One Month In...:)

Greetings (again) from the Starbucks in Notting Hill aka a wonderful place of free wi-fi!!!

 Don't worry Mom I just bought a water.

Today marks my being in London for one month! I can not believe it!  I felt a great of anxiety through the whole pre-study abroad process from deciding if I even wanted to go, to where I would go, to the intense application process, to waiting to hear if I was accepted, to getting ready and buying the things I needed all while studying and keeping up with my school work not to mention a shorter and very short Christmas break....
But now I see that coming to London was the best decision I have yet to make during my life.  This month has been filled with so many exciting moments and very few stressful ones (surprisingly enough).  I never thought I could adjust so quickly to a new place away from friends and family but I feel like I have done so swiftly and pain free (though I miss everyone terribly - don't think I don't)!  I have learned a lot about myself this month and can't wait to learn even more and experience all the rest that my time abroad has to offer me with the two months I have left - seeing how fast this month went it scares me at the prospect of how fast these next two months were certainly go!
Mom, Dad, and Eddie will be here in 13 days and it will mark the half way point of my semester in London - ahhh!  I can't wait to see them!

Now to the relaxing week that just past...

Tuesday: I relaxed a little in getting ready Tuesday morning before heading to school and doing some school work and editing the last bits of my essay before class.  I met up with Kali and Marisa for lunch in the cafe, per usual, and we chatted and ate before I headed to the classroom a little early.  I gave my literature professor some of my writings and asked him if he would be so kind as to look them over and give my any advice he had in my wanting to pursue writing and publishing (he is a published writer himself).  He said he would indeed look them over and let me know what he thought.  I am excited to hear his feedback.
After class Kali and I stopped at this store called Dorothy Perkins and I found the cutest shoes for 5 pounds (plus a 25% student discount) but of course they were just a little to big and the store didn't carry half sizes.  I  sadly had to abandon the thought of getting them....perhaps it was a sign I should save money.
I headed home, read, and had some dinner before Marisa, Laura, and I headed to the cinema to see "The Descendants."  The film was sold out so we were happy we got our tickets the night before.  We waited in line for about 15 mins before being let in to the theater.  It was a full house and we were excited to see the film with a British audience - we wandered if anything would be different.  There were some differences.  First off, the film is incredible!  I absolutely loved it! Both George Clooney and Shalienne Woodly gave amazing performances.  The film was so sad and so happy and there were bits of utter sadness and comedy at the same time that you didn't know whether to laugh or cry so I found myself doing both.  Now a difference came when we realized there were bits of the film that were intended to be sad that the rest of audience found extremely funny.  We attributed this to British humor but at the same time we were thinking, "this part isn't suppose to be funny!"  It was certainly interesting.
Let me also say that "The Descendants" made me realize I NEED to go to Hawaii and WILL before I die.  Also, I hope George gets best actor at the Oscars....we'll see.
After the movie we all headed home and went to bed.

Wednesday: Beth, Marisa, and I headed to our theater class on a sunny but VERY cold morning in London.  Our theater class was a lot of fun because we actually got to act out some of the scenes from the play we had to read for class that day.  We also got our tickets for our first outing to the theater next week - to the Royal Opera House! We're all really excited!
After lunch we got lunch and hung out for a little while at Birkbeck.  Marisa and Beth headed to tea while I had some errands to run.  I decided to head home after my errands because I was feeling kind of tired and I was very cold!!!
When I got home Laura and I hung out and watched Ellen interviews before she ate dinner.  I went out to dinner and a pub with a friend of mine I have met here in London and it was a very nice time.
After a lovely evening I headed home and went to bed.

Thursday:  Thursday proved to be the coldest day we have experienced in London so far!  We all headed to our first class all bundled up, but it was sunny so we were thankful for that. It was nice to get into a warm building!  We got out an hour early from class so Marisa and I went to Library to use the Internet of course.  Then we went to the market but I chose to get my lunch and head to the classroom building early and eat - it was just too cold for me.
In our afternoon class we watched the third part of Andrew Marr's documentary.  I have very much like this documentary series because Andrew Marr presents happenings in Modern British history while highlighting the humorous parts.  He also doesn't hold back when talking about the hard times.
After class we all headed home and I anxiously waited for Laura so we could book Ireland. We joined everyone's company as we ate dinner first though. We all ate a variety of things for dinner. For example I ate cereal followed by stir fry rice that Marisa had made - which was sooo good!  After dinner Marisa, Laura, and I found ourselves in Starbucks first to use the Internet.  Upon returning home Laura and I booked our trip to Galway over St. Patty's Day weekend! I can not wait for it.  A friend of mine from SBA is nice enough to let us stay with her so I'm sure it will be a great weekend!
Marisa, Laura, and I decided to stay in and do some homework for the night.  I watched a movie before going to bed early.

Friday:  This morning I slept in a little.  I got up around 9:30 and ate breakfast and got ready for a day of academics.  Everyone else is in Dover today but I have two books, a paper, another paper, and research to prepare for next week (and this is with being on schedule with all my classes)!  Plus I knew I will be out all day tomorrow with the IFSA sponsored trip to Stonehenge which I know will be great!  I spoke to Helena (our housekeeper) this morning who said it was extremely cold out so perhaps it's for the better I decided to skip out on this trip.  I will definitely be on the next one.

After reading and getting a shower I decided to come to Starbucks and blog and so here I am.

I wanted to use this day to recuperate from all the action of the past couple of weeks and, as you see, it has led me to be reflect at the realization of the time that has passed and experiences that have occurred!

Well I better get back to reading.

I will be sure to update you all on the weekend day trip and I will be sure to have pictures (I know words only go so far).


Thanks again for all your support.


Cheers everyone,
MK