The Slacker Finally Updates... =)

I know, I know, I have been slacking in updating you all, and I am sorry!!!! However, the entire adjustment process has been a bit on the rough side and I have just been too tired to do it or ended up going out to explore more of the city and just have run out of time in that day.

So much has happened and there is so much to tell that I am going to try and break this post into days in order to keep myself straight and also in the hopes that I do not forget anything! With that being said, there is a bunch more random (and some rather funny) things that need to be reported on. That will be done in a later post, hopefully later on in the day.

Thursday: Our plane landed in Heathrow around 6AM on Thursday. The flight, being my first was really not bad! I expected to freak out in EPIC proportions but I was really calm about it all. However, my friends, who were supposed to keep me calm if I did start freaking out didn’t quite seem to believe me when I said I was “doing really well,” and decided that it would be fun to test me and see how calm I really was. Bridget started this by talking about how she really enjoys take-off, but that landing is her favorite part because “you are going really, really fast and then BOOM! The plane just smacks into the ground!” Upon hearing this, Lanette decided to add “Oh! Did you tell her about the part when the wings just break off in mid-air?!” Oh how I love my friends! Despite their best intentions, they did not bother me and I remained fine the entire way, even through the really bad turbulence that we hit (though it did make me feel a bit queasy).

So we landed, got off the plane and made our way to immigration. Apparently I looked suspicious because my friends made it through with few questions asked and stood on the other side waiting for me as the officer continued to grill me for another few minutes. Questions ranging from how much money I had in the bank for this trip to whether or not Regent’s college was picking us up from the airport or if we had to find our own way were thrown at me. After an array of more random questions, the officer asked me what I planned to do if I ran out of money while I was over here. In a rather low, innocent, hesitant and questioning voice I looked at him and said, “Call my dad and ask him to put more in my bank account?” The most honest answer I could think of. He must have liked it because he smiled at me and finally let me go!

So we got our luggage and made our way out to look for our car service. We quickly found the guy, went out to the car, got in and drove for a bit to Terminal 1 to pick up Anitra. We picked her up and were now all set to head to Regent’s!

We got here and got our room keys and information and were pointed in the direction of our rooms. Anitra and Lanette in Reid Hall 106, and Bridget and I in Reid Hall 108.

The rest of the day was full of unpacking, walking around and trying to find things, floor meetings, etc. It was also rife with the insanity and silliness that comes when 4 girls have not slept in a LONG time!

After our floor meeting that night, the RA’s were supposed to take us out to a pub around the corner. Bridget and I ended up being late to meet them, so we just walked around Marylebone Street a bit and then decided to come back here and check out the sports bar. It was rather crowded with no where to sit, so we only stayed long enough to toast to the next few months with a Smirnoff each. Shortly after that, it was time for bed as orientation events started bright and early the next day.

Friday: We sat through orientation events for most of the morning, listening to various people speak and give advice, etc. I also had a special meeting for students taking theatre classes to attend. It was here that I discovered I already had a conflict and would need to add/drop a class (who would I be if I didn’t start getting to know my advisor VERY well, already!?). After lunch we had meetings with our advisors and then the girls and I went to try and get cell phones. Unfortunately they were out of stock and our search was fruitless.

Friday night we went on a Jack the Ripper Tour with the RA’s. It was our first time riding the tube (the subway system) and when we got off at Tower Hill we saw the Tower of London all light up. It was gorgeous! So we met our guides and took a walk through the city hearing all of the details about this famous serial killer! It was really interesting and also a great way to get to see some of the city! Along the tour we went through a really cool little food court/farmers market called Spitalfields which we are definitely going back to at some point!!

After the tours, our guides were supposed to leave us at the Ten Bells Pub so that we could all hang out and get a drink or whatever. However, Ten Bells was PACKED and the girls and I decided to just head back to school and hang out.

By this time, we were starving and decide to grab something quick in the tube station. So Burger King it was! Then, as we were sitting eating our food, we heard that there was a “situation” with the train that we were supposed to take to our stop and had to try and figure out a different route to take. It was definitely a good experience for us to get used to mapping out alternative routes around the city!

Saturday: With no set plans or orientation events, Bridget and I had good intentions of getting up by 9AM so that we could make breakfast and go out exploring and to the 99P store (like the dollar store!). However, we ended up sleeping until 1PM! No breakfast for us! So the girls and I went to lunch and then we went out to get our cell phones and decided to walk to the 99P store. A really bad storm with torrential downpours and 90 MPH winds was supposed to start around 4PM and it was after 3, so after arming the other girls with an umbrella and directions, Bridget and I decided to head back to school to just hang out.

After talking to both of our families on skype, Bridget and I headed down to dinner. Unfortunately, no one informed us that the refectory (cafeteria) closed at 4PM on Saturdays. So at this point we were absolutely starving and decided to pull down the 7 guide books that we have in order to find somewhere to eat.

In London for Dummies I quickly found Ed’s Easy Diner which had sounded doable to all of us, but then I found a place called Café in the Crypt. A restaurant in the crypt underneath St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ church. We decided rather quickly that this sounded cool and it was where we wanted to go. So we got ready, got on the tube and were on our way! When we arrived at Charing Cross and walked out of the station, we were just smack in the middle of Trafalgar Square! It was astonishingly beautiful and breathtaking! I could not even believe it!! So after a bit of a walk out of our way, we made it into the crypt. It was really cool, and on the floor were still some inscriptions from old graves. We wanted to walk through the church, but there was an event going on and we couldn’t. So we decided to walk around Trafalgar Square some more, and then we made our way over into the theatre district!

On the way back to campus, we decided to stop at the Metropolitan Bar on Marylebone Street (the bar we were supposed to go to on Thursday but were late getting to…). Bridget and Anitra got a cranberry and vodka, and I decided to get a rum and coke. WOW are the rum and cokes different than in the US! First off, we asked for doubles which was fine – except that we didn’t know that they don’t measure the alcohol in exact shots. So I ordered mine and watched the bartender make it. There was ¾ rum and ¼ coke in my glass! But it was DAMN GOOD!!!

Sunday: Bridget and I were determined to not oversleep and actually get up at 9:00AM today. I am happy to report that we succeeded! We got up, got ready, ate breakfast and then decided to try round 2 getting to the 99P store. It was a really long, but really GREAT walk and we got a few of the things we had needed such as notebooks and other school supplies. Then we came back to grab lunch with the girls and headed back out to Baker Street to look for Barclays (the bank) and a pharmacy. After finding those essential places, we decided to keep walking and before we knew it we were on Oxford Street!

Oxford Street is one of the best shopping districts in London. It is also my worst nightmare. Being a shoe lover, you can only imagine how my heart sunk when I saw signs advertising 5 pairs of shoes for only £25! We went into Marks and Spencer, to a book store called Waterstones, to a little stationary shop to get desk organizers, and then to an AMAZING department store called Primark where Bridget got a bed bundle so she could make her bed more comfortable. After all of this walking we were rather tired and it was getting dark, so we ventured back to school, ate dinner and organized/cleaned up our desks. Then we hung out and chilled a bit, watched as much of last week’s Grey’s Anatomy on youtube as we could (part 5/5 had no sound so we were unable to see the end!) and awaited the start of classes on Monday.

Monday: classes start today. It doesn’t seem real. I have to keep trying to remind myself that I am here for school too, not just running around having fun and exploring! I don’t have any classes until 11AM all week (until I add/drop and can hopefully get a 9:00AM class…yes I LIKE early classes!!) so I don’t know what I am going to do with myself every day!

I will most likely post again today to finish updating about the random things that have happened or that I have seen, but for now it is time to eat breakfast and get showered and ready for class.

We are still trying to figure out how to get our photobucket account pictures to properly feed through our blog slideshows, but it is still not working for some reason. For all of you impatient people who have been yelling for pictures (no worries, I still love you all and am just giving you a hard time!), I will be posting them on Facebook later in the day so check there!!!