peppermint and pipe tobacco: 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!