throwing hysterical fits helps?

Wow. It has been a CRAZY past 2 days. It's about 2:00 am here on Saturday morning, and I'm JUST getting time to blog. I had quite the adventure tonight, but we'll get to that later...

So Thursday consisted of orientations with CAPA. I figured out my commute to CAPA fairly easily. I have a 10-15 min walk to the nearest TUBE underground stations. I take that to the next stop, which is Matt Nixon's closest underground. I then get off there, meet with him, and we hop on the next train to CAPA. It's good because I have someone to talk to on the train. HOWEVER, British people DO NOT talk on the tube!!! I am so surprised!! Everyone keeps their heads in their newspapers or looks up towards the ceiling. It's so weird! Naturally, I'm always the loudest person on the tube, so I get a couple stairs per day from people who want me to shut my mouth. But what can I do, I like to socialize...I guess I'm "American" that way...

So at CAPA, I had my Internship orienatation. It was funny. I kind of felt like a baby with some of the things they were teaching us ( I mean, dressing appropriately on our interview day seems a given to me...haha) but other things were fascinating. Apparently, I have to learn how to make a good cup of tea in order to be successful in the office! They have frequent tea breaks. Looks like I have some more learning to do...

The other Orientation was nice because it taught us important things about London culture, such as tipping being not important (wish I knew that when I tipped the cab driver...) They also gave us major safety tips, such as which cabs to take and which cabs to avoid. There are some unlicensed cabs that are driven by criminals. We have to check the lisence plate of each cab to see if they are legit or not. Kind of scary. But makes sense. This orientation was very clutch.

Later that night, I met up with the other 2 Ursinus boys and we checked out a college pub. We belong to Imperial University here, so we can join their activities and get their perks, such as discounts at student pubs. We went hoping to make British college friends, but alas, no luck. Everyone was very close to one another, and TRASHED beyone belief by the time we go there. So we went to a restraunt bar and met some older locals, and then went home.

Today (Friday), Matt and I went to the National History Museum. Boy do I have some good pics to put up! This museum was not only HUGE, but it was also free!!! My favorite word! We ate at Burger King for lunch because we were a bit homesick already. Guilty as charged. Hey, you move across an ocean where people operate differently and you don't know a single person!! It's hard!!! Nonetheless, I'm having an amazing time. It's all about the learning experience...

Which leads me to tonight. So we had a CAPA reception dinner at a pub in central London. We met a large group of students, and we eventually went to a nearby pub in order to meet locals. (We're all about meeting British people here...haha) So I had a blast at this pub called The Castle. I met loads of people and got major advice from some fellow Brits. It was awesome.

Unlike my ride home. So, I took the tube back to our normal stations. Everything was going fine. I then walked out of my station and saw that the bus that stops near my home was RIGHT there, almost like it was waiting for me! So I hopped right on. A girl noticed my enthusiasm, and sat next to me. We got talking about this and that (mostly America), and before I knew it, I PASSED ME STOP! I ran up to the driver, who basically told me tough luck. He dropped me off at the nearest bus stop that could take me back to where I needed to go. This stop I call MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. So, being the drama queen that I am, I cried. I walked up and down the street screaming in a fit of fear. Here I am, an American girl, LOST in the middle of nowhere. Poor Matt stayed on the phone with me until someone else came. This someone else was a bus driver. Not MY bus, but a bus driver. He was going to leave me, until he saw my tears. He sighs, "Oh please don't cry! You're the second American girl to cry on me! I'll help you. Don't worry!" MY HERO. He took me on his random bus and found another bus stop for me. He then got off of his bus and waited for the new bus to pick me up. In the meantime, another man came up to us and sat next to us. He recongnized my American accent, and asked why such a pretty American girl would be crying. The bus driver told him my story, and he agreed that he would not leave me until he also knew I was on the right path home. I'll never forget these men for the rest of my life. They were my angels.

Alas, I made it home after a bus transfer and a 10 min sprint back to my homestay. I then skyped my parents so they could hear my story and calm me down. This was about a half hour ago. So, on that note...I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow I take a double decker tour with the other CAPA students....to BUCKINGHAM PALACE, THE BIG BEN, AND MORE!!!! Stay tuned....