Life on Great Dover Street

Hello everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I just got Internet in my room yesterday and most of my days so far have been dedicated to registration and orientations. I actually just got off my [cute little British] phone after figuring out my classes and now the big decision has come: do I want class on Friday?! As biology major, this is a HUGE deal and I don’t know if I can pass this opportunity up. On the flip side, the class offered Friday is about regenerative medicine/stem cell biology and sounds pretty cool. Stevie E would be so proud of me.

Let me fill you in my mini journey so far:

January 3^rd- Move in Day.

Erica and I wake up in our hotel and move our (AKA my) 500 bags out and into the tube. The tube is the best thing ever created by G-d, but definitely not the most accessible to the handicap or rolling bags that weight over 60 pounds. After transferring once, we landed at my stop, Borough, and ventured out into the rain. It was good planning by Erica and I to find my dorm last week because it would have been such a sin to have to wander through unknown territory in the pouring rain…with all my belongings (Sorry Zach). Making it to my dorm, I was assigned my room and that was the first time I was confronted to the realities of security. Being out here makes Haverford look like a utopian hippie society. This is the process in which I must undertake to get to my dorm room everyday-

Swipe into the building, show my keys and ID card to the security officer, swipe again into the courtyard, swipe to get into my block, use my key to unlock my hall, and use another key to unlock my door. My key card only opens my Block, but none others, which makes it a little difficult to visit friends or having people over.

As Erica and I unlocked my door we were surprised by how huge my room was. Its actually abnormally big because every other room I have walked into has been embarrassingly miniscule. I have my own bathroom, which is awesome, and my toilet is in my shower…which could be even better. 

The view of my room when you walk in. The door on the left is my
bathroom and the door on the right is my closet.

My desk!

My room from the back. 

While the room is inappropriately humongous, we found there to be no drawers…no hangers….no blankets…no internet…and no toilet paper in my personal bathroom. So before we did anything, Erica and I trekked over in a mini-hurricane to Tesco, which is almost like their Wal-mart but with less stuff, to grab necessities. Tesco is a mile away (kind of in a ghetto type location) and the walk was made more fun by the torrential downpour. My jeans are still drying three days later. After getting our supplies, since we did not want to take a bus or understood the bus system well enough to get home safely, we had to walk back home with everything in the rain.

Once my room was unpacked, I still had no Internet and now no heat, but we could finally pee. I found my friend Zach, who is living in the same building as me and we started to wander a little in our area. We found Tower Bridget, grabbed some quick lunch, and went food shopping back at the shady Tesco. Zach and I literally had the same exact food except he probably bought 5 pounds more pasta than me and I bought 4 more liters of Diet Coke than he did (priorities, right?). We lugged our good back to our dorm, relaxed [without internet, if that is even possible] and went out to dinner to have a mini-going-away-party for Erica. The restaurant/pub we found was really nice and we played scrabble as we got served our 2 for 1 burger for 8.50 pounds deal and then called it a night.

January 4^th- First Day of Orientation

Yesterday I woke up early to see off Erica to her plane. I could not get too sad since I knew I would see her again soon (cough cough mom). Getting back to my room, I got ready for my day ahead and met up with Zach to make our way over to Strand Campus for registration and orientation. In the process we ran into some girls who were planning to walk there so we tagged along and chatted. After getting to Strand (which is across the bridge from my Guy’s Campus and somewhat near Parliament) we got our ID cards and Internet usernames. The girls and Zach needed to get cell phones so we found a store and I helped them pick out plans since I had done the process already. At the store we serendipitously ran into another Haverford kid, Trevor. The three Haverford kids ended up grabbing lunch and then making our way to the first orientation that Trevor promptly fell asleep in, Zach went on facebook, and I won a couple solitaire games.  After what seemed like a forever Q&A at the end (literally it was more than an hour) we went to a store on Oxford Street named Primark [http://www.primark.co.uk/]. Let me give this store a plug. This place is LITERALLY THE BEST STORE EVER. It’s target, but cheaper. A dress for 3 pounds, yes please! We need one in the states! The boys had to restrain me from wanting to buy everything in the store, but I did successfully leave with a duvet cover and a blanket to keep me warm in my igloo-of-a-room.

Once back, Zach and I attended a pizza mixer for our dorm, which was just as awkward as first grade when you have no friends and are forced into a weird environment. I ended up playing pool (and winning) against a kid from Hong Kong and then went out with some of the girls I met while walking to Strand earlier that day.

January 5^th- Today, I have orientation at 2 PM here which is 9 AM at home about ‘Living in London.’ O00oh! I am just so excited. Afterwards there is a pub quiz, which I hope to use my random knowledge of the royal monarchy to help win.

Important Updates so far:

- They fixed my heating, but the thing only heats for an hour and then shuts off…which means the night is the worst.

- The girl in the Q&A who asked ‘how do I have tea with the queen’ à you are not funny.

- I have internet obviously, but no Hulu, so I can’t watch my Jon Stewart. I feel so out of touch with America(?)

- I cooked myself oatmeal for breakfast today and I feel very accomplished. Maybe I will go crazy and make a tuna salad for lunch.

- I want the British students to come back so it isn’t quiet here any more…I am the only study abroad kid on my hall and the one other British person I met here hasn’t been around for me to talk to?

- Everything is just too expensive.

- I found out where Kate is going out on her 30^th birthday so I plan to stalk her on Leicester Street.

Classes start Monday and so far I am registered for: The Practice of Medicine, Medical Microbiology, Infections and Diseases of the Modern World, and Regenerative Medicine. The lucky humanities people here start the 16^th. See I told you…Biology kids never have it easy!