The Move

I have finally found a place to live. If you want the address just ask me or my mom (or dad or Caleb). It's not big by any means, but it's a good location (only three tube stops away from my school, less than five minutes walk from a massive Waitrose, and in a fairly safe area) and the roommate seems really nice, so I hope it will work out.  I started moving in today but because of the amount of stuff that I have (travelling light? What's that?) it's going to take me until at least tomorrow  to get it all over there and set up. But the room comes fully furnished, so at least I don't have to worry about any of that. The guy I'm sharing with also thinks it would be a good idea for me to get the painting I have hanging in my room shipped over so we can hang it in the living room. It's not a party house at all (thank God) so I don't think any damage would come to it and I would so love to be able to see it everyday. This is the painting, in case you don't know:

I've been in love with it since I first saw it, so I'm definitely eager to be reunited with it.

Anyway. orientation started this week. It's gone pretty well actually. I've met some really nice people from all over the world, even a few who are in my program with me! It was nice to be able to talk shop with people who understood :)
There have been events for international students all week--Monday was a reception and information sessions, Tuesday was a pub quiz (my team was 5th out of like 10 teams, so we didn't do too bad at all), Wednesday was the pub crawl to all of the different student union bars--SOAS definitely had my favourite bar (they're known for being a hipper more ~socially aware~ so their bar was definitely hopping). Today there were all sorts of tours of London, but because I've lived here before and they all cost money,  I decided not to do them. Tomorrow (Friday) is the day we register for classes, get our IDs, all that fun stuff. It's also the University of London Union's club fair, so I'll get to sign up for some clubs there and hopefully, for their gym as well! I may as well take advantage of the cheap membership when it's so close to where I'll be spending so much time!
Saturday some people I met at orientation and I are going down to a speakeasy. I'm not sure of its exact location, but it seems like it's really going to be fun.

The Arrival

So I've arrived in London. Currently I am living in a hostel in South Kensington. I think 90% of the year it's student housing (that's what I'm guessing by all of the "Imperial College London" signs around here) . It's nice enough. They gave me a private double room instead of the private single that I asked for, so there's a surprising amount of space in here.
It's quite a shock to the system to be back, I have to be honest. I'm trying to find my way around a city that is completely familiar to me and yet also totally new. Especially now that I'm trying to look at flats that are in different neighborhoods than where I was last time, everything is familiar yet utterly different.
The plane ride over was okay. The first flight (KC>Toronto) was great--I had the entire row to myself so I was able to spread out. The second flight was more uncomfortable--seven hours in the middle seat of the middle row sitting between to larger men. I didn't sleep a wink, but I did get to watch two movies and 7 episodes of 30 Rock, so that made it more bearable.
The first thing I did over here was buy a phone. I'm still trying to figure out how to work it, but once I do I'm sure my mom will happily share my number with you.
I honestly don't have much to say at this point. I'm just looking at flats/meeting potential flatmates and trying to get my life set up here. I guess I do like looking at flats in some weird way--it's nice to be able to rule out what I know for sure I don't want (for instance, there's no way I'm going to be looking at more houses in zone 5--that's way too far of a commute for me.) I'm going to see the National Theatre's production of Edward II tomorrow, which is exciting I guess. I mean, I came here to study theatre so I guess I need to be taking as much advantage of that as possible.