Still alive

Richmond Park

Hangin' out on the Thames

So Kingston is pretty much the coolest little town I've been to.... which is splendid since I'll be living here for a while. It's about 25 minuets outside of central London, sits on the Thames and has wonderful public transportation. I'm still getting used to seeing buses full of elderly ladies who I would never see on a bus back home. Luckily the school has its own free bus system as the city buses are very pricey, 2 pounds ($4) for one way with no transfer. I did ride on a double decker today, but since it was a school bus it was white and not red, so I really can't say that it contributes to my true British experience. Wonderful views from up there though.

I really couldn't have asked for better accommodation. I've got a room in the Howarth residence and they really are wonderful people (Marigold, Chris, their son Rob and his friend Simon). The house, pictured above, is about a 10 minute walk to the center of town where there are endless opportunities for me to take advantage of the wonderful pounds to USD exchange rate. It's about 5 minutes to the bus that I take the Roehampton Vale campus which sits conveniently next to a 24-hour mega ASDA (think Wal-Mart). I worked on my class schedule today and have decided to take:

-British Life and Cultures (field trips all over england with fellow international students)
-Electronics and Control
-Engineering Design II (focused on manufacturing and computer aided machining)
-Maybe a chemistry course if I can find one that will transfer back to UNCC

I've already managed to make some wonderful friends here, mostly other international students from all over the place. Going out to the pub with some of them tonight, although I will be holding off on the drinks as I went a bit overboard last night. I'll be headed to London town tomorrow with all of the other UNCCers for lunch, then off to Brighton (south of London, the beach town) on Saturday and into London again on Sunday for a walking tour. I will have more pics then fo shiz.

That's all I've for for now, love to everyone back in the states.