Autumn in London '06

A Week in London

Cheers Everyone,

Okay, so I finally have a legitimate internet access here at the Rutherford Information Building (AKA the library) at Goldsmiths', so I should be posting much more frequently now.

Anyway, it's been an interesting week here in London. Mainly, I've just been doing all sorts of registration stuff. I had "enrolment" on Wednesday, when I got my ID card and officially enroled, and I had department meetings all day Thursday to find out when and where my classes meet. I know I have a lot of catching up to do though, so I'll rewind a bit to Sunday...

After my first wonderful night in New Cross I awoke to meet a few of my flatmates in the kitchen, which is virtually outside my door. I have 7 flatmates all together, with one being from upstate New York (Kerri), one from California (Stacey), and 5 from the UK (Germaine, Amy, Jess, Becks, and Fi). As you may have noticed from scanning the list, Germaine and I are the only guys in the flat, which could be interesting, but everyone is so nice! Aside from Stacey, who mostly just keeps to herself, the rest of us have been hanging out quite a bit together.

I also discovered that morning that my British flatmates are all "freshers" (aka freshmen) here at Goldsmiths, meaning that they are all 18 or 19 years old. But it's amazing to see how much more mature they are than I would expect an American of the same age to be. Could just be that I have exceptionally mature flatmates, but I think that it's more of a cultural difference. I guess we'll see.

At any rate, as I mentioned, I have been spending a lot of time with these guys. We've been to a dance party at the Student Union, for a walk to Deptford High Street (a little street market with lots of odds and ends, a few blocks from the college), and we've had numerous flat parties through which I've met a lot of random people. We also went to a stand-up comedy evening at the Union on Tuesday, with the winner and runner-up from the national competition doing bits. I found the runner-up, a guy named Russell, to be a lot more funny than the winner, an over-the-top bloke who reminded me of Jack Black a bit, only more crude, but the evening was a lot of fun none-the-less.

Between all of this I've also been making frequent trips to central London to see Kevin, and he came to New Cross to spend the night with me once. It's such a relief having him here with me. I guess it makes me feel as though no matter what happens I'm not completely alone over here. Also, it's just a lot of fun to have someone to share this experience with, and even though we're in different parts of the city, I think that this experience will be good for both of us.

Anyway, I don't have any official obligations until next Wednesday now, when my first class meets, but expect another post sometime this weekend, this time with pictures (yay!) as I get the camera up and running.

posted by Zachary Nicholson @ 4:16 PM