A few notes on London, as I don’t have time for a proper post.
-I arrived on Monday morning. The flight, the pick-up from the airport and checking in all went off with very mild issues. The flight especially was great. It was empty enough that Dasi and I switched to a row of four seats with tons of leg room. Not a lot of sleep, but I wasn’t exactly expecting it.
-Orientation has been interesting so far. A mix between terrifying warnings about the differences in British education, and a bunch of people coming in to tell us about pre-planned travel opportunities and resources for study abroad students. Some sound great, but sorting through all of this is going to be a little crazy.
-Dasi and I have managed to get some of the supplies we need for a kosher kitchen, but not all of them. (We bought an adorably, heavy, mini-oven and dragged it on public trans, along with pots and pans and cutlery!) We also went on a huge grocery shopping trip that managed to cost over £100. Hopefully costs will go down once we’ve started everything up.
-I have a British cell phone! Dasi found, though, that we can call phones in the United States through gmail for free. Google may be taking over the world, but they are certainly doing it in style. I’m also using skype more. My username is “cy.wolpoe” and you are welcome to add me or whatever the skype terminology is. I’m still figuring it out.
-British cell phones have incoming calls and texts. And the £10 plan I’m on gave me 100 minutes and free texting. This has proven extremely useful, but I might consider something more international-friendly for next month. We’ll see.
-We had our last orientation meeting and a bus tour today. The bus tour was fun, and ended on a boat ride up the Thames, which I have certainly never done before.
-We are going on a shabbaton this weekend, so wish me luck! It’s for all student studying in London, but I’ve been warned that many people my age are probably holed up in rooms studying for exams, as university is typically only three years here.
-Classes start next week. I’m pretty nervous, so wish me luck!
