Settling in at Uni

     On Saturday I moved into Queen Mary, or "Uni" as the Brits call it here. We arrived on campus around 10am and went directly to our rooms. I'm staying in Pooley House for the semester and I have eight flat mates. Each of us has our own room and bathroom, but we all share a kitchen. There are four Americans, two Brits, a Polish girl, one girl from Nepal and one guy from Bangladesh. So far everyone has been really nice, but we aren't coming together as a group like I had hoped to. 
       This week I went on a boat party through the river Thames and met some really nice girls from Pakistan, bought a scarf from "Topshop" on Oxford Street and went on a guided bus tour throughout central London. I've seen everything from St. Paul's cathedral, Big Ben, and the Tower of London to the guards at Buckingham Palace. Without a doubt I have so much more to see and learn from this bustling metropolis.
       During my first day in the UK, the one thing my study abroad adviser told me not to do was to be a tourist during my stay here. So far this has been quite difficult since I still get giddy every time I see "The Eye" or the Tower Bridge. I don't think that the idea of me actually living in London will fully set in until my plane ride home. Sometimes I find myself forgetting for a second that I'm even in a foreign country, miles away from home, until I almost get hit by a double decker bus driving towards me on the opposite side of the road.
        Last night I went to a pub in the East End, a section of London which supposedly has been rebuilding itself ever since the construction on the Olympics started a couple of years ago. We took the tube for two stops and got off at very trendy area with cool shops and restaurants/bars. I spent a few hours with some new friends, some Americans and some from Switzerland, comparing cultural lingo, listening to live music and drinking red wine at a place called "Cantaloupe."
       Tonight I went to my friend's flat until the fire alarm went off and broke up the fun. (Even starting fires in England, aren't we Mo?)  Tomorrow I am heading to a museum for the day with some American and British girls and Monday we start classes.  God, it's been a long time since I've been in a classroom. 

Until next time, Cheers! (They say that a lot here, even when they don't have drinks in their hands.)

Kristen


P.S. Those of you who want to view more pictures from my trip can just click on "photos" on the right side of this page and search through the albums that I will be posting.  

My dorm room.

Study nook.

Small bathroom, but it's all mine!!

That's the Tower Bridge (and me).

At Drapers, the on campus bar.

First Few Days in the Land of Accents

            So, I have finally arrived in London.  It took a 7 hour flight, 2 Motrin PMs  and 1 big push to get me across the pond.  Somewhere over the Atlantic, while watching “It’s Complicated,” I kept thinking to myself, “WHAT AM I DOING?”  I could have had myself a nice little semester back in Lancaster, ironically, the place I’ve been complaining about for the past two years.

            Our Virgin Atlantic flight arrived in Heathrow at around10:30 in the morning.  Eighty of us, disheveled and jetlagged, scurried along to find a Butler University Representative, Charlotte, who took us to our “hotel.”  I chose to use quotations here because, to say the least, this place is an absolute dump.  We were assigned random roommates for this three-day orientation, which each room only receiving one key.  After getting my room number, I ventured upstairs with my two checked bags, backpack and purse to find out where I would be staying.  While walking through the “hotel” floors I felt like a friggin lab rat in a never ending maze.  Even though I was told my room was on the second floor, it is really situated on the third, which obviously made it hard for me to find it!  It’s a room the size of a shoebox located by itself on top of a flight of narrow stairs.  Yes, it would be my luck that I was assigned to stay in the isolation cabin. 

            After lugging all  of my crap upstairs, I knocked on the door to meet my roommate for the next few days.  THANK THE LORD that she is my roommate for only two more nights.  I try my best not to judge people, but this girl is off her rocker.  I don’t know if she’s high all the time or just plain stupid, but not having a roommate to bond with these first few days, made adjusting quite a bit more difficult.  Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was a bit odd when she just walked out of the bathroom completely naked while I was typing this post. 

            Getting past this, the first day of orientation might as well have been three days long.  I was so tired and emotionally drained and the hours were just dragging on by.  The girls that I’ve met have not been too welcoming, which I found surprising.  What makes them more entitled then me? Finally, today I met three really nice girls that I’ve been wandering the city with.  It’s given me more confidence that I can do this, but I have learned that it’s not going to be easy. 

            After a full day of lectures, the program all went to see a play tonight called “Educating Rita.”  I had no idea what it was about before coming so I was really impressed by intermission.  The acting was so strong, (there were only two actors for a 2 ½ hour play), and the message of the story really stuck with me after I left.  Then we went to a crowded pub downtown near Big Ben, grabbed some drinks and just hung out and watched the locals.  All in all it was a much better day then my first one here.  This journey will be filled with ups and downs, but I plan to try and make the most out of my three months here and you’re support from back home only helps!

Our hotel in Paddington. Don't let the outside fool you.

I could barely fit my suitcases through the hallways.

I swear these beds were made out of rocks.

My first West End Show!