Arrival and Acclimation

Hello friends and (mostly) family!

I have made it safely to England. I have unpacked. And I have survived left hand driving streets for two days. It is an understatement to say that the "look right" and "look left" signs have saved my life several times.

My flat is small and filled with IKEA furniture, and is located in Earl's Court in the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, just outside of central London. There are a total of five flats in the building, all students from my CAPA program, and there are five other girls in my flat. I am happy to report that we all came over with the same expectations, and are getting along quite well. It is an adjustment to live in such close quarters, and the streets are quite loud at night, but we all are managing.

On the first day, I was met at the door by a CAPA staff member, Kerian, who kindly carried my bags and showed me my flat. He gave my flatmates and I a walking tour, where he pointed out the local tube and bus station, the best pub around, and some great places to eat. We spent the rest of the day desperately trying to stay awake to avoid further jet lag, but our several pints at the pub didn't exactly help.

The second day was filled with CAPA internship orientation, where we learned that our interviews start on Monday and that our supervisors and coworkers will often poke fun at us in humor that we won't understand. My internship is with a finance company called Options Group, and is located in the central City of London, the "historic core" of Greater London. I think it's safe to say that my internship will be a great look into the average life of a Brit.

My flatmates and I spent the rest of the day exploring on the tube, and visited beautiful Hyde Park, Royal Albert Hall, Harrods, Picadilly Circus, King's Cross Station, and West End. The tube is a great way to get around, except that it is extremely hot down there and there is no air flow on the cars. As our orientation leaders pointed out, no one is allowed to transport cattle if the temperature is greater than 30C, but plenty of commuters pack on the tube every morning, in conditions that are too inhumane for cattle.

So far, I have blended in exactly one time, when a man in a sandwich shop asked me if I "was queuin' to pay" in a full Scottish accent and I immediately understood him, and responded with a confident "yes." Other than that, I have caused many a SNAFU with my Oyster card (used on the tube), when it only works about half the time to get in and out of the barriers. I'm sure that I'll get the hang of it eventually, but for now I can be easily spotted in a tube station when a long line of frustrated commuters forms in back of me.

I am happy to report that I have been experiencing UK pub life like a true Brit, and I am trying all of their local ales. The world cup final is this Sunday, and despite my pleas to go to the Netherlands to watch the game, we will be watching the game here in London in a large football pub.

I have posted some photos on Facebook of my tube journey yesterday, and will be posting more as my trip goes on, and I hope to update this blog every few days with news about my latest way to obstruct traffic in the tube. Cheers!