard time finding the venue... and took a 5 minute stop to get food. lol, you need food to listen well :-) The concert was really great - they played a Beethoven piece for cello and piano, Stravinsky's three pieces for solo clarinet, and a Brahms trio.

In order to get there we had to change cars 3 times... I've got to learn how to get around on the subway... and how to read a map. Haha, in fact I still don't own a map of London. Shoot, I hardly know my way to the grocery store. It's bad. I'll work on that this week :-)

Anyways, that basically covers everything until this point. I need to go wash dishes, lol, and then I think tonight we are going to go explore more :-)