Alexander Fleming Hall

We finally got to move into our actual dorm rooms today! Alexander Fleming Hall is about 20 minutes from where our hotel was and is right near Hoxton Square. Personally, I liked the area the hotel was in better, but I'm sure after a few days I'll get more used to living here. Once we were able to drop all of our bags in our rooms (struggling up two flights of stairs because there was no elevator), a bunch of us hopped on the Tube back to Oxford Circus to hit a store called Primark so we could get bedding. I was able to get a duvet, a duvet cover, sheets, hangers, a memory foam pillow, and bath towels for about 28 pounds or about 45 US dollars, which wasn't too bad. I have to sleep on something after all. The only thing I didn't realize was when I picked up a single sheet, it wasn't only referring to the bed size of the sheet, it was referring to the fact that there was only one sheet in the pack. So it looks like I might need to be buying another. It was a slight struggle carrying all of our stuff back through the Tube, but we made it, and I was finally able to unpack and set up my room. Though we are technically living in dorms, they are apartment style with each of us getting our own room (there are six of us to a flat) and sharing two bathrooms and a kitchen. The rooms here are actually a decent size and in pretty good condition, which I was pleased to see. I still need to put some pictures up, but for those who are curious it looks like this:

There is also a sink and mirror on the other side of the closet which is a nice addition. However, people failed to mention to us that these apartment dorms are co-ed. So there are four girls in my flat and two boys. One girl I know from school and the two boys are from the Arcadia program and seem really friendly, and though I wish someone had notified us about the lack of elevators and addition of co-ed dorms beforehand I don't think it'll be a problem. We also don't have a common area, but our kitchen is a good size. Speaking of kitchens, I also went grocery shopping for some good, old regular food. I'm so tired of eating out from these last couple of days it's not even funny. Luckily, there's a grocery story right outside our dorm, and I got a decent amount of fruit, vegetables, cereal, water, milk, and bread for about $US25. Unfortunately, we don't have pots, plates, or utensils yet so I ate hand-held food, but it was just nice to not eat restaurant food for the first time in days.

Also, as a sort of welcome, get to know each other and the area kind of thing, the RA's at our hall organized a pub crawl for tonight. So a bunch of students met up outside the dorm around 8 where I finally got to meet up with my friend Lisa from high school who is also studying abroad at Westminster and conveniently living in the same dorm! We traveled together in the group and caught up as we went from one bar to the next. It wasn't much of a pub crawl because we only went to two pubs as apparently many of the bars around here have a cover charge that the RA's were trying to avoid, but it was nice to meet some of the other students we will be living and going to school with. We headed back to the dorms a little after 11 because everyone from Lisa's program was exhausted from just having gotten to London this morning, and I know me and my friends from Arcadia couldn't feel our feet. I knew living in the city meant a lot of walking, but my feet definitely weren't prepared for the distance. According to one girl's pedometer we walk at least 5-6 miles per day ( a good portion of which is stairs) and that doesn't include the amount of standing we do everywhere else. Hopefully, my feet become acclimated to it soon because I don't think they have ever been this sore before. Anyway, that was about it for today, and now it's way past time for bed. Cheers!