Orientation.... Orientation.... oh hey MORE orientation!!!

So for some reason this entire week we have orientation..... starting Tuesday at 10am going til about 5 or 6 then Wednesday the same, then Thursday (aka today) there were 2 seminars we were supposed to go to but I got to skip them since I had an interview and I would arrive halfway through the 2nd seminar anyways. While you would think orientation would be fun and get you excited to be here this is what I learned instead. Don't use minicabs you'll get raped and killed, don't ride the nightbus you'll get raped and killed, don't walk alone past 7 you'll get raped, don't act like a tourist you'll get raped/pick pocketed, don't get on packed tubes you'll get pick pocketed, don't travel anywhere like France, Ireland basically anywhere outside of what the tube can reach cause you're here to study and if you go to these places you'll get raped, don't leave drinks anywhere you'll get raped. Oh and to preface all of this they said "London is actually one of the safest countries, there's not murders like the States, it's mainly petty theft like pick pocketing." Now what we found funny out of all this is that these things are the same in any other major city. Our orientation was basically common sense talks, obviously we won't get in a cab when someone walks up to us saying hey need a ride? or carry 500 pounds on us, or not keep our hands in our pockets to deter pick pocketing, and obviously we won't leave our drinks just sitting around.

Basically their aim was to make sure everyone knew how to be logical which got really really boring and they repeated themselves about 20 times. All that said..... London is amazing! It really is one of the safest places, people are extremely nice and helpful, there are more cameras than people in the city! It is ridiculous every street is monitored, every nook and cranny in the tube stations is watched, cameras are everywhere and have probably 5 different angles on any one spot! And we found out from our RA that the nightbus is perfectly fine, it's just drunk people on it, not like that's something college kids aren't used to.

So in order to have some fun after every depressing day we've had we decided to go out and see some pubs/bars, they're literally like Starbucks, there's on on every corner. We headed to Piccadilly Circus the other night and visited a couple and only got carded once. They don't card or even have bouncers like it the states. Every pub is a comfy little place with booths, tables, couches and a small selection of beers. Biggest kick we've had so far is that things like Budweiser, Coors, and Miller are considered imports here. One thing I have noticed is that the Brits don't do large groups like the US. We've gone in with 6 people and just received stares and every table is meant for 2-3 people. But the other night we found an American bar called Sports that has ESPN America and showed the OSU game although it kicked off at 2 am our time a little late for us lol. This weekend I think we're heading out to Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Parliament and all those tourist sights so look forward to those posts!!