Week One...again...for the first time...in London

And so it would seem I have made it to another country. It has been a while since I've written and so I'm going to do the natural thing and pretend the last four months are completely irrelevant to this blog. I have decided to not use the format of attempting to write every Saturday, and instead I have chosen to write just when I happen to find the time. I'm a much more laid back person now. Obviously. Anyways(sorry Mom), I am now in London, England. It is quite the thrill really. But I'll share the intricacies of British life more as this blog progresses. I no longer have my little blue man, but I'm going to assume that the readership of this blog have the imaginations to place him where he need be. So I suppose now I shall tell you about the experiences of the last week.

WEDNESDAY: Wednesday was basically a non-day. Got to the airport at 11:30 to leave for London, and then was on a plane for ten hours until I got there. By the time I did get to where I am now it was...

THURSDAY: Arriving in London was quite the thrill for me. I have never been this far away from home and so it has been interesting to experience this new found freedom. It's like I have all of a sudden become more independent. Which is why I'm writing this blog for my parents and friends and family back home to read. Independence. My first real meal in London naturally had to be something completely British, and so we went to a restaurant called Wagamama's, where I had curry chicken and rice. So very British.

FRIDAY: Friday was spent in orientation for the London program, where we spent a whole lot of time hearing about what we would be doing in said program. Relatively unexciting stuff. But we did spend time walking around the city and getting to know our surroundings, which was exciting. Once again when we went to lunch I decided to have some good old fashioned British food. A spicy chicken sandwich with potato chips(french fries). So very British. I did enjoy the napkins they had at the restaurant though. Mine said, "Now remove all evidence." I found it quite clever.

SATURDAY: Saturday was the biggest day so far I'd say(though technically all of the days have been equally big, accept for the one I am currently in which is not finished yet, so who knows what might happen). We went on a group photo scavenger hunt which was very exciting indeed. Most of the pictures on this blog will have come from that one day. We basically saw all of the big sites in London, while acting like insane lost American tourists. But we did all of the normal things. Took a picture with a cabbie, took a picture with a man wearing a Union Jack t-shirt, and ate more British food... pizza. Totally normal British things to do.

SUNDAY: I went with some friends to a church called Hillsong. One fun thing about the church was that it was in the same theatre that shows the We Will Rock You musical. Though it did seem somewhat strange to go to a church that had a statue of Freddie Mercury on top of the entrance. The church itself was more like a motivational conference than a church. A band played music and there was lots of jumping around and that kind of thing. Then a preacher went up and talked, naturally having a slow musical build up as his sermon ended to make sure everyone had an emotional connection. Then there was more singing and jumping and then it was over. (The picture to the right is clearly not the church we went to.)

MONDAY: It didn't quite seem right to be going to school in a place like this. It really still seemed like vacation. But Mondays are certainly my toughest days this semester, considering the fact that I have 3 classes. Hopefully I'll be able to do alright in all of them. If not then maybe I'll try to be average in all of them. In any case, I'll be consistent. We did go out and have crepes for dinner that night. Not your normal run of the mill crepes. My crepe had Indian curry chicken with rice. Quite delicious. Quite British. As usual.

TUESDAY: I woke up at 7:30, even though I didn't have class until 10, because I'm attempting to turn myself into a morning person. I believe it's possible, it will just take some work. So that means if you're reading this in California and you want to talk to me you could just stay up until midnight and chances are I'll be awake and totally willing to have someone to talk to. School was much easier and somewhat enjoyable on this day, but I'm not getting my hopes up that it will always be like this. I'm sure it will be dreadful soon enough. In any case, I have now been away from home for an entire week, and in my opinion(which will always be correct) I have adjusted quite well. It's technically Wednesday now, but where I come from, the sun has set on what has been my first week in this grand new place. Here's to the future that seems like it will never come.