First Day of Class

Although it is pretty late here (1am), I've had some trouble sleeping from leftover jetlag, so I figured I'd keep my blogging streak going since today was a pretty big day - the first day of class! 

Unfortunately, my attendance to my first class was an epic failure. The day started out well; I was beyond on time, arriving over an hour early, which gave me the opportunity to walk around the neighborhood a bit and spend some time sitting in Russell Square, a small, beautiful park right next to the SOAS main campus. I attempted to get my SOAS ID card before my class, but unfortunately, due to overuse (every exchange student rushed to get their ID cards at the same time, apparently) the card machine broke down, and I was only given a temporary card for the time being.

Russell Square

I attended my first class, Islamic Law, and quickly realized that I was one of about 5 undergraduate students (the rest were in graduate students) and one of two (yes, two) students not pursuing a law degree. The class was clearly not for me, so after sticking it out for a half hour, I quietly ducked out the back - the first time in my life I've ever left a class early. I made my way to Starbucks (the only chain I will allow myself to visit while abroad), and made of use of the free wifi with my new iPad, which has been so handy to have so far. I decided to go back to the drawing board and research more classes, and reevaluate the classes I had already chosen. I ended up finding a course I hadn't seen before: Government and Politics of South Asia, which focuses primarily on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It looks really interesting, especially because I have a background knowledge of each of these countries, but not much more than that! 

I also decided to take a Politics of Development class instead the other class about Asia/Africa politics I had been planning to take, since I don't want to take classes that are too similar to one another. I'm hoping I have better luck with the new classes I've chosen than with Islamic Law - yikes! 

Later in the afternoon I visited an English store called Carphone Warehouse so that I could buy my phone. I got the cheapest one possible, and it's pay as you go, which is perfect, since I hope to use it as little as possible. It feels like a toy though, like traveling back in time:

Vintage?

The next task of the day was very important as well: grocery shopping! Eric and I ventured a few blocks to the large grocery store near our dorm, Sainsbury's. The place was huge, full of everything one could possibly dream of. It made me feel better walking around because I could see that although there were tons of new foods and brands to try, I could still find my household favorites, such as Special K and Philadelphia (woot!) cream cheese. 

Buying food also gave me the opportunity to finally venture into the decently-sized kitchen next to my room, which I share with four other people. I have my own cabinet, which is great, and there are also two small fridges, and a small freezer, as well as two small stoves, and two small ovens. 

For dinner Eric and I returned to the area near the Sainsbury's, which seemed much livelier than some of the other areas we had walked to (there is an H&M...enough said). We went to a small little mexican cafe called Tortilla. It was delicious, and we liked it enough to pick up a frequency card! Maybe we'll become regulars! 

As Eric and I were paying for our food, we realized that neither of us have any understanding of the coins here! The cashier was giggling at us as we stared at a 2 pound coin for close to 30 seconds trying to figure out what it meant. Just to give you an idea, this is how many coins there are in the English currency system:

A few too many, I'd say

I kid you not, there is a coin for 1 pence, and a separate coin for 2 pence. Why is this necessary? I might never understand. 

Tomorrow I have my Introduction to Arabic Dialects class, which I'm a little nervous for, but hopefully I will be at the right level for the course. Or it could turn into another Islamic Law fiasco. Guess we'll find out soon! Goodnight!