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!