London Time

I’m here in London for my first full day. Sleeping was terrible because I kept waking up around the evening time to loud people, and feeling left out because I was sleeping. But I also knew that I just needed to sleep so I could reset my body to be functional again. I’ve been feeling very out of sorts and homesick. When I got here yesterday, I had a bad experience on the tube because I was lost and dragging so much luggage around. But now that I’m rested I think it will be a lot easier to get adjusted. My roommates are very sweet, and so are all the other people. Some seem kind of like standoffish artsy people, but I’m sure they’re nice once you get to know them.

My flat was really hard to find, but it’s right next to the Royal Veterinary School, so there is a horse and a cow right next to us. I live in Camden, which was home to the bohemian artists and writers back in the day. The streets are incredibly confusing, but we took a walking tour of the neighborhood yesterday and I feel better. There are a few really neat grocery stores nearby, so that made it feel a bit more like home. It’s really expensive, but I’m thinking it will even out once I buy the basic things like salt and olive oil. We have a a full kitchen, but no oven… That’s a bit of a bummer, but stove cooking it is!

Let’s see.. the toilets are different, everyone uses pubs as points of reference, and the biggest pub in London is just down the street. So is Koko’s nightclub where Dana made me promise to go. I’m getting used to the money too. There’s a 99 pence store nearby I’m going to go visit today to get basic stuff. Everyone drives on the wrong side of the road, and everyone is in a huge hurry. I thought American’s were focused on getting things done, but it’s ridiculous here. Maybe it’s because everyone walks everywhere, they have to be efficient.

Today is the walking tour of all the major sightseeing places here, so I’m hoping to take a lot of great pictures. It took me more time to figure out how to work the shower than it actually took to shower, and my outlet started smoking this morning... I should probably work on that issue.

I drank my tea and ate my banana, so now it's time to go see the sights. Pictures to follow!