Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, it's been busy and exciting to say the least! But I am feeling so comfortable with my new home already and it hasn't even been a week. My dorm is a 2 minute walk from various pubs, a Pret a Manger (best place ever.. sandwiches for 2 pounds 50), a Starbucks (!)...though I have yet to go! A 5 minute walk another direction takes me to some grocery stores, the postal office, the tube, and a really cool store Argos (basically, there are huge enormous catalogs with every item you could ever want, you write down the number, pay for it, then they fetch it in the back for you). I still miss my Target though. About 15 minutes down the road is another tube station is the "Angel" area, 5 minutes down another direction is yet another tube station and the Museum of London. We went there today and it was awesome... but by the time we got there we were so exhausted that we didn't even finish getting through all of it! But I have 4 months so I'm not too worried. We all have to keep reminding ourselves that we don't need to rush to see everything, we enough time to do it all (maybe!).
On Tuesday we chose our classes for the semester.. I'm taking Visual Journalism, Performing Arts in London, International News and British Media.. and the classes are only on Monday and Tuesday. Awesome? Yes. Except, not sure what I'll end up doing on Wed-Friday... maybe this calls for joining the gym next door so I can stay in shape. And there is way more exploring to do! When I do end up exploring, it'll be nice to have more than the weekend.
On Wednesday night we went to this club downtown called The Penthouse. Holy club. We took an elevator to the top floor, it was all windows and had a perfect view of Big Ben and the London Eye. It was absolutely breathtaking.
I've been spending way too much this week, trying to experience everything and do as much as I can... but starting now (or tomorrow after the Rugby match), I need to set myself a budget and stick to it or else I'm going to run out of money real fast. London really is one of the most expensive cities in the world.. and converting pounds to dollars in my head isn't helping!
On Friday me and Alex went out sightseeing, and even though we meant to just go to Picadilly Circus area, we kept on walking and ended up running into St. James Park, Big Ben, London Eye, Parliament, etc.
^ Westminister Abbey! Beautiful isn't it? We walked our tootsies off to say the least.. and took many touristy photos, such as us in the red phonebooths. We had to do it! It has been pretty chilly out recently and it's even worse when it rains... pretty miserable. Oh well, can't say I wasn't warned it would be rainy in London!
Last night we went out with Alex's floor and it was so so fun! They're a great bunch of people, mostly from England, some from Ireland and Scotland. I love new friends! I wish I could just meet everyone.
Today we did some more sightseeing with Andrei, Jen, Betsy, Liz and Jackie... made our way to Covent Garden (pretty similar to Quincy Market in Boston actually) where we saw a street performer solve a rubix cube in a minute, take off basically all of his clothes while balancing on top of a ladder and juggling machetes... you know, completely normal day to day activities.
We then went over to Buckingham Palace, grabbed a really over-charged meal by Big Ben (we ordered a sandwich and were literally charged for the bread. say what??!). Then we headed back to campus and went to the Museum of London. and THEN! I met up with Julia (a best friend from high school back home!!) for dinner with several of her friends (one goes to King's in London, the other two go to Queen Mary with her). We grabbed the 5 pound burger and beer special down the street from me (I can tell I'm going to take advantage of that deal a lot). It was so good to see her because I hadn't seen her since the summer in NYC for my birthday! So exciting.
And now I'm organizing my bloody room since I haven't had much time.. staying in tonight to give my wallet a rest. Tomorrow is the rugby game.. this should be interesting!
I love the various phrases the British use. For example, to ask how you are, you say "are you alright?" so these past few days when the guys on my floor have asked "are you alright?" I was like uhh yeah why wouldn't I be.. haha.. oh culture differences.. gotta love it.
that's all for now mates
xxx
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