Settled in London

I am finally getting settled in London. :) Everything is great so far. I'm sorry it took me so long to write, but we have been so busy!

After getting barely any sleep on the plane, we arrived in London pretty tired. I accidentally left my LSAT book on the plane and haven't been able to track it down. Bummer. Looks like I wont be studying while I'm here, which is probably a good thing. It was funny to see who traveled lightly and who packed as much as possible. I was definitely the latter, with a 30 pound backpack on my back, in addition to my two suitcases. However, I managed to not be "that girl," who ended up being the diva who paid $150 to have a third suitcase, and needed a cart to stack all of her stuff. Too funny.

I am living with Grayson, Emily, Patrice and Sonya. I am in a triple with Grayson and Emily and the other two are in the double in our flat. We are all getting along great and having a lot of fun so far. The day we arrived, we unpacked and met the whole group and staff for a quick tour of the neighborhood and went to a pub for some food. The food was next to awful, as most of it was deep fried, cold, and we didn't know what it was. I had a girl-scout bite of each thing, but it was pretty bad. Not to worry, I've had really good food since then :)

The next day (Friday) we had a lengthy orientation covering transportation, food, safety, etc. The area we are living in is quite nice and relatively safe, which is great. We then went on a walking tour of the West End, where we toured the local neighborhoods. This is when it set in that I am going to have an absolutely amazing time here. There is absolutely so much to do and I am already stressed out about how I am going to squeeze it all in to the four months I have here. That night we had a group dinner at Zizzi's, an Italian pizzeria, where I had butternut squash risotto which was delish! (And reminded me a lot of home). For dessert, I indulged in a chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream. Whoever said the food here sucks has clearly never been to Zizzi's. Apparently the best way to avoid bad-tasting food is to avoid the authentic English cuisine. Friday night a bunch of us went out to a bar and had a blast. We met up with some other kids from USC who are in different programs. There are so many USC students studying here this semester, so we see each other everywhere.

On Saturday, Grayson and I went to Waitrose, a local grocery store known for fresh produce. It was huge, and comparable to a Safeway or Ralphs at home. The produce was reasonably fresh (especially in comparison to other places we've stopped into). First off, I noticed how much more expensive food is here, especially when beginning to do the pounds-dollars conversions in my head. Then I noticed how the expiration dates on many things were a lot sooner than in the United States, which I was told was because people in London go to the grocery store every two or three days and get a few things, rather than stocking up. I guess Costco wouldn't do so well here. Soon after filling three reusable bags with groceries I realized I had to carry them all home. I think I need to adopt the London grocery shopping style to avoid having to carry so much, but it was definitely a workout. Saturday night we grabbed some ice cream and stayed in and began watching the Tudors series, a show about Henry VIII. It's both entertaining and informative, and helping to refresh my memory of all the English history I've learned and forgotten over the years. We are also taking note of places they show in the episodes that we will eventually go and visit.

On Sunday we went on a bus tour of London, where we saw most of the tourist sites from the bus (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, the Tower of London, the National Gallery, the Thames, Hyde park, St. Paul's Cathedral, etc.). However, we saw most things from the bus and only stopped at Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral, both of which were breathtaking. I can't wait to go back. A few of us stepped inside St. Paul's Cathedral for a minute, and were amazed by its grandeur. It definitely rivaled the cathedrals I saw in Spain. The tour was mainly to get us acquainted with the city and the main sites, which really helped us so we can plan days in the future to go back. Saturday afternoon, we ran a few errands for household things like extension cords, extra drawers, hangers, etc. We went to this place called Argos (where everyone said to go) and found that you have to flip through a massive catalogue, write down the item number, see whether they are in stock or not, and if they are, pay first and then receive your items. What a joke. It really made me miss and appreciate Costco. The catalogue took forever to find what you were looking for and after I did, I soon learned that most of what I got was out of stock. I ended up buying a set of drawers that were way smaller than I intended, because you pay before you actually see the item. So, those are going to be returned. Sunday night we went out to dinner at a place called Maxwell's, which seemed like a restaurant out of California. It was nothing special. We had some happy hour drinks, and then went out to a few bars after, only to find that Sunday night is definitely not a popular night to go out in London (clearly) so we called it a night pretty early. It was nice to hang out and get to know more people in our group.

Today (Monday) was the first day of class. In the morning, I woke up and went for a run in the neighborhood where we live. I started at Russell Square and ran down various streets and back. I didn't turn so I wouldn't get lost. I just picked streets that stemmed off of the square and ran down until it hit a dead end or until I felt like turning around, and did so. It was a great way to get myself oriented. I plan to do that the next few times that I run and then eventually go run in nearby parks. We also have a gym membership to the YMCA, which is a really nice gym just a few blocks away. After, Grayson and I went to the British Museum, which is just two blocks from our flat! After walking inside and looking at a map, I realized how huge it was (more than 7 million objects) and decided that I would have to go back multiple times in order to see everything. The collections in the museum are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. We viewed the ancient Egypt and Middle East sections. Walking to the first exhibit, I noticed a large crowd standing around and taking photos of something, which I approached and saw was the Rosetta stone. My amazement was soon jolted as I was shoved in the side by others trying to get their photo of the stone. It was nevertheless very impressive. We then moved into Ancient Egypt. The collection's highlights included the many tombs and mummies of everything from humans to bulls to dogs and cats. There were a few actual human skeletons shown as well. One exhibit showed the inside of a tomb to see the positioning of the body, which was so well preserved (apparently by the dryness of the climate) that you could still see the skin. In a way, it felt like we were violating these people by looking at them (and some even taking photos), but it was truly moving. We only had a few hours to spend in the museum since I had class at 5, so we only got to see a few collections. We will definitely be back in the future.

My first class (Communication and Global Organization with Lisa Robinson on Mondays from 5-8pm) was great. She has lived and worked all over the world, and currently lives in London and works for the BBC. I chose this class because a friend of mine who studied here last Spring told me that I HAD to take her, and that Lisa was the whole reason that she (my friend) wanted to go into non-profit work after College. My class tomorrow is also with Lisa. Today was mostly just an introduction day. We introduced ourselves, talked about our experiences thus far, went over the syllabus, and learned about her life. I am really looking forward to taking this class. Although I have to admit it was kind of a shock to realize that I will actually have to go to class and learn something while I am here, instead of sightseeing all day, every day. ;) Tonight I made a salad for dinner and we stayed in again, since tomorrow is our first morning class. After, we plan on going to another museum and maybe checking out Harrods (without buying anything, of course). Then, a bunch of us bought tickets to see Chicago, which I am really excited about.

So far, the weather has been fairly mild and less cold than I expected. Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky. The first few days we were here it was cloudy and rainy on and off, but nothing extreme. I think I can handle it! As I write this letter, I hear rain drops outside. Eek!

My best friend Maggie just got in to London today, so I can't wait to see her soon. She is studying here with another program, so it will be great to have a close buddy here in addition to my friends in my group.

When I talk to people in my group about studying in Madrid in the summer, many ask me similar questions like if I think my London experience will compare to Madrid, which city I like better, etc. I am never quite sure how to answer them because I can already tell that my experiences at both will be quite different, but nevertheless both will be two amazing times in my life that I will never forget. While in Spain, I lived alone with my senora, spoke a different language, our group was smaller, didn't know anyone at the beginning and came out of the trip with two of my really good friends, ate ice cream everyday, went on runs in the heat and humidity. Here, I live with four other girls, speak English (although some words are new), our group is much bigger, I know a lot of people from class, I don't eat ice cream every day because it is too cold (coffee and tea instead), and I bundle up to run in the bitter cold. I can already say, even though carrying groceries might be a pain in the butt, it is really nice to be able to cook for myself this time. If I had to survive a whole semester of my senora's cooking, I would come out 100 pounds heavier and a chronic case of heartburn from all of the fried food.

Well, time to sign off for now. It's getting late and I have class in the morning. Sorry for the long email. I will try to be better about keeping up with my emails, but it's been hard since we have been doing things all the time and haven't had much down time. Please let me know what you all are up to! Love you all and miss you tons!!! xoxoxox