LONDON: DAY 1

So after arriving in Heathrow 1 1/2 hours later than originally anticipated by the airline and after going through customs, I get greeted at the baggage claim by the lovely Caitlin and Fornwald.  They had even been so nice as to fetch my luggage for me before I had even arrived (I had described to them earlier just how hideous the shade of pukey olive green my suitcase was and, sure enough, they found it.  So then we found our way to the tube and made our way to Gloucester Road.  (When I went to pay for my ticket, I  tried to use these pound notes my mom found in an old purse, but it turns out they were expired!  The guy at the counter gave me such attitude about it too!  Whatever man.  In America, dollars are dollars and they be dollars 4evah!  Just kidding.)

So we arrived at our stop (fun fact: in London, you have to keep your ticket with you during the whole trip because you need it to swipe in AND out of the stations) and were assisted with our luggage up the stairs.  Then came the long an grueling walk to our check in area.  My hands are still sore and calloused from that long haul with my 64lb. suitcase.  After checking in and receiving our keys (Caitlin, Christine, and I are all sharing a room-1C!!! C FOR HARD C's!!) Caitlin and I unpacked and waited for Ms. Fisher to arrive.  Unpacking seriously took about 15 minutes.  I feel like I brought no clothes at all.  After packing we browsed some of the other rooms on our floor (an all girls floor, with a few bathrooms, a kitchen, and a study lounge for sharing).  The boys are in the basement and I swear Fornwald has a bloodstain on his carpet.  CREEPY. 

After we finished unpacking and Christine arrived, we decided to walk around and find some food to help keep us awake.  None of us slept on the flight over (instead I watched the TERRIBLE movies Letters to Juliet and The Losers) and to avoid jetlag, we're trying not to nap (although Caitlin is currently snoring above me on the top bunk, so that might not have worked out as planned).  For food we got Starbucks and Sainsbury sandwiches.  I can already tell that grocery shopping is going to be really fun here.  There are so many things I want to try and all of the packaging is WAY CUTER than it is in America.  It's going to be tough not gaining 300 lbs. while overseas.  We also bumped into Mike Rehrig (who is studying here this semester) and his bf Joe Weidman (who studied here this summer) on the street and we made tentative plans to hang out at a future date. 

Now it looks like Chris Fish is napping too.  Fornwald just came in the room to invite us to a pub but I guess we'll go later.  Though in all honesty, I'm not in the mood to drink right now.  Unless that drink happens to be coffee.

I wish I could show pictures of the room but my camera is out of battery and I still have to buy/borrow a UK adaptor.  We basically have 1 bunk bed (I snagged the ridiculously low ceiling-ed bottom bunk) and 1 single bed, 3 wardrobes, 1 dresser, and a bulletin board.  It works for us.

Upsides include:
1. we are all in 1 room
2. we have wifi!

Downsides include:
1. it's pretty cold in here
2. we don't have our own bathroom