Orientation Week = Drink and Sleep-In Week

So among the many factors that differentiates the British educational system from that of the United States is the enrollment process.  Here at SOAS, enrollment and orientation is a week-long process.  Orientation was all day Sunday, and today was enrollment.  I spent most of my afternoon today shuffling from cue to cue, registering for every little thing from a library card, to access to the student union, to individual classes.  Being that I was feeling lazy, I only registered for my Arabic language class.  I figure I can use the rest of the week for signing up for the others.

So what do you do when you have nothing else to do all week than wait in cues and file paperwork?...If your answer was "you drink," than you're absolutely right.  Last night I celebrated the opening of the bar at the student union in style, by drinking 3.5 pound pints of Guinness and getting to know some of the other folks here at SOAS.  Tomorrow night is quiz night at the bar, and I hope to return and possibly win a free night's worth of more Guinness.

With little to do for the rest of the week, a couple of us are contemplating a trip to Scotland.  Originally we were planning  on going to Dublin, but the only reasonable airfare that we could find is for a few weeks from now.  By tomorrow we hope to iron out our plans for the rest of the week, but worst case scenario, I get to hang out here at Dinwiddy Hall with my newly acquainted friends, which isn't too bad of a plan.

First week in the U.K.

First of all, I figure I should explain why it is that I've given in to the notion of creating a xanga blog.  For one, it has occured to me that some people may be curious as to what I'm up to while overseas.  Also, being that this will likely end up being a life-changing experience, it would only make sense to keep a journal of it, and God knows I won't be organized enough to keep a written one.  Being that I live in front of a computer, I might be more inclined to update a journal if it is done from my laptop.

Today is the first day I've really had a reliable internet connection.  The 25 minutes of time I had with the shotty computer at the McDonalds webcafe in Kensington hardly sufficed for valuable time online, not to mention it was a waste of what turned out to be about $1.90.  Since I got here Monday, I've experienced a lot in London.  I've traveled the River Thames by tourboat, saw the Producers in the theatre district, went through two days of unneccessary and borderline akward orientation at Imperial College, and just today, moved into the Dinwitty House near King's Cross.

Since Thursday, I've spent the past few days getting acquanted with Britain's often dilapidated but overall effective railsystem.  Via Manchester, the SOAS group and the U. Wales, Bangor group from Arcadia and I traveled to Southport on the Irish Sea, where we did homestay.  Living with Audrey and the kids for a couple of days wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  The family was nice, the house was beautiful, the town was, well, not a dead 19th century mining town like I expected, and most importantly, the food didn't taste like shit.  I'm not sure if watching Everybody Loves Raymond on her satellite TV made me feel homesick, or just more at home...I think its the latter.  Yesterday we took the MerseyLink to Liverpool, and took in the sights of the Modern Art Museum, the waterfront, and everything Beatles.  The trip was concluded with the fireworks festival, and a few more rounds of Guinness at the local Irish joint, and of course, a visit to Southport's own Kebab and Pizza shop.  The Donner reminded me of Hot Potato back at OWU, but in all honesty, I think it was better.

After an hour and a half on the Southport commuter train and then another 2.5 hours on the Virgin bullet train from Manchester, we got back this afternoon to Euston Station in London in time to catch a London Cab to Dinwitty.  The room- well, its better than anything I had at OWU.  Its small, cozy, and is entirely my own.  While that all has its own obvious benefits, its a little lonely lacking a roomate.  A few other international students moved in this afternoon, but I'm too tirred to go out and make new friends.  Orientation all day tomorrow should suffice well for just that.

So despite the hardships of waiting at Heathrow for over 2 hours for the bus, lugging three pieces of massive baggage around England for a week, and nearly needing stiches in my nose (never try shaving sensitive areas while jet-lagged), I guess encouragement can be found in the fact that I've been here for just about a week, and it hasn't rained yet.