Did I already say London is expensive? Four pounds for a load of laundry in the laundrette around the corner. I'm going to have to do some bargin hunting! I guess I've been so used to $1/load at fuller, free in Austin and Elizabeth Street and Barclay way. Especially Barclay Way where we didn't even pay for water. I guess though that this machine holds a lot more laundry than they did. I guess the bonus is that I can tap into the Alexandar Flemming WiFi from here so while I'm doing landry I can be blogging...as I am now...or working on homework. Ooo spin cycle.
I had my registration appointment yesterday and discussed my classes with Veronic Speicer, the study abroad coordinator for Westminster. I didn't have to make any changes because I got the four classes that I wanted. Three out of the four are the London specific courses developed for study abraod, which means unfortunately that I probably won't get to mix with many British students in my program. My one regret (well I regret four pounds for laundry too). I would have liked to have taken classes with British kids. There are probably just going to be a lot of Americans in my classes. "The Rise of the Novel" though is a level five and there should be some British kids in that one.
I just picked courses that I found very interesting, very hands on so to speak. I mean how could one resist taking "London Theater in Performance" when the course description explains that you'll get to go and see performances as part of the course, or "Art and Society" in which you'll go to the various museums, galleries and special exhibits in London as part of the course rather than sitting in a darkened room looking at slides of famous art work. I guess I'll have to figure out other ways to meet other British students. At the gym perhaps, or the student union. There are a lot of activities and clubs to join and all that. The tube isn't a good place to chat with people, no one ever talks.
I'm enjoying the city so far. Our orientation group was fun, I've been shopping on Oxford St, and found my way around pretty well. I wasn't planning on shopping right away, rather I want to travel, but the 70% off signs and the new reduction of the VAT are too hard to resist! I got a $100 seater for $20 yesterday. But that's all really, the other girls I'm with are on a tighter budget and I didn't want to make them feel bad. Now that I know laundry is so expensive I won't be headed back to Oxford St anytime soon! Peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches are a good way so save money though I'll have to give up the diet coke habit. 1.65lb for a two liter and their equivalent of a 20 oz is 500ml, very small, and it's usually about a pound, that's like $1.50 for so much less. Looks like skiing might be to pricy for Febrary, especially because most of my friends so far are here on student loans. We have three whole weeks off for spring break though so I'll have to plan something fun!
I'm looking forward to meeting more of my classmates tonight. There is an event at Intermission, the club/pub/place/thing run by the Student Union. It's all for international students tonight, but there will surely be other events there throughout the semester where I can meet people.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Settling In
So I found out why the bathroom is so dirty. They have housekeepers that come in and clean and they've probably been out for the holiday, or it was at the end of a cycle. I came back from poking around my new neighborhood and there she was, cleaning the bathroom, and it was, well not sparkling but at least didn't smell like mold anymore when she left. I am really starting to get comfortable here.
I had a nice chat with my flat mates last night and we've made plans for some clubbing later in the week. I've also made plans with Mable and her flatmates to check out a club in Leicester Square tonight, AND go to the mall. I didn't bring very many sweaters because they were too bulky and now I'm a bit cold. My room is toasty though! I slept well last night because I used the sketchy duvet that came in our pack as a mattress pad and used my big yellow towel as a blanket. It worked well, so I'm not going to get a mattress pad, just a nice soft blanket and I'll keep using the duvet as I did last night.
This morning I got up to get ready and the fire alarm went off! At least it was after I was showered and dressed. Imagine if it had been ten minutes earlier and I'd been in the shower! I had planned to get up earlier but I snoozed my alarm a lot. I think I'm still catching up on REM from the past week of traveling. After I watched an episode of House I went out exploring the neighborhood. I found the Tesco, which is like a grocery store and the dollar store that Margret showed me last night. I bought a few things that will help me settle in better. I got a bowl, a fork, knife and spoon, two tupperware, pens, a pad of paper, envelopes, a small food scale, a plate, a mug and a glass, a pan and some tacks. £23. Stuff is expensive here, even at the dollar store! It's that damn VAT. Homemade sandwiches and soups and hopefully I can not be completely broke! I still need to buy a soft blanket, a proper pillow, a laundry bag, and a UK cell phone charger. I've got orientation soon though so I'm not sure if I'll have time before I have to meet at the Tube station.
I had a nice chat with my flat mates last night and we've made plans for some clubbing later in the week. I've also made plans with Mable and her flatmates to check out a club in Leicester Square tonight, AND go to the mall. I didn't bring very many sweaters because they were too bulky and now I'm a bit cold. My room is toasty though! I slept well last night because I used the sketchy duvet that came in our pack as a mattress pad and used my big yellow towel as a blanket. It worked well, so I'm not going to get a mattress pad, just a nice soft blanket and I'll keep using the duvet as I did last night.
This morning I got up to get ready and the fire alarm went off! At least it was after I was showered and dressed. Imagine if it had been ten minutes earlier and I'd been in the shower! I had planned to get up earlier but I snoozed my alarm a lot. I think I'm still catching up on REM from the past week of traveling. After I watched an episode of House I went out exploring the neighborhood. I found the Tesco, which is like a grocery store and the dollar store that Margret showed me last night. I bought a few things that will help me settle in better. I got a bowl, a fork, knife and spoon, two tupperware, pens, a pad of paper, envelopes, a small food scale, a plate, a mug and a glass, a pan and some tacks. £23. Stuff is expensive here, even at the dollar store! It's that damn VAT. Homemade sandwiches and soups and hopefully I can not be completely broke! I still need to buy a soft blanket, a proper pillow, a laundry bag, and a UK cell phone charger. I've got orientation soon though so I'm not sure if I'll have time before I have to meet at the Tube station.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Greenwich
We went to Greenwich today and poor Rachel did her best but it was quite an adventure to get there! The Jubilee line that we were going to take to the DLR was under construction or maintenance or something, one of the stations where we needed to switch trains on another line to get to the DLR was also closed and the DLR itself was experiencing "serious delays." We ended up walking down from Bank tube stop to the Tower Bridge ferry stop and taking the ferry to Greenwich instead. It was not horrible though and I had a wonderful time!
Greenwich was absolutely lovely. Other than being cold most of the day because I listened to the weather report and assumed it would be warmer today I had a wonderful time! I got a couple of cheesy little beaded change purses, which I think are very cute and we had really good Indian food. I loved the old buildings and museums we saw and I'd like to see more of them. I really want to go to Greenwich again and get some of the hot apple cider with rum! Oh it smelled so good!
Tomorrow if I have time I'm going to Ikea to get a few more nice things to help settle in. I'm going to check Tesco and Argos first though because I wouldn't have to take as far of a tube ride. I'd like a comforter and a mattress cover because the bed here is horrible.
I'm feeling less homesick today. Greg got me on surfthechannel.com and I found a ton of HouseMD episodes. Also, I love Skype, I am handeling some hiccups with my bank via Skype and I can talk with a real person and not worry about the cost at all! While I am frustrated with my uncomfortable bed I am relieved that I have working heat! In fact I'm a little warm right now. The girls in Will Wiet don't have decent heat and they're freezing! I'm going to run and see if I can chat a bit with my flatmates who just got home and try to be more social.
Greenwich was absolutely lovely. Other than being cold most of the day because I listened to the weather report and assumed it would be warmer today I had a wonderful time! I got a couple of cheesy little beaded change purses, which I think are very cute and we had really good Indian food. I loved the old buildings and museums we saw and I'd like to see more of them. I really want to go to Greenwich again and get some of the hot apple cider with rum! Oh it smelled so good!
Tomorrow if I have time I'm going to Ikea to get a few more nice things to help settle in. I'm going to check Tesco and Argos first though because I wouldn't have to take as far of a tube ride. I'd like a comforter and a mattress cover because the bed here is horrible.
I'm feeling less homesick today. Greg got me on surfthechannel.com and I found a ton of HouseMD episodes. Also, I love Skype, I am handeling some hiccups with my bank via Skype and I can talk with a real person and not worry about the cost at all! While I am frustrated with my uncomfortable bed I am relieved that I have working heat! In fact I'm a little warm right now. The girls in Will Wiet don't have decent heat and they're freezing! I'm going to run and see if I can chat a bit with my flatmates who just got home and try to be more social.
London!
This is our third day in London and we will be moving into our dorms now. I am writing from the bus because we are dropping other people off through out the day and those of us who are last, or almost last, have to wait on the bus for the others to get checked in and such. I haven’t updated me blog yet because I haven’t completely had time, nor reliable internet access.
This is what’s gone down so far:
Kate and I had breakfast at Angelo’s on Tuesday morning. I left the lab late the previous night and had an enjoyable time watching movies with some new friends afterward saying goodbye. Needless to say I was already deathly tired when I arrived at the airport but I had hoped that I could sleep on the plane and it would ease my jet lag. I got to Detroit Metro at about 12 and by 12:30 I was waiting in the terminal until 2:15 before we boarded. The flight to Dulles was alright except that the turbulance lead to my spilling my drink in my lap. I had to sit with a wet bum for half an hour because the trip was so short that they never turned the fasten seat belt light off. So in Dulles I changed into my comfortable and thankfully dry clothes and bought a few snacks for the next leg of my trip.
On the Dulles to Heathrow flight I was hoping dinner would be served early so I could sleep the whole “night” but it wasn’t served for at least two hours. I dozed here and there but I didn’t completely fall asleep until after dinner. I deplaned at 6AM in Heathrow and went through immigration and customs without hassle other than I got in the wrong line at immigration because I was so tired and wasn’t paying attention. I had to wait in terminal 1 until Rachel came to get us, but the doors were always open and it was just about as cold in the terminal as it was outside and it being unusually cold this winter in London it was about -2C and just bitter. I couldn’t imagine waiting three hours in that cold so I got up after calling my mother and wandered around looking for a warm place to wait. Suddenly an alarm went off and everyone headed out of the terminal. Some kind of fire or bomb scare. I walked outside and waited with everyone else and was even colder. While I was waiting out side in the cold, feeling sorry for myself I chatted a bit with a couple from San Fransisco and then took a little video.
A girl standing next to me was watching me take the video and walked up to me afterward and was like “Hey are you in API?” and I replyed that I was. She is Mable, the girl I’d been e-mailing with before I left! We banded together and headed for terminal five. I had called Rachel and asked if I could meet there because the other group was meeting at 10:30 and the terminal 1 group was supposed to meet at 11:30. Now I didn’t want to wait an extra hour in the fridged terminal so I had the brilliant plan to take the interterminal trains to terminal five and meet the other group earlier with the hope that it would be warmer. It was a bit of an adventure manuevering out huge bags through out the airport, and Mable had even larger bags than I did but we made it, and it was warmer. While we were waiting for the others in terminal 5 to arrive we all got through the getting to know you basics. There was Clinton, from New York, John from Minnisota, Kelsey from New Jersey, Kaitlyn also from Jersey, Caitlin from Maryland, Mable of course from Jersey, Margaret from Ohio and Kelly from.
We got on the mini bus and drove then to our hotel. At this point we’re all exhausted. Mable and Caitlin and I were in room 510 at the Sydney Hotel on Belgrave St. Took a short nap and met the others downstairs to find food. We stopped at a little deli and I had a spinach ricotta roll and a diet coke. All the airline food and the light lunch gave me a stomach ache so I wasn’t feeling too well during our bus tour but I eventually perked up. After the bus tour we came back and we all went to this little Italian pizza place for dinner. We were completely asleep by 9pm in our hotel after dinner. It was such a long day it felt like two or three days all squished together - it WAS two days all squished together because I woke up Monday at 6AM and didn’t sleep until Tuesday at 9PM. Wait that’s not right, I missed two nights of sleep...wow the time change is just confusing. Anyway, it was exhausting.
The next morning we got up around 8 and went down for the complimentary breakfast. Bacon and scrambled eggs and toast for me though there were a few other choices. Then we were off on tour of London. We took a ferry down the Thames and then did a tour for quite a bit of the afternoon of the Tower of London. We ate tomato and lentil soup for lunch and saw the crown jewels and the torture chamber ad heard bloody and gruesome stories. On our way back from the tower of London we had a tube lesson and then some free time in which we went shopping on Victoria St. We bought a bottle of wine and then we went to dinner at Grumbles all together. That evening we stayed in, drank the wine and played a card game called taretts. A little API group bonding.
The next day was Friday and the art students had a separate orientation in the morning. The Westminster students myself included went to Westminster Abby in the afternoon. I got up very late like 9AM but it was a lovely day. That evening Rachel, our program director took us on a little walking tour of London and after she headed home the group all went out to a pub and had a merry old time. We managed to make our way back to the hotel using the night bus on our own and we moved out the next morning.
-------
Saturday we gathered our things and moved into the residence halls. We took the other students first and Caitlin and I were the last to be dropped off at Alexander Flemming Hall. The weather has been very gloomy and gray and I’m not in the best mood. I moved all my things in and the girls and I went to the mall to shop and find things for our rooms. I took a short nap this past afternoon before shopping and discovered some very unhappy things. The bedding packs API purchased for us are crap. The polyester duvet and cover feel like paper and the pillow is nearly flat. I will have to go and purchase some higher quality items because at the moment I am dreadfully uncomfortable. I would be able to deal with the duvet is the bed weren’t the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever touched. MoJo and Couzens are heavenly in comparison. I can feel every spring pressing into me as I try and sleep. My flatmates who’ve I’ve briefly met are being loud, celebrating I suppose the end of their exams. That doesn’t stop it from driving me crazy at 1AM, I figured since I can’t sleep because of the bed and the noise (the sounds of London outside my room are loud as well), I’d get up and vent my frustrations. Everytime a door opens or closes it echoes loudly throughout the whole place making it sound like people are slamming doors. I was crying for a little, wishing I were back home with my friends and family and my quiet basement room on Nixon.
I know that this is only a first night, disappointed sadness and it will pass but I’m terribly lonely at the moment, despite the wonderful new friends I’ve met and the wonderful time I expect to have, I’ve basically hit the first major hiccup... a lumpy bed and loud roomates. (I would go party with them except that I have to be up by six to get to the tube station to meet Rachel and the group and head out to Greenwich.) All the things that are different here are overwhelming. I’m worried about classes, food, getting around the city, making friends, the cloudy depressing weather and finding a more comfortable sleeping arrangement. I also miss my friends back home a lot. My new ones are great, but in a new life like this the old ones are that lovely soft comforter, rather than a thin papery duvet, that just wrap you in warmth, joy and confidence. Miss you all, I'm thinking of you here and I hope you're thinking of me as well.
This is what’s gone down so far:
Kate and I had breakfast at Angelo’s on Tuesday morning. I left the lab late the previous night and had an enjoyable time watching movies with some new friends afterward saying goodbye. Needless to say I was already deathly tired when I arrived at the airport but I had hoped that I could sleep on the plane and it would ease my jet lag. I got to Detroit Metro at about 12 and by 12:30 I was waiting in the terminal until 2:15 before we boarded. The flight to Dulles was alright except that the turbulance lead to my spilling my drink in my lap. I had to sit with a wet bum for half an hour because the trip was so short that they never turned the fasten seat belt light off. So in Dulles I changed into my comfortable and thankfully dry clothes and bought a few snacks for the next leg of my trip.
On the Dulles to Heathrow flight I was hoping dinner would be served early so I could sleep the whole “night” but it wasn’t served for at least two hours. I dozed here and there but I didn’t completely fall asleep until after dinner. I deplaned at 6AM in Heathrow and went through immigration and customs without hassle other than I got in the wrong line at immigration because I was so tired and wasn’t paying attention. I had to wait in terminal 1 until Rachel came to get us, but the doors were always open and it was just about as cold in the terminal as it was outside and it being unusually cold this winter in London it was about -2C and just bitter. I couldn’t imagine waiting three hours in that cold so I got up after calling my mother and wandered around looking for a warm place to wait. Suddenly an alarm went off and everyone headed out of the terminal. Some kind of fire or bomb scare. I walked outside and waited with everyone else and was even colder. While I was waiting out side in the cold, feeling sorry for myself I chatted a bit with a couple from San Fransisco and then took a little video.
A girl standing next to me was watching me take the video and walked up to me afterward and was like “Hey are you in API?” and I replyed that I was. She is Mable, the girl I’d been e-mailing with before I left! We banded together and headed for terminal five. I had called Rachel and asked if I could meet there because the other group was meeting at 10:30 and the terminal 1 group was supposed to meet at 11:30. Now I didn’t want to wait an extra hour in the fridged terminal so I had the brilliant plan to take the interterminal trains to terminal five and meet the other group earlier with the hope that it would be warmer. It was a bit of an adventure manuevering out huge bags through out the airport, and Mable had even larger bags than I did but we made it, and it was warmer. While we were waiting for the others in terminal 5 to arrive we all got through the getting to know you basics. There was Clinton, from New York, John from Minnisota, Kelsey from New Jersey, Kaitlyn also from Jersey, Caitlin from Maryland, Mable of course from Jersey, Margaret from Ohio and Kelly from.
We got on the mini bus and drove then to our hotel. At this point we’re all exhausted. Mable and Caitlin and I were in room 510 at the Sydney Hotel on Belgrave St. Took a short nap and met the others downstairs to find food. We stopped at a little deli and I had a spinach ricotta roll and a diet coke. All the airline food and the light lunch gave me a stomach ache so I wasn’t feeling too well during our bus tour but I eventually perked up. After the bus tour we came back and we all went to this little Italian pizza place for dinner. We were completely asleep by 9pm in our hotel after dinner. It was such a long day it felt like two or three days all squished together - it WAS two days all squished together because I woke up Monday at 6AM and didn’t sleep until Tuesday at 9PM. Wait that’s not right, I missed two nights of sleep...wow the time change is just confusing. Anyway, it was exhausting.
The next morning we got up around 8 and went down for the complimentary breakfast. Bacon and scrambled eggs and toast for me though there were a few other choices. Then we were off on tour of London. We took a ferry down the Thames and then did a tour for quite a bit of the afternoon of the Tower of London. We ate tomato and lentil soup for lunch and saw the crown jewels and the torture chamber ad heard bloody and gruesome stories. On our way back from the tower of London we had a tube lesson and then some free time in which we went shopping on Victoria St. We bought a bottle of wine and then we went to dinner at Grumbles all together. That evening we stayed in, drank the wine and played a card game called taretts. A little API group bonding.
The next day was Friday and the art students had a separate orientation in the morning. The Westminster students myself included went to Westminster Abby in the afternoon. I got up very late like 9AM but it was a lovely day. That evening Rachel, our program director took us on a little walking tour of London and after she headed home the group all went out to a pub and had a merry old time. We managed to make our way back to the hotel using the night bus on our own and we moved out the next morning.
-------
Saturday we gathered our things and moved into the residence halls. We took the other students first and Caitlin and I were the last to be dropped off at Alexander Flemming Hall. The weather has been very gloomy and gray and I’m not in the best mood. I moved all my things in and the girls and I went to the mall to shop and find things for our rooms. I took a short nap this past afternoon before shopping and discovered some very unhappy things. The bedding packs API purchased for us are crap. The polyester duvet and cover feel like paper and the pillow is nearly flat. I will have to go and purchase some higher quality items because at the moment I am dreadfully uncomfortable. I would be able to deal with the duvet is the bed weren’t the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever touched. MoJo and Couzens are heavenly in comparison. I can feel every spring pressing into me as I try and sleep. My flatmates who’ve I’ve briefly met are being loud, celebrating I suppose the end of their exams. That doesn’t stop it from driving me crazy at 1AM, I figured since I can’t sleep because of the bed and the noise (the sounds of London outside my room are loud as well), I’d get up and vent my frustrations. Everytime a door opens or closes it echoes loudly throughout the whole place making it sound like people are slamming doors. I was crying for a little, wishing I were back home with my friends and family and my quiet basement room on Nixon.
I know that this is only a first night, disappointed sadness and it will pass but I’m terribly lonely at the moment, despite the wonderful new friends I’ve met and the wonderful time I expect to have, I’ve basically hit the first major hiccup... a lumpy bed and loud roomates. (I would go party with them except that I have to be up by six to get to the tube station to meet Rachel and the group and head out to Greenwich.) All the things that are different here are overwhelming. I’m worried about classes, food, getting around the city, making friends, the cloudy depressing weather and finding a more comfortable sleeping arrangement. I also miss my friends back home a lot. My new ones are great, but in a new life like this the old ones are that lovely soft comforter, rather than a thin papery duvet, that just wrap you in warmth, joy and confidence. Miss you all, I'm thinking of you here and I hope you're thinking of me as well.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Last Day in A2
My test set-up is finally working, I've made my samples properly and I'm finally collecting data! If I can get it done before seven I'd like to go to see "The Reader" at the State Theater on my last night in Ann Arbor! It's sad but I am very excited about the future! London lies ahead of me. I also got an e-mail from Georgia Tech MSE department. They typically pay for the flight and accommodations for prospective graduate students to visit which means that if they approve my flight I get to visit! Also, they will notify me of my acceptance (or rejection!) via e-mail, so I don't have to wait for the letter to be sent to my mother, for her to open it, call me, etc. I really hope I get in!!! Closure in my research, future graduate school prospects, and London tomorrow! The world is a rosy place today!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Lab
Despite a few set backs I'm still working in the lab right now. I have a few more films to make, some testing tomorrow, maybe monday, and hopefully I'll have some nice data. If not...I'm going to London in three days so oh well. I'm trying to prepare my mind to be open and friendly for my trip. I've been in contact with this girl Mabel who is also in API and I'm looking forward to meeting her!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy INew Year!
It is New Years Eve, 2008 - almost 2009. I cannot believe that one more year has passed. I have graduated from The University of Michigan, College of Engineering. I've applied to a bunch of graduate schools and in less than a week I will be heading out to London to study at the University of Westminster!! I am so excited! I got all of my first choice classes: Creative Writing, Rise of the Novel, London Theater in Performance, and Art and Society, and get this...I have no class on Mondays and Tuesdays...four day weekend!!! While there will certainly be a lot of work to do on weekends and days that I don't have class in order to keep up with my studies, I will have the option to manage my time the way that I would like in order to take longer weekend excursions around Great Britain and Europe.
I am anxious as well as excited. I've packed and unpacked my suitcases three times, making sure that I have everything I need and nothing that I do not need. I've copied all of my travel documents, filled out my Cambridge application, which is FINALLY online and I am ready. Only three days of intense research to finish up my paper and then I am off!
This has been the most difficult semester of my life. Lets just leave it at that. I'm looking forward to getting into the gym when I get to the UK, and finding some fun running trails or parks to start jogging again. The holidays where not nice to my health and I haven't really worked out all semester beside my spinning class. I'd like to take a spinning, pilates or yoga class in London. The University of Westminster has gym facilities and I live right down the way from the YMCA.
Did you know the YMCA started in London? I was surprised! Megabus started in the UK also. I'm looking forward to more traveling than I thought - $10 trip to Glasgow, Aberdine, Dundee....I'm thinking about taking a trip up to Scottland to see Sandi Thom in concert!
I am anxious as well as excited. I've packed and unpacked my suitcases three times, making sure that I have everything I need and nothing that I do not need. I've copied all of my travel documents, filled out my Cambridge application, which is FINALLY online and I am ready. Only three days of intense research to finish up my paper and then I am off!
This has been the most difficult semester of my life. Lets just leave it at that. I'm looking forward to getting into the gym when I get to the UK, and finding some fun running trails or parks to start jogging again. The holidays where not nice to my health and I haven't really worked out all semester beside my spinning class. I'd like to take a spinning, pilates or yoga class in London. The University of Westminster has gym facilities and I live right down the way from the YMCA.
Did you know the YMCA started in London? I was surprised! Megabus started in the UK also. I'm looking forward to more traveling than I thought - $10 trip to Glasgow, Aberdine, Dundee....I'm thinking about taking a trip up to Scottland to see Sandi Thom in concert!
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