My First Day of Uni

Today I finally began my classes! It's just felt like a vacation really until now. Today I had my beginning latin course and my Rise of the Avant Garde. I was a bit scared, tell the truth, because I really didn't know what to expect, you know? I'm sure it's going to be challenging, but for some reason I had this idea in my head that I was going to be way in over my head. I may be speaking too soon, but so far it seems that it will be manageable.

I liked my professors very much and the classes seem as though they are going to be fun (I wasn't sure that I was going to like my Avant Garde class - again I may be getting ahead of myself - but I think I'm going to!). Now I have the rest of the day off, so I think I'll be a good little student and get started on some studying and homework :)

My friends and I are planning to go to the Globe theater next week to see "As You Like It". I'm very excited for that! I'll keep you updated. Thanks for reading!

London Markets

I know I'm a bit behind with my posts, but I'll do my best to catch you up to speed. This weekend has been a pretty good one! Saturday afternoon I met up with Beth and we walked to the Portobello Road Market in Nottinghill. The street was lined with stands of fresh fruit and vegetables, and the smell of food cooking was in the air. As we moved farther down, there were shops and stands filled with antiques and vintage clothing. It seemed to go on forever! I loved it! There was just so much to take in and see and smell. So for a good while Beth and I strolled all around snacking on pretzels, and before leaving we picked up some fruits and veggies to go with dinner that night. We had a lovely evening as well. Josh made burgers and his famous mac and cheese.

On Sunday Beth took me to East side of London that is considered the more artsy part of town. We walked over to Columbia Road where every Sunday there is a beautiful flower market. The flower stands are all lined up along the curb, and behind them are some very cool shops - vintage clothes, cupcakes (and of course we got some!), antiques, etc. Before leaving we got some flowers, which have really helped to make my room seem more like home. I really enjoyed this market!

After Columbia Road market, we walked over to Spitalfield's market. This one was very cool as well. There were hundreds of stands with great clothes and antiques. I think I'll be going back again next weekend to go shopping! For a while it seems like a big garage sale, with people sitting on the sidewalk with all their things to sell. Then it transitions to a covered market full of stands. I think this area is also known for it's Bangladeshi food and restaurants. It all looked really good! Oh, and I learned later that Spitalfields is the area where some of Jack the Ripper's victims were killed! Good little piece of history for you.

I think that the markets are one of my favorite things about this city. Every weekend you can visit these markets and have such a great time. There's so much to take in! You can get your groceries, get lunch, hear music, see and buy original art or some antiques ALL in the same place. It's a great way to get out and do something fun without stress. However, if you're a bit claustrophobic then prepare yourself because the crowds can be rather large. Anyway, I love London markets!

Well now we've finished our weekend of market hopping, and I'm back at the dorm just chilling out. Some friends and I plan to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate the fact that classes are FINALLY starting tomorrow!

More later. Take care :)

The Beginning

I've been here one week today! It's been hard. It's been fun. It's been a lot of things...

This past Saturday, Roehampton hosted an even for international students called Photo Frenzy. We all gathered in the morning and formed into groups of 8 or 9. We were given a list of questions about famous landmarks in and about London and we were to take pictures of the answers.

My group consisted of about 6 other American girls and 2 German girls. It was such a fun, and long, day!!! I think I saw everything I'd seen in a week when I visited here last, in one day this time! It was exhausting but a very fun time. My group was great. We got along great. We were also given a free transportation pass so getting ALL around London didn't cost us a fortune! We we finally finished, some of us retired in a little Italian restaurant for wine and pizza. It was such a fun day! If you would like to see some pictures, I could post some on here. However, if you have Facebook just take a look there :)

I Have Arrived!

Greetings everyone from London town! I'm not really sure how to do this blog thing, but it's been strongly suggested that I create one. Therefore, here it goes... I suppose...

Today, this 22nd day of September in 2009, is my 6th day in England. Tomorrow will be the 1 week marker of my stay. I must admit that the beginning was harder than I expected it would be. I had a bit of a rough time adjusting and meeting new people. Not to worry, though. It's getting better and easier all the time.

For those of you that may need an update, I'm in my 3rd year of college now and this fall I am studying at Roehampton University in London. There are, I want to say, about 100 of us international students (ha it's strange to think of myself as an international student). I've met some very cool people from all over the world, and I can tell already that it is going to be a fantastic experience.

I have not yet started my classes. In fact my classes don't start for another week - strange I know. However, there have been a lot of events and such to keep us all busy. The fact that each college on campus has it's own bar is a contributing factor, I believe. I know I'm a bit behind on relaying all my activities and adventures, but that is soon to come so stay tuned :)