Just Like The Movies

So I feel it's finally time for me to write about how London has actually been. It's been so different from day to day but I'll try to be brief while I write about the first few days.

When I got here the first few days I was amazingly unsettled. No phone, no internet, no way to reach anyone that I knew. On top of that the only people that I met the first few days were British freshman. And it was so fun, although the Brits seem to me just like those from the movies-- smoke a ton of "fags" in the flat, have hilarious accents, speak in slang that so exceeds my comprehension and are mature beyond what I could've dreamed at 18 moving into my dorms (although we do have cleaning people for the kitchen which is so bafflingly un-independent seeming to me).

I may have mentioned before, but I absolutely love the kids who are in my flat. The first night it was two other girls and I- no one else had showed up- so I went out with them. We met with the kids next door (who were, of course, more British freshers) and then went to the Hobgoblin, the bar right around the corner from my bar. I had a ridiculously fun night and loved being in New Cross that night. But the next day I woke up extremely anxious about making sure everything was set up alright.

On Saturday I woke up intending to head off and buy a phone and adapter. I headed to the Loring Management Center where I had checked in and gotten my keys. Luckily there were a group of student aids outside who pointed me in the right direction and, because I clearly seemed so uncertain, the head of the student center actually walked me to where I needed to go. I was pretty certain they were wrong when they told me that Sainsbury's, the supermarket, would have the phone and adapter I needed. After all, the idea of going to a Stop-N-Shop and getting a phone was pretty hilarious. But after I got to Sainsbury's and looked around I realized they have just about everything possible there. It's one of the things that Brits do way better than us because it's a one stop shop for everything you might need. My only complaint was this: who the hell keeps eggs unrefrigerated? I feel entirely uneasy about eating eggs that've been sitting in the aisle all day and became convinced that they were either a.) fake Easter egg type eggs or b.) some type of terrorist device designed to trick those of us who're accustomed to morning eggs. Right now I've a carton of 6 eggs just sitting in my fridge that I'm not sure I'll eat because all I can think of is little bugs and creepy crawlies growing in them...

But after I went to Sainsbury's and Curry's I got my adapters and phone figured out and were actually able to use my electronics (although I didn't manage to get my internet password for another day). I lucked out and that day another 4 people arrived in my flat, making 7 of the 8 of us present. Again, ridiculously nice people, but it was another 4 British freshers so I began to worry that I wouldn't meet another American the whole time I was there since clearly I was being forced into some sort of isolation camp where everyone would attempt to imitate my accent and make me the token American. Felt pretty foolish when the next day an American (one from Penn no less) showed up in my flat and turned out to be just as nice and twice as convenient to attend orientation events with as the Brits.

The night of the 26th was my birthday and I celebrated by going out with all of my new British friends and Jess, the girl who was also celebrating her 20th. Highlights included Jess wallowing on the floor of the pub about having missed out on her teenage years, only to bound back to life when I reminded her she had managed to evade teenage pregnancy. Then on the actually day of my birthday I kept it pretty low key, celebrating by buying a 5 pack (yes, 5 pack) of Red Stripe and streaming the Patriots game. I then drank some with the flat mates who later went on to a Noah's Ark party dressed as cats, butterflies and Oliver as a zebra [pronounced: Zehb-rah] who really looked more like a member of KISS than any sort of zoo animal. The real celebration came last night when I went out with another Chi O, Lauren, in central London. We went to Fabric which is one of the must go to clubs in London. It was AMAZING and I had such a good time celebrating by going to a pub for drinks and catching up and then dancing the night away with Lauren. It was definitely the highlight of my birthday celebration, and made me realize maybe 20 isn't anything to scoff at.

Other highlights of the last few days:
-Making friends with the Americans on the Arcadia trip who are all just as friendly as the Brits and eager to do all of the touristy things
-The introduction of Caroline, my flat-mate from Penn who I didn't know before the trip
-The realization that just maybe I'll be able to figure out all of the course scheduling before classes start next Monday (although they make everything as difficult as possible... we had an orientation meeting Monday and Joe Lewis, the coordinator for visiting students, made it clear that switching classes (and just about everything else as well) would be as inconvenient as possible for us)
-Figuring out skype-to-go. This is especially relevant to anyone who might be unable to skype with me, because in the last few days I purchased unlimited calls to the US via my skype to go number so I can actually call numbers in the US using only the cheap, locally-priced minutes that I have on my British phone.
-Getting to explain to my hilarious British flat-mates all the joys of American life, including the fact that, Yes, we do drink out of those silly red cups at parties, sororities are not in fact cults as one girl thought, and the sandwiches which I miss are gyros, not Giros, a British term which I've come to believe has something to do with checks and British money transfers. This was one of many times I hit an impasse when trying to explain some American (or in this case Greek) term to my Brits.

In all my 2 am delirium tonight (I was again at the Hobgoblin tonight with some Americans) I have lost some of my stilted eloquence- hopefully I'll be able to write again tomorrow or the day after about my soon-to-happen trips into Central London. I have the entire day free tomorrow and while I could head off with someone I'm quite excited about the prospect of trying to figure out the tube a little better on my own and find my bearings in Central London by myself. After such exploration hopefully I'll have a few more photos to post and some more touristy stories to share then.

Till then, enjoy the image of me trying to explain the concept of Beirut and Flip Cup to 6 British students (some with hilariously delightful Welsh accents) who think that America is "just like the movies." And, you know, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that it is.