Learning to become a REAL person

Hello - a little after 1 am here.

Big step for me today - mom and dad will appreciate this one - for the first time ever I cooked my own chicken and made a dinner that didn't involve pasta! Ok, so I kind of cheated and bought pre-diced chicken (and my roommate was the one who actually took it out of the package and into the pan) but still this is a big step. I also made rice and steamed green beans. Since I've been doing my own grocery shopping, I've been eating a lot of fruit and vegetables since I have to eat them before they go bad. Wow I'm becoming a real functioning person now!

What else. Went to the British Museum today with one of my art history classes, but it's so big I barely saw any of it. Our class is lead by a professor affectionately names "Stormin Norman" - he's an elderly man who gets really excited about design and architecture and has these funny moments every now and then.. very entertaining. He's the professor that I'm going to Paris with. Anyway, the British museum is right nearby my school and the best past is that almost all of the museums here are free! It was pretty packed, even during a weekday. Tomorrow the craziness begins - working on a group project in the morning, then to the National Gallery museum with a friend, and then to the symphony, and then out with friends. 

Other big news - I booked a trip to Berlin! February 12-15th. I last minute decided to join up with a bunch of other interior and industrial design students and we are hoping to see the Bauhaus (google it) - famous in the design world. No other definite trips so far besides Paris in April. Pictures soon once I figure out how to add them.

More later...

Reflection of the first week in London...

Hello all!

Quick sum up of the past week - 

Plane ride was ok, sat next to two great people so the 7hr ride was bearable. Once we landed, it was about 8am so were taken to the hotel and were thrown into orientation. After the housing seminar, we were sent off to find our own flat, which me and my flatments did in only a day. We were also lucky enough to grab one of the British student guides who helped us out a lot with calling landlords and helping us figure out the tube. We are now living in Earls Court which is a nice residential area that also has a bunch of pubs, restaurants, and grocery stores a block away. 

Classes also started this week, but I only have classes mon-wed. Most of my homework involves going out into the city and exploring/doing research. 

We watched the inauguration in the student center which was cool because over 100 of us crammed in to the lounge and watched it on a projector screen.

Hmm probably more stuff happened but I cant remember.

Yesterday we went to Stonehenge, which is about 2 hrs away. It was cool to see it in person, but very windy because it is in flat field by the highway. 20 min from there is a town called Salisbury which is a very quaint "city" but once you leave it you are in the country. It was nice to walk around, we found a great little pub where we got a cheap lunch. We also went into the Salisbury Church which was beautiful from the outside, but personally I thought it wasn't that impressive inside. 

Today, we went to the Camden Market, which is this huge market that winds around and you never quite know where you are, but it has all types of shops from antiques to clothes to furniture and food. From there we took the tube to Nottinghill where we went to the Portebello Market which was a little more tame and had more antiques and collectibles. 

Next week will be busy because it is a "Love London Weekend" that the school puts on. So far I am signed up to go to the Symphony (free), Windsor Castle (free), a bike tour, the ballet, bowling, and hopefully cirque de soleil. 

More to come, but Im going to make dinner (because I have somehow managed to do so for the past week)