First Day!

It's a little unbelievable that I am sitting in my flat in the middle of London, when just this morning I was on a couch in New Jersey attempting to watch Scrubs as my mother yelled checklists at me. It is nearly 9 PM, which feels like 4 PM, which frankly just feels a bit like hell considering the jet lag.

When I got into the taxi this morning from Heathrow Airport to the Paul Mellon Centre in London, where I will be studying this semester, I was totally prepared for the fact that the driver would sit on the right side--but I was shocked by the realization that the rearview mirror also faced the right instead of the left. I contemplated this for a few moments, then began to wonder if the turn signal too is on the right of the steering wheel. My first interaction with a real live Londonder thus consisted of a considerable amount of awkward rustling in my failed attempt to see the driver's hands from my vantage point directly behind him.

London was raining, not unexpectedly. My apartment building is in the Bloomsbury district, near the center of London and its Soho area. I passed Big Ben and Buckingham Palace on my way to the building, where the lift took me six flights up to my flat. And it's so much nicer than I expected it to be! I have a good sized kitchen complete with utensils, pots, pans, and even a little washing machine (underwear and socks will no longer be the limiting reagents of real laundry!); a big common room with a breakfast nook, couch, TV, chairs, and a gorgeous view of the city streets; one and a half bathrooms; and two bedrooms, a single and a double. I'm in the double, which is more spacious (although the single has a queen! sized bed.) Nice digs, as they say.

So tired, will continue this tomorrow.

Cheerio!