Six People in One Bedroom is Too Many

After several hours, a few tears, too many clicks, and an entire Halloween candy bag, we finally booked our trip(s). 

Barcelona, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Paris, Edinburgh and Sweden, here we come!!

[This girl is lucky to have a four day weekend every weekend!!] 

This kinda inbox makes me happy :)

A Very American Day

Yesterday was the first day I didn't fully embrace myself in British culture, mainly because I had a lot of things on the To-Do List: Laundry. Schoolwork. Cleaning. Organizing. Reading.

I figured I'd better take a picture of my nicely organized room because it won't stay like this for long ;)

Marisa and I both stayed in our room until around 7 o'clock, when I announced that I absolutely needed to get out of the house. We decided to get dressed and go out. The plan was to have dinner somewhere, but we realized quickly that every restaurant was closed. The only open restaurant nearby was one we had already been to (I really wanted to try somewhere new). After retracing our steps twice, we reluctantly went inside, only to hear the bartender announce, "the kitchen is closed. the kitchen is closed." When they say pubs are the only thing to do at night, I guess they mean it.

We ended up eating at the one place I promised myself I would never go to:

My I-cant-believe-I'm-eating-here face. 

I ordered a large vanilla milkshake on the self-order screens. The first thing that came to mind when I got it was, "This is a large?" Marisa laughed. "That's the most American thing you could've said."

Oh well. I have 89 days left to practice being a true Londoner. 

My face before I realized they gave me banana instead of vanilla...

And while I wait, I have these wonderful faces to look at!

Thanks for all the emails, fb messages, calls and prayers. I appreciate them so much!

Cheers, an Afty, and A Bit of a Do

I'm already falling behind...we've been here for four days! Today, however, was my all time favorite day so far. We met the other students we will be studying with, spent the afternoon exploring, and then took the most romantic bus tour ever created. But before I share that, here are some pictures of my home sweet home (and the first couple days).

We live on top of a hill that's on top of another hill that is on top of another hill (perhaps the reason why the borough is called Highgate). This is us all piling in with our luggage:

Here's a look into my apartment:

At night the city looks like its a mile away. We can see the lights from our kitchen window... It's pretty wild to think I'm living barely forty-five minutes from the center of the city. I don't think it has quite hit me yet, how lucky I am to be here. We were reminded today how rare it is to be able to live only a zone over from Central London. And I'm here? As an eighteen-year-old college student? It's truly amazing to have the opportunity.

 The inside of our flat looks brand new (because it is: we are its first residents since renovation!), but the building is extremely old. I'm glad they kept these vintage-y windows because each morning when the sun comes in, I feel like I could be a Bennet or a Bingley. Then, I wake up, get ready, and walk to the tube, hoping to arrive approximately 45 minutes after stepping out of the house. (So far it hasn't quite worked out that way, but it will...I think). Here's some pictures of the Arcadia center:

On Sunday, the day we flew in, Arcadia staff treated us to dinner at WagaMama, a delicious Thai restaurant in Central London. This was probably to prevent us from taking a nap so we could adjust to the local time, which was definitely a smart idea because otherwise I probably would have fallen asleep. 

The next day (Monday), we went on a self-navigated tour of the city as part of an orientation activity. Here's some typical touristy pictures:

And here's us back in Highgate: our first official grocery trip!

Next month we probably won't be as ecstatic to be taking on this part of #adulting. Here's a fun fact.  Grocery bags cost 2 pence. Each. So this girl is thankful her mother packed her a reusable grocery bag (that is also insulated!) It made the culture shock of food-shopping a little more bearable :)

And with that, I've completely run out of time. Its almost two in the morning here, so I guess I'll save the "a bit of a do" portion of this blog for a later post. Here's a sneak peek:

Can we say, ADORABLE? (The bus, that is, not me). 

Anyway, more on that later!

Cheers,

LKM