T minus 22 Days Ol' Chap

T-minus 22 days until I leave for merry ole'England. Twenty eight days until the program starts, as a fellow UMD Londoner pointed out on the Facebook group for those of us doing study abroad together. I keep wanting to write something there but I don't really know what to say seeing as that I don't really know anyone and don't want my first impression to be a dumb comment, something like 'Hey guys! I'm so excited! Right??' and have no one 'like' it or reply so it just hangs there on the forum like some kid with his hand in the air waiting for a high-five. You can't tell I'm nervous right?

I do have some good news though, I have an address. And not just any address, Baker St. The home of none other than Sherlock Holmes. I guess if I can't live on Diagon Alley, this is the next best thing. It's also apparently close to Reuben's Deli, basically the only Kosher place in London as far as I can tell. I just checked Google maps and my apartment is ALSO near the London Beatles Shop, a Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, an LA Fitness and multiple bars. Basically there's no reason to ever really leave my neighborhood. (Ps. Have you checked out Google Maps recently? Every time you click to move down a block in street-view mode it's like your shooting through the galaxy to another dimension. Slow down the time-warp Google there's such a thing as too much technology here).

Anyways, I have much to do before I depart in a fortnight and a half. Rain boots to buy, music to download, drinks to drink. And hopefully picking up a pipe and a keen sense of mystery solving.

Aug. 1st - Countdown to London: 35 Days

I have a little over a month before take-off. That might be a little preemptive to start my blog posts but I need a "before" aspect. And that before aspect is: I have no idea what's happening.

Things I do not know about this upcoming semester:
- Where I'm living
- Who I'm living with
- What classes I'm taking
- Anyone on my program
- Anyone in London at all

Apparently my program wants to keep everything a big surprise until we get there, which is fine since even if I knew where I was living I wouldn't have any frame of reference. Like oh we're living in that district? Is that the murder district? No idea.

Never having been to England before, combined with the fact that I'm a lazy American with a superiority complex (they're gonna love me!) all my knowledge of London comes from movies and Bridget Jones Diary. I never even met a real live British person until I was 18 and we didn't exactly become best friends after I made her say wingadium leviosa a couple dozen times.
So I'm literally starting from square one. They might as well blindfold me and stick me in front of Big Ben (that's the big clock right?).

Cheers
Aviva