Orientation, etc.

Right, so I left off when I reached the Thistle Kensington Gardens hotel. I shared a room with a girl called Meghan Grant from Illinois. She's going to Goldsmiths as well, but I haven't seen much of her since we moved in even though she lives just a floor below me (sorry for the spoiler, I'm in my flat now!) When she arrived she was as tired as I so we both took naps for a few hours before the first of many orientation meetings. We didn't really do much that day as everyone was pretty jet lagged, but I did run into my friend Annie Bond from Austin, whose presence I was not expecting at all. But a pleasant surprise. So, nothing else really that first day.
The following day was a bit more exciting. We walked as a group (around 120 of us) through Kensington Gardens to Imperial College of London where our orientation was held in a lecture hall. After being given TONS of information, we were set free to find our own lunch. Annie and I (as well as a Chinese girl called Sky who spoke very poor English) picked out a cute little coffee/sandwich place (Greensfield Cafe, more to come in my food blog) and had a nice little lunch. Along the way we passed by the Science Museum. Though we didn't get the chance to go in, the outside architecture was AMAZING to look at. The first picture is a skating rink outside the museum.
When we got back, the thing we were dreading most was next on the agenda: a Politics and Current Affairs Panel Discussion. Arcadia brought in Diane Abbott, the Labour party's Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington as well as Lord Dick Taverne, a Social and Liberal Democratic party Member of the House of Lords. I don't entirely understand his title, but such seems to be the case for many--including Lord Taverne himself. So, tension seemed a bit high amongst the students at this point, but it ended up being a great deal of fun. "The Lord," as we all referred to him, was quite a hoot. He poked fun at the Conservative party Member who was scheduled to be there but for whatever reason wasn't, and he had a lot to say. Not to mention, he was what I imagine most Americans think of as the stereotypical dapper older English gentleman. I loved him! Mrs. Abbott was also very well-spoken and interesting, and she was wearing a shockingly low-cut blouse for a member of Parliament. I liked her as well.
Afterwards we split off into groups according to the schools we were going to. Our group spent an hour or so in the Victoria and Albert museum, which was very cool. We looked at the photography, fashion, and Islamic art exhibits which, though all super interesting, was a lot to take in at once, particularly taking exhaustion/jet lag into account. The second picture is one of the buildings of the museum. By the end, around 4:30, it was starting to get dark and I was about ready to go take a nap. Instead we went to an Italian restaurant as a group, which was rich and delicious, but too much food too early. I think my stomach has contracted from not eating much over the last few days, so it was impossible to finish my meal. Annie and I had no problem, however, finishing the bottle of wine we decided to split. Actually, that's not entirely true--I started to get pretty sleepy/tipsy at the end there. Before we knew it everyone in our group had left and we were among the last four Arcadia students there, expected to find our way back to the hotel. Again, this wasn't difficult and was actually good practice, except for the fact that the route we'd taken (through the park) was locked off. Instead, we had to go all the way around the park, which wasn't actually as bad as it sounds. And, when we were about 5 minutes from our destination, it started to snow. We knew how cold it was but weren't really expecting that. And it was so pretty! I was too sleepy to stay up and enjoy it though, and instead went to bed pretty early. When we awoke the next morning, the ground was covered in snow. The view from our room was absolutely gorgeous! I've got a few pictures of that. After a little bit more orientation, a coach arrived to pick up the Goldsmiths students, and we all watched in wonder as huge snowflakes fell all across London. This drive was very exciting for me. It took about 45 minutes and went through Central London, and it was so much to take in at once! Everything was overwhelmingly beautiful, and for the first time since being here, I was really truly excited about calling this city my home for the next few months. It just took a bit of visual stimulation, I guess, but it was well worth it.