from london...

i'm in the midst of my first internet cafe experience. i forgot to click the student button, so i'm not getting the good rate, but i don't know when the rate's gonna change from £1 to more. i'm in london. i feel rushed and very very sleepy. jet lagged. i'll give the best update possible in the time i feel i have before i pass out or am ripped off.

plane flight: pleasant enough. someone behind me kept kicking my seat, so i only got about four hours of sleep. but that's something. i was aided by a nice fluffy pillow given to me by will. but i ought to back track a teeny bit.

the night before i left: i finished packing late and went over to will's. stayed there until 4am and had a great time. even though i didn't really get to hang out with him that much, i will miss him, i'm sure. i hope he visits. i could talk longer on that, but i won't.

back to plane flight: sat next to andy d. from scotland. he seemed like exactly what an american would think a scottish person would be like. he was reading trainspotting, he mentioned his love of haggis, and he also considered bringing his kilt with him to florida for spring break. he loves drinking, but isn't a huge fan of how it makes one smell. he said that he could show me nice places in scotland if ever i traveled there. i got his email address and a picture (which i may put up later) because he was my first friend abroad. and i also gave him the url to this blog. (hi andy!)

shuttle ride from gatwick to kensington: met three other students- benjy (who used to work at the summer camp i worked at last year and met russ and etc.), [i forgot his name already] (who goes to the virginia military institute), and stacy. stacy is my roommate at the hotel. she's from b'ham and went to high school with a bunch of friends of mine. she also did the same summer program in cambridge england that i did one year before her. we get along. i hope that she continues to be my compadre. i like her a lot.

hotel (and the study abroad group): i'm finding some like-minded people here (stacy, most notably). and i'm also getting along with the others so far. everyone is super friendly. i feel like a bit of a loser because i've not gone out with them tonight. i'm tired and wanted to blog. i made one other important friend, i think. his name is ryan. he goes to school with stacy at puget sound in washington state. he is a theater major and he also doesn't like to spend lots of money on unhealthy, untasty food. this evening, him and i went to the grocery store where we purchased a bag of salad, a lime (for dressing), two bananas, two pieces of cheese, and a large baguette for £2.70 total! what a deal! what a delicious meal! he agreed to be my travel food buddy for our trips out of town.

today in general: russ met me at my hotel and we went for apple juice. he bought me a book of milton's poetry and later gave me a beautiful scarf. i made him a slightly less beautiful scarf. we met with elissa and jacqui (two other counselors from the summer camp where i worked) because they've been living here, even though they're both from australia. we ate pizza for lunch, and it kind of made me feel bad. then we went for a walk around the thames around westminster and the houses of parliament. then we went to covent garden, where i've been a jillion times, for reasons unbeknownst to me. it was super fun getting to hang out with the summer camp crew again.

russ and i had a little talk about the state of things for us. things are obviously different. we still care for each other, of course, but things change. especially when people are from different continents.

okey doke. more later.