Hullo, all! It's perhaps a bit late to mention that I have, indeed, made it to London safely. I apologize for the delay in posting here, but London is a bustling city with much to see. As it turns out, exploring and adjusting are time-intensive and way more fun than blogging.
My flight arrived at Heathrow a week ago. It is a sad airport. Apparently the British aren't as fond as spending lavish sums of money on airports like we do in the States, or at least that was my impression. After navigating through immigration and the general maze of terminals and elevators, my dad and I found our way to the train to Paddington station, where we caught one of those iconic London taxis to the hotel. My understanding is that my voyage into London was a lot smoother those of my peers. Thanks, Dad.
The next few days were spent finding the school, mapping bus and Tube routes, and being tourists. We managed to hit quite a few places: Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the Sir Winston Churchill Museum, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, and the National Gallery to name a few. Look for pictures in the coming days.
Sunday was move-in day. After visiting a Calvary Chapel and walking the parks around the palace, we checked into my place near Tower Bridge. Less spacious than the Queen's crib, to be sure, but my arrangements are palatial enough for a poor college student living five minutes from the Thames. I have a bed, a sink, a desk and a window with a nice view of other windows. The consolation price for lack of view: Starbucks is a three minute walk and has free wifi!
Monday and Tuesday were orientation days. Standard fare as far as orientation goes: wait in line, run into people who are just as lost as you, get bombarded with people who want you to sign up for their clubs and programs, and receive a pep-talk from the school faculty and student government. Still no definitive course schedule, but I think that should be in place by Friday.
Finally, last night was the boat party for General Course students. It was by far the best boat ride I've been on. The tour started near Tower Bridge (convenient for me) and went up and down the Thames. The view was phenomenal. The party was also a chance to meet other GC students. Washington is apparently very well-represented in the program: Georgetown has about thirty students participating, AU is somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve and there are a few token GW kids.
Since most of my time has been spent with GC orientation, I regret to say that I have had few encounters with actual British students. Hopefully that will change when courses start on Monday. In the meantime, there is still quite a bit to see and do before hitting the books.
