What I Have Done In England Thus Far

Hello! I just finished dinner and I decided to come upstairs to chill a little bit while everyone in my house watches a TV show before we decide our plans for the night. I am going to outline what I've done so far this trip as much as possible, so that way you at least know what my activities have been even though I will not go into detail. Also, feel free to comment if you want more information.

Monday:

• arrived at Palace Court
• met my roommate Audrey as well as the other people that live with me in the London Internship and City University programs. the freshmen and the students in the London Now program did not arrive until the following Monday.
• went grocery shopping at Tesco
• went to the cell phone store and figured out what plan everyone else seemed to think was a good idea. they all bought the same plan and same 5-pound cell phone at The Carphone Warehouse. I later went back to purchase the same plan as a sim card to use in my unlocked T-Mobile phone.
• Went for a walk that was lead by our Graduate Resident, Phillip. He showed us a store called Marks & Spencers where you can buy organic groceries, towels, and sheets.
• Went to a local restaurant called Cafe Diana, where the walls were covered in pictures of Princess Diana. The restaurant was not worth it, because the portions were way too small and overpriced.
• After a dinner of Domino's Pizza courtesy of Arcadia University during our house meeting, all nine of us went to a local joint called Tequilla TexMex where we got chips&salsa and some drinks. Technically, it was my first legal drink.

Tuesday:

• Went to our first day of orientation starting at 9am. Luckily, I wasn't jetlagged (thanks to my dad for helping with that!)
• Met everyone in the program at orientation, which was held at the Thisle Hotel by the Euston Square tube stop.
• Got lunch at an Italian restaurant by the hotel, which was tasty.
• During the afternoon part of orientation, we had three members of Parliament come talk to us about the British government and they answered any questions that we had. After a heated topic about Palestine, I decided to ask each whether they supported Obama or McCain in the election. They didn't really answer the question, but said that they all felt Obama has a lot of hype to live up to.
• At night, we ventured down to Redcliffe Gardens for the first time, where me and a few friends from Palace met the people who lived there. When there, we walked around there business center to find food and a pub that was open.

Wednesday:

• We had the 2nd day of our orientation, where we learned about UK culture and safety. We also were able to sign up for Arcadia sponsored trips (I was only able to sign up for the Scotland trip, so I'll need to figure out how to go to Paris some other way).
• I went to the convenience store called Boots (like Walgreens) where I bought all of my essentials.
• At night, Arcadia paid for us to attend the musical We Will Rock You featuring the music of Queen. It was really fun music, even though the story line was kinda lame. Very cool lighting effects too!
• After the musical, all 40 kids in the program went to a club in Leischester Square called Zoo Bar and had a really fun time.

Thursday:

• We had our first class at City University, where we learned about what family life is like in Britain. I have a paper due next week that needs to include info I learned during that class.
• At night my friends and I went to a pub called Walkabout, where my friend Erin met a British guy that she really liked. He later asked her out on a date for last night, and she had a really great time and is going out on another date with him this Saturday. However, I found Walkabout really boring, especially since it was an Australian bar instead of British.

Friday:

• I picked up Christine from Redcliffe Gardens Friday morning, and we had an incident where we got on the wrong tube train so I jumped off really fast but she couldn't get off in time. Luckily, the tube is so easy that I just stayed where I was and she was able to get off at the next stop and take a train back within 10 minutes. No harm no foul, it was just funny cuz we were split up so fast.
• Friday night I left for my homestay around 6pm and took a coach out to Woking, Surrey. My homestay family was so nice! I lived with another girl from IU named Kristin, and we had a great time. The dinner they fed us Friday night was extremely delicious and really filling. Plus they were really nice people all around.

Saturday:

• The students in the internship program all had our homestays in Surrey, so during the day the program took us to the towns of Windsor and Eton. I was able to see Windsor Castle, which is Queen Elizabeth's official residence. Also, we ate lunch in the town of Windsor. Then, in the afternoon, we walked down to Eton and toured the town and visited Eton College (where the Princes went to school). It was all very cool and very old.
• For dinner Saturday night Kristin and I had a traditional English roast, roasted potatoes, apple crumble, and something I don't remember the name of. It was absolutely delicious. I honestly don't know where people get the idea that England has bad food. They should just go eat dinner at the Grimshaw house and they will know otherwise.
• Saturday night the Grimshaw family, Kristin, and I all watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie together because Kristin had never seen it. It had been a few years since I had seen it too, so I really enjoyed that.

Sunday:

• We took the coach back to London around noon from Surrey. I don't really remember what we did that afternoon because it was really low key. Probably grocery shopping. I'm still really bad at cooking, but at least I'm eating three meals a day.
• Sunday night we celebrated Christine's 21st birthday by taking her to Redcliffe Gardens, then out to a club called On Anon where we met up with people from Thorsby house as well. I think she liked it a lot, especially because there was another girl from Thorsby in our program whose birthday it was as well.

Monday:

• Everyone in my program had a 10am class at City University, so we took the tube there. We found out when our internship interview would be the next day.
• Christine and I walked to Kensington Church Street area to go shopping in the afternoon, and we both bought the same pair of black skinny jeans. Those are pretty trendy here in London, and they fit better in my boots than my flare jeans do.
• I met my new roommate Kaitlin as well as other students in the London Now program, since they arrived on Monday. She's really nice!
• Monday night we went back to Tequilla TexMex as a fun thing to do with the new residents. Also, we wanted to stay close to home because we all had interviews on Tuesday.

Tuesday:

• Christine and I had our internship interviews at Stella McCartney. It was really cool to see the building. The interview was held in the VIP room. Also, it was extremely informal, and the PR Assistant just told us what our responsibilities would be. The only bad part was that I wore my high heels for the first time in a really long time and I got a major blister on my pinky toe that still hurts a lot.
• At night many people in the program met at a club called Roxie, but we were completely unimpressed. All they played there was non-stop techno music. Five of us left early and walked to Zoo Bar, but I didn't have that much fun there either. The weird thing was that Matt, who was one of my friends from IU, had his wallet fall out of his pocket and apparently it was turned in to the bouncer at the door. As we were walking out and after he had already cancelled his credit card, the bouncer overheard us talking about it and told him that he had his wallet. Not even the cash was stolen out of it! He was extremely lucky and it was a really good lesson for all of us to make sure we have our wallet on us at all times.

Wednesday:

• I had class this morning at 10am again, which taught us everything I'd ever need to know and way too much more about the British educational system. It was fairly boring.
• After class, my friends Christine, Chad, Haley, and I went to go find a pound store (like a British dollar store) and ran into a random market in Islington. We shopped for a little bit in the market, but I didn't buy anything because I didn't know what I needed. After we were done shopping, we took the tube back to Palace Court - which is an hour commute from City University by the way.
• Once home, the four of us went to a local pub for lunch called The Champion I think. I ate a really good sandwhich and fries (chips). I love how you can go to a pub here and not have to order alcohol.
• Once I got home I ran some local errands with my roommate Kaitlin and the new boy that lives above me named Spencer. After getting back from those errands, I went with my roommate Audrey and another girl at Palace Court named Bita to a giant retail store called Primmart that is two tube stops away from our house. The store is huge, always busy, and sells clothes/shoes/accessories for SOOOOO cheap. I didn't buy anything because I felt really overwhelmed.
• After shopping, I came home to take a nap, went on Skype, and then ate dinner. Now I'm about to have a chill night with people from my program, and I think they're waiting for me right now actually.

I hope this has been a decent update on what I've been doing. I can expand more on things if you want...just let me know. My fingers are tired right now, though, so until next time....cheers!