The Time I Started My London Blog

Today's the day! By some miracle, I made it all the way from from Detroit, Michigan to London, England safe and sound with all my luggage and without getting (terribly) lost. From now until the end of July, I will be living here in London as I participate in a study abroad program through Michigan State University. I couldn't be more excited about being here this summer, and I can't wait for classes to start on Tuesday. Although I've been in London less than eight hours, I've already talked to my parents on the phone, been tweeted at by my mother, and received Facebook messages from both my mom and dad (yeah, I friended my parents on the 'book) as well as many of my friends. I am completely overwhelmed by all the love, concern, and well wishes my friends and family have sent me. Everyone wants to know, how are you? what have you been doing? are you having fun? have you seen this or that landmark yet? Sidenote: in case you're wondering, I'm wonderful but exhausted. Currently, I am laying in bed at the hotel watching 27 Dresses with my two friends and travel mates Holly and Mallory. We're pretty worn out after an international flight, navigating London's public transportation, dragging our luggage around (we have an embarrassing amount of stuff), and exploring London. It doesn't help that we're all in food comas after eating massive amounts of comfort food at a cute little pub called The Larrik. I'm having a great time that I'm sure will only get better. And to answer that last question, the only landmark I am interested in seeing at this moment is my hotel bed. Anyway, since I'll be away from home for almost six weeks (and more frightening, away from text messaging for almost six weeks), I've decided to start a blog to share with everyone the story of my London adventure 2012. While I'm fairly certain my avid reader base will consist primarily of my mother (hi, Mom), allow me to introduce myself for those of you who might not know me or what exactly I'm doing here in London: I am currently a junior at Michigan State majoring in human biology and anthropology. I am particularly interested in forensic anthropology. Earlier this summer I got the chance to participate in a short course on Field Methods in Forensic Anthropology at the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility in Knoxville. I learned a lot about recovery and mapping techniques in a very hands-on setting. Starting Tuesday, however, I will be stepping out of my Tyvek suit and back into the classroom as classes begin at Regent's College for MSU's Human Identification and Osteology study abroad program. This summer, I'm hoping to learn a lot, have fun, and experience as much of London as I can! Just bear with me for these first few posts; I'm sure I will be all kinds of jet lagged for a few more days to come. Love from London, Mari Links of the Day: Follow me on Twitter @maridoeslondon Want to know more about forensic anthropology? http://archaeology.about.com/od/fterms/qt/forensic_anthro.htm This is the program I attended at UT Knoxville: http://fac.utk.edu/courses.html Here's a link to my study abroad program: https://osa.isp.msu.edu/Programs/program/index/104967 Here's where we ate dinner today. Highly recommend!: http://www.thelarrik.com/