here I am ...

but I'm definitely not torn to pieces. :)

The first indication that things are going to be a little different was on the flight when we were descending into Heathrow. The captain, over the PA, said that we were descending, blah blah blah, and the weather outside is clear, London is reporting a temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius, which, he tells us, translates to about 42 degrees Fahrenheit (something like that). You can hear the people in the cabin twittering.

It is kinda chilly outside, but it's really quite beautiful. There's a light breeze, the sun is out, and the air is clear. So all is good.

The plane had to "remotely" land, so we had to descend our Boeing 777 onto the tarmak. That's a new experience. There were buses waiting to take us into the the terminal. It wasn't until we were deep within the bowels of Heathrow Airport that it hit me.

The bus is driving on the left side of the street. Holy crap. I'm in London.

Immigration, customs, baggage reclaim and all that went well.

On the way to Queen Mary, University of London (that's where I'm studying), the bus -- excuse me, coach -- passed Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the phallic building in Central London and snaked along part of the River Thames.

It's amazing.

I just moved into my room in the dorms, and my room is gorgeous. I love it. It's so clean and new and beautiful. Small ... about half the size of my room at USC -- just big enough to fit a built-in bed, a built-in desk, built-in closets and a REALLY tiny bathroom. There's one way in and out and really nowehere to turn with all my luggage in there.

Right now, I'm in an internet cafe just outside the campus gates. USC was telling us that East End -- where QMUL is -- is like South LA but less gritty. I guess ... but it's much better than I expected it be. It's not a "nice" area by any means, but it ain't South Central.

There seems to be quite a bit of international students. Just in the bus group I came in with were people from Boston College, Duke, University of Richmond, University of Virginia, Swarthmore and Ohio University.

I haven't met any of my flatmates, yet, but hopefully it will happen soon. :)