Well well well, where to begin. I guess I start that I made it to England nice and sound. The flight was a little long, but I expected to be. For people who never flew overseas before, the biggest problem is getting some sleep on the plane. It is probably the most difficult thing to do unless you are in first class as their seats are more like lounge chair. Trying to sleep up right in a seat is so uncomfortable. Eventually after being up all night, we landed in London. Then there was the two hour wait through UK Customs. It was very painful and I don't understand how last time I went through it only took 10 minutes or so. The only difference is was the airport I went through this time was Heathrow while in 2007 it was Gatwick. Oh well, I made it through customs...barely. On a side note with US Department of Homeland Security is they searched my bag sometime between St. Louis and London as they confiscated my allergy medicine. I guess they saw me as a drug smuggler and threatening the United States. It always funny when I get one of those homeland security brochures in my bags. I think the searcher was excited this time as he was able to confiscate something out of my bag for once.
After I made it through the airport I finally made it to my hotel, Hotel St Giles. It wasn't a bad place, but nothing special. The rooms were small, but that is common throughout Europe as space is not a luxury as it is in the US. My roommate was from Israel, and he could speak 5 languages, so that was really cool talking and getting to know him a bit. The biggest thing I hate is the showers are really small, and at the hotel the shower hose fell on my head a couple of times. Ouch! Now the elevators, or as the British call "lifts", were awful. The second day I was there I hit down and 3 elevators went by me on their way up, but never ever seem to come back down. So I walked down with my sprain ankle. That's right, I sprain my ankle when I was walking around with some people from my group around the Thames River. I just took a bad step, and it has caused a lot of discomfort since walking is the main source of transportation out here. But I'm getting through it. Speaking of transportation, London's transportation system is amazing! Outside of my dorm is a huge tube station with 5 underground lines! It's amazing, the tube system is probably the most develop and extensive network in the world. BTW, the word tube is slang for subway out here. On top of that, the bus system is just as good! The bus stop outside my dorm has 6 busses that go there, and that doesn't even include the night bus routes. The only downside to public transportation is the tube closes at midnight, and a lot of bus routes go off until about 6 am. The night bus routes aren't bad, but are usually filled with drunk people.
Since I did move into my dorm a couple of days ago, I've finally had the first part of my orientation at Westminster and finally settling in. Settling in has been the biggest pain in terms of getting everything. A store a person from Westminster recommend was Argos. The store setup is kinda cool. It is just a room filled with catalog magazines, and you pick what you want and take it to the counter and it magically appears on a conveyor belt. Well, there is just one problem, for some reason I couldn't find anything that was physically in the store. For example, bedding, I could order it and get it in a few days. Basically I could freeze my ass off for a few days, nothing "too serious." Luckily someone recommend me another place called Primark and that place is awesome! I got all my bedding besides pillows, towels, for 25 pounds! That is about $40!!! The quality of the products are good! On a side note with that store, I was browsing around their clothing and they had leather jackets for 20 pounds, blazers between 15 to 30 pounds, and I got leather gloves for 8 pounds! Stuff in the UK is so much cheaper. Here is another example, I'm on a UK phone now. I got my phone for 5 pounds and top it with 15 pounds. Here is the breakdown: right now it's 10 pence (cents) for a text message, 20 pence per minute for calling someone in the UK, and 5 pence per minute to call someone back in the US. Can you believe that, for about 5 cents per minute to talk to someone back home. AT&T was charging me $1.29 a minute to call someone back home. Well that isn't a tough math equation right there, so I only have my US phone for looking up contacts. So far, the UK prices have been as competitive, or even better than US prices. However keep in mind, that is currently with the exchange rate. Two years ago the exchange rate was 2.05 pounds, and it was murder to buy anything here.
Something cool I'm doing right now is I'm working with other study abroad students on doing a little group project which includes some basic research on the city, and taking some group photos. Now originally my group had 5 people, but one left instantly saying "I got to find a job, get groceries, buy things, so I'm not doing it, bye." I have to admit, that was one of the most clever and boldest ways to get out of something. Luckily rest of the group stayed as the prize is a free weekend trip to anywhere in the UK, and it's kinda cool that a couple of people in my group are from Germany, and one from Massachusetts. I've met people from all over the US the last few days with my study abroad group, and now including some other nationalities. So expect some more pictures in the next few days.
A few final notes here is some differences I've seen between the US and the UK. It is mostly words and sayings. Instead of the word exit, the British use the saying "way out." The saying normally shows a picture with a guy running towards a door. Also frosted flakes in the US are called Frosties out here. Some other cool slang words: cheers is used for good bye, knock me up is used in place of wake me up, and just other cool slang words like that. Also cussing is big out here. You hear people cuss all the time, especially the word f*ck out on the streets, and it's no big deal. Well, that is all for now, expect a lot more in the future.
This is my group, one other guy is taking the picture.
Cheers!

