An American in London

Hey guys!

So I'm finally adding some pictures to the blog! These are just scenic, mostly of The National Gallery, Hyde Park, and London Bridge and one of me in the famous red phone boxes!

I'm going to be uploading the rest soon and also (hopefully!) to my facebook! The server in my flat is not that great with pictures so I'll probably have to resort to going to campus to get that done!

love,
al

I Lost the Scot

This week has been pretty awsome so far, mainly just busy with class and of course going to the daily Tuesday night sports bar with the rest of my flatmates.

Sunday night we all took it easy and hung out in the dorm watching movies and getting ready done for class so it was pretty chill, but Monday night we all planned on going out for the Chinese New Year celebration downtown...however...because everyone was taking so long to get ready and decide if they really wanted to leave we ended up playing beer pong in the common room until about 1 (the tube stops running at 12). After we all got into our pajamas and went down the street to get kababs which are meat sandwiches...and at around 1:30 AM they are sooo good! Daisy, Jackie and I stayed up until 3 but then I was ready to crash.

I don't have class Tuesdays so I got some sleep in, went for a run around the neighborhood and did grocery shopping for the week. Around 6 people were starting to text about that night's activities and of course by 10 we were all set to go out, dance, and get inibriated :).

We got to the pub around 10:30, checked our coats and headed to the bar. It was insanely crowded but we managed to flag down one of the bartenders and order our drinks. I was on my way over to our table when I ran into this guy who turned out to be Scottish (I understood his accent which was surprising lol). He bought me a shot of tequila and we ended up talking for awhile but then my friends wanted to dance and I lost him as a result.

The rest of the night consisted of the French boys getting very drunk and dancing around and me, Josh, Raz, and Daisy going outside to get fresh air and so they could smoke before going back inside to order another round of drinks. Jackie got very drunk and started yelling at everyone about something (I wasn't really sure) but she was definitely ready to go home and by then it was about 3 AM (and it was last call anyway).

Daisy got sick on the night bus that took us back to our dorm and it had started to rain which was just lovely as most of us girls were in heels but we got back and headed right to bed...it was about 5 AM and I had to be up at 8 for class...brilliant!

Wednesday and today have just consisted of class and hanging out with people in the common room. Last night me, Kate, Cory, Daisy, and Carlos went to get Italian and watched Disney movies for some reason. Around 11 the French boys suggested beer pong and when both teams were down to one cup each it took another hour and a half to finish the game....probably because were tired and drinking Stella Artois...gross...haha.

Might just take it easy tonight since my last lecture tonight doesn't get out until about 9 PM but we'll see. Lily Allen is supposed to play some club in Central London this weekend so we're going to try and make it out..it would be so awsome so her her live!

love,
al

WWTCGD: What Would the Chatham Girls Do?

This weekend has been absolutely ridiculous...and by the that I mean completely Chatham worthy!

On Thursdays I have my International Security Studies lecture at 10 and then the seminar following it at 11:30 until 1 and then I have my second class, Third World Politics at 6 pm until 8..(my professor for this course is your quintessential English man...he would start swearing mid lecture when he got really into it...so funny!) So in between killing the time in between the classes and then the tube ride back to the flat I was completely exhausted...but the minute I got back I got a text from my friend Jackie who lives one floor below me (I'm on the 2nd floor of our building) to let me know that of course, we were all going out. The great thing about the people I'm living with is that they all have this great energy to go out and we always have a great time together...it also makes going home real easy since we're such a large group.

Anyway, so I had about 10 minutes to grab food since I hadn't eaten all day and change my shirt and shoes and look a little going out worthy. In London a lot of girls go all out...but since its still cold I haven't really done that yet but that fashion styles here are phenomenal. My friend Daisy loves to wear this bright pink trench coat when we go out with pink lipstick and a pink headband. She has be most adorable sense of style I've seen here yet!

So we all meet up in the front lobby and head to this Irish bar, O'Neils in Leicester Square near Oxford Circus, it's a quick tube ride away from the flat which is nice. The first floor of the bar is a club, the second is the bar with live music and the third is the roof access. We stayed where the live music was and the band was awsome. I got a ton of great pictures and so did my friends when they used my camera for me, especially one of the French students Olivier who went crazy taking everyone's picture while we rocked out.

Fridays I don't have class so I slept in a little, went for a run and got groceries of which I was in dire need!
Then me, Jackie, Laura and Katerina made dinner together and had some girl time, thinking it would be a night off from all the going out madness...but no

Around 10, Carlos, who lives down the hall from me came into the common room to let us know we were going to Camden Town to this bar called The World's End which is supposedly the largest bar in London. To say the least it was amazing! We finally were able to edge our way to the bar which was basically a shrine to every type of alcohol imaginable...I got a shot of Jack (which is my favorite now) and a beer and we all toasted to a fun night out. We headed into another room and hung out for awhile, drinking and people watching. We heard there was club called The Underworld having an 80s night right next door so of course we headed there next and danced like mad to every known work of 80s pop. I went to the bar and there were these two guys standing there who looked like the singers of MGMT...very messy hair, thin, hipster types and being the tipsy one who was I to keep any thought to myself at this point. Their names were Jack and Tom and they introduced me to the rest of their group, Mark, Johnson, and Simon. Jackie had joined me at the bar and the guys had a great time hearing our American accents (they really love them in England, its pretty sweet). So we all headed back to the dance floor and around 3 it was last call so we grabbed our coats and left to find the night bus that takes us back to Highgate where we live.

Saturday was our friend Cory's 23rd birthday so of course we needed to celebrate. We all (and when I say all I mean about 10-15 of us) headed back to The World's End where we met a few more people, Luca and Rolfe who were from London and they came with us to this other bar called The Salon. It wasn't too crowded so we were able to get a table and by then it was the two boys, me, Daisy, Wayne, Josh, James, Joe, and Raz. A few of us were a little belligerent (Joe and Josh got sick on the way back to the bus) but yet again, it was an incredibly fun night.

One thing about men in London, at a bar, if you make eye contact or show interest of any kind, they WILL come over to you and probably offer you a drink. In most cases, if you accept its almost like an obligation to stay with that person the REST of the night.

When we got back, me, Daisy, Raz, Olivier and his friend Charlie and girlfriend Christine who were visiting from France were up until 6 playing Kings which was hilarious since every time someone lost Daisy would yell out "drink bitch!." By 6:30 I decided I needed sleep (surprisingly) and passed out the minute my head hit the pillow.

But seriously....this weekend was legendary!

Today I'll probably just take it easy and hang out with people in the common room. I've got some reading to do for my British Economy class tomorrow so I need to get that done as well.

love,
al

Fog and Tea Time

Sorry I haven't written in awhile! This week has been a total blur!

We finally started our classes on Monday and they are so intense! They're all in two hour and a half segments; a lecture and then a seminar with class groups, so bascially I have 4 3-hour classes a week!

The classes are really self directed though, there's definitely not going to be any hand holding besides deciding on final papers/projects (one of my final papers for my Political Area Development class needs to be no less than 3,500 words! jeeez...) But one of the really awsome aspects of my courses so far is that the lecturers have real world experience which makes class interesting in order to gain perspective on the subject. I have two lectures tomorrow, International Security Studies and Third World Politics so I'll see how they go, but they should be amazing given the topipcs. Also, most, if not all the readings for classes can be found at the main campus's library
so best case scenario, I won't have to spend money on books this semester!

The weather hasn't been to bad. Random rain showers every once in awhile so I always have to have my umbrella on me just in case! Other than that its usually between 40 and 50 degrees with a little wind and yes, it is usually foggy although today there was some blue sky! It is definitely still boot, scarf, and jacket season though!

On Tuesday, me and two other girls in my dorm, Caitlin and Sara went to the Natioal Gallery. Annie Liebovitz has a photography exhibit open until next month so we went and it was so amazing! I have always loved her work so seeing it blown up in a huge gallery was an awsome experience. The exhibit cost about 9 Pounds for students but the actual museum itself is free (like many of the museums in London) and we went to the Tudor gallery which shows a huge amount of artwork from the Elizabethan Era. I had seen these works so many times in books but to actually be standing in front of the real thing was so thrilling! We went to see another huge gallery that coverd the Stuart period which came after Elizabeth I's death in 1603 when James I was named her successor which brought an end to the enture Tudor period itself. We didn't see the entire museum because it would definitely have taken the whole day! I got some really great shots of the exterior of the museum including one of Big Ben and the fountains outside the museum. Afterwards we got tea and went for a walk and by the time I got back to the dorm I was exausted.

But of course about an hour after I got back Inaguration parties were going on in the halls and two of my neighboors, Federico and Kate invited me out with a bunch of other people who live in our dorm. A few people were attempting to play beer pong with very cheap white wine and small cups so it was a definite let-down for the Americans...the Brits who live with us loved it however and just started drinking the cups instead of even trying to shoot the pong ball...haha.

Around 9 a huge group of us headed to this bar near us called The Wrestler and hung out there for awhile before heading back to the Sports Cafe in Piccadilly Circus. It was insanely crowded because of the inaguration (which we all watched in the common room before going anywhere that night) and all night whenever someone heard our accents they would always ask us how excited we were..so it was a really fun night....lots of dancing!

Today I got up around 8 for my lecture at 10. Around 1 class let out and me and another girl in my class, Helen, went for tea. She's from a suburban area just outside London.

Also, I finally got my UK phone! It's the tiniest, cheapest thing but I'm only here for a few months so buying an expensive phone is definitely not worth it...need that extra money for my travelcard and other things :).

I'm still a little homesick sadly. Going out and meeting people is always a blast, but I wish people back home could be here sometimes, a part of this feels like freshman year all over again with meeting people but it's completly nornal to have culture shock for the first few weeks. There are so many things that are different here but thats part of the experience itself!

Anyway, its almost midnight here and I have to be up early yet again for class tomorrow. Who knows what the weekend will bring! Especially since I don't have class Fridays! (yay!)

love,
al

Orientation and feeling Dis-oriented

So this week was the start of Orientation! I was pretty excited because I only knew the people I had met in my dorm and random people at the pubs. The only downside was that I had to get up around 7:30 since it started at 9:00. The walk to the tube station is about 15 minutes downhill and then I needed to by my Oyster card which is like a month pass (students get about 30% off everything here which is incredible!)


Despite me missing the New York subway system, one of the greater thing about the tube here is that there are maps everywhere for the lines and each of them are color coded. The link below can show you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html


The route I have to take is the Northern Line which is black and then sometimes I'll need to switch over to the Victoria Line which is light blue. My school is located in Central London but there are four campuses and luckily, the campus where I have all my classes is on Regent Street which puts me right in the middle of one of the busiest areas in all of London which is pretty sweet. There's always a ton to do!


I got a little lost on the way to orientation because the Northern Line splits and if you get on the wrong one it will take you the wrong direction which is not good at all, hence, my need to switch trains :).

But in the end it all worked out. I got to orientation on time and met a lot of really interesting people. We were given the task to do a scavenger hunt based on historical places on the schools campus and in London itself. My group members and I ended up going to a small English deli and poured over maps and just ended up talking for the longest time! So we all had a good time!

After, myself and one of my group members, Renee, went for a walk down Oxford Street so we could look at new phones since we hadn't done that yet. I found out that I can just buy a SIM card for about 2 Pounds (about $4.50) for my Blackberry! Then we went for this walk along the side of Hyde Park and since it had begun to rain a little and some fog was setting in it was really beautiful out so I took a few shots with my camera (I'll post them soon!). Then we went to Piccadilly Circus which is like a mini Times Square with shopping and bars and lots of foot traffic! But by then it was about 5 pm (12 pm EST) so I took the Piccadilly Line (dark blue) to Leicester Square and then switched to the Northern Line back to the dorm. So the tube was getting easier to navigate.

By the time I had left the Archway tube station (where my dorm is) I walked back up the hill to my room...and after several hours of walking I had never been so happy to lay in my bed!

The next day I had to go back to campus to finalize my class schedule. I'm taking Third World Politics, International Security Studies, the British Economy since 1945, and Political Development. I definitely have a lot of work ahead of me this semester!

Later when I got back to the dorm, one of my flatmates, Joe wanted to know if I wanted to come out with a few people later that night. We ended up going to a sports bar in Piccadilly Circus with two other guys, Joey and James and two girls, Rachel and Sara. We sat at a table and drank for a little while and played pence (quarters) and then when we were good an inebriated we finally decided to go dance...we had such a blast! By then it was about 3 am and it was last call so we grabbed our jackets and left. The tube runs only until midnight so we had to navigate using the various night buses that would take us back to Archway. I partly don't remember the bus ride...haha

I only woke up about an hour ago but my calves hurt like hell and I need to go grocery shopping. More to come soon!

The First Night

Today has been the most ridiculous day! I boarded the plane at 11:00 last night from JFK and we were in the air about 6 hours..i tried to get some sleep but it was really bumpy towards the end so that definitely was not going to happen. We landed around 11:20 London time (6:20 in the states) and got my luggage, and got my ride up to the dorm.

My dorm, while beautiful and historical is incredibly small, so figuring out how I was going to organize my clothes and my bags was quite a task! While unpacking a met a girl, Anna, who lives across the hall. We made plans to go looking for bars with a few other people living in our building later that night.

After that it was pretty standard. We took the tube (subway) to Oxford Circus in Central London where we went to a college bar and we met a lot of really interesting people! So of course, the group grew and then after going to a few more bars took the tube to Camden which is close to where my dorm is. A few people stopped to grab food but then it was off to another bar which had roof access so we grabbed a round of drinks and went upstairs to get a good view of the city.

By this time it was around 10:30 and we were all still jet lagged so we headed back to the dorm and I finished unpacking. Orientation stars on Monday morning so I'll get my ID and my finalize my schedule with my adviser! I cannot wait!

Overall, it was the perfect first day in London!

Al

6 Hours and 6 Minutes

Dad and I will be leaving for JFK in a little while! Day was spent doing almost nothing which was almost awsome...except for a little more packing and of course missing all my girls at school...

Probably the worst part about all the packing was that I definitely could not bring everything including all my books and dvds and I still have to pack up my computer cords..blah...

I pretty much wish I was already in London, probably because then I would have more to write about...and I'm sure with the 7 and a half flight over there I might! :) My flight leaves at 11:30 tonight and gets in about noon London time on Saturday (7 AM in the States).

love,
Al

1 Day, 23 Hours, and 40 Min...

Hey guys!

So i have just under two days left in the U.S. until I leave for London! I'm so excited, besides being sidetracked about paying for my monthly rail pass and making sure I haven't forgotten anything I can get here first...I'll probably save getting notebooks for lectures when I get there...damn airlines charging for bag weight.

It's so strange to think that just a few months ago I was applying for schools with study abroad programs, half not sure if I would get in and half thinking about whether or not I would ultimately even go, and thinking about it now I basically just can't believe it!

I'm going to miss my friends at school so much! Honestly, I probably won't find a cooler group of friends than the one I have now...so thank god three of them are coming to visit over Chatham's spring break! It's going to be amazing!

Anyway, just wanted to make a quick post before heading to bed...its already about 5 AM London time.

Al