Flat Sweet Flat

And, the post that many have been waiting for has arrived. This post was meant to be posted much earlier, but it took me a lot longer to get my room cleaned and organized than I expected.

I'm living in Nido Notting Hill for this academic year. If you remember, I didn't get LSE housing which I think is now a payoff as I might have gotten the best "bang for my buck." Nido is a student housing accommodation company that has three different buildings around campus. There is a location a bit closer to LSE in King's Cross, but I decided to live a more far away to escape what stress is expected to arrive with my work. When I arrived at Nido on Tuesday, my room wasn't quite ready, so the security staff were able to store my suitcases which was great.

The building has a lot of amenities including a gym. While I have yet to find this said gym in the building, once I pay an induction fee, I am all set to start using it. The lobby on the first floor includes public computers, a bunch of vending machines, a pool table, and a private movie room as well. The lobby also has wireless internet. As you make your way upstairs in the elevators, we arrive on the third floor--> my home!

View of my room after entering

When you walk into my flat,  you are greeted with the studio set-up. The kitchenette is to the right with the bathroom to the left. The kitchenette is the perfect size for one person. I've got two burners, a fridge underneath the counter that's actually bigger than the mini-fridge I had at Syracuse, about five cabinets, and a microwave/oven combination. Yes, you read that right. The oven and microwave are in the same unit.  I have used the microwave portion, but I have not tried the oven portion. It might be wise to do that during the day...I won't bother anyone sleeping if the fire alarm goes off!

Desk

The bathroom is the usual...again, it's perfect for one person. I've got a huge medicine cabinet and shelves all the way around the room. The rest of the room features my bed with storage underneath, a wardrobe, a desk, and a bean bag chair.  I've added my personal touch, if you can't tell.  My bed was worse than any bed that Syracuse ever provided. Clearly, if it was in the US, I would have brought my own twin mattress as I did for three years at Syracuse. Nevertheless, I went and popped into Argos (think Target and Kmart combined), and picked up memory foam, couple more pillows, and some throw blankets. I will eventually need to add a quilt of some sort to my comforter as it's already started to get a bit frigid in the evenings.

#memories

The desk is quite large and messy at the moment. I'm in the midst of still organizing my jewelry (second shelf) and paperwork from LSE. The top of my desk has scarves, etc. The wardrobe does the job that's needed. I managed to hang up the clothes that need to be hung up with space left over for my winter coats that are on their way. I also have a giant bulletin board above my desk complete with photos of senior year at Syracuse.

My Bed

So, that's just about it. I managed to fit three of my four suitcases in the storage underneath my bed with the leftover one being used as a purse/bag holder. I had to purchase a few more housewares for my room than I was given including some storage bins for my sweatshirts and pajamas. While I have to have an ethernet cable in my room to use the internet, that's the only downside that I have found so far. It took me a good three nights scrubbing and cleaning my flat, but now it's very much me. It will be a great comfort zone to escape graduate school stress. I'll be writing another post this week about my neighborhood as well as trying to finally take a photo of the outside of the building. I meant to do that today, but alas, it was raining cats and dogs with a temperature more suitable for Syracuse.

View from Window

Day 2 and 3

(As this is a scheduled post, please ignore the writing phrases, "yesterday" and "today." It was written on the 20th, and posted on the 21st). 

Yesterday, I took off to set up my bank account. That was a fun task. I stopped at one HSBC, and was told I had to wait two weeks. Not the most ideal situation. Eventually, I stopped at the one near the Notting Hill Gate tube station, and was able to make an appointment this Saturday at 2pm. I know my loan check won't be released to me until October 11th, but I would like to be able to switch to a normal phone plan as well as put money into it to use the debit card payments in the stores. Having a US card without a chip is a hassle.

My other errands and adventures of the day included buying a few more things for my apartment-storage container, desk lamp, sticky tack to hang photos, and toiletries. I took the main bus route that I've been using farther down yesterday and found that it stopped at the end of Queensgate. In 2010, I lived on Queensgate, so there were quite  a few sentimental moments as I headed into the neighborhood of South Kensington.  I eventually got off at Hyde Park, and also found myself exploring Covent Garden. Being able to re-expereince two of my favorite parts of London on my second day was great.

And, yesterday, I got lost. I somehow managed to get on the wrong bus, go the wrong direction on the tube, and get on the wrong bus for the second time in the matter of an hour. It was interesting, to say the least. I found a pretty sketchy tube station when I was trying to get back in the correct direction, and was glad when a train came right away. I did eventually make it home- in one piece.

Last night, we had an informal happy hour for first year MPA students. It was great finally meeting some people that I've been talking to on Facebook all summer in person as well as a lot of others embarking on the program. I was able to have Magners and Bulmers, both of which I've been severely missing since 2010. You can usually find Magners at Wegmans, but I hadn't had much luck in the past six months or so. Everyone that I met has an interesting past that makes me so much more excited to get started with the program and get to know everyone more!

Today, I had an interview for an internship. After that, I finally got the last things I needed to finish my flat! It's been a long few days lugging things from Sainsburys. This evening, I was able to meet up with my friend, Nicole, for dinner. She just graduated from Syracuse this past May as well. We actually met when we were both abroad in 2010 and did the Encompass program together. It was great catching up, hearing about her program, and how much we have planned to do over the next year!

Nicole and I celebrating my 21st birthday in March of 2011.

Hello Governour!

Cheers from across the pond! I've been in London for three days now, and I honestly cannot express how much I am so happy to be back! From taking the bus to the tube within the first few hours to eating at Pret and EAT to having a glass of Ribena, it was memories all over from 2010.

At the moment, I'm currently sitting in my now sparkling flat and have finished unpacking! It's been three days of scrubbing, unpacking, and organizing. But, more on the flat later...

As for my journey, it was quite smooth despite some minor disturbances. Mom and Dad took me to Syracuse where I thankfully was able to check my bags all the way through to London. Only two of them were essentially overweight, so I considered that a job well done. Yet, as soon as we all said goodbye (with some tears), and I made my way through security, there was a delay right away. Supposedly, the plane arriving from JFK was late, but eventually it "arrived," and we were on our way!   At JFK, I quickly managed to jump over to the international terminal and upgraded my economy seat to economy with extra leg room. It's the difference of almost another half seat, and I must say it is needed on the longer flights. Once I got through security once more, I exchanged some money, and before you knew it, we were boarding.

I flew Virgin Atlantic as I did the last time I flew to London, and I'm happy once again that I did. The extra leg room was a plus as well as not fighting for a blanket or a pillow. A quick dinner, dessert, and hot chocolate, and I settled in to watch "The Hunger Games." I finally fell asleep for a few hours to the "Lucky One" (guess that could say something about the movie?). I woke up just as breakfast was being served, and before you knew it, we landed. However, once we taxied to the gate, we had a bit of a delay.  Sleepy-eyed, I was wide awake as soon as five police officers came on board and escorted a man off.  At what was 3am Eastern time, that was quite the entertainment. The stewardess near us said that usually that only happens when someone is trying to enter the country when they are no longer allowed.

Groggy-eyed, I made my way to the immigration line to only find a two-hour wait. A nightmare, it was. When I finally got to the an agent, even with a visa, I had to produce all my financial documents and acceptance letter. But, I got into the country! After grabbing my suitcases and navigating a very heavy luggage through a sea of people, I found the usual, pleasant taxi cab waiting for me. Talking with the cab driver as we navigated through Central London, just got me more and more excited to be back.

After arriving in Notting Hill, I was able to check in to my accommodation, but couldn't get to my room yet.  So, I stored my bags, and took off to get something to eat.  I stopped quickly to buy an oyster card at a convenience store, topped it up with five pounds, and hopped on a bus to Notting Hill Gate tube stop. From there, I took the Central line to Holborn- an area I know very well due to the Syracuse building being there. I stopped at Pret for a bit to eat, and then set up a basic phone plan at O2. Unfortunately, I can't have a "real" phone plan until my bank account is all set up, so I have to wait a bit. I managed to get a 20 pound deal that includes texting, phone calls, and web (more on the web situation in a future post). After that, I headed down to Starbucks, stopped to buy some housewares at Argos (think Target), and unpacked for the rest of the evening.

 It was not such an eventful day as I was trying to get settled in as well as deal with jet lag. I went to bed at 9pm (UK time) that evening-that's how tired I was!

Tomorrow is orientation, but I'll have a scheduled post to get you all up-to-date till tonight! Look out for a post about my flat this weekend! CHEERS!

You Gonna Fly...

This one isn’t really about London, but the man certainly is: My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters. 

- Boris Johnson 

As this is a scheduled post, at this approximate time, I'm about to board my first plane on my journey back across the pond. I'll land at JFK in under an hour and have a brief layover. From there, I'll board my overnight flight to London, landing at Heathrow around 8am (London time). 

My suitcases are packed, most likely overweight as both my parents and I predicted. I've got the travel documents and books that I pre-read for my courses. Life is about to change...and so, here we go.

Bon Voyage. 

The next time I'll be writing, I'll be living in Notting Hill. 

(title of post taken from "You Gonna Fly" by Keith Urban)

Preparing for London: In Photos

New Planner 

The Packing Begins

New Notebooks 

Approaching the Final Month!

It's hard to believe that it's almost the final month before I move to London!!

I've got lists everywhere.  And, I mean, everywhere.  

Random thoughts pop into my head at certain times. These random thoughts include packing ideas, things I still need to buy, and just general excitement and planning for my new adventure.

One of my biggest concerns as the final month approaches is packing! I've actually created a Pinterest board specifically devoted to the art of packing.  Over the years, I've always struggled with packing too much.  Weekends at the lake to a week-long vacation have always resulted in my concern for needing more than I actually need.

Lists don't help. I seem to stick extra things in no matter what. Space bags, don't help me either.

My overpacking disease, if you may, improved slightly when I did study abroad in London before. Both suitcases before heading across the pond were underweight, and most weekends away, I packed very lightly to leave room for souvenirs. However, at the end of my semester abroad, I had way too much to bring home!

Nevertheless, my goal is to pack for what I need in the first few months that I am in London. I'll be home for Christmas in December, so naturally, I could take back anything that I need to London as well as bring home anything I found myself not actually wearing. It will, of course, be a struggle as to pack for weather that could actually be warm at certain points. I take exams at the end of June, so packing for a spring season in December could become a possibility.

Lists will continue as I begin the packing process! Prepare for any tips that I may figure out during my developing crisis!