Hello from across the pond!

My fellow Americans,

I am happy to report that I have safely arrived in London and have been here for just over a week now. I am living in a dorm (hey freshman year!) and my roommate is a fellow aggie named Aimee. We occupy a very small space but do get our own locked cubbie in the community refrigerator so thats nice. We live on the 13th floor and have a great view of the city, the area we live in is very urban and kind of reminds me of NYC.

I started my internship yesterday at an advertising agency and really like it. Its a small office and the people are really nice, laid back, and fun. They all like to say the F-word a lot but it doesn't seem so bad in the British accent. The office is in Soho and is surrounded by tons of great places to eat lunch, I had an awesome burrito for lunch today from a stand down the street, the first real tex mex food I have found thus far. The commute to work is only about 20-25 minutes. All I have to do is walk down the street to King's Cross Station, go to platform 9 3/4 (not really, I take the Piccadilly line), and ride the tube to Piccadilly Circus where I get off and walk a couple minutes to the office. All the tube workers are going on strike for the next two days, which means no underground trains running at all, so we'll see how happy I am about my commute on Friday.

All last week was orientation for the program I'm doing. We did a lot of sight seeing with my program and on our own so that was good. Here are a few highlights:

The Tower of London-lots of beheading and murder went on there

Parliament & Big Ben- its my favorite at night when its all lit up

The London Eye- very big and very slow

Westminster Abbey- very beautiful

Greenwich-home of time, the prime meridian, & longitude (the last picture is of Aimee & me in the 2 different hemishperes)

Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens- we flock there when the sun shines

Trafalgar Square- got to watch a ballet on a big screen there one night

other thoughts:

-I am constantly dodgeing/shrieking/flinching at every pigeon that comes within 3ft of me

-if I blow or wipe my nose black stuff comes out b/c of all the dirt & smog (NYC people: try this)

-I hope I don't have lung cancer when i get back from second hand smoke

-I need more skinny jeans & black clothes so I can blend in

-the Queens birthday is Saturday, we're going to the parade

I miss you all terribly and can't wait to see your lovely faces again soon (can you tell I'm picking up a British accent??) There is a 6 hour time difference between here and Texas but I am on skype whenever I am in my room. I love keeping up with the blog and hearing your voices come out of my computer screen as I read your words. I'll keep you updated, I love you all!