First Days in London!!

I made it to London!!! :D

The flight went very well, I slept a little bit which helped with the jet lag. When I got to London Heathrow I went through customs, which took FOREVER but the guy was really nice at the desk. I got my student visitor visa quite successfully! After that, I went to find my luggage (which was thankfully not lost or broken into) and was met by my driver and 2 other girls in the ASA program. We took a black cab to Regents. 

By this time, it was about 9:30 am and I already felt like I could sleep for 10 hours, but my roommate and I stayed awake and unpacked. At 11, my group met with the ASA program advisor, Emma, who took us out to London for a little orientation and lunch at Pizza Express. I had the gluten free superfood salad, it was delicious! 

 Got back to the college for 3 pm for the Regents "Welcome to London" talk. After that, we had the "Marylebone Challenge" where we walked in a group around Baker Street and Marylebone Street as a was to introduce us to the local surroundings. It was fun, but my feet definitely hurt! Note to self - find gel pads for shoes!! 

Later on was the Welcome Drinks in the student bar. I was practically asleep standing up at this point. So I left at 8 and passed out around 10. I'm glad I didn't sleep during the day, I got over my jet lag much faster.

Yesterday we had another long, boring orientation in the morning, then a Scavenger hunt in Trafalgar Square. I bought an Oyster card and took a double decker bus there. It was AWESOME :D We walked  for about 2.5 hours and saw so many big sights like Big Ben and parliament, the London eye, etc. We met at a pub at the end and I found £10 on the floor (WIN) then my group won the scavenger hunt and we won another £10!!! My lucky day :) 

We took the tube at Temple st and I found a fruit stand where I got 2 bananas, 2 apples, a nectarine and my beautiful fig. I ate dinner, then I just chilled in my room and read a bunch of paperwork from orientation. There is so much to remember. A little overwhelming, but great to know. 

I woke up today at 6 am and went for a run in Regents Park. The rose gardens are stunningly beautiful. There was even a waterfall! Pictures to come, I'm sure :)

Today we have another orientation about academic life and also a meeting with our academic advisors to review our schedules. I'm hoping to switch my theatre class to the Monday and Wednesday section so I have a 4 day weekend! 

Tonight is the Boat Party on the Thames, I'm very excited for it! 

So, that was my first couple days in a nutshell! I love London so far and can't wait to do more exploring and traveling.

Lots of Love,

Casey