Castles and Canterbury

Hey Everyone,

I feel like our numbers a dwindling... and I think the girl in charge of student services is to blame.

Well Cabernet night feel through worse then we ever could have imagined. The girl who is in charge of student trips and activities is 22years old, brand new, and has no clue what shes doing. She took 200 people to downtown London, didn't know where the place was, and when we got there it only fit 30 people and it was PACKED already. So she took off her coat and sat down with one of her friends that met us there... and left 25 of us (I was in the front of the group) on the staircase while 175 kids waited upstairs.... eventually I shooed everyone back upstairs and asked he what was going on. She just told me that she didn't think it was that small. I forgot to mention that she lost half the group on the way there so most of the Monmouth kids got left behind at the tube station. When Mourin and the other kids showed up a little late, she flipped out. She went down there and made the girl talk to us. She told us that she was having fun with her friends and shes was sorry she mad a mistake and she didn't like being attacked. Mourin can be stern, but she is not a scary girl. Shes four feet tall !! Anyway, we walked around for a while until we stopped in a cafe called Garfunkel's and called it a night.

Today the same girl took us to Leeds Castle and Canterbury. Again we were a group of about 200 that got bused two hours out of town to these places. She had no idea who was on the bus... or even exactly how many of us there were. This became a problem when there were empty seats after we saw the castle and then headed to Canterbury. She became even more worried when there were even more empty seats when we tried to leave for the trip home. Shes such a moron. We told her to take role call so she called out some names on some list... but gave up and told the bus driver to just leave!!!!!!


Anyway, Leeds Castle was very pretty. The walk to and from was my favorite part. There were a lot of weird birds though. There was even a bird exhibit. YUK! lol. There was a hedge maze outside the Castle and we all went in and got LOST!!. Some guy got to the top and tried to direct us but we still got lost. Eventually I began to get dramatic and some British guy was like follow me dear! so then I followed him and everyone followed me. It lead us down a cave with fountains just like in The Goonies! It was super cool.

Canterbury was poorly planed because we only had an hour there. By that time everyone was cranky and starved. So everyone wanted to just go get pizza and wine (surprise surprise ) However I put up a big enough fit that one of the girls went into Canterbury Cathedral with me. It was AMAZING. We had to pay but when am I ever going to go back to Canterbury????? The crypts were so enchanting and there were so many rooms. By that time we were done we had to grab a sandwich and get back on the bus.

It took three hours to get home because we hit traffic and one of the girls stopped the bus because she had to go to the bathroom. That was mildly amusing. Everyone went out tonight to meet some rich British boys we met at a club, but I feel too sick to battle and strange men is a shady club in a foreign country tonight. So I am here. Doing research. For a club they want to go to tomorrow (sunday) called CHURCH. Its a day bar only on Sundays that is so out of control it should be illegal. (I am so sorry I researched it). But they are still out and we are supposed to be up by 9AM for this club tomorrow ( I don't' even get up that early for REAL church!!!)

Anyway Prague is this weekend so Wed. is your last chance to talk to me until Sunday, Just a warning.

Love you.

Jenna

I'm SO Sick =(

I'm siiiiickkkk......

Everyone went out tonight and I'm getting in bed. I feel awful, but I hope sleep will make it better.

You should be proud. We booked our first flight after hours and hours of research on 8 different laptops in the same room. Next weekend a bunch of us are going to Prague! I'm pretty excited, but right now all I can think about is making my head stop pounding.

In my Film class we studied another David Lynch movie... Ugh... so not my deal. I look like such a moron holding my ears and covering my eyes in the front row of a film class in another country. Whatever, one of the British girls was talking to me after about how we can't stand how late class goes, because here, the teachers don't care what time class is supposed to end because there is a 40 min gap between classes. We looked funny walking together though. I was in my Monmouth sweats and she was wearing flats, black jeans, leg warmers, a blouse, and a knit hair cover hat type thing... I don't even know.

I like my Shakespeare class because he makes things interesting. For instance last night our homework was to read Twelfth Night or, What You Will, and as I'm reading it I realize that I've heard these names before. Then I start to recognize the plot. That movie Shes The Man is a modern rendition of this Shakespeare play. So when I went to class today,he had three versions of this play on his desk, and we watched clips from each and decided which captured what Shakespeare was trying to say the best. Then sure enough he pulled She's the man out of his desk and praised it. He suggested that we borrow it and watch it for homework... so we did. haha! Even though I own a copy, in my room... back home...in jersey .. =*(

Its funny how fast my teachers, and other students, and even the foreign people working in the refractory, they all know my name and I don't really talk.

Speaking of junk...I ate really well today, but now its time to have the one thing that every country has....Ben and Jerry's Ice cream. Hopefully that will make my throat better.

Tomorrow is Cabaret Night, and then Leeds Castle and Canterbury on Saturday.

<3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">lov€ J€nna <3

I'm 20 and You're Not! Oh Yea... and I'm in Europe!

So I open my eyes this morning and see a typical gray London sky. Then I sat up and screamed because for the first time it had SNOWED in LONDON on my BIRTHDAY. Everyone was going crazy because that never happens. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to take pictures after class, but by the time I was done the grass was greener then I'd ever seen it. Me, Nina, and Emily went to the park to take pictures anyway. There were crazy birds and animals everywhere. The waterfall were to die for. The landscaping and the statues and fountains were so cool. Its such a beautiful place to live.

A funny thing I realized in class today is that no one says "god bless you" when people sneeze. I mean I guess I realize this because I sneeze a lot and people usually say it to me nonstop. Its kind of discomforting that no one does, but today I realized why. Some one sneezed today and I said God Bless You and my professor instantly replied with ..."or whoever you believe in." It didn't even really occur to me that more than half the class may very well believe in something else other then one God. I didn't care though... but now I understand why everyone just avoids the subject manner.

I talked to this Austrian girl today in my Press class and she was talking to me and Emily (we are the only Americans in the class) and she said not to worry about people disliking us and dealing with "culture shock" She said the biggest problem is the French, but they don't like anyone and no one likes them so its fine. Its nice to know that not every country hates us.

Last night at midnight the Regents Girls rushed my room and sand the Friday's birthday song. They bought me salt and vinegar chips, a pinkish colored rose, and a pack of Smirnoff ice (well that party was really for them haha). It was really sweet. They made invitations and invited everyone out to dinner tonight for my birthday. So we got about thirty people to take the tube to central London. We had put in a 5 pound per head reservation and they didn't even have our names written down when we got there. They sat us fairly quick though. We took up the whole upper deck of the restaurant. Everyone had these big fishbowl drink (well not me ... but everyone else) and all the servers were dressed in old school uniforms with stripes flare and suspenders. They gave me a ton of red balloons and when they came out to sing they made me stand on a chair in the middle of the balcony and hold a cake with a candle while they got the attention of everyone in the restaurant to sing happy birthday. =) it was so much fun. Most of the kids went out to the bar after but me and a few kids came back because we have an early day tomorrow.

So I guess no matter what country, my birthday will always be an eventful one. I'm lucky there are such great people here. Friday is Cabernet Night, and Saturday is Leeds Castle and Canterbury for the day.Fun Fun!

Miss you

Lov€,

J€nna (the 20 year old)

Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go to London.

Or so they say...

So I Finally got my internet working!!!!! My Skype phone number is 732-917-4907 if you want to call me. Pictures are up on Facebook and there is a link in my AIM profile.

Yesterday was the first day of classes. First, I had Media Ethics with a German Professor named Olaf Jubin. For homework, we have 12 books to read and have to watch the movies: Nothing sacred, Outfoxed, Triumph of the Will, Fahrenheit 9/11, Birth of a nations, United 93, and World Trade Center. This is my one required class for my major and I think it's actually going to be my favorite here. He's really funny because he has a British and German accent and when he says "whatever" it sounds so funny I laugh every time. He reminds me of Professor Scott back home a little and he already knows my name.

After, I had Topics in the Arts and Press with my only American professor. Shes really energetic but I don't really like her. Shes a typical American teacher and that really makes me realize how much better I like teachers in London. They have a whole new outlook on teaching. The class is about reviewing different arts in a traditional and modern manner. We are going to see Galleries, Classical Concerts, Ballets, Operas, and Theater Productions. Ugh. I mean took the class to become more cultured so I guess that's what I'm gonna get out of it. I also want to branch out in the critic world and get away from just film and TV. We are also having guest speakers come such as the British Arts council, an arts and business professional, and some famous guy that got leukemia and used art therapy to talk about arts and health. So its interesting.

Finally, I had "That's Entertainment" British and American Theater with the same professor that I have for media ethics. Its a three hour class and its kind of brutal but I am stuck because he already knows my name. I get to go see free productions so that's definitely a plus. He said he plans to take us to see Billy Elliot on stage ( I can't wait), Guys and Dolls, and Porgy and Bess. In addition, we have several books to read for homework and are also required to prepare each class by watching a different musical each week they include: Gypsy, Show Boa, Kiss Me Kate, Oklahoma, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Oliver, Company, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Producers, and as my professor put it "the unfortunate dreadful phenomenon High School Musical". He said he just ordered a copy for the library and I was like great.. like I really need to see that rubbish again. He's also gonna try and find a place where we can get discount tickets to see the British Wicked and Spamalot.

Then we walked all the way to central London. I was quite proud of us. We found Fridays and tried to make reservations but they wanted a 5 pound deposit per head and we didn't have money for everyone so we went back to collect it. I didn't really care if we went there or not, but the girls all made invitations and started giving them out and collecting money for the reservations so tomorrow night should be a real party!

Today, I had Film Narratives and Shakespeare: Romance and Comedies. My Film class is okay. The teach is Russian and fairly strict. I think and shes a film maker. She is really into Film Noir and surrealism.. which isn't quite my cup of tea, she also likes violent movies... good movies, but violent ones like fight club. Today we watched the opening to David Lynch's Blue Velvet and I could barely take it. She kinda changed the class agenda to something other then what it was originally and I'm not sure I'm going to like it, but its just stuff that will help me figure out what I'm doing in this industry. My Shakespeare class is pretty sweet. He looks like a stuffy old man, very serious and stern, but he really has such a great personality. He doesn't move alot but he curses a bit. Also instead of "right?" or "correct?" or "get it?" the Brits say "Check?" and he overuses it so bad, but its kinda amusing. So I guess I'm going to stick with this one as well.

This Friday we are going to Cabaret night at some club and probably going on the London eye. If we have time we might even go to Liverpool and take the magical mystery tour. (remember we don't have class on Fridays) On Saturday we go to Leeds Castle and Canterbury. That should be fun. I talked to the girl in student services who plans all the trips and she said she will help us plan any group thing we wanna do so shes planning tons of stuff. Including a group trip to the ice bar where every single thing is made of ice. I don't' know if I'm going to do stuff like that because its expensive. its 15 pounds and you can only stay for an hour because its so cold and they have to refreeze the place. So idk. Everyone is going to Tuesday Tequila nights at some bar, but I'm not gonna go because one I have homework and two there is a cover charge of four pounds... I just don't' see the point of paying to hang out while they drink cheap drinks and get plastered. Its like pole dancing night too. I'm not sure that's my thing. Pretty soon student services is going to have all sorts of stuff to do around London and elsewhere so I'm not worried. I'm really trying to conserve money because everything is double. I took out 40 pounds yesterday and it was nearly 80 American dollars ah! and 40 pounds equals two day trips so its rough. I didn't spend any money shopping in the city even though the stores are so huge. And they have coffee and liqueur bars in the stores and even mini spas, its nuts. There's always something to do. Tomorrow I'm going to start running through the park... as long as the weather is decent... which is a real gamble.

We have real homework its not really fluff classes like we expected. I mean there aren't too make tests or papers but that's not great because if you mess up on one ... your done for. There's a lot of homework too. So I better get on that. You can Skype me until 8:30 (your time) I'll be up.

Tomorrow I turn 20 =)

Love you guys,
Jenna

Camden Market

"If you think I'm a bitch you should meet my mum!" was printed on banners, t-shirts and postcards in every shop.... which wasn't what any of us expected.

We woke up this morning and barely made it to breakfast where I had a toffee muffin and a banana. Today was the first time we walked through the park. I really thought I was dreaming, and there wasn't even anything in bloom yet. Miles and miles of green fields and circle paths withe statues and benches everywhere. There were tones of ponds and waterfalls, with wooden bridges wrapped in vines. We walked through the rose garden which was surrounded by arches of intertwined flowers and plants with more seats. It was even more beautiful than that picture mom painted of our dream backyard. There were people playing football (aka soccer) and rugby on the fields everywhere, and there were kids riding their trikes and chasing swans.

When we finally go to the market we were all surprised on what it was. Most markets in London are antiques and fruit, but this one was more of a Goth/Punk/Hippie market. It was nuts. Krisiti would have been in heaven because they had thousands and thousands of earrings. There were the coolest London punk scene attire with checkered everything, studded belts everywhere and only the finest of British ska merchandise. The shops up both sides of the street in Camden. We were there for two hours before we headed back for lunch where I had a Pomegranate and Blueberry juice, chicken sandwich with cucumber, spinach, English mustard, and the most amazing salt and vinegar crisps I've ever had in my life.

We too short naps and started to research our traveling plans for the next few months. We did dinner later on where I had Chicken and Chick Peak Corma with rice and greens. It didn't look that good, and the curry took me by surprise this time, but it wasn't bad. I ate most of it... and then moved onto chocolate nut sponge with chocolate sauce. English desserts are not even as close as sweet as American dessert but at least it softened the burning curry taste. After that we went to Tesco, which is kind of like a nicer quick check I guess, because I needed to get laundry powder (not that I stand a chance of figuring out these machines) and the other kids wanted to pick up some perry. I tried to tell them that they can't wash their clothes with that so its of no real use... but they didn't wanna hear it.

There are a lot of things that are different about London that you wouldn't necessarily think about. For example which side of the street are you supposed to walk on in crowed areas? In America we walk on the right because we drive on the right, but here they drive on the left. After bumping into one too many people we figured that we just might be walking wrong. Also the water tastes different, as it has this smokey sweet taste to it. I don't like it, but I'm trying to adjust. The air has the same smokey sweet smell, especially in central London.

Its funny how un-internationl things that are common to us... people here would never use. For example, when we met some locals on the tube the other day one of the girls asked if they had AIM or AOL... and they were like what's that... and then we all felt like stupid as the words left our mouth.. "you know... American Online Instant Messenger? Another thing, There no warm water. There's a hot faucet and a cold faucet. Its up to you to mix it. If you pick just one you burn yourself or you start to get frost bite.

Traffic lights go from Green to Orange to Red and that back to Orange to Green. In NY everyone walks fast, but here everyone runs. I mean you have to run across the street because 1.) all the cars are really nice fast cars (mostly Porsches and Lamborghinis) and they don't stop for anything and 2.) their left turn is like our right turn so you can't see them coming around the corner... they just hit you. But even when they aren't crossing the street people are always running.

They all dress really nice too. If I didn't have the peacoat I'd look like such a foreigners. The only time the girls wear jeans is with expensive boots and the boys only wear jeans with a nice sweater. I have yet to see a Brit wear sweats.

Oh well. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Classes start tomorrow. I have Media Ethics, then Shakespeare Romances and Comdies and then British and American Theater. Then Oxford street and Regent street for (window) shopping tomorrow.

I know I have a lot less money then everyone else here but I feel like I'm still being smart about it. I mean I left the club early to take the tube home for £1.50 that got us home in ten minutes and the rest of the kids spend hours and hours in all hours of the morning trying to hail at taxi for £7 and The girls I was hanging out with couldn't even get a real taxi so they eventually gave up and actually got in an unlicensed taxi (which is really just a minivan with a creepy guy that doesn't even speak English or know hes way around) which got lost and charged them £15. That's a $30 cab ride for about two miles!!!! Also I haven't had an open tab at any bars ... well I haven't had a tab at all... which has saved me a lot because these kids are spending 50-100 $ a night on drinks. Even so my bank is hurting from the flight tickets and the travelers checks and every withdrawal is double what you think its going to be so its painful.

We still dont' have Internet. They have to delete all the users from last semester or something because they forgot to do that. I don't' know, but if I don't get Internet soon I'm gonna by a phone. I am the the only one that doesn't have one... not even exaggerating. Just me. When I get lost, I'm toast.

Till Tomorrow and all that Rubbish,

£ove,

Future Queen Jenna

P.S. Today there was a huge bouquet of giant wild daisys at the front desk waiting for someone in our building (not implying anything haha) which reminds me ... If any of you wish to contact me my address as follows... I think....

Jenna Gaudio

Reid Hall Regent College

Regents Park Inner Circle

London, NW14 NS, UK

London Bridge is Falling Down... No Wait, That's Me.

'Ello! (awful British accent making way)

After breakfast we headed out for a day paid by Monmouth. We went on a double decker tour of London bus with the head of student services at Regents and his two British sons, Alex and Ben were our chaperone's. We saw EVERYTHING. Big Ben (which was gorgeous), The Parliament (which was even prettier), Buckingham Palace(not that impressive at all ... to anyone ... not even the British), London Bridge (which wasn't what most people think it is), Towers Bridge (which is what people think IS the London Bridge), Wibbly Wobbly Bridge ( I cant remember what the real name was but that's what the British guy called it), the London Eye, tons of statues, speakers corner, and many many others.

On girl let go of her bus ticket and if flew right into central London's busy traffic, which sent another girl darting into the street after it... not realizing that she wasn't going to understand the traffic coming at her and was like a deer in head lights. She got the ticket but after that we got quite a bit of a speech about how a girl from regents got run over a few years ago.

We got off the bus to go on the Thames River Cruise where we saw all kinds of navel ships and more Bridges. The British guy commentating was asking where everyone was from because he wanted to know if everyone could understand what he was saying... when he got to the USA we all cheered (all the other countries quietly raised their hands) and that's when hes like... "Well than I guess I'll have to talk real slow huh mates?" ha ha real funny.

We got off there the boat and took some more pictures where we saw the silver robot guys from the movie Euro trip!!!! they were so cool. they look like statues and they paint your face if u go up and touch them. There were so cool. There were a lot of birds here where everyone discovered I was deathly afraid of them.

We went to get back on the tour bus after that. We got lucky because it just happened to be the only bus running with an open headed top. It was nice out but by dusk it was quite chilly, but I stuck it out unlike some of the other kids.

After that we went out to Wegamamas for dinner on Monmouth.... all of it... anything we wanted. It was such a cool place. It was all Japanese rice and noodle soups with all sorts of meats and flavors and garnishes. I had a chicken rice curry dish and it was to die for. We had this eupybeans or something or other with salt... so good. and other stuff. Frank ordered us a bottle a wine for the table ...just to start. When they went to pour mine i was like ehhh that's enough and the waiter looked confused...everyone else went on to order beer or Saki or something and i leaned over and ordered a soda and he laughed, but I didn't care. Or table has a rose wine, maybe White Shiraz I had a sip... it was not awful but not something I would drink again. Emily told me she had some Japanese juice and poured some in my cup to taste. It was really good, but the waiter later told me that it was plum wine and he told her to trick me into tasting it because he knew I would like it because it was sweet. I didn't have anymore though, because I was the only sober one at this point and we still had to make it home in a mannerly fashion. Half the group went home to get ready for club night but I stayed with Frank and his sons and a few others to have dessert. I figured everyone else spent so much on drinks I was gonna get my money's worth on dessert... and boy did we!!!!Emily and I shared a white chocolate ginger cheesecake and a wasabi chocolate fudge cake... both were to die for. The bill was $1000.00 (500 pounds) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was my favorite part of the day =)

We finally got home to get ready for club night where we were told not to wear jeans or "trainers". So everyone was in heels ...or flats... and boy was I sorry I wore heels. We walked half a mile to take the tube to central London and then walked another mile to the club (remember that the streets of London are cobblestone). We passed a wine and food store so everyone at Monmouth stopped to pick up there OWN bottle of wine (this is after they were already wasted from dinner) There is not open bottle law so I was walking down the street with 20 people drinking out of wine bottles. It was kinda awkward. There were British boys on the train that really fancied American girls and just would not leave us alone. But we managed to get rid of them eventually.

The club is usually $70.00 just to get in but we only paid $10. We stood out there for an hour before our group finally got in. We took the elevator to the eighth floor and were shocked at what we saw... in many aspects. The club was a fairly small room with Fancy sofas and cool lighting. The walls were just class windows and you could see all of London lit up in the night. Drinks were $20 and people really were buying drinks I couldn't believe it??? I mean alcohol just can't be worth that much. In London you will turn into a pumpkin at midnight and by that I mean the tube stops working and you have to find a night bus to get home, and a few of us just didn't want to do that and really had no need to stay any later. So a few of us left and were astonished at how packed this club got as we traveled down the lower levels. The line outside wrapped around the building and it was ten minutes to midnight!

We walked back to the tube and JUST made the last tube home to baker street. It took us a ridiculously long time to get back to the dorm because our feet hurt so badly we could barely walk.

Tomorrow we go to Camden markets. London is a funny place... I am enjoying it thoroughly. My favorite part of the day was probably when these British boys wearing cowboy hats stopped us and asked if we were American and I said yes and then I asked if they were cowboys and they said yes we have our horses tied up just across the way. We came all the way from new york is that where you were from? and I said no there are no cowboys in new york and we are from new jersey and they say NEW JERSEY??? What a wonderful place!!!! lol its much funnier with a harsh British accent.

well I'm going to go to sleep because I had a wonderful crazy day and I definitely need to be ready for more walking again tomorrow... they weren't kidding!!

Love from a far away land,

Jenna

Cheerio Blokes!

Hey everyone!

We met with our advisor today to fix our classes. I switched into British American Theatre and I think I am going to go see Billy Elliot the musical, Wicked, and Spamalot. I'm excited. Just as a side note, I am sorry if my typing is terrible but the keyboards are weird here I bet you don't have this key £££££ haha, the @ sign is where the " sign should be and vice versa, there is not tab or caps lock... just arrows.

Both staff and students are very excited about their liquor here. You can drink anywhere with open bottles anywhere you'd like... but they did have a problem with a "terribly smashed bloke who was wallowing down the main hallways outside the pub in the nude" there are cameras everywhere so they see everything.

Today, some of the girls and I got our oyster cards which are passes for the tube. Then we went with 100 Regents kids and our two RA's to the jack the ripper walking tour in central London. It was our first time so most of the kids got on the wrong tube... and as we stuck close to the two RA's we waited for a long time before they announced that someone was caught under the tube and our tube was not active anymore so we had to take a different one and switch at the Westminster station. It was rush hour so we all packed in as far as we could. I told everyone that I don't think I'd been on a subway... or at least not anytime recently. Some friends were like you better hold on.... and I'm like what? and the next thing i knew i smashed into my fellow students and found myself flat on the floor of the cleanest subway I've ever seen ... while several British men snickered at my ridiculousness. I finally got up and managed to hold on with two hands. At the next stop the RA came over and told me to hold on again and i asked if she saw what happened five minutes ago and she leans over and says... I'm pretty sure everyone saw. The RA's are cool and they are from Italy, Romania and Jordan. I think I like their accents better then British ones.

We got off at the Tower hills station and walked up onto this platform to meet our jack the ripper tour guide. Regent' s Park kinnda looks like a Britishy version of jersey so it hadn't really hit us... until we all turned around on this platform and found ourselves face to face with the tower of London which was this huge castle that was just gorgeous.

Our tour guide took us to the "dodgy" part of the city and showed us where all of jack the ripper's murders occurred... and in great detail. We got back on the tube in Liverpool and rode it all the way home.

At this point we were starving and exhausted so we headed for the refractory or the cafeteria for you yanks... but our RA's failed to tell us that it closed at 9pm on Fridays... so we turned around and headed BACK out into the city. The very first thing we found with its lights still on was a pizza hut... but we were immediately kicked out because they were closing.... the next was subway... which kicked us out as well... so we went to cross the street (which as another side note has Look Left <---- and Look Right ---> at the proper crosswalks because traffic comes in the opposite direction you would expect) and went to Quiznos. This is where we started to realize that only American chains were still lit up and everything else was closed. They were closing and as we walked in the other customers were talking about us and calling use stupid Americans but the guys that worked there felt bad for us because we are starving... and I'm Jenna and they must have known that because not only did they close the restaurant while the served us and let us eat...but the guys served us warm double chocolate chip cookies for dessert for no reason... I was so happy to eat a real meal.I pretty much eat bread and fruit and that's it so far. Its harder then I thought... and the food is so expensive.

Everyone wanted to go out tonight but we were so tired so we just came here to the IT dept to check to see if we got access for our laptops ... but no such luck, so hopefully I'll talk to everyone tomorrow! I don't know when though because I have a double decker bus and boat tour and then Wegamamas for dinner and then its club night so... Hopefully ill talk to you soon.

Love always, Jenna

Cheers?

People keep saying that a lot here. I have a lot to tell you, but first, I am fine, and generally pretty happy here so non of the following are real complaints, but you might find amusing... well most of it, but in any case, have nothing to really worry about.

First, MOM, I FORGOT MY TWEEZERS and I need them.

DAD, I had to go buy an adaptor because all the ones you bought were terribly wrong hahah. but anyway.....

The flight was good, the landing... not so much. We are on the only floor that has not been redone so the walls are yellow and the carpet is neon green and there is dust everywhere and nothing to clean it with. The food is awful. period. The refractory is very very tiny with minimal options, most that I do not understand. The ketchup is too sweet, the salad dressings are bitter, and the bread is dry or oily.

The first thing Mourin and i did was take a tour of the campus right? well we must have gone with the wrong group because our tour guide led us straight into the middle of the city and said his hotel was right across the way and he'd see us at orientation tomorrow. so there we are freezing and wet in the middle of central London by ourselves. We eventually made our way back to the room and got money to go exchange for pounds.... which broke my heart. The exchange rate is so awful it make you want to cry. When we got back in to town we just walked and walked and walked... we know we went pretty far because we eventually got to the stores that other kids had to take the tube to get to. Once it started to get dark we got a little worried and had to ask several people how to get home.

Most people went to the pub that night but we passed out at 8pm (3 pm your time) but we woke up three hours later!!! but eventually fell back asleep. I have a little more of orientation and then a jack the ripper walk tonight. so idk when I'll be home. and I am still waiting on my laptop registration code, so if I don't' talk to you today with I should do then I will def talk to u tomorrow.

Now here is some stuff that will scare you. The police talked to us at orientation today and told us that Reid hall is the hot spot for crime because there are 23 entrances and exits. The windows open real wide and don't have screens on them so on the "ground" level people can climb through. They said on average there used to be 20 thefts a day but that number has dwindled significantly. There is now a night guard (but we are supposed to rat him out of he falls asleep because they have had to "sack" one before). The gates to Regents closes at dusk so in order to get back in we have to climb the fence... I haven't tried it yet so I don't' know how bad that is... but it still doesn't make much sense to me. Everything smells like kinnda funny and the water tastes different. All the kids and even the faculty are really nice and funny. When asked who's gonna get drunk ? at orientation I think i was the only person in the room who didn't even raise their hand (Morin might not have but she had to think about it).

I was trying to find someone to go running with because it costs 60 pounds for a membership to the gym so that's not happening. So i posed it at the dining table and said it would probably be good if we got a boy to come (only one girl wanted to) and then looking toward the two boys that came with us... the one in a wheelchair laughed and the other agreed to come so I think I've got things pretty well figured out.

I have to go find Mourin because she has no idea where I am and shes in a theatre class meeting and we have advisor meetings now. I don't even really know exactly where I am. So ill talk to you later.

All my love <3 The prodigal daughter.