London!

      I'm finally here! I don't even know where to start, so let me just say that I love it here. This is the greatest city that I have ever visited, including NYC. There is so much to see and do and everyone I have met has been extremely helpful and friendly. The last few days they have kept us busy to say the least and at the end of each day I have been exhausted, but I've experienced so much that it has definitely been worth it.
      The day I arrived was pretty rough. I was up for 32 hours and the pressure change in the airplane really drained me. I was literally dead on my feet which was hard because I was excited to be there and meet the other participants of the program, but I felt like I couldn't show it. I made some friends that day and after we had settled in a bit we went to put money on our cards for the underground and decided to take a trip to Piccadilly Circus (kind of like time square) for dinner. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant in China town and the food was absolutely amazing. It was fun to use the underground and it was a great start to the trip.
       I slept so hard that night and felt much better in the morning, but then we were up early and off and running again. We had orientation that day and then some of us went to Harrad's for lunch which was really cool. It's a huge and very nice department store of sorts and it had literally everything. After that we went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city with a tour guide and we went ALL over the city. This was really cool, but pretty tiring as well and we were all beat by the end of the day. We saw the globe theater, all the parliament buildings, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, many museums, Westminster Abbey, etc.
       The next morning I had my interview as well as many of my new friends and it went extremely well. I could not be more excited about my placement. I am working for the Queen's cousin, which is just amazing on its own, and the other girls I'll be working with are very young and fun and I can tell that the office will have a great atmosphere. It's very laid back and casual, and we'll be planning the Royal Ascot which is basically the same as the Kentucky Derby and I'll get to go to that which is an amazing opportunity! I work in Notting Hill, just like the movie in Lady Elizabeth's house, which is connected to one of the gardens Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts climb into together. It's one of the nicest areas in London and it's very beautiful. I navigated the tube all by myself that day and I feel really confident about it now. It's much easier to navigate than NYC. I picked up papers for a scavenger hunt at the main EUSA office and then we completed some of the things on the list for that too that day. We went to Covent Garden and Leicester Square mostly and we had a lot of fun at both places. We at cupcakes with sparkles on them, saw many impressive street performers (buskers), etc. I already have some favorite places and things that we'll be back for again (like the cupcakes, Vietnamese food, and food at Wagamamas (a noodle shop)). So fun!
       It's been very warm, unusually warm for London, and it hasn't rained once. I'm sure it's coming, but the weather is pretty decent in the summer overall here. I'll try not to always recap everything I do, but instead tell you about interesting things that I learn or differences in the way people live here. Tonight we had a welcome party and tomorrow we have our first seminar and cultural excursion which means we'll be going to the Science Museum. It should be a lot of fun. Excited for new adventures tomorrow! More to come soon! Photos too....don't worry. ;)