October 1-2

       Yesterday was the second and last day of orientation, and we received our student cards (with a mug shot picture, of course). That afternoon, my new Finnish friend, Jenni, showed me how to get to the local supermarket, Asda, using public transit. (She has lived in London on and off over the past few months, so she knows how to get around). Of course it had to be super rainy and gusty during our outing. Still, she was a life-saver! She showed me how the bus routes work, the smartest ways to pay for using the Underground, the local cell phone options, and took me on a double decker bus. School had just let out, so there were tons of little Harry Potters and Hermoine Grangers in their cute little school uniforms with ties (even the girls) all over the bus, and it was packed! We finally made it to Asda where I did some more shopping for food and essentials like an alarm clock and cookware.
       That evening, there was a party for all the international students at MDX's main campus, Hendon. When I heard party, I didn't think of a huge dance floor with tons of drunk strangers dancing awkwardly to music with weird beats (and no other option for entertainment or leisure), but that is what I found . . . FOR 4 HOURS. I guess that is not unusual, but I don't hang out on that scene at home, so it was new for me. (My mad dance skills only show up at the occasional wedding where they rock everyone's world with jealousy - just kidding). As the hours passed, and all I had to drink was water, I did not increasingly get into the action but the alcohol (or spirits as they call it over here) increasingly got into many of my fellow international students as the room began to heat up like an oven and smell like a locker room. EWWW. And I was stuck because the bus wasn't scheduled to come until like 2 years later. In the meantime, however, I met a Christian American girl who happens to live right down the hall from me which was an answer to prayer! (We're going to church tomorrow night together.) Finally, we went back to our halls, and my ears were ringing as I fell asleep.
       Today was the first day that I had to get up early. The international students were offered a guided tour of London from a bus that left at 9:15. Unfortunately, I woke up with a surprise party favor - a sore throat that stuck with me all day, but I still went on the trip. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the main part of the city on the bus from my campus. In Lauren language, this means, "Oh shoot, I should not have had that much fluid this morning!" Not soon enough for my poor bladder, we made it to Trafalgar Square where the toilet signs were just as exciting as the monuments. From there, our tour and bus guide took us all around London and showed us things like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Parliament Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, and tons of other super interesting and beautiful stuff. We ended up in Covent Garden where the tour ended and we had about 3.5 hours to do some shopping and sightseeing. I met up with a girl from Germany, and we became travel buddies for the day. After having a delicious lunch, walking our legs off, enduring frustratingly intermittent rain, and seeing a bit of the city, we returned to the bus to go back to campus.
       It is crazy how many people I have met and how many countries they come from! I tried to keep a mental list, but it got too long to remember. Again, it amazes me how similar people from different cultures can be in certain ways. I have been making a point to talk to people who look lonely or who I have never met, and it has turned out very well so far.
       For now, I am staying in for the rest of the evening, drinking as many fluids as I can so I can fight off this horrid sore throat!

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would get healthy and stay that way!

btw, do you know those auto-release motion-detecting air fresheners that people put on their walls? Well, they have a few of them in my hall, and they are scary! I keep thinking a cat is gonna jump out at me and slash open my jugular or something - jk. That hissing sound is not ok. (The halls smell good, though).