weekend synopsis

Alright friends, well apparently i have wireless now. Though i do not get reception in my room yet. Convenient. Anyway, i am currently in the lobby semi-watching Reservoir Dogs, and attempting to relive the past 5 days for you. I arrived on Thursday morning after a lovely flight on Virgin Atlantic (best airline ever), where i sat next to a lovely old lady who frequently called me "love", as well as a nice young, recently engaged British man. We commented on things together in a humorous British fashion because we had to taxi on the runway for about an hour before lifting off, and had to circle for about a half hour before landing. The man then pointed me to the right line for immigrations, which was quite helpful, and i went through that rather smoothly. After paying a cab driver an exorbinant amount of cash, i got out at Regents and trucked up three flights of stairs to get to my room on the third floor. The room is surprisingly..roomy...considering we are in London. We have a nice picteresque bay window with no screens, which makes me a bit nervous considering my insect fear, though, so far, there have been no infiltrations. Went to some orientation stuff, which mainly discussed the importance of locking doors, keeping belongings close to you, not drinking too much, going to class, and the local nightlife, which mainly seems to be clubbing. Friday, we had some more orientation activities, and i attempted to be social and go the club entitled Umbaba. Say it with me- Umbaba. Well, turns out, despite the fact that 50 students had tickets to go and had student ids, you also need a license to get in. I, of course, did not have it on me at that moment so my friend and i just went back after standing around for a while, which was perfectly fine with me seeing as i can do without crowds of sweaty drunk people trying to dance. Saturday, i went to the Natural History Museum and looked at some nice old dinosaur bones. It is a fabulous, free museum, as most here are. I then went to dinner with some friends before taking a quick look in fancy, famed, obviously expensive, Harrods and heading back to the tubes. Since i have arrived, every day has consisted of wandering about Regents Park which surrounds my college, and is therefore , pretty much my campus. It is such a fantastic place and i have been there every day since i arrived. Lovely rose gardens, ponds, fountains, waterfowl, benches, cafes, the london zoo, sports pitches, cyclists, dogs, british people galore. Sunday, I joined the school-led trek to the Camden Market, in none other than, Camden. Camden also is where the boats on the go through a series of locks on the Regent's Canal (as pictured). Unlike the Camden of New Jersey, this Camden is flourishing with a slew of vendors selling everything from incense to sportscoats. I gave in and bought a Smiths t-shirt for 6 pounds, which i suppose i should have haggled for, though i wanted it, so i didn't mind. If you even so much as look at an item, or heaven forbid, make eye contact with a vendor, it's the end. They sprint over to you straight away, knocking down everything in their paths, only to hold it up, say "nice,eh? try it on, will you?" I was forced many times to ever so politely decline,saying things like: " no, sir, i am afraid i just recently purchased some fishnet stockings and and a shirt referencing the recreational use of marijuana, which puts me over my quota for the month. But i'll be back for the body piercing next week, i assure you. cheers, thanks". So that was fun. The punk scene in London is actually very impressive. There are some awesome looking people with rainbow colored mohawks, crazy clothing, tattoos, piercings. I want to be thier friends. I then walked around a bit more, seeing as the weather has been absolutely spledind every day, without a drop of rain. I take this as a sign that i should move here straight away. That and the fact that every thing here just makes me happy when i am out in London away from the slew of americans in my school that give americans a bad name. So yes. that was the weekend. hope all's well with you. cheers