Meeting the new London gang...I mean my new flatmates (aka. suitemates)

I've made it all the way across the pond! I'm sorry I haven't sent and update sooner, but I've been going non stop since I landed! So I'm here safe and sound, and having an absolute BLAST. London is wonderful!

I finally got here with my 3 suitcases and 150 pounds of luggage, and moved in to my apartment at Great Dover Street. You walk in the "flat" aka. apartment, and it's basically a hallway with 8 doors with akitchen at the back. Each person has their own room, so I was worried that I would be making no friends if everyone left their doors shut on the hallway! Luckily the welcome party was out and about and I met two of my "flatmates" James and Manny. Once everyone moved in we totaled 3 boys (James, Manny and Chris) from England, and 5 girls from all over the world (Maggie and I are American, Emily is Australian, Ivy is Chineese, and Magdalena is Chilean).

Both Chris and James are from Wales, and are big rugby boys! So by the time I leave here I'm going to be a complete rugby expert. Manny's the big cricket player here, so I'm learning about that as well!

The first day here I met up with the UNC study abroad students and we walked around London to get the lay of the land. We happened to stumble across the Olympic cycling time trials, so we stopped to watch them ride by! Lots of people were out there cheering and yelling "COME ON MATE!" for encouragement :)  Then later we stumbled upon London Fashion Week going on at the Sommerset House, and walked in to see what was happening. There were obviously tons of famous models and designers there, and of course I had absolutely no idea who anyone was! So that was all very exciting for the first day! Then later that night I went to the pub with my flatmates to catch the big Manchester vs. Chelsea "football game"...we've already had many conversations about "football" vs. soccer vs. American Football as you can imagine! My flatmates were happy because their team, ManU won the game!

Since then I've been running errands trying to get set up...it took me 3 days to get a phone, and I still have yet to buy a blanket. All in all I'm pretty set up though, learning where I should go to buy what etc.

I also went to check out my "Uni" meaning University, and it's smack in the middle of London! We're right in the theatre district, around the corner from Covent Garden, down the street from Trafalgar Square, and our student cafe overlooks the Thames! Doesn't sound like it gets much better than that! I'm also working on running on military time, and getting the hang of using the tube!

I think my favorite outing so far was the Great Dover Boat Party where we went out for 4 hours on a boat on the Thames, and had a party. We traveled past the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and under Tower Bridge! We had the best time! So this next picture is of me, my flatmates, and some of our other friends from Great Dover.

I'm so glad to have recieved messages from some people alread, and can't wait to hear your comments on the blog!!! More to come soooon :)