Freshers Fun

So it is almost October now, and I have yet to step into a classroom at UCL. They give students here a week or so to register for classes, get settled in and socialize before classes begin. It's a nice change from home where we have to start our full academic schedule pretty much as soon as we arrive. At the same time, I'm really ready for classes to begin and get a routine going.

This whole week, the student union is hosting a bunch of events at nightclubs and bars around the city, and last night was Freshers Fiesta. To sum it up, it was CRAZY. The club, KOKO, was super packed and I could hardly breathe. Whether it was some dude's B.O. attacking my poor scent sensors or some chick elbowing me in the lungs, it was consistently out of control.

We got pretty tired around 2 a.m. but most of the people there kept raging until past 3. I am now certain that I cannot keep up with these British freshman who apparently party this hard every night because their coursework doesn't count their first year (crazy, I know).

This morning I woke up with bruises in odd places, and I am definitely feeling pretty wrecked from two weeks of going out almost every night. As fun as this has been, I don't think I could keep this up for the entire year, nor do I want to lest my liver gives up on me and runs out of my body.
The next big event we're going to is Club Neon, which is a huge glow-in-the-dark rave that's happening on Thursday. In the meantime, I'll be getting my life in order and registering for the rest of my classes.

If all goes to plan, I'll be taking 2 economics courses, a psychology course, and a global citizenship anthropology course that will include an internship in London. I'm down to two choices: Le Monde Diplomatique (English Edition) and the UNHCR.

Earlier yesterday, we ventured to the Regent Street Festival, where all the stores had awesome promotions and the street was blocked off for food vendors. The best part was the free cupcakes and champagne at a bunch of stores. The pictures are of a cupcake tower and a pastry stand they had going.
I'm pretty settled in now in my flat about a 20 minute walk from campus, which has pros and cons. Pro: the facilities are a lot nicer than some of the dorms that are closer to campus. Con: My feet feel like they are covered in bruises from all the walking I've been doing. You would think I'm exaggerating, but during the course of a day, I walk about 3 miles just coming to and fro one time. Multiply that by three journeys on average and you are already at 9 miles. Pro: All that walking is preventing me from gaining weight and is bound to keep me in shape. Con: Walking the 40 minutes home from the night club last night SUCKED. There were creeps everywhere and I felt very unsafe without any pepper spray on me (which is considered a firearm in the UK and thus illegal to carry). As safe as they say this city is, it's still scary when you're wearing club gear on deserted sidewalks at 3 in the morning (I admit, not the smartest decision to walk home, but there were NO cabs!).

As much as I love London, there is one thing I miss about the States, and that's TV. Hulu and all the network sites don't work here when you try to watch episodes online (boo!). So I am now on the hunt for other options.

I'm sure there will be some good stories to tell at the close of Freshers Week, but for now, I am going to continue resting my sore feet and keep from moving more than 5 meters for at least tonight.

Why I'm a Pitiful Blogger

So I have officially been in the United Kingdom for about two weeks now and have yet to update this blog with any of the details. Basically, I suck.

I landed at Heathrow on September 14, and was one of the lucky ones who got through immigration lightning fast. Here is a brief overview of my first week.

Kensington...
...was beautiful. We were set up at a really nice hotel for a few days to learn a little more about how things work across the pond and the university system here. My roommate Jess and my beds were literally less than 1 inch apart.

The first night, we went bar hopping to about 7 bars total. We were completely obnoxious and the loudest ones at every bar we went to, but it was a lot of fun. The pub culture is a really fun thing to be a part of. And, I had the chance to learn about some of the different beers they have here. I think either Stella or Blackthorn (the girly cider) is my favorite so far. It's very community oriented and a extremely laid back. Supposedly, the local pub is the living room for all in the neighborhood.

The second day we had some Indian food and saw the spectacular views from St. Paul's Cathedral. Even though London is cloudy, grey, and gloomy most of the time, it's still so beautiful. By this time, we had discovered our favorite pub in Kensington, Prince Alfred's, because they have an awesome sofa bar upstairs where we celebrated Mexican independence day with some locals over beers.

The next night we went to the New London Theatre to see the War Horse with people from the Arcadia program. It was basically your standard star-crossed lover story except instead of a boy and a girl, it was about a boy and a horse. As cheesy as I thought it was, the puppets they used for the horses and other animals were phenomenal. I guess the Brits love horses because everyone except us were crying at the end.

During the first couple days, I had a chance to really adjust to the lingo around here. "Lift" instead of "elevator." "Toilet" instead of "bathroom." "Cheers" instead of "thank you."

After some more bonding with fellow study abroad students over cheap wine, we were finally off to Swansea, Wales for our homestay. At first I was a little nervous about this because when I got my assignment, it only had one woman's name on it under "Mom" and "Cats" under "pets." So it was my natural suspicion that I was living with a cat lady. But it was absolutely not the case. I lived with a wonderful family of three who already had a 17 year old polish student living with them. I was a little wary of how many cats they had (4), but they were the most friendly cats I've ever met and totally turned around my opinion of them. The secret favorite was Frankie, whose picture is shown below. He slept with me and my host roomies one night and he's just adorable. I did hate one of them though, Mattie, the girl cat, who is apparently a two-timing whore who hooks up with both Oliver and Tommy, the other boy cats. She was the meanest one.

So much happened in Wales, from visiting Mumbles, to watching Dorian Gray, to clubbing and drinking on Wind Street with the crazy Welsh locals, to getting free (but weird) onion and cheese sandwiches from the owner of Maggie Dicks. We also got to try Welsh cakes (awesome), cockles, and lavabread (which is actually seaweed). But my favorite part has to be my host sister Rachel. She was the most darling thing about that place and she taught us some new Welsh slang as well. When you think a boy's cute, you call him "lusch." When someone is cool, you say they're "mondo." When someone is cuddly, you say they're good for a "cutcsh."

So that's a little about my first week in the United Kingdom (although apparently no local calls it that) and I promise to update more later with some details about my first week since I've moved into my flat in central London.

Cheers!

3 days and counting...

For the past few days since my last post, I've made a couple discoveries, the most important being that Hulu has all the seasons of Arrested Development (Alanna, I finally finished the series). After watching all three seasons and finishing traffic school for my mother, I feel extremely accomplished.

Three more days until the big departure date, and I still have not packed. I've been intending to pack for the past two weeks, but I realized that my clothes would get wrinkly and you actually don't need that much time to pack. Most of my banking woes have been resolved. I opened a Bank of America account, which will allow me to withdraw cash for free at banks overseas in their ATM alliance. I keep feeling as though I'm forgetting to do something before I leave, even though I know there isn't. I'm sure I'll feel this way up until the day that I arrive, which is a little annoying because I keep waking up in the middle of the night to write down stuff on my to-do list.

I will miss a lot of things about the States while I'm away. I was reminded of exactly what I'm leaving behind for a year today, when I had what will probably be my final bite of In-N-Out before my flight out. Oh, and I'm sure I'll miss my friends and family too. It really is bittersweet this time around because I'll be so far away for the longest time I've been away from home. At the same time, I can't wait to get on that plane and discover what adventures lie ahead. Hopefully those future adventures will be at least somewhat entertaining so as to make your reading experience more enjoyable.

Toodles 'till later!

Nothing Packed but Ready to Go!

This entire summer has been a slow and painful waiting period before my departure to London for the academic year. Mostly, I worked at my summer internship (which was surprisingly more amazing than I thought it would be) and caught up with friends in Los Angeles. But since I finished up that internship, I've had too much free time to know what to do with.

For instance, today my mission in life is to go to online traffic school for my mother because she got a speeding ticket last month while we were on vacation. So far, I've completed 2 of 8 quizzes I must pass before getting the certificate in the mail. During these two "lessons," I periodically filled up with angst for having to go through this punishingly painful process for an offense I did not commit. But, I quickly realized that I really do not have anything better to do so I really do not have an excuse not to nor deserve not to since I let my life fall to this level of nothingness.

Aside from this combination of head numbing boredom, light angst, and adoration for my dog (who I will possibly miss more than anyone) that I seem to be feeling right now, I am so incredibly excited for my year abroad!

The thought of writing a blog is a little weird for me. Publishing your thoughts for anyone to see implies that you think things worth writing down and important enough for others to read. I really don't think I fit this criterion, but I do like the idea of recording your experiences while you're abroad for you to look back on and take advantage of one way modern technology has made it easier for us to keep in touch. So to the three readers that I will probably have throughout the year, this is for you.

Pretty much everything is good to go. All the paperwork is filled out, my visa and passport is safely in my desk drawer, and I've said all of my goodbyes. The one task I have yet to take on is packing. I put a few of my clothes aside that I definitely want to take with me, but other than that, my room is a mess with things I need to sort through. I think I may wait until pretty close to the last minute so that I give myself less time to think of even more things that I just "need" to take with me or I'll "die."

The one worry that I have right now is banking. There is a 3% fee for every purchase that I make with my credit card or debit card and there's also an ATM fee for cash withdrawals not made at an affiliate bank. Fees annoy me to no end, so I am seriously contemplating opening a British bank account once I arrive in London. I really can't go through paying fees for every transaction for an entire year.

As bored as I think I am, there are still a million little things (like banking) that I need to think about before I leave. Do I need one of those touristy money belt things for travel? Which handbag do I pack to maximize utility? Will I have regular internet access? Do I leave my phone behind?

I'm sure it will all work out, and despite all this thinking and worrying, my most standout emotion is excitement and eagerness to start this amazing adventure.

Cheers for now!