London's Calling

Alright, so I left you all off at the airport where we about to start our journey to the housing. Maria welcomed us again on the bus and said we were about to go on a 45 minute ride. The bus driver mumbled something and she chatted with him for a brief second. She turned back to us and said, "Scratch the first 45 minute quote. Our chaffeur just informed me the motorway is closed...we'll be here awhile." Then she made a comment along the lines of, "Well thank goodness we gave you all chocolate! At least we won't be starving you!" And after that we embarked on our 2 hour journey to our new home.

I was trying to take everything in as we were driving through the side roads. The arrows for no right turns or U turns in certain areas were not like the arrow back home but instead a skinny pointed line. I saw the double deckers which is their metro bus system (can you imagine riding that everyday back home as the norm?) and the roads are very curvy with many "round-abouts" (there are some much larger like Oxford Circus, circus meaning circle). Basically you cannot grid London like you could for the cities back home. Its curvy with MANY different streets. Obviously here they drive on the left side of the road which doesn't seem weird when you are driving, it's much harder as a pedestrian but I'll get to that later. As I was watching the opposing traffic however, I should note that it was hilarious looking at all the cars. The queue of cars would be Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Ford, Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Volkswagon, Toyota, VW, VW, VW, VW, etc. I've never seen so many VW's in my life at once =) I also was admiring all of the adorable houses that we passed. They seem so cozy and they entry ways to the front door seem so inviting and quaint. I also saw the laundry on many clothes lines and I've been told that that is more of the norm here. They are much more conscience of the environment here and I've heard that many dryers don't give the drying affect that we have, that if you put in one shirt then  after awhile it will have that air drying affect. I have tried anything for myself yet so I don't have any experience as far as that goes. On the way we were also listening to the radio and heard Artic Monkeys, the Muse, and this band called Dog is Dead, which I had never heard before but I really enjoyed the song. Sidenote: I have noticed while I've been here that places play a weird array or at least not mood fitting songs ie. at pubs. I can't think of some song examples right now but I will pay attention next time and jot some down. Also it was interesting listening to Maria and Tom talk about the radio...for instance, Maria would say, "Oh, I really enjoy this one!" or "That was a good song, it was really dramatic and orchestrated." I just thought it was interesting how they were really listening and experiencing each song and would critique it. They didn't have to agree either but they would listen to their opinions and stil stand behind what they felt. I'm sure this happens at home and I know I talk about music but watching them it just seemed way more in the moment and more than "I love that song!".

Anyway, Alexander Fleming House was the third stop. Tom took us to our hall and we had to check-in and sign for a key. There is a FOB to open the main door to our building and then an actual key to our flat and bedroom. We then went to our own buildings (sadly Emily and I are not in the same flat and her main door is like  doors down) and Tom gave us 15 minutes to get upstairs and put down our belongings. We were to meet him downstairs again so he could take us to get Oyster Cards and to show us some main points of interest like the grocery and the post office. I went upstairs and thank goodness I was by myself because I didn't want anyone to see my weakling status and slight  struggle carrying everything up the stairs (I'm on the second floor so it's not bad at all). Then once I was in my room I called my parents and talked with them briefly. I met up againd with Tom and Emily and then we went headed over to the Old Street station to get our Oyster cards. You pay 5 pounds as a deposit for the card and then you load money onto it. I'm doing the weekly unlimited pass for 29.50 pounds. I did this as opposed to buying more up front just in case something were to happen and I lose my card, that way I'm out less than 30 rather than 100. Then on my last day I will just add a ride's worth to get to the airport.

After the purchasing of the cards we went across or I should say under, the street and Tom pointed out the pharmacy, er chemist, and that is called Superdrug. I thought that was amusing since I work in a pharmacy. Then we saw the store, I forget the name, but it's where you look at these catalogs, find what you want, go to a computer and type in the codes and then a person brings it to you or it comes on a conveyor belt. Tom said that is more of a place to go to if you needed to buy something for an apartment like a lamp. Then we went next door to the Co-operative which is a grocery. Tom pointed out the reduced carts where items that have an expiry date for that day are out for much lower prices. He showed us around the store and asked if we wanted to buy anything for dinner or whatnot but for me, I wasn't prepared and I wanted to take my time and not feel like I was not making Tom wait. Especially because there are hardly any brands that I would recognize and items come in different containers, so I would need to spend time going through everything. We also say were the post office was and  some pubs and shops. Initially Tom couldn't find the post office. I guess he normally shows everyone something else but he learned there was one closer so he was trying to find it on his phone. He kept apologizing and was giving up but then on the way back we stumpled upon it. It was quite funny at the time. Also we were waiting at the crosswalks for the green man to appear (it doesn't say walk here or have a clear man) because he wasn't supposed to encourage jay walking. It's not illegal, it's just they don't want anyone to die, which apparently had happened and on the street it is painted for which way to look (ie. look right, look left with arrows). Anyway at one point he just crossed in the middle of the street and Emily said, "So you won't jay walk at the cross walk, but you will in the middle of the street?" He laughed and debated, "Well that one's busy!"

Tom took us home and Emily and I decided to go out to the grocery store on our own.

Our first shopping adventure!

I forgot to mention that on Sunday places don't open until 11:00 or 12:00 and they are only allowed to stay open a maximum of 6 hours. It's the law so everyone can attend services and be with their family.

Back to the shopping extravangza! I ended up purchasing some items on the reduced carts, one of which was Walkers crisps with worcester sauce. They so good and only 83p for 6 packs! Normally it is 1.66. I tried them out simply because of the name haha. I also bought a 2 litre bottle of water (yay metric system!), 2 pints of milk, strawberries, yogurt, doorstep bread (which I've discovered is like our Texas bread), and rice krispies. It is so funny to actually see and experience the brand and advertising differences as well as the international modifications in real life and not just talking about it in classes back home. Their Kelloggs cereal is very simply designed. No 3D cartoon characters, just 2D and some are the vintage style characters like the corn flakes rooster. Oh, and Frosted Flakes are called Frosties! But there isn't all this busy copy on their boxes here. It is just the character, a picture of the cereal, the name, and maybe a description or a line of some info. Some of the items I bought had the british flag incorporated on it, so I have noticed a great amound of British pride and some items like the chips, er crisps, say 100% British Potatoes on the package. My first shopping trip cost me just over 7 pounds. I didn't want to buy too much because it is just me eating plus I don't know my plans eat for the week. For dinner I ate my new version of a PB&J which consisted of a thin layer of natural peanut butter (I brought that in my suitcase) and then my fresh strawberries. It is a much healthier version and it was quite tasty.

The summer I people invited us out to the Globe pub to meet everyone and I flip flopped between going and not. I really wanted to go out and do something and meet people but there were some factors that stopped me from going.

1. I was exhausted. I didn't really sleep the night before leaving and then I only had like an hour nap on the plane. I had been running around all day and frankly haven't really slept in months now, so I was tuckered out to say the least.

2. My oyster card wasn't activated until Sunday so if I wanted to go out I would have to buy a ticket to meet up with people. 

3. Emily wasn't going to go and I didn't want to be figuring out London by myself. Just not a smart choice, obviously.

So despite how much I wanted to go out it just wasn't realistic so I would have to be adventurous another night. Instead I unpack and read my sister's letter that she wrote to me that was soooo cute! Hopefully she won't be upset that I posted this but I want to share with you the lovely letter she wrote!

"I miss you because London is really far away and it's out of the United States. But at least I can talk to you on Skype and see you and you can tell me if it's sunny or rainy. and tell me when you get back is the "Ifulltower" in London or France?

I hope you had a nice airplane trip to London. Hope you like it there, it must be nice. Try and get some stuff for me. Is it big? must be. That's a big suitcase you must have. It must be lot's to unpack. Sincerely your lovely sister, Bre"

Then there is a picture of "Ashlee in London" with a tree,  an owl, a bird, a sun with sunglasses, the "Ifulltower", me in a dress and a dog that I am walking. It's so cute! I love it! I have it next to my pictures of her on my shelf =)

Oh, yeah! My room! I forgot to describe it to you all. Well first of all I live on a flat which consists of 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and 1 kitchen/eating area. The rooms are pretty spacious and I have many items in here. I have a desk with drawers and two shelves above that, a bulletin board and 4 drawers below that, a window and a nightstand, a twin bed with linens and a pillow and a super warm comforter, a wardrobe with shelves and hangers, and finally my own wash basin aka a sink with a mirror and a cabinet below and this is for brushing teeth, washing face,  getting ready etc. Every bedroom should have one! It's so convenient!

Anyway, that takes you through my first full day! I will start another post that will consist of my London adventures since and my orientations =)

PS my sister apparently said that other day, "I miss sissy. I bet she misses me too even though I'm not in her life right now." (Heartbreaking!) and I guess she also has broken out some Charlie and Lola DVDs (which she hasn't watched for probably a year at least) and for those of you that don't know, that is a BBC cartoon about a British brother and sister aimed for the younger kids. It's an adorable show and another thing that proves that everything awesome involves Charlie (That's what I call my sister). My mom hypothesized that she feels closer to me by watching Charlie and Lola and probably the closest thing she has to something British =) It will be a long 3 weeks for her!

<3