8 days!!

I cannot believe I am leaving in 8 days. Crazy. I have been planning this for a year and a half +. And it's almost here! I am (finally) trying to organize my life and get everything together. I have piles and piles of stuff to go through, organize, and purge before I can leave. I have to pack for London, which, for me, is going to be a huge mountain to climb! Two suitcases with a total of 100lbs! What will I do? I also have to get all my stuff together for Fall quarter since I will be flying right back to Cincinnati in September to jump right into classes. I am going through packing lists, reading London books, taking friends' advice, and doing everything I can to prepare. For now, I just have lists (and lists) of things I need to do and get. Nothing actually packed... yet.

I FINALLY have my schedule of classes:) I am taking an Event Design Studio on Monday and Wednesdays, a Perspective Sketch and Rendering class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and an online Contemporary Ethics

business class (that only lasts for the first 5 weeks!). It will be very cool to get the perspective of professors in the UK. I am interested, excited, and nervous to get started. I have a feeling it is going to be SO different than school (and everything I know for that matter) in Cincinnati.

I am traveling with the following girls (Kate isn't pictured). (In order from Left to Right) Caroline is a fashion design major (along with Kate). Caroline was my roommate Freshman year, and we have been great friends ever since. Emily is an Architecture major, and I met her freshman year because she was in most of my classes. We lived together this past fall, and she is in my sorority. Sara, who is also in Theta, is an Interior Deisgn major with me. We met freshman year when she lived across the hall from me. Carol, who I met freshman year because we had almost every class together, is an Interior Major as well. I lived with both Sara and Carol this past fall. We will all be living together in a 5-bedroom 5-bathroom "flat" in London. We are living at Beaumont Court which is

located in the north-west borough of Camden. We are within walking distance of several amenities and areas of interest. If you are familiar with London, Camden is to the east of Primose Hill and Regents Park, to the west of Kentish Town and Islington, to the north of Euston and to the south of Chalk Farm. We will be very close to the Morning Crescent and Camden Town Tube stations.

We are a 40-45 minute walk (unless you are walking at a Karen Page pace) from AIU's campus. We will most likely take public transportation to cut the commute down to 20-25 minutes. AIU (American Intercontinental University, London) is located at 110 Marlebone High Street, right between Regents Park and Hyde Park.

Yesterday I had a 5-way video chat with all my friends, and we attempted to get some weekend trips set in stone. None of us have class on Fridays. Emily and (maybe) Carol

will only have class on Monday and Wednesday (LUCKY). Sara and I have the same schedule. Caroline and Kate (not pictured) are taking classes and they have an internship! How fun! Here is the (tentive) schedule that we decided on last night:

07.23-07.26 Paris

07.30-08.02 Ireland

08.06-08.09 Jen Hacker and Honors PLUS students come to visit

08.13-08.16 Venice (and maybe Florence? Rome?...not sure yet)

08.20-08.23 Barcelona

08.26-09.02 Emily's Mom, Sharon, comes to visit! Weekend trip TBD

09.04-09.06 Erica comes to visit? Weekend trip TBD

09.10-09.13 Greece (Athens and Santorini)

09.17-09.20 Last Weekend :( So, we are staying in London. A hiking trip in the English Countryside and a Day trip to Cambridge are planned through AIU.

AIU has Cultural Activities planned for the whole summer. They seem like a lot of fun!

We have to sign up for the ones we want to do on the first day. Some events include: Pub Crawls, a Stonehenge visit, castle visits, Broadway Shows, Football and Rugby games, walking and bike tours around the city, day trips to Bath, Wales, and Oxford, various landmark tours.. just to name a few!

So, I am schedules to fly out of Lambert Internation Airport at 5:00 pm Wednesday, July 15. I am flying to Cincinnati to meet the rest of the girls, and then from there we are flying right to London! Our flight gets in around 9:00 am, just in time to get

checked in, moved in, and start orientation!

As soon as I know my address I will post it. In the meantime, my email address is Kristenepage@gmail.com. My Skype name is kristenepage.

Talk to you soon. I need to get back to packing...