What do you mean there is no shower???

Well family and friends my life has been a whirlwind these past few weeks, but I finally got to London. Flights went great and I had no problems traveling, so thank you for all of your prayers. I slept on the plane for maybe 2 hours, so I was quite tiered from traveling once I arrived. I got into London around 10am and decided not to brave the London train system and took taxi to my dorm...it was well worth the money!

The dorm is in a beautiful part of town and looks exactly how London should...quaint. My room was not ready until 4:00pm, so I found the closest grocery store/pharmacy, which is just down the street from my dorm. I spent the rest of the time waiting/sleeping in the lobby for about 5 hours. I met another American staying in the dorm, he is from New Jersey and going to the Fashion Institute for school. We were in the same boat waiting for our rooms, so we chatted a bit. Everyone is very friendly and from all over the world. Not too many people are here yet, as the dorm does not officially open until January 9. So finally I got to my room and it is small but perfect for what I need here. The bathrooms are in the hallway and there is one right next to my room. Well after I unpacked I took a peak at the bathroom and there was only a tub, no shower. I just laughed and thought "this should be interesting in the morning". After exploring a bit I did find a tiny closet that they had put a shower in, and boy was I relieved! To finish off the day I just finished unpacking and went to bed.

I did end up sleeping until about 6:30am, so that was a blessing. I feel like it wont take me too long to get adjusted to the time change. I got ready, which felt a lot like living in Collins freshman year of college and I ate some breakfast, which was actually very good. Then I decided to try attacking the London transit system. The school I am going to is not exactly close to where I am living. After about an hour of searching for routes and looking at the tube schedule online, I just decided to go ahead and figure it out as I went along. About 30 min of tube rides and 20 minutes of walking around trying to find this tiny street, I decided to hale a taxi. Fortunately I was in the right area, but had gotten off one tube stop too far. Its a good thing I took a taxi because the school is down a tiny little road off a main road and it looks like an alley...I never would have found it. Once you get down it, you realize that there are tons of houses and cute little restaurants. Tomorrow morning should be interesting as it looks like I will have about a 40min commute in the mornings and I am not entirely sure where I am going. At least now I have a visual and general idea of where to go.

London is still decorated for the holidays and looks exactly how you think it would. There are lights hung above the streets, strung from one house across the street to the other. Big lit decorations are hung high above the streets making every corner look magical. Tomorrow is my first day of class, so I am getting very nervous and excited. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!