Ello' Mate!

So now that the jet lag has started to subside I have started to come out of my sleepy fog and start to enjoy the things around me. I have 4 flatmates in 3 bedrooms. There is one single, which is a good size, and two doubles, one of which looks to be about half the size of the other, and that small one is of course where I ended up. My flat mates are Jenn, Mairead, Caroline, and Erin and we have all been getting along very well so far. but let me start from the beggining...

ARRIVAL
I got into to London around 730 am, the airport seemed very large (or maybe our plane was just parked on the opposite side of immigration because it seemed like I had to walk miles to get there) but going through customs and immigration was no problem at all. I don't even think the guy who stamped my passport looked at me before he sent me right through to baggage claim. Which Im fine with, one of my flat mates got stopped for 25 mins of questioning, having to show more papers and documents saying why she was there, so I guess I just got lucky. Well once I got to baggage I waited about and hour and a half for my bags. I guess it had snowed about a centimeter so they were about to give up and shut down the airport. I know that one kid on my program was actually sent straight on through to Rome because they couldn't land the plane in London....whimps.

The next 24 hours were a fog...
After getting some sleep I was feeling much better and ready to see some of the city. We had orientation at the center, which is about a 20 min commute through the city..and we did not get lost :) after our two hour lecture that was basically about not getting into cars that are not LICENSED cabs and not getting pick-pocketed we were let go. (One of my classes is 3 hours long, and that lecture made me very worried for how I'm going to stay awake that long listening to one professor.)
After that we had the day to ourselves, so my flatmates and I decided to grab some lunch at a small pub near the tube station. I got a burger and it was yummy (I know, not very adventurous) but after that we did some shopping around for some essentials, like a phone and toothpaste. and we also went to what they consider a larger grocery store. It was in fact about the size of a 7-11 and half of that was wine. I guess there is a larger one near where our classes are and were going to try that one sometime soon.
After that we took some naps and decided that we should try our hand at some London nightlife. We went out to a pub down the street to grab something to drink with some of the other flats in our building, and got a lot of stares from all the old bald men in suits. But besides that it was generally a good time. I hope the staring stops eventually. I feel like if I talk anywhere people just stare for a minute, which I did not expect. Well pubs close around 11pm, which I also did not expect, so we just came back to our flat and decided to do more research for tomorrow.

So far things have been going well..I have yet to take even one picture and I have not seen anything of interest, like Buckingham Palace, which is down the street...or Big Ben ( I am convinced that we can see it from our window but we haven't had a clear evening yet to confirm that)...I'll keep you posted.
OK ill stop boring everyone with my rants. I miss everyone at home...COME VISIT!