I LIVE in London!

I arrived in London last Thursday morning...I'm with the FSU Program & one of my best friends, Onalee, is also doing the program, so we traveled together. A big whole group of us was picked up at the airport and we finally arrived at the Study Centre around noon.
We got our room assignments and settled into our flats...
I share a room with Darin and Haley, who both go to the University of Central Florida, in Orlando. We share a flat with Kyle, Henry, Thomas & Tagg. There's a kitchen, living room and 2 bathrooms. The flats are old but considering the location, I feel pretty lucky to have this space in the center of London.
We all got lunch at a pub the first day, then had a welcome reception. That night, we all just kind of hung out at our flat, and tried not to completely pass out because we were so jet lagged.

Friday morning, we had our program orientation, then went grocery shopping and walked around our area a bit. At 3, our graduate counselours offered a practical walking tour of the area, so we got to see which banks we should go to, which restaurants are cheap
We went out to get fish & chips that night, then to one of the oldest pubs in central London and just explored a little more of the city.
I really love all the people in the program. I'm in Flat 15, and Onalee is next door in Flat 16. Our two flats seem to hang out every night and we're always hanging out in each other's living rooms at all hours of the day.
Saturday, a big group of us walked over to the British Museum, which is literally just less than a 5 minute walk from the centre. I went to church that night with Kyle at St. Patrick's.
Sunday morning, the FSU program offered a coach tour of London, which took us to all the classic touristy sites...Tower of London, St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, etc.

Classes started Monday...
I'm taking Photography for Non-Art Majors, The Making of Modern England, Intro to Shakespeare and The Bloomsbury Group (English classs)
I have two 3-hour classes every Monday, then two 1 1/2-hour classes every Tuesday/Thursday...so far I like them a lot and I think it'll be a really interesting semester.
Yesterday, after class, I walked to the British Library with Henry, Thomas, Kyle and Bill(Onalee's flatmate). We saw a pretty sweet exhibit with the Magna Carta, some Beatles artifacts, and even one of Jane Austen's manuscripts.
Last night, Monday, our whole program went to see Momma Mia. I had seen it before in New York, but I thought this showing was so much better and I really enjoyed it.

Basically, in my free time, I've just been trying to run errands and not spend too much money. Probably eat out for maybe one meal a day, and then I try to just buy groceries and make them last. I'm not the best with orientating myself, so I'm really trying to get to know the area.

I'm really enjoying everything, yet it hasn't really sunk in that I'll be living here in London for the next 4 months...I'm so excited to start all my traveling and feel at home in the city.

Till then...