It appears William Shenstone, a Scottish writer from the mid-18th century, had London figured out way before I arrived. London is the second most expensive city in the world, after St. Petersburg. Currently the exchange rate is about $1.95 to 1 pound. The study abroad offices (and every single person that I met before leaving) warned us, but I will admit, you really don't care until you are jumping with joy at any "better than home" deal. The best one so far? 4 passport photos for 4 pounds- at home it cost me $14 for 2. I also got a bag of jaffa cakes (orange and chocolate biscuits) for 30 pence. Score 2 for America!

Now that I have the obligatory money moaning out of the way, in case you didn't guess, I'm in London! The entire process of getting here was long, but so very worth it. One day before I left Katy, I received a facebook message from my future flat-mates. It was so kind and reassuring that I immediately felt loads better about the trip. Yes, facebook is the ultimate time-waster and best and worst thing that has ever happened to college students. However, say what you will, it helped alleviate some of my fears of traveling, and has been the best way to stay connected with everyone at home. I had a lovely journey on British Airways- remember, it was my first voyage out of the country, so it was a pretty classy and easy journey for the first time!

I live on the Southbank, about 5 minutes from the National Theatre and next to Waterloo Station, which is really convenient for travel and for quick shopping (and Krispy Kreme fixes). Every day I walk to school for 15 minutes, crossing Waterloo Bridge and gazing at the most amazing sights of British monuments. I will never ever get tired of what I see on that walk. I will get tired of the insanely cold wind coming off of the Thames and whipping against my face, but lets focus on the good things. I'm in really cool classes- Experimental Theatre, Jacobean Shakespeare, Theatre Capital and Court Cultures of Elizabeth I, and I actually really like them (even though on most days I'll just be grumpy and not admit that). The learning system is very different here. For two of my classes, I have 1 hour lecture in the morning (where you sit there and listen to the lecturer tell you their way of analyzing Othello or and Alfred Jarry play), and then return in the afternoon for a 1 hour seminar- which is much closer to every regular Trinity class I have. I'm usually done by 1pm.

My apartment building is pretty nice. The British are obsessed with fire safety and security, so every single door is a fire door, and I have to swipe my id 3 times and use a key twice to get into my room. I share a flat with 6 other people, 4 British, 1 French guy, and 1 German girl. I have my own incredibly small room and bathroom, and we all share the kitchen and tv. We all get along very well, and they have all been really nice in helping me adjust and answering my questions.

Here are a few basic musings on British life, followed by whatever pictures I can post (I just found out some of my cool ones are too big, so I need to learn how to compress those).

*As I said earlier, the British are obsessed with fire safety. Fire exits are pointed out at the beginning of gatherings, there are signs EVERYWHERE, and every single door in my apartment building is a fire door. They also test the fire alarms every Wednesday sporadically for half an hour. Not fun. To quote Bryan- "we know your city burned down once, but get over it!"
*The British are always running. Everywhere. To the bus line, when there are no buses in sight, and run down the steps of the tube station, when there will be another train in 3 minutes. They also run for no clear reason. However, when you do get on that bus or tube, you do not speak. It is a no-no. You are clearly foreign if you have a conversation with your companions- and you absolutely don't strike up a conversation with the people around you. Coming from very friendly Texas, this is very different. However, I kind of like it. In a vast and enormously busy city, it's a moment of calm that I think people treasure. Trust me, I already stare at the loud-talkers like a native.
*Food is incredibly fresh. People only buy enough to maybe get through a week, and even then, I feel like I'm always racing the clock on the labels. The milk comes in mini pints, which is cute at first, but gets old when you can only get about 4 cups of tea and 2 bowls of cereal out of it.

Here I am outside of Buckingham Palace

St. James' Park, with the London Eye in the Background

That's all I can honestly manage on the photos right now. I'm having trouble with proportions- bloggers, can you help me out please?

I have loads more stories and photos to share, and I've only been here for 3 weeks. Keep checking for updates of my wild and crazy adventures!

Mandy