Welcome to Queen Mary, University of London

I have been in London essentially three days now and it has been quite the whirlwind! I took the provided Queen Mary shuttle from the airport to the university (I have to stop myself from saying college because British "college" is equivalent to Americans' last two years of high school.)  I got to my flat in Pooley House, which is quite nice.  I have a single with my own bathroom on a hall of 9 people, who all share a kitchen.  I have yet to meet two of my flatmates though! I don't know where they are lurking.  Those I met include two American boys, three British girls, and one Chinese boy.  They are very friendly and everyone is interested in doing things as a flat and getting along, which is quite nice. 

On Saturday, I had no internet and no phone so was unable to get in contact with anyone from Muhlenberg and thus had to find new friends to spend my first evening in London with.  I went out to dinner at our campus bar with a girl I'd met by the elevators and some of her flatmates.  She was American, as well as one boy, but then we were with four British girls.  All the Brits I've met at the Uni are first years.  The Uni integrates the study abroad students with the first years (or Freshers. Note: Do not use American term "Freshies." That is equivalent to FOB and is insulting in Britain.)  The fact that it is a new campus for me, compounded by being surrounded by Freshers, really makes me feel like a Freshman in college again, which is slightly disheartening.  I was quite glad to get to Sophomore year and feel secure in friendships and in what I was doing.  I must remind myself though that Freshman year was great, and that this certainly isn't exactly like Freshman year, and that it will be extremely worth it in the end.  (And it already is, believe me!)  Anyway, at dinner, we three Americans reveled in our ability to order beers.  I had a Guinness, which I quite liked, much to the surprise of my British company.  I suppose it's my Irish blood...After dinner, I went back to the flat and hung out with my mates, and then zonked out at around 11:30 and woke up around 11:30...Yes, a solid twelve hour sleep.  It was the most glorious thing.

Sunday I found Carolyn and Lydia from Muhlenberg, got internet, and got a phone!!! It was a much better day.  We went to the Westfield Shopping Center at the Olympic Village which was built for the games and is now the biggest inner city shopping mall in Europe.  Outside was a Native American music demonstration, which I found quite humorous and simultaneously homey.  I also rode my first double decker bus and purchased my oyster card (access to public transportation)!!! That night my flat had a pizza party - pizza for the third meal in a row for me, so far the only food I'd eaten in England.  It was a good time and nice to socialize and meet new people.  After pizza, I went with Carolyn, my flatmate Karishma, her friend Chettan (that spelling is a complete guess and probable butchering of a lovely Indian name meaning life), an American boy, and two British boys to Draper's for a Traffic Light Party, at which you are supposed to dress in either Green, if you are single, Red, if you are taken, or Yellow, if you are unsure.  As I had none of those colors in my wardrobe, I went with the ever neutral white, which proved a good choice as no one "dodgey" came up to me enquiring as to my availability.  It was a really fun evening with good music and dancing.  Note: Britons do not grind. At all.  Everyone just has a jolly old time actually looking at each others' faces.  I was impressed. 

When I got back from Draper's, the jet lag hit me.  I was laying in bed til around 4 in the morning, trying to go to sleep as I had to be up at 8 for orientation, but absolutely could not sleep.  It was dreadful.  I had even turned off my computer so I couldn't blog or waste time.  Then of course Monday morning was dreadful, tired and jetlagged.  Orientation was THREE HOURS LONG, just sitting in a lecture theatre (not hall), listening to one speaker after another.  My brain was not in a state able to comprehend.  The entire day I was tired and just mentally slow, but of course, here we are at 12:41 my time, and I'm wide awake again.  This is really getting annoying.  I'd love to sleep. 

Today we also went food shopping at Sainsbury's, which is ENORMOUS.  It's somewhat similar to WalMart...slightly smaller.  It was the busiest grocery store I have ever been in, which didn't make for the nice relaxing experience I usually enjoy when buying food.  Also, as we had to walk about a mile and carry everything, we had to be very selective in what we bought, unlike the convenience of taking a car in America.  I got chicken, grapes, carrots, butter, bread, pasta, and vegetable soup.  The randomest combos ever, but I'm hoping it works out somehow.  Carolyn, Lydia, and I got back from the store and made dinner: chicken with rice and cooked carrots.  It was a tasty and successful first venture in the flat kitchens.

I really wanted to post photos for you, but my memory card doesn't seem to fit into my new computer...just adding to the stress of a first week/weekend! Hopefully this will be amended soon, and you can see everything I'm talking about.  Also, if you didn't catch on, I'm bolding the actually educational bits about British culture, so if you are here merely to learn and skip over the mundane details of my life thus far, I'm making it easy for you :)  I'm hoping to get a little more creative with entries later on, so please bear with my for the time being as I'm just unloading these first few days onto you! Until next time then, cheerio!