Let's Begin the Adventure...

I arrived in London yesterday at 7:30am, met my housemate, Kaeline, a girl of only 5'2" with strawberry-blonde hair and who played Tiger Lily in her last play, outside of customs, and we took a taxi to Saida and Michael's house in Harrow just outside London.  It was so odd to see cars driving on the other side of the road!  We met Michael at the homestay, a large man with white hair and not very much to say.  He works at Notre Dame University; Saida says he is an accountant.  We quickly dropped off our luggage and went to explore the town of Harrow!  Saida, a small woman from South Africa with beautiful black hair and much to say, was working all day, she is a teacher, and didn't come home until around 5pm.  She immediately began cooking dinner, not only for that night but for the next as well!  She is an amazing cook.  Kaeline and I sat in the kitchen and talked to her while she cooked.  She filled us in on some of the previous students they have had, which included lots of drama about eating habits, relationships between students, and sex scandals!  She seems like a very loving and caring person.  We went to bed early because of the jetlag.

This morning we had to be at the AHA London Centre in the very middle of London at 10am for orientation.  Our tube stop is called Harrow-on-the-Hill, and if Kaeline hadn't been with me to navigate the many tunnels and railways I probably would have gotten very lost!  We made it there right on time and met Maggie, a stout woman with spectacles and a warm smile.  She is the housing coordinator who makes sure every student is well taken care of.  Once all the students had arrived, the program director, Martin, a tall man who looks a bit like Chevy Chase, introduced himself and began telling us about the program.  We were given a schedule of classes as well as a schedule of the entire program.  Looks like we will be going to the theatre quite often!  This Wednesday we are going to "The Merry Wives of Windsor," a Shakespeare play that is showing at the Globe Theatre, where we will be standing throughout the entire play!  I better wear some good standing shoes.  I am going to be taking two classes, Britain Today and Modern/Contemporary Art, and doing an internship with Johnson King PR.

After going over the schedule, we learned that the tube workers decided to go on strike today at 6pm and it will last through tomorrow, so unfortunately we will not be able to go into London unless we can figure out the bus routes!  At lunch I got to know a few of the other students, and it sounds like we have the same interests (And by interests I mean pubs, clubs, shopping, and traveling)!  It's great having another student staying at the same house so that I have someone to go out with!  A group of us are meeting tonight at Castle Pub up the hill from my house.  I'll let you know how it goes next time... Cheers.