It has been an incredibly busy few days since getting to London Sunday. I've been getting settled, meeting tons of new people, and attending the unending orientations for LSE. It's been pretty awesome. Here are some maps and pics that capture my experience so far.
Saying goodbyes at O'Hare and my flight to Heathrow, 3,953 miles.
I'm getting pretty much settled in. I love my dorm! I have a single in Passfield Hall on the first (but really the second) floor with beautifully tall windows. Here are some pics. I have yet to get hangers and get some of the clothes in the closet, but all in good time!
I love having a sink en suite!
Gotta have the maps! I'm getting a larger London and Europe one later today.
Each day I walk a bare minimum of 2.2 miles because that's the roundtrip from my room to campus. It's a gorgeous walk through Bloomsbury. I pass through Tavistock Gardens, Russell Square, High Holborn, eventually getting to LSE which is near Covent Garden. Here's a map of the most direct route. 1.1 miles each way.
I've found some fun cafes and restaurants already. The cuisine is very eclectic and interesting. I've had nothing yet that repulses or absolutely amazes me. So I'm excited to try more things!
There are lots of social events hosted by my hall's student committee. One of them has been a neighborhood walk. I included the route below.
It was a great 4 mile journey. We saw practicalities (King's Cross and Euston stations), shopping centers (Brunswick and Oxford Street), parks (Russell and Tavistock), museums (British and Charles Dickens), and schools/libraries (SOAS and UCL). I did get caught in the rain with a few girls. The 3 of us all crowded under my umbrella and they quickly learned never to leave your place without an umbrella.
In reality it's been abnormally hot. It's 85 degrees in my room right now, and about 80 outside. I hear its 55 and rainy in Chicago, so we must have switched climates. I'm enjoying the warmth and sun while it lasts. I know I'll be wishing for it come winter.
Other exciting things- we went to Ministry of Sound which is rated one of the top 5 clubs in the world- and it was awesome!!! I had so much fun. And our student committee got us on the VIP guest list so we got to bypass literally 400 people. Before this we had a welcome party with the General Course (my 300 person program at LSE for students from other schools doing a year abroad) on a chartered boat on the Thames at night. It was beautiful. I didn't have my camera but you'll have to take my word that going under the London Bridge as it was lit up at night is breathtaking.
School wise I am moving right along and getting settled. It's a ton of details to handle before classes start Monday. I got one of the bookings that went in 4 minutes this morning for the Consultancy fair (super excited!), met my academic adviser today and had other department inductions. I'm placed in the Geography and Environment department so the one class I'll take from there is Applied Environmental Economics. I'll also be taking Principles of Macroeconomics, Corporate Finance, and Economics for Management. Luckily there's a 3 week shopping period so I'll update you all once my classes are finalized.
Tonight we are going to another club, Piccadilly Institute, which is also supposed to be great. I'm excited for that. The first 100 people who show up to the bar in our basement get wristbands. Haha I am loving this whole school sanctioned partying, it's quite brilliant.
In the meantime I'm going to head to the Fresher's Fayre (a la Carnival of Clubs @ Knox) and sign up for societies (clubs). Then I'll pop back for dinner at our dorm- I saw it's glazed salmon on the menu, mmmm!
I'll post some more this weekend after I go on 2 different tours of London and update you on some of my initial travel plans. They are exciting :)
I am not super homesick, a little overwhelmed at times- but already doing much better today than yesterday. Sleep and exercise do a world of good. And with that, I will leave you!
Cheers!
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