I'm here!!

Hello from across the pond! I've been in London for about 24 hours and love it dearly already. Everything is so charming and the people seem very pleasant. It rained all day yesterday, but I asked some shop keepers about the weather and they said it doesn't rain as much as foreigners expect, and I really hope they weren't just messing with me! I live in Paddington, a very small neighborhood part of the larger Kensington/Notting Hill area. It is 5:30am here, and I have been up since 3:30am, trying to fall back asleep, but I have given up all hope, so decided to start my first "real" day in London bright and early. I'm annoyed that I woke up so early, but I was asleep by 10:30 last night, something I haven't done since middle school probably, so I think my body is confused. None the less, I plan on exploring a bit, find an early opening grocery store, and stop by a cafe. Later, my group is going to City University, where my classes will be held. Then we have a "scavenger hunt" in London. Not sure what this will entail, but it should be interesting! My week has been pretty much planned out for me, but next week I will begin class on Tuesday, so I believe my real London experience will begin then!

Yesterday I spent the day shopping for essentials, including horribly scratchy sheets, which I partly blame for my early awakening. I met all of my housemates, 25 of us total! We are all here with Arcadia, but some are interns and some, like me, are just taking class. I thought I would be traveling with people from all over the US, but it turns out that almost all of the interns are from Indiana University. I was worried about this, but so far I have made some what I hope to be good friends. We were going to go to a pub around the corner from us last night, but I guess when we made these plans jet lag hadn't set in yet, and we ended up crashing. I had fun exploring yesterday with them, and learning my way around here. In fact, after only about 5 hours of being here, a Londoner came up to me and asked me for directions, and much to my friends shock and awe, I was able to point the local in the right direction. Thank god for my amazing sense of direction!

So far my hardest adjustment has been not having a phone to call/text home with. I bought one that will only work here, but I miss my iPhone so much. I still carry it around with me, almost as a security blanket. I started texting so many times yesterday, and then realized I couldn't. But thank goodness for facebook. Expect random wall posts from me just like my random text messages!

Of note, my room is on the 5th floor of an old Victorian building. I hate it already, but hopefully it will kick the laziness right out of me!

Cheers!