Cheerio

Hello from London!

Since I've now been here for five days, I figured it was about time that I pulled the self-important study abroad move of getting a blog. So far London has been, as the Brits would say, above average. As some of you know, the incredibly incompetent (but, of course, exceedingly charming) King's College people never sent me the letter that I needed to cross the border, so I arrived with my knickers in a twist assuming imminent deportation. The verdict? Not a problem. After a little argument over the duration of my stay (according to him, January 4 to June 4 was somehow more than six months), he stamped my passport and advised me, for some reason, not to go home for Easter? Regardless, into the UK I came with a visa and 65 pounds (not the currency) of luggage.

After dropping my bags 483983 times and generally making a mess of myself on the tube for 45 minutes, I finally unpacked in my little room and napped...for twelve hours. Oops. On Tuesday, I went to this bizarre furniture store called Argos where, much to my surprise, you stand at a computer and flip through a catalog instead of actually shopping for things. Epic success, other than the fact that I got flustered when they asked me for ID to buy a 'place setting'. Apparently people under 18 are much more likely to stab strangers with dinner knives.

On Wednesday, we had orientation, which basically consisted of walking across the bridge in a snowstorm and standing in endless lines that resulted in nothing except for internet access. I did, however, get my KCL ID, which is not nearly as atrocious as ID pictures I've had in the past (NYU card, I'm looking at you). There was a meeting where several different people from the school talked at us, and I learned my favorite word of the week: tatty, as in "if you want to see what this building looked like before it was renovated, go up to the 4th floor and see how tatty those rooms are". Awesome. Lots of jokes were made about how drunk everyone is all the time. Ashleigh and I got assaulted by a strange man selling flowers, and then I finally learned how to Skype.

I went out yesterday night and realized that there are annoying things I don't know about London, like whether or not people tip here. I'm so used to tipping anyone who does anything, but the people around us didn't seem to be doing it at all. I got a UK cell phone, so I'm no longer wandering around the streets of London wondering what people did before they had them (conclusion: before they could text, people must have actually been reliable).

Finally, things are expensive here, but not as expensive as I thought they would be. I still don't know my address. I have roommates, but I only creepily hear them coming in at 2 a.m., so I haven't introduced myself yet. When in the UK, don't forget to dial the 0. When faced with tiny bathrooms, do not under any circumstances actually look at your face in the mirror while showering. Weird. 'Cheers for that' is the best version of 'thank you' ever. I need to get my saying of 'a bit', 'perhaps' and 'I suppose' under control ASAP, otherwise I'll sound like a douche when I get back to the States.

Flushin' MCs Down the Loo.