Errands!

Lotttss of errands today. Sara, Brittany, and I (my roommates-->)then I have flatmates Courtney and Melissa), walked all around central London trying to find a way to cut down our cell phone bills. Right now we have a pricy global coverage for our blackberries so we went into Orange (a local cell phone coverage comparable to AT&T) and found out our phones are locked. Therefore, we could not insert a UK sim card into our phones. We tried going to Vodafone (the equivalent of Verizon) where we
thought we would have better luck but that didn't really work out either unless we wanted to open up a UK bank account which would take 2 weeks, etc, etc. Sara found a vegan starbucks like shop so she was gaga over that. It was Sara's first day of school today and we ended up getting so lost we had to take a cab back to the school building. There are no trunks in the traditional black cabs in London so Brittany and I essentially were sitting in the trunk. The car is quite roomy though you can fit about 6 people in it besides the cab driver if one goes in the front (our cab driver Paul told us he much prefered the countryside of London than the hussle and bussle of the big city). Turns out we really weren't that far away, maybe only another 10 minutes of walking, but it was cool to see how the london cabs are without having to pay the big bucks to ride in them. Once Sara was in class for 3 hours Brittany and I ran errands. It's going to be soo nice when our errands are over because having to walk/carry everything is becoming a hassle. Oh well, it's still London so we really can't complain! Went to Boots (the CVS like store here) where Brittany contemplated which straightener to buy, stopped by the FSU building where i snagged an adapter for free (they didn't realize I wasn't an FSU student until after they brought it to me) and Brittany and I stopped into Vodafone...again. We later realized we went twice but netiher of us noticed it without someone else pointing it out to us. WE ARE SO TIRED AND OUT OF IT!!!!

We also went to Ikea today...no, not the one in Sweden although we definitely tried to trick people into thinking it. Made a facebook status that we were in the ikea in Sweden and some people actually believed us! The trek there however might as well have been as far as Sweden is from London. We took the tube there which took us about an hour and ten minutes but the tube isn't bad once you figure out where to go. We have been using tubeplanner.com which maps out the route we need to take and which lines/direction to go in. It's been really helpful going with Sara and Brittany so we feel more comfortable finding our way around together. Made friends with a really nice British girl named Marina on the way there and an Italian woman on the way back. Sara and I practiced our Italian and Brittany picked up some of it from what she knows from Spanish.

Ikea even has a special shuttle from the tube station to take you to the store.

We absolutely live up to the standards of loud and annoying Americans. Everyone on the tube sits there listening to their ipods or reading the newspaper while we basically yell across to each other random things the entire way. Pretty sure everyone laughs/scoffs at us. On the way there a man around 65 years old tried to get on the tube as the doors were shutting and the doors ended up closing on him. He hit his head on the door and fell straight back onto the platform on his head with a dazed and confused look. We sware we saw the birdies flying around his head. On the way back we were talking about nail salons and joking about how the Vietnamese people must be talking about us when we get our nails done...we started mimicking the language only to find the whole left side of our tube car was packed with people heading home from work...to Chinatown. Awkward. We couldn't control our laughter.Anyways, we got home and were soo excited to put on our new duvets/duvet covers, sheets, throws, and set up our storage. Finally the bed is a little more comfortable. We all got matching stuff too so it makes our room feel more comfortable. Put up pictures last night so now its starting to feel like home and I'm getting adjusted.

Thouroughly exhausted. About to pass out. Class in 7 hours...oops.
gotta go to bed!

Sleepily,

Jori

oh ya, forgot to mention a few things.

Sara's mom fengshuied our room last night...apparently Sara and I are sleeping on gridlines which disrupt your sleep. So we tried to sleep with our heads where our feet were...ya not such a good idea. Mom and dad-you've made me 150 percent paranoid. I had dreams until 6 am/couldn't sleep at all because I kept thinking someone was going to come in and kidnap me. Also, extremely skiddish on the tube or walking with my purse. My roommates laugh at me. So hopefully over time I begin to feel safer and not like everyone is out to get me.

Alright...NIGHTTTTTTTTT!