Where do I begin...

Wow.  It's been awhile since I've been able to get on-line long enough to write a blog.  Wireless internet has either been SUPER expensive (i.e.: 20 pounds for a day) or not available (i.e.: my dorm!).  Since so much has happened since I last got to blog...I'm just going to list the highlights!

After leaving Brussels we went to Bruges...in the hopes of finding nicer Belgians...it got worse!

• I about got attacked when I walked into a restaurant because I was walking towards the restroom before I sat down.  We decided to leave instead of give them our business!
• Everywhere we went to eat acted like we were bothering them by coming in to their restaurant so we had terrible service.
• Our hostel sucked again, so we only stayed one night and checked into a hotel.
• I lost my credit card and got sick on New Year's Eve day, I got really homesick, and had an emotional and mental breakdown!!  But I was over it a few days later for New Year's celebration...
• New Year's Eve was awesome, we found a great chinese restaurant (and got good service because they were chinese!) and then went to a great outdoor New Year's Celebration, but called it an early night because we headed to London the next day!

Getting to London...

• We took 2 trains to get to the airport.  They didn't post our gate number until 20 minutes before boarding time.  Then we were in some kind of an airplane hangar where we handed over our tickets, went outside, rode on a bus across the runways, then boarded the plane (outside having to walk up the stairs of the plane to get inside).  Mind you, this is a very nice airport, and none of the normal gaits were being used!  The flight was great, and the plane had very comfortable, big, leather chairs!

London....

• Napes and I stayed in a hotel the first few days (she is still staying there, I have moved into the dorms on my hospital's campus).
• We travelled around the first few days and did some sightseeing (London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament). 
• We went to Wicked the play on Saturday night on West End and got to meet up with Melissa (my friend from PT school who has the same internship as I do) as well as her parents - it was awesome!  They had a technical difficulty and had to stop the show in the middle of the first set, so that was kind of funny and odd, but it was a great show, very entertaining.
• We did some shopping (more like window-shopping), but the shopping here is the most amazing thing Napes and I have ever seen!  (Even Napes who is in the fashion business!)  We went to a market that has lots of up and coming designers selling their stuff, so I bought a cute pea-coat for only 30 pounds. 
• I of course have to comment on our shower at the hotel...the knob fell off and broke Napes' razor while I was in there, and almost broke my foot in the meantime.  This country does not believe in wash cloths so I had to suck it up and buy a loofa finally!

Clinical started today...we moved into the dorms last night...

• They are "shoe-boxes", is what the other employees call them.  The rooms aren't that bad, but I didn't sleep a wink last night because it was cold!  They gave me a freaking table cloth as a "blanket".
• Our shower has one of those push-knobs (like in the public bathrooms back in the states when you push the knob so the water comes out then it stops automatically) so the shower stays on for 5-10 seconds MAX then it turns off.  So after pushing the button about 100 times, and cursing 1,000,000 times, I finished my first shower.  And I didn't even wash my hair.  Can't wait for tomorrow morning.
• Melissa blew a fuse while trying to blow dry her hair this morning and power went out in several rooms (it was so loud we can't believe a fire didn't start), the people weren't too pleased when we told them (all our electronics are supposed to be checked by maintenance before we use them, now we know why!).

There's plenty more to say, but I am at a Pub with Melissa, Napes, and our new friend from the hospital, Laura (she's awesome, she says "rubbish" and the "loo").  

I hope the New Year treated you all well!  I will fill you in about my clinical as soon as I get a chance (everyone is super nice but we are just in orientation through Thursday so nothing too exciting, although we did have a very informative 30 minute lecture about hand-washing, which I am sure you are dying to hear about).

Bye!

Jenna