and so it begins!

IM HERE! I can't believe it, I also can't believe I have a blog...
My Friday departure was a bit dicey as I got a wake up call from US airlines telling me I needed to get on an earlier flight if I was going to make my connection in Philadelphia. So all last minute plans (aka packing) had to be shifted up a couple of hours, luckily, the early flight got delayed and I ended up leaving Minnesota around the same time as originally planned and still made my connection! In Philly, I met up with Christina (my camp friend who will be studying at a different campus of the University of Westminster) and another girl from Skidmore who will be studying with me. The flight was OK- I didn't sleep very much, and instead spent my time watching movies on my seat back personal screen and chatting up the British woman seated next to Christina (who thought the woman was very similar to the crazy pigeon lady in Home Alone) but I thought she was perfectly nice (okay, so her one painted black fingernail and vampire romance novel were a little strange for a middle aged woman..) We arrived at Heathrow and proceeded to customs, we got quite the questioning my the customs officer, who demanded to know where we got the money in the bank statements and had me promise I would not do ANY sort of work while i'm over here.. "not even helping someone out," so naturally for the rest of the day if someone would ask a favor of me I'd respond "sorry I can't i'll be deported." When we finally did finishing the questioning and got the stamps on our passports, Christina decided to take a celebratory photograph, only to find a huge sign above her head that read "absolutely NO photographs in the immigration area," needless to say, we exited the area in a brisk jog. Not only did we have to collect our breath when we exited customs... but we had to collect our massive cargo load from the baggage claim (11 bags between the 3 of us). It was quite the juggling act to get all the bags out in the arrival area, but luckily when we did, Jack (our British camp friend) was waiting with two empty hands! We dispersed the bags between the four of us (Jack somehow ended up with the two heaviest ones.. hmm) and headed towards the tube... it was quite the journey. It began when my pounds got rejected for being too old by the ticket officer... and he seemed genuinely curious where i had acquired such ancient notes, but with the help of a visa I was able to acquire an oyster card and be on our way... the  tube trip required three transfers, one of which was in one of the busiest stations in central london. It also should be noted that, the stations had huge staircases and no elevators (lifts) by the last transfer, we were so tired of hauling the bags up and down the stairs we all just pushed them down the stairs and met them at the bottom a few seconds later... luckily there were no breakables, however, the handle of one of the roller suticases did come off. About two hours later, we arrived at Jacks flat exhausted and sore. I promptly fell asleep in his bed for a quick nap, dreaming of chauffeurs and teleportation, only to be awoken with the reality that we still had to bring the bags to my place. Running on about 2 hours of sleep and an airplane pastry I really think I would have collapsed if I had to transfer my bags on the tube again... so we opted instead for a ride in one of London's signature black cabs to my flat.

My flat is in the Shoreditch/ Hoxton area of East London. I haven't had much time to explore my neighborhood yet-- but so far it seems very hip and has a lot going on (especially at night). I live in the 3 level building next to a greek restaurant, each floor is a "flat" of 8 single bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. I am on the first floor and have a nice corner room. I'll post pictures later! Anyways, after checking me in we headed to Oxford Street to get Christina and me cellphones and other necessities. That night, Jack and Christina left, I went out to a bar with my RAs and the other international students in my area, a school sponsored drinking event... strange, but fun!

Yesterday, I navigated the tube system alone (even with the central line closed!) to meet Jack and Christina back on Oxford street. We then headed to Harrow (a suburb of London) where Christina will be living to move her in. Her place is more like a Skidmore- esque campus with greens and classrooms located just moments away from her room.  
After settling her in a bit, all three of us headed back to central london to meet up with another friend, however, this girl didn't yet have a cellphone so we ended up missing each other-- how did people survive before cellphones? We browsed around some of the big stores (huge topshop!) and Jack brought me to "Ben's Cookies" where I ate the best cookie (or biscuit) ever. Readers, if you come visit, we will definitely be making a stop there. We then headed back to Jack's where we cooked pasta and met his other flat mates. Christina and I then navigated the night bus route back to my place (with just a few mishaps..)

This morning we had an early wake-up to get to our orientation in central london, it was made a bit more painful, that both Christina and I set our alarms not in military time so we had about five minutes to get ready. We took the bus to one of the many Westminster buildings in Central London and sat thru a rather dull (but informative) orientation on academic procedures, campus resources etc.. Afterwards, we headed with a group of other Skidmore and Madison kids to Primark (huge discount store) where we got all sorts of things to set up our room. My favorite purchase was my 5 pound british flag throw blanket (when in rome...)

Ok- this is getting quite lengthy and I'm off to dinner so i'm going to stop.. but I'll write more soon! XXX (the british version of xoxoxo)