I'm here!

Hello!

I am currently sitting in my bed, in my flat, in London! It has been a CRAZY few days.

Leaving was the scariest thing I think I have ever done. After saying goodbye to my mother, it felt unreal walking through security alone, going to the gate alone, and getting on a plane to go to a different country alone. I was terrified and I just kept thinking to myself "what the HELL am I doing?" That thought stayed with me through the entire flight and I probably got an hour or so of sleep.

When I landed, I saw some people that looked my age so I asked if they were also doing the FIE program and coincidentally they were. I took a taxi with another girl to Metrogate (the main flat for the program) to register and get my keys. The taxi drivers here are absolutely wonderful and definitely not like New York taxi drivers, plus you only have to tip them up to the next pound. So, if the taxi ride is 4.50 you tip them 50 pents (their way of saying cents. Pounds are also called quid).

The flat is gorgeous. It's definitely not like living in the Avalon but it's more fun than a dorm because its more of a community, especially because everyone in the flat is an AU student. ANYWAY, after taking a three hour nap Cierra and I went to register and get our cell phones and we took a walking tour of the neighborhood. In all honestly, the tour did nothing for me because nothing felt real and all the buildings in the area look exactly the same. What's fun about the London streets is that the street signs are on the buildings, not on posts on the sidewalk, and they are super  fancy looking.

Today (it's only 2:10 so the day is hardly over) we are going through orientation with FIE and although we are just getting lectured at it's so fun to imagine my next four months here. Everyone is warm and welcoming and all of the AU students I'm living with are great. We're already becoming a mini-family.

Last night we were already yelled at for partying too loudly. They don't sell ping pong balls ANYWHERE, so the guys were using the beer bottle tops. When we were playing flip cup it got pretty intense (boys versus girls) and one of the RA's from the next house over came in and said we were being extremely loud and that we only get one warning. Oh well, no drinking games in the flat! We were also notified that we are in the most expensive neighborhood in all of London and the neighbors have no problem calling the police and fining us a lot of money, so I guess our crazy nights are going to have to be on the town and not in the flat.

I'm trying to remember anything else fun that's happened so far... Hmm. We all just went grocery shopping at Sainsburys, which is just like Shop Rite or A&P, except for the fact they have every type of liquor and beer imaginable in the store! Oh! And Boots aka CVS-London displays condoms and lubricants literally on the first shelves you see as you walk in. They also have vibrating rings available for purchase right next to the cash registers. I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

In a few hours we all have to go back to get lectured about our internships, which should be interesting. In the lectures this morning we were told fun facts about London. One I liked was about all of the taxi drivers - they have to pass something called a "Knowledge Test" which means they have to know all of the bars, pubs, street names, theatres, ect. in London and have the pass the test before they can become a registered driver.

Alright, I need to run to lunch. I've decided that I'm going to leave a fun British slang word at the end of every post.

PILLOCK - idiot, fool. "That bloke was such a pillock!"


Love,

Miriam