Excitement and exhaustion

I have arrived. I've talked about studying abroad in London for months, well years actually, but physically being here still caught me off guard. I think it may be a week or two before I come to terms that I am to be a Londoner for the next few months. Crazy.

Regardless of my disbelief, I'm so excited about what's ahead. My roommates and I are planning a few theater excursions for the upcoming weekends (I finally get to see Wicked! Yesss!) and am looking forward to exploring some of the quirkier shopping areas in Covent Garden and Camden. And of course, I'm pumped to do the tourist stuff like watching the changing of the guard, seeing St. Paul's and hitting up all the amazing museums Londontown has to offer. I'm already staking out fun places and pubs to hit up with Pete when he visits in February.

Thus far as a Londoner, I've learned how to look right-left-right when crossing the road, that one should change out currency at the post office (high service charges otherwise!) and that Long John Silvers outshines the pubs that boast of having the world's best fish n' chips. I've also learned the physical toll of sleep deprivation. After waking up at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning in KC and catching my domestic flight, I spent a good 8 hours in O'Hare Airport, lugging around my mammoth suitcases (I thought I packed lightly, but it didn't feel that way!) and intently monitoring them. I met with some of my study abroad peers, and we flew Air India to London Tuesday night. During the six or seven hour flight, I only managed about a rough hour or two of sleep. Once we landed at Heathrow, we were jetted off to our flats (Mine is ADORABLE! My roommates and flatmates are wonderful!) and then taken on a whirlwind walking tour of our South Kensington borough. Needless to say, this schedule of activities was meant to deter us from afternoon naps which would worsen the jetlag. Despite the long and grueling past 35 hours, I'm doing farely well. I'm a little dizzy and my eyelids each feel about 10 pounds. I know crashing on my bed tonight will feel great.

Hopefully when I wake up tomorrow this will be more real and fabulous than it was today. We're getting a busride tour of the cities major boroughs and attractions and then being set loose in Picadilly Circus after which we are to navigate our way back to the flats--our first true test of using the Tube. I'm not worried about it. Then tomorrow night, we are having a rescheduled pub crawl. Everyone was too exhausted by the end of the day today to attempt the crawl tonight. It's a strange day when college students choose sleep over alcohol.

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. I'm bringing out the camera tomorrow!