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SOAS blunders.

Classic "Sigga" moments in my first 10 minutes of being at SOAS...

After having walked up two different flights of stairs looking for the department office I ask someone HOW I can get to the 3rd floor and with a smirk the person points behind me, voilá, another staircase that I was oblivious to!

"As if you were one of those stupid 22 year-old girls with no last names. 'Hi, I'm Kimberly.' 'Hi, I'm Janice.' Don't they know you're supposed to have a last name? It's like they're an entire generation of cocktail waitresses. " - You've Got Mail

...I did this to the department director! "Hi there, I'm Dan Plesch, nice to meet you..." "Hi, I'm Sigga..." and then I walked away all flustered

First day at SOAS

I registered at SOAS last Thursday and as first impressions go, my impressions of that institute are pretty good, at least with my department. I showed up at 3 pm, filled out a form, showed them my passport and signed up for courses and half an hour later I'd gotten my student ID and library card as well as my student union card. Last time I registered with a university in London I was running around between offices in different buildings and it took hours!

I've got my soas email set up (sigga at soas.ac.uk), I've been assigned a locker and I've gotten the readers for my courses as there are no set texts. Very smooth and efficient!  Classes start on Monday and I'm really excited :)

London flathunting.

Seven days since I arrived in London and I'm still "homeless" in a sense. Sure there are hundreds of people advertising rooms in flatshares but only a handful of those are fit for humans and there's a mad race for them. I've already missed out on one great room because I came second! I've been to see five flats so far, I'm waiting to hear about two of those and I've lined up one viewing on Saturday for yet another one.

My 'favourite' so far was a flat in Hammersmith, cheap and a great location but I don't think anything could have prepared me for what it was like on the inside! Empty bottles everywhere, dirty clothes scattered around, broken furniture, dirty plates and glasses etc No amount of cleaning could help, the landlord should just torch it and start afresh!

Hopefully something will turn up soon...