Stillllll Pre-classes

I suppose I best update now before I go and forget everything from the past few days. With classes starting and whatnot, my mind's going to be quite full.

I spent the majority of Sunday afternoon in the London Center, uploading pictures online for the world to see. It was the most tedious work of my life and I cannot wait until I'm able to use my computer for such things. (I've just heard of a relatively-close neighbor who may be getting wireless that we can borrow when needed, so that seems promising...) When the Center closed at 4, I walked with Jessie to Sainsbury's, a grocery store just two or three blocks from the Gloucester tube and ICLC as well. It was lot larger than the one I went to with Paddy and Megan earlier in the week, though surprisingly, there still wasn't much of a selection. (When we'd met another American in one of the smaller stores down the street from our flat, she commented to Meg and I on the lack of selection, so I'm assuming now that it must be quite prominent.) It's a lot to get used to, grocery shopping in London. I was constantly converting in my head and doubling all of the prices, but doing that, I wouldn't have left with anything. Prices aren't too bad, and they're definitely better at the bigger stores. I spent £6 in total for food just for me, and in total so far, our flat has spent just a little over £75 in groceries to stock the kitchen. It definitely pays to get used to British brands quickly as well because, for the most part, they tend to run cheaper than American brands. Excellent example: Boots (a British pharmacy-type store - called chemists here) brand toothpaste only cost £0.29 - that's only 60 cents!!

Sunday night my flatmates and I, Paddy excluded, went to the International Students House (ISH) a few tube stops away for their weekly free movie with some other IC students living on the 3rd floor of our building. It happened to be You, Me, and Dupree which probably would have deterred me had I known ahead of time, but it was somewhat entertaining and a new London experience, if nothing else.

Monday I had my first day of Work Study, from 12:30 to 4:30 with my first half served as a Front Office Assistant and the second part as Library Assistant. In the Front Office, I let people into the building with the buzzer, answer phones and direct calls, and just do general tasks around the Center. It's quite busy, unlike the Library in the basement - at least for now. I had a few visitors during my time there (actually, where I am now covering a quick hour for someone), but they mostly just walked in, had a look around and moved on. I can't say, though, that it's an unpleasant way to spend my Work Study time. Hey, at least the heater's on now!

I didn't make it back to the flat until around 5:15 or so because both the Circle and District lines were down (again!), and I had to do some finagling. Once everyone returned we made a group effort to get dinner on the table, serving penne with chicken, mushrooms, and a garlic and oil sauce as well as some wine. We watched some classic American television, The Simpsons, which we've discovered is on for two hours on SkyOne (one of the 5 channels we get) on Monday evenings at least. We took a break to wash the dishes and then walked just a few buildings down to a waffle house that serves the most amazing ice cream ever for dessert. There isn't much to do at night until assignments start rolling in, without internet and with phone calls being so expensive, so we caught Britain's version of Project Runway, called Project Catwalk and hosted by Kelly Osbourne. I can see myself getting addicted to it.

I just had my first British class and am about to go to a lunch break before my next class for the day, but I think I'll wait until I've at least had all of today's classes until I update about them. Hope you're all well! More soon...