The British Accents are beginning to wear off

...No They Aren't.

Well I've now been in London for 3 days and I'm beginning to get into the swing of things...believe it or not! I won't lie, it was certainly an adjustment and I'm still falling asleep in the middle of meetings and plays...oops!

A Quick Recap, embedded with some entertainment, I hope!

4:45 Sunday afternoon, after lunch with Barb & Eric and a depressing Patriots game, we left Dave in Allston and headed to Logan. With shake-y hands, I boarded my flight and found my seat, on a rather larger plane. I took my aisle seat next to a woman who spoke very little English and enjoyed the sound of the flight attendants speaking to passengers and each other. I knew I was going to like it when I saw the tray table had "whilst," one of my favorite words, written on it. However, the 6 hour flight was going smoothly up until the point I fell asleep and lost my DVD case, which I continued to freak out about, tears included--breakdown number 1, until we were taxing and the nice man next to me found it under his seat. With customs questions about where and what I was studying and dragging my 2 extremely large bags on to a cart (which by the way, still didn't make it much easier), I was off headed for "The Meeting Spot." And what a spot it was...I didn't realize until I got there that there actually was a meeting spot. Anyway, so I found my group and was off to 11 Palace Court, my home for the next 4 months. Lucky me, got to climb the 6 flights of stairs to my room, with my 2 large bags. My GR (Graduate Resident), Philip, who, by the way, is like something out of a movie, helped me carry them all up the stairs to the top floor. The room was surprisingly large--the only double in the building, high ceilings, with 3 rather large closets, 2 beds, 2 desks, a mirror and a sink. My clothes even fit in the room--shocking I know!!

Then I spent the rest of the day running errands (Boots for Toiletries, Tesco for Water, Marks & Spencers for Sheets & Towels, etc), then exhausted was out by 9 p.m...only to wake up 2 hours later completely jet lagged. This of course, did not help my adjustment and lead to breakdown number 2, stay tuned, I'm sure there will be more. Not being able to sleep and exhaustion are never a good combo so after talking to friends, Skyping with Mom & Dad, who had a few words of encouragement and advice, I finally fell back to sleep by 3 am...which didn't feel so great at 815 when my alarm went off. We were off to City University, led by our fearless leader, Philip, for orientation (featuring our program director's introduction, equipped with corny candy metaphors, and a Panel of MPs from the different parties in England). It's funny how fast you see how little Americans know about the rest of the world. (Thanks to 106, I can confidently say I knew most of the information!)
We then spent the afternoon at St. Paul's Cathedral. The three pounds and exercise I got, plus the minor freak out, number 3, from heights on the stairs, were certainly worth it when we got to the top. Standing at the top of the cathedral outside, where you can see all of London, I realized how excited I was to be here.

We then ate dinner at Strada, an Italian restaurant (Side Note: My stomach is absolutely hating London. While usually I atleast TRY to avoid dairy, it's been difficult when constantly eating on the run or having meals provided for me. It'll be very happy once I can get to the grocery store for myself! (B-I've already put SoyNuggies on the list, if they have them of course!)), walked around to the London Eye, Westminster, Big Ben, etc, quickly showered, than went to Sports Cafe, which if I didn't get on the tube to go there, another side note: TUBE IS SO EASY...America, or NYC/Boston for my own case, FIGURE IT OUT!, I would have thought I was back in Wisconsin based on the sheer number of Americans in there.

Did I mention it was my birthday? Great way to spend the day...although I still dont feel 21 and I'm not sure I will until I'm back in the states.

Then today it was more meetings and then Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre, it was interesting to say the least. I slept through the beginning of it, still trying to catch up on the time different and the little sleep I've been getting : (

More meetings tomorrow, gotta be up early...yuck.
Miss you all, More later...pictures, maybe if I can figure out how!

Cheerio!

Off to London Tomorrow

Welp, it shockingly only took 3 hours to pack. After picking out and eliminating clothing, stuffing Ziplock bags and crushing them until there was no air remaining in the bags, a quick run to the Cobbler, to get my new boots fixed (apparently they didn't survive the New York City streets) and another to the Verizon Store downtown for a new cell phone charger, cause apparently Rachel had given me the wrong one (it's ok!!), it almost seemed too good to be true.

Now usually when my mom and I pack for something it's a mess. It's become something we both DREAD because we know it will inevitably end up in us screaming at each other, someone crying, someone stressed out and Eric having to get involved. It's never pretty. Thus, I'm about ready for my bag to break and explode. That would make it more typical.

Instead, we went through my clothing, drawer by drawer, picked out what I might want and neatly folded it. Then we eliminated a few items and packed up one of the bags. We even jokingly hoped to get everything that was sitting in one section of my room in the bag and were able to. Then a quick run downtown and back to finish the last bag. It all fit perfectly. I still gotta do a little bit later on tonight or tomorrow. But I still have time and today, was a wonderful surprise.

So now I'm sitting watching crappy movies with D and writing to you. I still can't believe I'm leaving in less than a day. I feel like I need to say something eloquent and wise. However, I'm not quite sure what that statement is. I'm not even sure how to describe how I'm feeling. I'm both nervous and excited.
-Nervous because I really have no idea what is in store for me in the next few weeks. I've always been the type of person who needs a schedule. I can't even sit on the beach without a time frame for what's coming next. I have no idea where I'm going when I get there or what to expect.
-Excited because I'm about to embark on a journey to a city I've always dreamed of visiting, let alone living in. I've spent the last weeks looking at maps of where I'm living (The Bayswater Area), where I'm going to be working, touring, eating, shopping and more. I've been so anxious to finally get there, although I can't believe how quickly it came.

So with all that, wish me luck and I'll talk to you again from London, England!

Probably time to pack

It seems like yesterday when I wrote my first blog post, relaying a detailed countdown to my departure, which now would read 1. Now, I leave in approximately 33 hours. Weird.

Soo I figured it was probably time that I stop procrastinating and begin packing. Right now, my mom is making my bed, so we can fill it with all the clothing I might possibly need then weed things out...Hopefully a trip to Bed, Bath, & Beyond for SpaceBags this afternoon won't be necessary. With that, I'm writing to you from my bedroom floor while I begin to think about what I want to bring.

I figured this could be entertaining so I'll try and share some of it with all of you.
This may take awhile so check Twitter for more current updates!

3 Days & Counting

I apologize to my oh-so-prevalent readers for my lack of blog posts in recent weeks. Since leaving Wisconsin, I've been pretty busy...
Family Vacation to St. Kitts (spent sleeping and reading and eating...tough life, I know!)
NH Weekend
And New York City, something to look forward to once London is over, not that I hope that comes quickly.

Anyway, now its Thursday night and I leave in 3 days. My To-Do list is down to PACK!!!, which is something I suppose I should be doing right now but instead I'm talking to you, whoever you are. I spent last night researching Virgin Atlantic's luggage policy. Rest assured, I can bring 2 bags, no problem. Instead what concerns me is weight. 51 pounds might be tricky. I can already picture Eric on the scale Sunday morning...Don't worry, I quickly realized that the less I purchase now the less trouble I'd have packing!

And now I'm beginning to brainstorm what I need to pack, before my mother yells at me to go start cleaning & then organizing my room, from all this traveling I'm not sure I can even find my floor!

Packing List
1. Underwear/Bras
2. Pajamas
3. Raincoat/Rainboots
4. I'm already bored...did I mention I HATE packing?