I said baby, it's 3:00 AM and I'm lonely....

.... Or just wide awake. I spent a bunch of time writing up my first “I’m fine” post yesterday, sitting on the curb of the courtyard outside my apartment building, stealing wireless from the internet café underneath my flat. But serves me right, the minute I click on “post” it died on me, and I couldn’t check until now to see it hadn’t posted. So my apologies for a delay in posting. Internet is sketchy here in my flat (I’m currently pressed up against my window, stealing the same wireless feed) and I can’t get access to any of the universities wireless or computers b/c I haven’t enrolled yet. So here is the jist. I’m fabulous. The jet lag nearly killed me, so Saturday was still pretty much a haze and I slept over 16 hours yesterday (even for me, that’s quite a bit). It’s actually 3:00 AM right now, and I’m wide awake. I arrived with no trouble and the driver who picked me up graciously pointed out many of the sites of the town as I struggled for consciousness. Like any true University Orientation, when I arrived, a friendly dad offered to keep an eye on my bags as I checked in. People with bright t-shirts were milling around and one helped carry my bags a block and a half to my flat (which my family knows was very gracious of him, my three bags (plus carry-on) probably most certainly weighed more than me). My flat is an interesting mix of dorm and apartment. It is a three story flat, with three bedrooms and the shower on one floor, three more bedrooms (including mine) and the bath on the next, and one more bedroom and the kitchen on the top. Two of my flatmates were here over the summer and previous term, so they’ve collected all sorts of kitchen things which they have graciously established as “common” I’ve got a cupboard of my own and two half-shelves of a mini-fridge (all my past roommates are probably cringing on my behalf right now). One flat mate is from a town about four hours north of London, one is from Boston, two from Hong Kong, and one from Korea. Our seventh has yet to emerge. It feels dormish, because the doors are sterile and heavy, so even if you are inside they are hard to prop open. And since we are stacked right on top of each other, it doesn’t feel very communal. However, last night we were all around the same time and hung out in the kitchen for a while, talking about our quirks and whether we wanted to pay for internet or not. My room is quite decent, it is smallish, but all my stuff fits with a bit of room to spare. I have a sink and mirror in my room. The only downside is that I am on the side of the building that looks over the main arterial of south-east London, so the traffic never dies down. I am pretty grateful for the earplugs from the airplane. The first night I arrived, there was a New International Student Buffet that was canceled, so a bunch of girls and I (commonly united in starvation) joined up and found an Indian restaurant. There are a few from the US, one from Norway, one from Canada, one from Hong Kong, and one from Australia. We bonded, which made for some friendly faces during the first few orientation meetings yesterday. We also joined up for the “Welcome Night” at the campus pub (so yes, I am in London) which had a dance floor, disco ball, and music that would put my high school dances to shame. It was way too loud for any decent conversation so after our ears started bleeding (and a huge group of freshman showed up) we relocated to a local pub named the Hobgoblin. We shared our “To Do” errand lists and are joining up this morning to run them all together. They all are a lot of fun (and they think I’m funny!) and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better. Oh, my flat is right next to a frozen food market (named Iceland, hee) and a block away from a Safeway-like supermarket, so access food will never be an issue. At the market they have helpful aisle labels like “Cereal” and “Healthier Cereal” and “Yogurt” and “Healthier Yogurt” so I am in no danger of accidentally buying un-healthy yogurt, A bunch of us are going to register at the college fitness club together, and I found some Pilates partners, so already I’ve got some good support for staying healthy. And I think I shall call this a post. To summarize for those who skimmed, I’m tired but good. Feelings will catch up soon, I’m sure. Next post will be reflective, that’s a guarantee. Cheers!