Hi guys!
Today was pretty good. It took me FOREVER to fall asleep last night (must've been some lingering jet lag) but once I did get to sleep I slept pretty well. We had to do the fire drill over again this morning but I'm pretty sure we completed it on time, so that's a relief.
So today we had 2 more lectures in the morning. The first one especially was VERY informative- all about travel tips, etc. which was nice. After the lectures, we got instructions for a "paper chase" or scavenger hunt that we can complete while we're here. The winning team gets a helicopter ride over London! I might do it, but it'll be very time-consuming so I don't know if I'll get around to it.
After the lectures, we went to buy our books. There was a LONG line for the books, and it was kind of disorganized. Only 2 of my classes had a book list up so far. One class had most of the books available at the book sale, and for the other one I checked them all out at the library. So I only had to pay for books for 1 class, which was nice. The other ones I'm assuming I'll get from the library or buy later.
I had lunch after I was done buying my books, in my dorm kitchen. Then I hung out in my room for a little while. After that I had SOME LEGIT BRITISH TEA AND PASTRIES with the other people in my program! There's only 12 of us, so it looks like it's going to be a pretty close-knit group. We didn't go out to a restaurant or anything, we just had tea in one of the rooms in Harrington Gardens (the main classroom building). The pasties were REALLY good- chocolate pear pie, little shortbread-like cookies, chocolate cookies- NOM NOM NOM. We found out that we're going to the Lake District (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) which excites me SO MUCH! We're going to see where the Bronte's live, the Romantic poets, etc....I'm SO excited! I love how much history London has. I found out today that Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) actually lived a couple of houses away from the Harrington Gardens building! It's sooo cool that I'm walking the same streets where he could've "whistled all the airs of that infernal nonsense Pinafore" as it were.
After tea, I went out to the Builder's Arms pub with some other people from my floor. It was a good pub- I got a wonderful glass of blackberry cider. Some of the girls from my floor are going bar-hopping later tonight, so I'll probably go with them. Brittany's probably going to go too, but she's not back from dinner yet (we all got our food at different times and just left whenever we were gone). I'm really excited about this and hope that I actually get to go! I want to get all dressed for it now, but I keep thinking they're going to forget to knock on my door or something like that, so I don't want to jinx myself. I'm probably going to get changed anyway, just so that I'm ready.
Love you all!
- Miranda
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Chinatown and more!
Today went really well too!
So I woke up at 8:30 (after sleeping for almost 12 hours). I didn't have any issues sleeping at all, I just passed out the moment I closed my eyes. When I woke up, I took a shower (which redefined the term "scalding hot" -_-) and got dressed. I then attempted to have breakfast. I say "attempted" because I was not able to access my cereal. The kitchen has little cabinets with locks for each of us, and I can't find my key that opens the lock :(. My RA said she'd get me another one, though, so it's all good.
We then left for our orientation. There was a "fire drill" to get us all out, but apparently we didn't do it fast enough, so we have to do it again tomorrow. Wowwww. Our orientation consisted of some lectures in this small auditiorium. Most of them were very informative. I walked back to my dorm for lunch and then had 2 more lectures in the afternoon.
While at the lectures, I met Matt (who goes to Cornell) his roommate Dan, April, and Sophia. Matt and Dan live in Courtfield Gardens (another dorm) and April and Sophia live in the Crofton with me. Anyway, I got to talking with Matt and he invited me to go to Chinatown with them for dinner tonight! So after walking back to my dorm for a bit, I left for the Tube station to go to Chinatown with them (plus April and Sophia's roommate, Sylvja). It was really fun! We went to this super cheap all-you-can eat buffet for 5 pounds, which we loved because it was so cheap. The food was basically your typical artery-clogging Chinese food (lo mein, rice, spring rolls, etc.) but it filled us up really well. Then we went to a Chinese grocery store, where Dan bought a rice cooker and some rice. Then we went back on the Tube to go to Sainsbury's, the biggest grocery store around here. I bought an ADAPTOR THAT WORKS! along with some things I forgot to buy yesterday. Then I walked back to my dorm with the other girls that lived in London, and FINALLY GOT ON THE COMPUTER FOR A DECENT AMOUNT OF TIME! You have NO IDEA how happy this makes me!
There was a comedy show tonight, but it started while I was at dinner with everyone, so I missed it. Matt came to around to our room because him and some of his friends were going out, but he never got back to us so I don't think were're going.
Tomorrow we have more orientation lectures and then a book sale where we'll buy our books for the semester. We're going to a pub with our RA for dinner tomorrow.
Chinatown pictures:
So I woke up at 8:30 (after sleeping for almost 12 hours). I didn't have any issues sleeping at all, I just passed out the moment I closed my eyes. When I woke up, I took a shower (which redefined the term "scalding hot" -_-) and got dressed. I then attempted to have breakfast. I say "attempted" because I was not able to access my cereal. The kitchen has little cabinets with locks for each of us, and I can't find my key that opens the lock :(. My RA said she'd get me another one, though, so it's all good.
We then left for our orientation. There was a "fire drill" to get us all out, but apparently we didn't do it fast enough, so we have to do it again tomorrow. Wowwww. Our orientation consisted of some lectures in this small auditiorium. Most of them were very informative. I walked back to my dorm for lunch and then had 2 more lectures in the afternoon.
While at the lectures, I met Matt (who goes to Cornell) his roommate Dan, April, and Sophia. Matt and Dan live in Courtfield Gardens (another dorm) and April and Sophia live in the Crofton with me. Anyway, I got to talking with Matt and he invited me to go to Chinatown with them for dinner tonight! So after walking back to my dorm for a bit, I left for the Tube station to go to Chinatown with them (plus April and Sophia's roommate, Sylvja). It was really fun! We went to this super cheap all-you-can eat buffet for 5 pounds, which we loved because it was so cheap. The food was basically your typical artery-clogging Chinese food (lo mein, rice, spring rolls, etc.) but it filled us up really well. Then we went to a Chinese grocery store, where Dan bought a rice cooker and some rice. Then we went back on the Tube to go to Sainsbury's, the biggest grocery store around here. I bought an ADAPTOR THAT WORKS! along with some things I forgot to buy yesterday. Then I walked back to my dorm with the other girls that lived in London, and FINALLY GOT ON THE COMPUTER FOR A DECENT AMOUNT OF TIME! You have NO IDEA how happy this makes me!
There was a comedy show tonight, but it started while I was at dinner with everyone, so I missed it. Matt came to around to our room because him and some of his friends were going out, but he never got back to us so I don't think were're going.
Tomorrow we have more orientation lectures and then a book sale where we'll buy our books for the semester. We're going to a pub with our RA for dinner tomorrow.
Chinatown pictures:
Daily update FAIL.
Remember how I said I would update every day? Yeah, that totally didn't happen, LOL. So in this entry, I'll talk about what happened yesterday! Yay!
So, the plane ride went pretty well. I was actually waiting in the wrong gate for most of the time, but that wasn't that big of an issue as the the gates were right next to each other. The plane was HUGE! It had a whole upstairs section, a bar, etc...I had never been on a plane that big! AND they had TV's on the back of the seat where you could watch whatever you wanted to! Seriously, they had a HUGE selection of TV shows and movies to watch. I watched The Blind Side(soooooooooo good) and some TV shows. I attempted to sleep on the plane, but I was WAY too excited. I maybe got about 30-60 minutes of sleep? I don't really know. But the plane ride itself was REALLY smooth. It didn't even feel like we were flying, really.
Once I got off the plane, I got a cab to the Crofton (my dorm) with Kelly, the girl I sat next to on the plane, and some of her friends. Since 3 of us were in the cab, we got to split the cost, so it was nice. Then I arrived at my dorm! I'm in a quad. My one roommate, Chelsea, is in the College of General Studies program, and they got here earlier this week and were taking a trip to the Lake District this weekend (sooooooo jealous!) so she wasn't there, but my other roommate, Brittany, came a little bit after I did. My final roommate, Andrea, had visa issues and should be arriving here tomorrow.
Brittany and I unpacked and set up our phones and computers. It took me a while to figure out how to send a text to the US, but once I figured it out I was fine. I went on my computer for a brief amount of time but I didn't know the password to the Crofton wireless network at the time, so I sketchily logged onto this wifi that had a really poor connection. Brittany and I walked around and took pictures outside:
Then Brittany and I left for a walking tour of London with the rest of the building.
That's when the bad stuff happened.
When I returned from the walking tour, my laptop WOULD NOT TURN ON. AT ALL. I FREAKED OUT, thinking that it had been fried to death or something like that. Seriously, I was soooooo upset. After another quick meeting about procedures and with our hall, I talked to my RA, Ashley, about it for a bit. I kept trying and nothing happened.
Eventually, I went with Brittany, Matt (another guy on our floor, he goes to Wake Forest along with about 30 other people here, they have a huge contingent) and some other people to go grocery shopping at Waitrose, a local supermarket. I bought a bunch of groceries for making meals, etc. and some other stuff that I needed.
We all walked back, and then we all went back out to get dinner at a local pub. It was really fun! The bartender was SO cute! We walked back to Crofton after that. I then went on the computers in the computer lab upstairs and looked up my problem. It said that there was probably an issue with my adaptor. I tried my other adaptor, but it was only for 2-pronged appliances, not 3 like my laptop is. So then Brittany and I went out to get new adaptors (because she didn't bring any) but the only ones we found were European adaptors, not USA ones.
I passed out at around 9:30 last night, soooooooo tired and jetlagged.
Today's entry coming soon!
- Miranda
So, the plane ride went pretty well. I was actually waiting in the wrong gate for most of the time, but that wasn't that big of an issue as the the gates were right next to each other. The plane was HUGE! It had a whole upstairs section, a bar, etc...I had never been on a plane that big! AND they had TV's on the back of the seat where you could watch whatever you wanted to! Seriously, they had a HUGE selection of TV shows and movies to watch. I watched The Blind Side(soooooooooo good) and some TV shows. I attempted to sleep on the plane, but I was WAY too excited. I maybe got about 30-60 minutes of sleep? I don't really know. But the plane ride itself was REALLY smooth. It didn't even feel like we were flying, really.
Once I got off the plane, I got a cab to the Crofton (my dorm) with Kelly, the girl I sat next to on the plane, and some of her friends. Since 3 of us were in the cab, we got to split the cost, so it was nice. Then I arrived at my dorm! I'm in a quad. My one roommate, Chelsea, is in the College of General Studies program, and they got here earlier this week and were taking a trip to the Lake District this weekend (sooooooo jealous!) so she wasn't there, but my other roommate, Brittany, came a little bit after I did. My final roommate, Andrea, had visa issues and should be arriving here tomorrow.
Brittany and I unpacked and set up our phones and computers. It took me a while to figure out how to send a text to the US, but once I figured it out I was fine. I went on my computer for a brief amount of time but I didn't know the password to the Crofton wireless network at the time, so I sketchily logged onto this wifi that had a really poor connection. Brittany and I walked around and took pictures outside:
Then Brittany and I left for a walking tour of London with the rest of the building.
That's when the bad stuff happened.
When I returned from the walking tour, my laptop WOULD NOT TURN ON. AT ALL. I FREAKED OUT, thinking that it had been fried to death or something like that. Seriously, I was soooooo upset. After another quick meeting about procedures and with our hall, I talked to my RA, Ashley, about it for a bit. I kept trying and nothing happened.
Eventually, I went with Brittany, Matt (another guy on our floor, he goes to Wake Forest along with about 30 other people here, they have a huge contingent) and some other people to go grocery shopping at Waitrose, a local supermarket. I bought a bunch of groceries for making meals, etc. and some other stuff that I needed.
We all walked back, and then we all went back out to get dinner at a local pub. It was really fun! The bartender was SO cute! We walked back to Crofton after that. I then went on the computers in the computer lab upstairs and looked up my problem. It said that there was probably an issue with my adaptor. I tried my other adaptor, but it was only for 2-pronged appliances, not 3 like my laptop is. So then Brittany and I went out to get new adaptors (because she didn't bring any) but the only ones we found were European adaptors, not USA ones.
I passed out at around 9:30 last night, soooooooo tired and jetlagged.
Today's entry coming soon!
- Miranda
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Airports!
I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
- "Leaving on a Jet Plane"- Peter, Paul, and Mary
The song this time doesn't fit quite exactly with my feelings- I do know when I'll be back again, and I don't hate to go- I love travelling! But it was the only airplane-related song I could think about at the spur of the moment.
So! Now I am FINALLY at JFK! My day has been pretty action-packed so far! The first snafu of the trip was totally my fault- I somehow lost my brain this morning and left my airplane ticket for London on the kitchen table! I don't know HOW this happened. Anyway, I was very freaked out, but luckily my parents discovered this very quickly and my awesome father was able to drive up to the airport to give me my ticket. Thanks, Dad!
The flight to JFK was really nice! I had never flown on JetBlue before, and I LOVE it! They have little TV's on the back of the seat, so I wasn't too bored, lol. On Comedy Central they were actually showing Airplane! and even though I love that movie, I thought it would be a bad omen to watch it while I was actually on an airplane. JetBlue also serves Coke in cans, which is always a plus.
Once I got to JFK, I took a shuttle train to the Virgin America terminal, where I had to wait around for about an hour and a half because they weren't checking anyone in on Virgin America until 2:30 -_- . This meant that I was one of the first people in line, though. By the time I finally passed through security and got my baggage checked, it was already around 3-ish, and I was STARVING. Luckily, there is this AWESOME pizza place right by my terminal, . The pizza there is all made from organic ingredients. I normally don't eat organically, but the pizza there was SO GOOD! Nomnomnomnomnom.
So currently I'm updating this via JFK's WiFi. Unfortunately, the ONLY outlet in my gate requires me to sit on the airport floor to use it, and I really didn't feel like doing that. So I'm currently across from my gate at this small bar place, where I had to buy a water to sit in their comfy chair and use the outlet. Heh. After I'm done with this I'm heading back to the gate to use the WiFi until my battery runs out, and then I'll probably read or something like that, I don't know.
- Miranda
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
- "Leaving on a Jet Plane"- Peter, Paul, and Mary
The song this time doesn't fit quite exactly with my feelings- I do know when I'll be back again, and I don't hate to go- I love travelling! But it was the only airplane-related song I could think about at the spur of the moment.
So! Now I am FINALLY at JFK! My day has been pretty action-packed so far! The first snafu of the trip was totally my fault- I somehow lost my brain this morning and left my airplane ticket for London on the kitchen table! I don't know HOW this happened. Anyway, I was very freaked out, but luckily my parents discovered this very quickly and my awesome father was able to drive up to the airport to give me my ticket. Thanks, Dad!
The flight to JFK was really nice! I had never flown on JetBlue before, and I LOVE it! They have little TV's on the back of the seat, so I wasn't too bored, lol. On Comedy Central they were actually showing Airplane! and even though I love that movie, I thought it would be a bad omen to watch it while I was actually on an airplane. JetBlue also serves Coke in cans, which is always a plus.
Once I got to JFK, I took a shuttle train to the Virgin America terminal, where I had to wait around for about an hour and a half because they weren't checking anyone in on Virgin America until 2:30 -_- . This meant that I was one of the first people in line, though. By the time I finally passed through security and got my baggage checked, it was already around 3-ish, and I was STARVING. Luckily, there is this AWESOME pizza place right by my terminal, . The pizza there is all made from organic ingredients. I normally don't eat organically, but the pizza there was SO GOOD! Nomnomnomnomnom.
So currently I'm updating this via JFK's WiFi. Unfortunately, the ONLY outlet in my gate requires me to sit on the airport floor to use it, and I really didn't feel like doing that. So I'm currently across from my gate at this small bar place, where I had to buy a water to sit in their comfy chair and use the outlet. Heh. After I'm done with this I'm heading back to the gate to use the WiFi until my battery runs out, and then I'll probably read or something like that, I don't know.
- Miranda
Friday, August 27, 2010
1st Post!
Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in heaven has in store!
One more dawn!
One more day!
One day more!
- "One Day More", Les Miserables
I LEAVE FOR LONDON TOMORROW! OH MY GOD!
Ahem. Thought I'd get all of that excitement out of the way before I did my intro post. For those of you that don't know me (but I'm assuming that most of you do) my name is Miranda and I'm about to start my junior year at Boston University. This semester, however, I won't be shipping up to Boston. I will be studying abroad for 4 months in London, England! I'll be taking 4 classes there as part of the London History and Literature Program. The program is through BU- BU has a campus in London. I'll be staying in an apartment-style dorm there with 3 other girls.
I still have lots of stuff to do, but I finished packing my clothes last night. Let me tell you, it was SO hard fitting everything into that 1 suitcase! AND I still have some more things to pack in there! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Tomorrow I'm leaving Rochester at 11:30 and arriving in JFK at 12:41, where I have a nice looooooooooooong layover until 7:30, when my flight to Heathrow leaves. I tried to get a flight from Rochester that didn't have as long of a layover in JFK, but there was basically nothing leaving in the middle of the day. Meh. As long as I have internet, though, I'm good. And I've never been to JFK before, so I'm kind of glad that I have a longer layover- it will give me lots of time to explore!
This blog will be a way to keep everyone updated on my travels! I'll try to update daily if I can.
Love you all!
- Miranda
One more dawn!
One more day!
One day more!
- "One Day More", Les Miserables
I LEAVE FOR LONDON TOMORROW! OH MY GOD!
Ahem. Thought I'd get all of that excitement out of the way before I did my intro post. For those of you that don't know me (but I'm assuming that most of you do) my name is Miranda and I'm about to start my junior year at Boston University. This semester, however, I won't be shipping up to Boston. I will be studying abroad for 4 months in London, England! I'll be taking 4 classes there as part of the London History and Literature Program. The program is through BU- BU has a campus in London. I'll be staying in an apartment-style dorm there with 3 other girls.
I still have lots of stuff to do, but I finished packing my clothes last night. Let me tell you, it was SO hard fitting everything into that 1 suitcase! AND I still have some more things to pack in there! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Tomorrow I'm leaving Rochester at 11:30 and arriving in JFK at 12:41, where I have a nice looooooooooooong layover until 7:30, when my flight to Heathrow leaves. I tried to get a flight from Rochester that didn't have as long of a layover in JFK, but there was basically nothing leaving in the middle of the day. Meh. As long as I have internet, though, I'm good. And I've never been to JFK before, so I'm kind of glad that I have a longer layover- it will give me lots of time to explore!
This blog will be a way to keep everyone updated on my travels! I'll try to update daily if I can.
Love you all!
- Miranda
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