The Arrival

We are here!

"Getting There" (Mary Kate & Ashley reference)
Masi:
The experience getting here was.. interesting (not in a good way either). My long journey began with a flight delay because the internal cabin temperature was 100 degrees, not figuratively but literally 100 degrees. Once we bored the sauna airplane we found out the entertainment system was broken. So we were all forced to entertain ourselves. I opted for Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and the back of my eye lids. We landed 10.5 hours later. I made it through security and customs with out any problems (Thank goodness!) After, I met with the three other students in our group that arrived before the preferred flight that held the rest of our group. I waited with the three other kids for about three very long hours in the platform for the Heathrow Express. We had a lot of trouble finding the other group because of the lack of the phone service and wifi ( I now refer  to this experience as the dark period).  After two of my new found friends tracked down the rest of the group we learned that their flight had been delayed. When we finally met up I ran up to the rest of the group with arms wide open, so thankful we had reunited.

Mullen:
My experience of getting to London was quick and easy. Our flight was delayed an hour because of a sick flight attendant and our "in-flight entertainment system" was broken, but I just took a few sleeping pills, put on my sleeping mask, turned on some Bon Iver and went to sleep. I had an incredible amount of leg room (exit row), so I was super thankful for that. Once we arrived, we took several different trains to get to Bakers St, lugging all of our luggage around...which was rough.

We have arrived!
The legacy of the "Allie-way" has continued to London at Regents College in Reid Hall, Room 111. Here is a picture of our room! After spending one night sweating profusely, we walked down to the store and bought fans which have been incredible. We have a great view (see other picture) and are having so much fun!

Day 1:

We woke up at 7am, which was great because we have adjusted to the time difference! We decided to wander around Regents Park for a while. Regents College is located right in the middle of this park and in a few weeks, will be filled will a hundreds of gorgeous flowers and the ever so famous Queen's Rose Garden.

         

After our walk, we got breakfast at the on-campus dining facility called the "refectory." We were pleasantly surprised by the large selection of breakfast foods and it quite delicious. Next, we attended orientation! We got to meet several other students studying abroad at Regents this summer and they were all really cool. Auburn most definitely took over the group (with a total of 21), as other groups had 1-5 people in them. They did a presentation, we wrote letters to our future selves, met Lady Sofie, who is the Academic Advisor and may be related to the Queen. We also got a campus tour from Johnathan -- our hilarious RA/concierge. Soon after that, we gathered a group to take the cliche tourist double decker bus 3 hour tour.

Masi took great notes on the map we were given by circling and starring all of the places that we wanted to visit. We were so thankful for this tour because it gave us a good idea of the layout of London. We hopped off the bus and took the Tube by ourselves for the first time! We ate a delicious spaghetti dinner at the refectory and just hung out during the night.

'Til next time,

Allie & Allie