You know you've settled in when you start to call a 15by15 room home...

Well hello. Much has happened since I last wrote. I am in the midst of my second week of school and already have lots of reading. And I have a presentation to do in Geography but I'm not too worried about it (yet). Geography and Economics are probably my favorite classes, mainly because of the teachers. Although I like Psych too because the teacher hands out the slides and regularly lets us out 30 minutes early. So last weekend all the students here went to London on Friday and went for a bus tour. It was really cool but frustrating because we couldnt really take pictures or get a good look at anything but we got to see a lot more things. Then we went to Globe Theatre and saw "The Merry Wives of Windsor". We had standing room tickets and I was in the very front, literally leaning on the stage. The play was so good though, I didnt even mind standing for an hour and a half. Then afterwards, we were supposed to go back to school with the bus but a bunch of us planned to stay overnight in a hostel. After getting lost a couple times and succeeding in looking like COMPLETE tourists. (think about 15 teenagers all huddled around a map pointing in different directions all wearing backpacks)  we finally found our hostel. Luckily, my skepticism was proved wrong. The hostel was great, the people working there were good. They helped us work out a deal for going out that night too which was good. I felt kinda bad for the one random lady that was sharing a room with us because there was 7 girls that got home really late (she was already sleeping) and we were just generally loud and noisy because we were always rushed. So our night in London was a success, although again we got lost numerous times, and my feet hurt so much by the end of the night im not sure how I was even able to walk. Collapsing on my bed that night was the best feeling. The next day we woke up relatively early and began our day. Some of the others that spent the night headed home, but we wanted to spend as much time as we could. So we went to Covent Garden and Harrods to do some shopping and eating, and then later to Hyde Park for a nap. It was so beautiful we were so lucky, the sun was shining it was almost tan-worthy weather. Then we went to Kensington Gardens and walked along the boardwalk, and then got lost again. I think we walked for about 8 hours straight that day. Finally we ended up at Victoria station, absolutely exhausted, and sweaty, and dirty and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to sit for a good hour. 

So that sums up my first London experience, I might be going again on Friday (tagging along on a field study) to hopefully go to the British Museum and maybe St. Paul's cathedral. My other future plans include a field study this Saturday to Beachy Head for a Geography Field study and then spending the say in Brighton on Sunday. The next weekend I have booked a bus ride to go to Cardiff in Wales for the weekend. So rather than weekends being a time to catch up on homework, we race to get everything done during the week so we can get out of this cowfield when we have the chance! 

Besides reading and travelling we try to find other ways to entertain ourselves around here. We did a floor scavenger hunt, and we have daily pilates and step classes run by an upper year and circuit training and aerobics run by one of the teachers. Also we play soccer just about every night in the miniscule gym. Also there is tons to explore here. In the courtyard of the res there is a toilet bench (yes , made of toilets) that i discovered while looking for a place to read. There is also a grass bed way back in the gardens. And I'm sure there are many other oddities to find around this place...

But, World Religions is calling me, so I must bid you adieu (my shakespeare finger puppet is influencing my speech apparently). Until next time.