Tubes and Toilets

Hey friends and family...I've really been lagging on my blog lately so I should probably catch you all up on my life. We have been super busy with all the orientation activities etc. Tonight we are going to Surrey for the weekend and all staying with different families. Which apparently is a SUPER nice area of London. Our lecturer man yesterday told us that if you live in Surrey "you've made it." I will be hanging out with Jan (mother) and Wayne, the 29 year old son who still lives at home...apparently I shouldn't be creeped out at the fact that he still lives at home bc it is completely normal for kids to "go to University" (they refer to college as University...for example: I graduated from University about 6 yrs ago.) and then come back home to live since it is so expensive here.

Now lets talk about public transportation. The tube is so much fun! And it is really easy. You just take a couple of escalators under ground, swipe your card, and follow the signs. All the lines are color coordinated so it is really easy to navigate around. We went to our school yesterday for a lecture (apparently we have to write a paper on this homestay weekend, assignments allllready, yuck.) and the journey there probably took about 45 minutes, which is kind of a drag but it will be a good time to read the paper, ipod, stare at people etc.

Moving on to night life. Two nights ago we did the Queen thing, which as expected, wasn't my flavor...I actually fell asleep for a couple minutes during the show. Apparently if you like Queen it was fantastic though so thats good I suppose. Afterwards we went to a bar/dance club called the Zoo Bar. And it was fabulous. They played the Thong Song at one point in the night so I was pretty much set. It was 5 pounds to get in which isnt bad at all compared to a lot of other places that are like 20 or 30 pounds to get into. I probably shouldn't include this in the blog, but I left my credit card at the Zoo and had to pick it up there the next day. Oops...Scott and Jill hope you still love me! :) We will just file that one under the learning experience category. Last night we went to another bar called the Whereabout bar which was a lot of fun as well. They play a lot of American music at the bars mixed with some techno shenanigans which is definitely doable. My favorite jam of last night was California by Tupac, really brought me back to the days where we would watch MTV before elementary school. Oh how the time flies.

Cell phone...finally got one, it only cost 5 pounds! My number is 07503820285...I think you have to throw a 001 before that if you are making an international call. Incoming texts and calls are free for me, and its like 20 pence to text or call...something like that. I probably won't be using my cell phone that much except to figure out where people are in case I get lost.

Lastly we should discuss the bathrooms over here. First of all they don't call them bathrooms and they don't understand you when you do either. They call them toilets or loos. This, so far, has been my hardest adjustment. I feel like an idiot saying, "Where is the toilet?" or "Where is the loo?" I mean you should really try and say that out loud. Anyways, I'm working on it. Another note about the "toilets" here is that whenever you go to a restaurant etc the toilets are almost always in the basement, which is kind of weird. You also usually have to travel through two doors to get there, which I find excessive and annoying. Ooh, another wording difference is "till" for the cash register, and "check" for waiting in line.

On another note I really need to do laundry but its pretty competitive so I'm just gonna have to be a dirty kid this weekend. Hope my family doesn't mind! I miss you all very much and am upset I missed the rage with Jill last night. Cait I hope your preparations are going well, and am wondering if you purchased any more exciting accessories? Well I need to go pack and try to organize my life a little bit.

Love you!