Photo Evidence

Monday night I got to bed around 1:30 and fell asleep relatively quickly and soundly, jetlag catching up with me, only to be awakened at 3 by the fire alarm!!! It was absolutely the worst thing ever.  We all groggily made our way outside and waited, for almost an hour, in the windy freezing cold, I in only a t-shirt and sweats.  One guy was even just in a towel.  When they finally let us back in I fell asleep rather quickly again, my warm sheets never feeling so good, but I had to be up early again for Orientation - another day with not enough sleep. 

Tuesday was a lot of mundane, getting settled in activities - it seems these are endless, I don't know that I'll ever have all I need and finally be settled in.  Tuesday night, though, was the fun part and best event thus far! Queen Mary had a boat cruise down the River Thames for the international students!  We had to take the tube (my first tube ride!!) to Tower Hill Station, which was, to our surprise and joy, right at the Tower of London - my first real sightseeing experience!! We then walked in a huge parade of students to Butler's Wharf, so we had to walk around the Tower, over The Tower Bridge, and back down towards the wharf.  Yes, it was quite cold and windy, and no, I was not dressed properly because I was in a dress and sweater and for some reason did not consider the weather.  Body numb when you're having fun? Our boat was the Dixie Queen and the cruise was at least 3 hours (slightly too long, but what can you do.)  We expected there to be dinner or appetizers or something, and we walked in and there were only bowls full of munchies.  We were freaking out, as none of us had eaten in expectation.  I ordered my first Pimm's from the bar, which was quite yummy - I am now an official Londoner! Eventually, they did bring out essentially tea sandwiches and assorted cheeses.  I ate something unidentifiable, I think a sort of pate. It was...interesting.  I met some nice new people, including a girl from Norway and one from Holland.  The Dutch girl told me that in school she had to learn 6 or 7 languages at one point!! Greek, Latin, Dutch, English, German, French, and maybe one more...I can't remember. I was super impressed, and she speaks English very well and clearly, especially when coming from a Dutch background which is so entirely different.  She lives on the floor above me so hopefully we'll be seeing more of each other.  Anyway, it was really neat to see the city lit up at night from the river, although since it was so cold I didn't stand outside much to really enjoy the view.  The Tower Bridge lights up at night and we got to see it lift up to let us through, which was neat.  The British bartender/works were making one of us all for freaking out and taking pictures of it, claiming it was "just a bridge."  They just can't understand. The Tower Bridge is where the Olympic rings hung. This is not London Bridge, as that fell down.

After the cruise, I went with the Dutch girl and 3 Americans (including Ellie and Alex whom I hung out with the first night here) to Fast Food Chicken, one of the many Fried Chicken etc. joints in the East End.  It has shocked me how many places serve fried chicken.  It's a huge thing here, especially for the South Asian/Middle East population apparently, whereas I always associated it with Southern United States. You learn things every day!

The point of all of this though is that because of being unprepared and out in the cold the last two nights, I now have a runny nose, which lends to why I GLORIOUSLY slept until 11:30 but also to why I am still in my room, in my pajamas, at 1:09.  Yes, I have things to do, but sometimes lounging feels so nice, especially after running around constantly the last few days.  Since I don't feel like leaving my room just yet, I thought I'd put up the first batch of photos I managed to finally get onto my computer.  The best ones from last night I took with my actual camera, not my phone, so I can't put those up yet, but that will just keep you coming back for more, right? :)

 This is the Jewish Cemetery that's in the middle of campus.  It's a little startling to walk by as you are leisurely going about campus.  I haven't really explored its history yet, but will report back when I do!

 This is Tower Hill Station!!! That's Hannah and Carolyn.

 The view of Tower Bridge from Butler's Wharf.

 Pimm's!

 This is the view from my room. Awesome, right? Yeah, that railroad has a train that passes by all too often.  Thankfully, it hasn't really kept me up at night.

 My room, but soon after moving in, so it's not in it's best condition here. It still is undecorated with my pictures though because I can't find tacks for the bulletin board to save my life!! Ugh!

 My bathroom - note how the shower is just this tiny part of the floor. No rim, no separation of any kind.  It makes for a fun time.

 Ellie, Alex, and I with our first drinks!

 Carolyn and I on the top of the Double Decker bus!!

We were going to lunch and on the way back noticed this little cement boat. Not really sure why it's there, but it makes for a great photo op don't you think?