Sleep deprived, but still smiling

Because of my travels, I went something like 36 hours on just 3 hours of sleep, and let me tell you that's tough. I've had such a fantastic time so far, though, that I wouldn't really have had it any other way. These first couple of days at the college have been mainly administrative orientation - except for the party in the school pub.

The treatment of alcohol is very different here. First, there's a school pub. We are encouraged to visit it often. Second, there are school-sponsored drinking activities. Apparently there will be three beer pong tournaments over the course of the semester! I suppose that is the British way...

My room is very spacious, considering there are three people in the room. Maike and I met our roommate yesterday. Her name is Kamani and she's from Queens. She is very friendly and we've already talked with her quite a bit. At first I was skeptical because she warned us about her "New York attitude," but so far, so good. We are also fortunate enough to be one of only three or four rooms with a balcony attached. Today Maike and I ventured out onto it for the first time, and there is a very cute view of the city in the distance.

Regent's College is in Regent's Park, a park owned by the queen that is just beautiful. There are amazing, enormous rose gardens just inside the gates. I have much more exploring of the park to do. We have not yet gone outside the inner circle, where the school is located.

Andrew Moore, a friend from Drury, is on the trip too, and he happens to be British. He has lived in the states since he was five, but has a lot of family here, and has been raised in the British tradition. Last night his dad, who happened to be in town, took six of us out to a pub and to a FANTASTIC dinner in an Indian restaurant. We ate sort of family-style, ordering seven appetizers and six main dishes so we could sample a bit of everything. My favorites were the prawn dish and the onion bahjee.

As for the upcoming weekend, I am so excited. Tonight we're going on a Jack the Ripper tour. Tomorrow I'm going to an outdoor market, then to Cafe du Paris in the evening. Cafe du Paris is a very posh club that is very expensive (we get a huge discount for going with the school) and that always has celebrities. Sunday we're going to the largest carnival in the world, which is being held in Notting Hill. Next weekend, plans are in the works for a trip to the beach along the southern coast of France. Maike and I already have quite a sizeable group interested in going along with us.

I suppose that'll do for now. I'm off to the "refectory" to see about getting some dinner before our tour...