First week here

Its been so busy my first week here that I have barely had time to sit down at all let alone write a blog! But now that I have a minute I can catch you all up on how its been.

After leaving Logan with a slight delay, Bobby and I arrived at Heathrow last Monday morning and were able to find the rest of the kids from our program and get on a shuttle to the Thistle City Barbican Hotel where we stayed for the rest of the week. After not sleeping much on the plane, we were exhausted, but the people from Arcadia running our program encouraged us not to sleep until that night so that we could get better adjusted to the time change. Our first couple days here were very packed with meetings, a group scavenger hunt and a lot of walking around to get to know the area and the people in our program. We explored some cool local pubs near the hotel where we met some really nice British people. I've found that on the streets British people don't seem the friendliest, but get them into the pub and they open up right away! We had discussions ranging from American colleges, smart phones, beers and ciders to Jersey Shore and The Hills.

It wasn't until Thursday and Friday that we finally had some free time on our own to explore. Bobby and I broke off in a small group with some friends we made from our program to explore the area where University of Westminster is. We found our dorm, where classes are held, the gym, the students union and many other school buildings, none of which are too far from each other. We also explored Regent's Park which is very close to the dorm. It is an enormous park with incredible gardens, fountains, and even the London zoo. It definitely will be a great place to relax or study. As we were  walking through the park we saw lounge chairs that looked really cool so we decided to sit down. Little did we know they cost 1.50 per hour to sit in! Less than five minutes later a park worker came over and charged us, but thats London for you, everything is incredibly expensive!!

A group of us also found a club to go to called "Aquarium" it sounded incredible, being the only club in the UK to have a pool in it! However, when we arrived it was pretty much just one large room and towards the bathroom there was a room with a not so great YMCA looking pool haha not quite what we were expecting!

Saturday we moved into our dorm at Marylebone. We went to explore Oxford street to shop for some bedding. After that I will never again go near Oxford  street on a saturday! Primark, a large inexpensive department store was literally packed so tight you could barely move, with people grabbing at everything. I've never seen anything like it, the best way to describe it is Macy's around christmas time but about ten times more people all in one store.

These last few days have been more shopping for food and essentials while exploring the area and finding the best routes around. Its a lot of adjustment and getting used to but everyday I feel more and more comfortable. Classes don't start until next week so this week is called "Freshers Week" and is basically a week of events for all the incoming and international students. I will update you all soon and plenty of picture to come I promise!

♥