Foggy day in London town

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting again! Thanks to anyone who read. To Kathi - yes I did actually get a tea kettle, and I just orded a couple of boxes of tea yesterday to try some new stuff! Here's a picture of my little tea corner of my desk!

my little tea corner

Day #7 - Saturday, September 25

Today I was woken up a little earlier than planned, but for good reason. At around 9:00 I heard pounding on my door and was a little confused if it was my door or someone eles, so I lay there for a second. Then I decided to go see what was going on, and when I went to the door, one of my flatmates was holding a vase of flowers. Eric had cleverly delivered me some flowers and it was quite the lovely thing to wake up to :) Then I went back to bed since of course it absurd for me to be awake that early.

After waking back up a while later, I decided to go on a little walk. At this point, I still didn't have any silverware or dishes or pots, pan, etc. But also, at this point, I had about five pounds in my possession, thanks to my friends in Luxemburg, and none of  the shops near where I live are the type where you want to use your credit card. So I finally found some silverware for a couple pounds and headed home to make some dinner. I talked with my flatmates for a while about the strange differences between how we talk, and it was interesting to hear their viewpoint on Americans. They invited Paige and I to go out that night with them to a local club and we agreed to go. We went to Ministry of Sound (which is apparently world famous), and it was extremely boring. Paige and I left around 1230, while they got back around 530 in the morning (yay freshmen!). Then I headed to bed.

gorgeous flowers! thanks :)

Day #8 - Sunday, September 26

I woke up today and did some more putting away/organizing of my room/making a shopping list and grocery list for when I finally get some money. Paige and I went on a little walk and wandered over to the South Bank area of London, which is on the River Thames right by the London Eye. That area is incredibly gorgeous. On the way there we walked through East Waterloo (see picture) which was a funny little reminder of home.  We walked through some of the shops and along the river and I immediately fell in love with the area. We ate dinner at Wagamama's, which they have in the states, but I had never heard of. We walked around a little bit more until the shops started to close and it started to rain, so we took a bus back. When I got home I watched the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy and went to bed!

Waterloo East!

Day #9 - Monday, September 27

One of my first days in London, I spotted a Chipotle (which is a lot like Pablos, except 100000 times better). Now since I still didn't have any pots or pans or means to cook, and I was craving some good food, Paige and I decided to go take an adventure to get some Chipotle. Before eating, we stopped at a TKMaxx (which is the UK version of TJMaxx) to look for a purse and wallet, and ending up finding a good purse and wallet that holds a lot of coins because their currency is LOTS of coins. Then we headed to Chipotle, where I was kind of disappointed that it tasted different, but it was still good to have a filling meal.

I had been super excited all weekend because I had orded pots, pans, a duvet cover, alarm clock, tea kettle, desk lamp, night stand lamp, etc, and I was really really really (REALLY) excited to finally get all of my stuff in my room and get totally settled in. So I went to the store where I had orded it (called Argos) and went to excitedly pay for my goods, when they told me that they didn't have a machine to read my credit card. I was super confused...I have a standard VISA credit card. But apparently it needs a chip in it or something. I was really frustrated and just wanted my things, and I called Eric and freaked out a little bit about my lack of currency. Lesson #6: Don't put all your eggs in one basket...or all your money on one card. Before leaving home, I decided it would be a great idea to empty out one of my bank accounts and put all of it the other one so I could manage it easier. BAD idea. Needless to say, my wonderful father agreed to deposit some money into the account I had emptied so I could use my other debit card to get out cash. After that fiasco and mental breakdown, I made some pizza for dinner, read a little bit, and went to bed.

Day #10 - Tuesday, September 28

I woke up around 745 today (crazy, I know). We had a study abroad orientation at the main student center at 930 and had to take the tube there. We had tea and biscuts for breakfast (how English) and then had a few hours of introductions and more information. Then they had a tour guide take us on a 2 hour "creative tour" of London. She took us on the back roads, to a couple parks, and down some little alley ways. I took a million pictures of grass and trees. It was so wonderful to see something besides concrete! It was really nice to see some of the parks, and it made me realize I might not be in a complete concrete jungle.  Then the tour ended at a traditional English pub, where the school bought everyone a pint of beer. Yes, this is a country of people who love their alcohol. I tried some sort of cider beer which was pretty good. Then I went and finally got my things I re-ordered from Argos and went back to settle all my things into my room. Then time for bed!

TREES!!!!

GRASS!!! 

Lincoln's Inn Library

Since they can't grow gardens on the ground, they
grow them on the wall!

Day #11 - Wednesday, September 29

I was frantically awoken this morning but what I thought was my alarm clock. It was my first morning with my new alarm clock, and I thought it was just obnoxiously loud. I kept hitting the snooze button thinking, "Seriously, shut up. You are too loud." Then I realized that it was actually my fire alarm that was going off and frantically tried getting dressed. Then it stopped, and I remember the day we moved in that the guy at reception said they test the fire alarms at 10:15 every last Wednesday of the month. Which was today. So I got up and got dressed and ready to go the "Freshers Fayre", which is a fair of activities and societies and sports and other other events for freshmen to get involved with. It was huge and a little bit overwhelming, but I think I decided to join a yoga group for a little bit of relaxation.

After the fair, I went on a hunt for a tea place I thought saw in the area the day before. After wandering around for a good 30 minutes, it started to downpour. Lesson #7: Check the address of places BEFORE you go wander around London. Turns out I was in a completely different part of town and the tea place was no where near me. Oops. And then for the rain. It has rained almost everyday I've been in London. When I left this morning, I realized I forgot my umbrella, but looked at my phone and it said it was only a 20% change of rain. Lesson #8: A 20% chance of rain in London means IT WILL RAIN. I will not leave home again without my umbrella with me! 

I came back home, soaking wet, dried off, and relaxed a little bit. Then Paige and I met up to go get some Chinese food from across the street. Gross chicken but good rice and spring rolls. Then I went upstairs to relax for a bit. I skyped with Eric for a bit and then called and talked to my mom and dad for a while. It was really good to talk to them again. Then to bed!

Day #12 - Thursday, September 30

I woke up today and got ready, and headed over to my college to meet with my course director. The area where my school is located is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It's right on the River Thames and next to the Tate Britain Museum as well as the Tate Gardens. I'll be sure to take pictures the next time I go over there, but I didn't have my camera. The building that my school is in actually used to be a prison, which I could tell upon entering it. I met with my course director and he gave me a little bit of information on the course I'll be taking. I start school next Tuesday (finally!). I'm really excited to finally get back to school...this almost 5 month summer has been very long and I'm ready to learn again! 

I got home and went grocery shopping (for a few items this time). One thing on my list was Mac and Cheese. I've been craving it since I got here and Sarah was eating it today while we were Skyping which made me crave it even more. The first grocery store I stopped at didn't have any, so I stopped at a second one. All I could find was Mac and Cheese in a can. Lesson #9: Do not EVER, under any circumstance, eat Mac and Cheese from a can. Grossest thing I have eaten in a while. It smelled gross and tasted even worse. After dinner I did some laundry and cleaned my room, and now I'm sitting here finishing this up! 

English Language Revised!

fayre - fair

vest - tank top

tank top - vest

zed - the letter Z

chips - fries

crisps - chips