London=Best place ever!

Today was amazing! Shelby and I left for orientation at school really early, because we had to get there on our own today. We had to be at school at 8:45 so we decided to leave at 8 to make sure we could get on a bus. I have decided it is faster to take the bus instead of the tube to school. Yesterday our director had the 30 Ball State students split up into three groups. One group took the tube, the other the bus, and the rest walked. The bus group got to school in 15 minutes, the walkers 25 minutes, and the tube riders 30 minutes. I also like to take the bus to school because I get to look outside the windows and see lots of London! The tube is still great though! It just depends on where you are going. Shelby and I got to school at about 8:20 and were the first ones there! Most places in London don't start until around 9, so we were the only students there along with a few of the college's professors. We tried to go to the computer lab to hang out and check our email, but it didn't open until 9. A little different from the early and late hours at Ball State's library.
Lyndon and Philippa were there to talk to us again today! We also had a guest speaker from the police station come to speak to us. An interesting fact that I learned today was that 98% of police officers here do NOT carry guns with them. London has strict policies on carry guns. Hardly anyone is allowed to carry a gun. The officer talked to us about preventing theft. As I mentioned the other day theft is very common here. It is important to keep your bag close to you at all times. Men do not carry their wallets in their back pockets, because it is easy to pick pocket. After the officer left Lyndon taught us about British school systems. I also learned that I live on the border of Westminster. Westminster has a lot of really rich people and a lot of people in poverty. There is not many middle class people living here. I also learned that the next borough (like a county in the states) is Brent. Brent is the most diverse borough in London. 52 languages are spoken there. Then, after a few questions we were free to have the day to ourselves. I went back to the flat to each lunch. I cooked some pasta that I had bought at the market yesterday.
After lunch Shelby and I went to find Little Venice. Little Venice is about half way between our flats and the school. It was very pretty! People live in the boats on the river. I saw an episode of house hunters international when someone was buying a boat in Europe to use as their homes. It was quite interesting to see in person. We walked around for about an hour and then headed back to the flat and took a short nap.

I finally got to see Curtis! After our nap Shelby and I found our way to his flat all on our own! We took the tube. It is about a 25 minute tube ride. Curtis lives really close to the London Eye. He lives in central London and I live a little out of central London. I
got to see his flat and meet his flatmates. Then we took off to find a place to eat. We ended up going to some sort of Mediterranean Restaurant where I got fish and chips. It was my first fish and chips in London! It was delicious! Then we took Curtis to Piccadilly Circus where we found the M&M store. It was 4 stories and was filled with so much cool stuff. I got scanned to see what M&M colour I was and I was a "Mixed Dark Chocolate". This meant that I was a very likable person and if someone didn't like me they probably were confusing me for someone else. Curtis was the White M&M, which meant that he was "a very nice person, probably the nicest in the store". Then, we went to a pub called The Brew Master where the three of us got drinks and talked for awhile. Then, we walked to Trafalgar Square and Chinatown. We all shared a piece of chocolate cake and called it a night.My classes sound like so much fun! I can't wait to learn all about British culture and people! On Monday I am taking a 3.5 hour walk on the Thames River for my British Life and Culture class and then going to the National Art Museum for my Art History class! Can't wait! Hope everyone at home is doing well!

Here is a list of some more of the differences I have noticed:
-British paper is a different size than US paper
-Binders and paper only have 2 rings holes
-People wear really nice shoes