(Sadly no pictures to post from day two, however my next post should have quite a few!)
Day two marked the beginning of orientation, and my first ride on the Tube! Since this was my first time going on the Tube, I pretty much followed Regan, Jackie, and Leah along the route we had to take. Upon arriving at the underground station, I soon realized that there were no people in the ticket windows, and that my credit card was not being read by the ticket machines. A moment of slight panic ensued as I was stuck on the opposite side of the gate to enter the underground as the rest of the group and didn't know what to do. Luckily, Regan talked to the assistance person who usually sits in a booth next to the gates and explained that we were all traveling together to get to school, and thankfully the kind man let me go through (woohoo for a free one way ride on the tube)!
As we walked through a very long tunnel to get to our line, I couldn't help but think how cool it was that I was actually using the London underground. As we waited at the platform I looked around, still thinking about how it was kinda awesome that I was standing there. I heard the distinct noise of a train coming from the distance, and felt the quick burst of wind as it whizzed by. The doors slid open, a voice overhead urged to "mind the gap" (hehe!), and I set foot onto the train. The ride took no longer than 10 minutes, and we had arrived at our destination.
The first part of the day consisted of waiting in line (or should I say in a queue) for about two hours for enrollment due to technical difficulties. I at least had my roommate and two other friends from my building that I had met the day before to talk to while in line, and on this day I first met my German friend, Maren! As we all waited in line for quite a while, we tried doing various things to entertain ourselves…such as comparing drivers licenses, haha!
The rest of orientation that day consisted of a presentation about the school, and once that was over we were free to do what we wanted with the rest of the day. Since orientation took up much of the day, we didn't do too much. But later that night, Ivy, Regan, and I decided to go on a pub adventure.
The first pub that we planned to go to turned out to be closed, so we decided to wander and look for another place. We chose a random pub and decided to walk in, only to realize that it was very crowded (mostly with men) and that we were clueless as to what we were supposed to do (clearly we were not experienced at this kinda thing). It was highly likely that the people in the pub knew that we were clueless, and the three of us felt quite awkward. So, after being in the pub for maybe a couple minutes, we decided to retreat and headed for the door.
With all three of us cringing about what had happened, we eventually settled on a pub called O'Neill's. The vibe in O' Neill's was much more promising that in the previous pub, and we each ended up getting a bite to eat. Ivy and I both opted for fish and chips, while Regan had some chocolate cake. I didn't feel like getting something to drink as I was mainly hungry more than anything.
We sat and talked as Regan and Ivy were drinking their pints of beer, and later on in the evening a slightly drunk man came up to Regan asking about things that he should do while he was in London. The man then realized that we were not British, and proceeded to ask questions like where we were from. We mentioned that we were from the US, and he told us a bit about places he's visited in the states. He explained that he was from Manchester, and that he and his friends were in London to see a football match. He was quite a friendly person, and after a few minutes he went back to talking to his friends. A bit later, one of his friends (who was also a bit drunk) came over to talk to us as well, and proceeded to sing some songs at one point (we had no idea what to do besides laugh, as this was quite a funny/strange encounter). The friend then put his hand out for a fist bump, and as I put my hand out he pulled his hand away for a fake out…causing me to laugh because these kinds of things always tend to happen to me. He then said that he was just kidding and kissed me on the top of my head…this was funny at the time but also a bit awkward, but I suppose it's a funny story that I can tell now nonetheless. This may be a strange thing to say, but even though the two guys were drunk, they seemed harmless and did not talk to us any further that evening (friends and family don't fear, I am still aware of stranger danger ahaha).
Soon after all three of us headed home, and thus ended my second day in London.
(P.S. Currently working on writing more blog posts, hopefully I'll have more up throughout this week. I am determined to catch up!)
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