Sorry it's taken me a while to post, but I just recently got my wifi all set-up. Ironically, my study abroad coordinators preached to us about using wifi to stay in contact while we're here, yet our hotel did not have free wifi. It cost 5 pounds for 20 minutes of wifi, which is the equivalent of about $7.50. Needless to say, no one really took advantage of that "awesome" deal, but I'll talk more about that hotel later.
My adventure across the pond started with an 8:40am flight out of O'Hare. We had planned for me to leave the house around 6, but knowing me that didn't work out. I was left with just enough time for my dad to park the car illegally outside of the terminal, so he could help me check-in my baggage. Luckily, he didn't get a ticket and was able to see me off before I went through security, regardless of the fact that the policeman was giving him an evil stare,
The flight from O'Hare to JFK went smoothly. It was quite unadventurous until I had to get from terminal 3 to terminal 4, where my flight to Heathrow was located. Word of advice: If you are making any travel plans at the moment I would highly suggest not having a layover at JFK. Not only did I have to take a bus around the airport to get to the next terminal, but I had to go through security all over again. It was quite hectic to say the least and I made sure to text my friends that are also studying in London directions because it was just that confusing!
I had quite a long layover, but it was fine because my roommate, Emma, from Davidson did as well. I got to catch up with her quite a bit, which is always a plus because she's the best roommate ever. She'll be studying at Kings College in central London along with another close friend of mine, Katrina. We'll get to see one another every now and then; always a plus seeing familiar faces in a foreign country.
From Heathrow we were picked up by IFSA-Butler staff and departed to the St. Giles hotel aka "no wifi zone." It was an old hotel right off of Tottenham Court (I've learned now it's pronounced Tottnam) in Central London. It was great because we could walk to various pubs, restaurants, and museums if we pleased. We were placed with roommates and my roommate was named Sydney. We got along very well, but unfortunately she'll be studying at University of Sussex, which is located in Brighton. I've heard it's a nice town with an incredible beach, so I do plan to visit her at some point, as it's 8 minutes from the city limits by tube.
For a considerable part of orientation I hung out with Sydney and a number of other incredibly, friendly people. Some are on my program, others are not, but we're all in the city of London, so we plan to meet up for dinner and drinks soon. Every night after orientation we would walk around and check out the different pubs in the area. Every pub has it's own charm. As a huge Marilyn Monroe fan I loved the artwork in the ladies' room at The Court, a young, hip pub with catchy music.
On Thursday night we went to see Spamalot, which is a spoof on Monty Python. I've never seen the movie, so I didn't catch all the humor, but it was quite funny. The walk there was about 30 minutes and there was a bridge right by the theater with incredible views.
The next day, we did a walking tour and got to see some really amazing sights. I'll include my favorites with descriptions down below.
- Sax, this is where Elton John composed his famous piece "Your Song"
2. China Town. It smelled delicious and I really want to go back there for potstickers.
3. The famous Camden Market
4. Cabmen's Shelters. They used to house men that drove cabs and carriages, and were not allowed to be large, as they were built on the highway. There are now only 13 left and some serve food, drinks, or sell apparel.
6. London fashion week
7. Australia House aka Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter films
The rest of orientation was spent with hours of information, questions, and getting us through culture shock. For me, growing up with a father that lived in Ireland for a good portion of his life, most of the things didn't faze me. The one thing that really bothered me is that they kept saying, "British people don't like Americans." I've been assured by my flatmates that, that is in fact not true at all, not even in the slightest.
This has been a very long post, and for that I'm sorry. The past week has been a whirlwind of things thrown at me. In my next post I'll write about my arrival on campus, meeting my flatmates, and cooking for myself...eek!
xx
Francesca
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