My high school friends and I were quite the little Anglophiles. We'd gather in the library, eagerly perusing the day's online edition of the Mirror, and I'm pleased to see its high standard of journalistic integrity (thanks, Aaron) has not changed. They even have fitness tips now.

I've just informed people of the existence of this blog. Now they'll be expecting me to write in it, so with any luck I can keep the high standards set by the first three entries. Heh.

Because there is no current news of my London trip to post, I give you this. Awwww.

Still no word on dates, housing, or any of the interesting stuff about my London trip. This is starting to piss me off. Not that I think the trip's being badly organized (there's a very valid reason why our housing agent in London is running behind on things), but just because I want to know. I like to have things planned out well in advance. I don't care if the plans change, I just want to have some. Nice thumbnail sketch of my character there.

Holy crap. Ryanair has flights from London to Dublin (and loads of other places) for one pound, twenty-nine pence. That's around $5 Canadian dollars, but still.

Guinness Brewery, here I come.

So, I'm going to London.

A bit of background: I'm 22, a student just finishing my fourth year at a Canadian university. I have a couple of credits to go before I graduate, and since my university has a very nice study abroad program, I'm going to finish my undergraduate career in London, England, with 20-some others from my school. This blog is partially for my own benefit, so the semester in London doesn't live in memory alone, and partly to keep the folks at home updated. Plus, if I write down all the stuff I have to do before I go, chances are good I'll actually remember to do it.

I went to the first pre-departure orientation last night. I expected to hear all about where we'll be living, what we'll need to bring, how to get around on the Tube, all the necessary but interesting stuff. Instead, the study abroad advisor decided to alternately scare us and bore us by telling us all about customs laws, supplementary health insurance, etc. Still necessary, but not what I thought we'd be learning. (As it is, I'm pretty familiar with customs laws in the first place, since I'm a citizen of the USA studying in Canada.) I did ask about housing, because we were originally told we'd be living here, but it turns out that the woman who arranges such things is currently occupied with a family matter, and thus running behind on arranging our housing. So there's a good chance that not all of us will be housed at ISH. Sucks, because it looks cool.

I don't know much more about the trip yet. Next on the to-do list is sign up for my classes there (British Life Through The Press, Urban Geography, and Music in London), and turn in the deposit for residence. With any luck, they'll give us the exact dates of the semester soon, and then I can start looking for a cheap flight.