London-O

So it's Sunday night and we are done with orientation.  The flight over to London went perfectly.  The Notre Dame kids were grouped in the back of a huge plane, and I ended up sitting next to two kids I've never met before.  They were both awesome and MUCH better than me at sleeping on planes.  Therefore, while they got their rest I watched Pitch Perfect and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  

Once in London, we were ecstatic to find we weren't the only ones who successfully made the trip…our luggage did too!  WOOO CLOTHES!  We were driven by coach bus into the city and arrived at Conway Hall.  Conway is pretty cool- its a renovated building that served as the Royal Universal Infirmary for Children in the 1800s.  It's even designated as a Grade II building, so it's on a federal list of historic buildings in the city.  

Considering our lack of geographic knowledge here,
we're pretty grateful for Conway's distinctive color.

BUT it looks completely different on the inside.  My apartment is extremely minimalistic-- think Ikea.  12 girls share a common area (two couches and a table), a kitchen and a dining table (only 10 seats though).  We only have two bathrooms, but that hasn't been an issue so far.  The bedrooms contain a lofted bed, a desk and a closet; there are four rooms: two triples, one quad and one double. I ended up in the double-- woo woo!!  Overall, my roommates are very cool, and we're gelling well.

Our kitchen! Kinda cute, huh?

Yet, meeting each other was only the first step in a very hectic orientation process.  Throughout all of Thursday and Friday we were ushered from one session to another, learning all about residence life, academics, religious opportunities and more.  The jet lag and the fact that we are ALWAYS LOST certainly didn't help the process.  However, we have a great support system here. The staff in the London Program is small in number, and they've been very proactive and helpful as they get to know us.  They are very welcoming and love sharing any inside information about the city. 

After Orientation ended, we still had organized activities planned.  Yesterday, a professor took a group of 25 of us to the Museum of London.  Wow, was that cool!  I've never been a museum person per sé, but I was floored by the extent of London's dynamic history.  The most interesting exhibit showed the rapid changes in London's population.  (In 1150 AD, London had 20,000 residents-- less than my hometown!).  Tonight was great fun too.  The University hosted a welcome mass for us in a nearby chapel.  This may seem corny, but it's times like this I especially love Notre Dame, because the fact that we can share our faith with our peers is extremely cool.  Afterwards, we were treated to a pub dinner at the beautiful Knights Templar pub.  I hadn't eaten anything besides toast and other peoples' leftovers for four days, so I ate my chicken faster than the media reported stories of Kate Middleton's baby.  Dang, is it nice to feel full again haha.

Now we're sitting in our flat, prepping for tomorrow's first day of classes.  (On a similar note, I dropped my Holy Spirit theology class and picked up Global Romanticisms. YOLO)  I apologize for the delay in this first post; it's been a hectic last few days!  I hope to have fun stories about my classes and internship when I write my next entry.

Cheers,

C

Call me maybe?