We're in London!

We're finally here in London. We arrived last Wednesday night and are still dealing with jet lag a bit but are adjusting. It's been pretty nutty here. We haven't done any sight seeing at all except for a walk to the Nottinghill area that we never completed. Scott and I will finish another time without the kids. I'm not sure where to begin because it's been such a whirlwind but I will do my best. I will start off with the whiny negative stuff first. I figure I should include pictures whenever I can in my blog entry's, so today you get to see what our  family room/boys bedroom and refrigerator look like. The kids call the family room the "hanging out room." I haven't had time to take any other pictures. So far our lives have been consumed with centre computer and printer malfunctions, plumbing issues but not in our flat, broken pipe in the ceiling that left freezing water all over the roof and fire escape, grocery shopping, freezing weather with snow, grumpky kids who don't want to be here, jet lag, etc. A lot of the centre issues haven't directly affected us, but we see people running around trying to fix things.

We arrived some time after midnight and were showed around a little by Dave Schuler the resident director. He gave us some fruit, milk, juice, bread, and jam to get us through the night and morning since we hadn't had dinner. We were famished and didn't have food for breakfast and were very grateful.  He also told us how old this house is and that everything that usually lasts for 20 years or so is now 20 years or so old and is breaking down one by one. Sure enough, we wished we had Noah's Ark when the great flood of the BYU Centre occurred. Apparently the plumbers didn't finish their job when they "fixed" several of the dorm showers. The showers are directly over the classroom. Scott said he could have taken a shower in the water that fell through the ceiling because there was so much of it. He and one of the other professors frantically put trash baskets under the waterfall. Keep in mind that these buildings were built probably in the 1860's. It turns out the plumbers just forgot to connect the new pipes. Sheesh.

Poor Dave. He has to fix a lot of this stuff, teach a couple of the classes here, make up and enforce rules to 39 19 year olds, he's a Bishop of the singles ward, and is trying to be a family man too. I think he and his wife, Terry, are getting pretty burned out. Provo needs to know all this. It doesn't seem right.

I never knew, or maybe I've forgotten how immature and helpless 19 year olds or so can be. Some of them are bright and motivated, but others seem to have never been taught anything. Heather and Laura have been given kitchen duties this week. They say they are ALWAYS the first to arrive and the last to leave. I know they are the last to leave because I like to help out too. It's such a big job with only 5 or 6 people doing it. I think there are supposed to be more, but they haven't come to help so far. Some of the students just got here though.  This kitchen is huge and very industrial-like a restaurant kitchen with tons of dishes and all the cooking pots, pans, dishes as well. Some of the girls have  stressed looks on their faces as they wash the dishes or while they carry them to the sinks. It's kind of comical to me. Laura is getting a kick out of the knowledge that she works harder than the students do. She always walks around talking about it. I think it makes her feel good about herself.

Dave has outlawed video skyping completely. Also, no online games, TV shows and movies, and anything else that needs to be downloaded. It messes the whole system up. I've had some trouble with the server since the students have arrived and have seen some skyping. Why don't they obey the rules? Dave said that faculty can decide to either follow that rule or decide that only faculty can video skype. We were all silent and nothing has been said about it since. I'm sure we all want to use it, which is why it was silent, but also want to be good examples and fair. So we don't know yet.

There have been lots of mice and rats, but not on the 5th floor where we are. The mouse traps are so NOT humane. They are the kind with glue that just makes the mice stick and left to die on there own. Of dehydration I guess.

We love our flat. It's a lot more spacious than the house in Virginia. There are enough rooms for Heather to be alone when she needs to be. She can go into the kitchen and shut the door if nothing else. She likes the student library downstairs too. At least for now. The students are here now and will probably be in there a lot.

I love the shopping area near our house. Even just to grocery shop you have to walk by all the other shops and touristy places. It's fun and alive. I mentioned in my e-mail that I found a children's library in Nottinghill. It's just a few minutes walk and only for kids. I'm excited about it and can't wait to sign up.

I also can't wait to go to Asda (walmart). We need a stroller for Daniel. He has a hard time keeping up. It was too complicated to bring our other one here. But I'm also excited to find better food (But they do have Helman's/Best Foods mayo at all the stores!) and other things at a big store like that. It's only 3 miles away. Not bad on a bus or tube.

The milk is different. It tastes the same, but they have different percentages. They have whole milk, part skim, 1.7%, and something else. At home we buy 1%, so here we buy 1.7%. I can't stand skim. It's too watery. It's not milk in my mind. But we live on the 5th floor with no elevator and go up and down ALL day, so that should make up for it. In fact my jeans are feeling looser!

We are provided with breakfast and dinner Sunday through Friday. The schedule is: Devotional at 5:15 and dinner is at 5:30. Breakfast is at 8:00. It forces us to be on a good schedule. Saturday we are on our own. Since I like to cook, I'm glad for that. It's fun eating with all the students though. The kids don't always like the food, but they are required to try everything and eat as much as they can. Terry has always had bread and either fresh fruit or a salad with the meals so far, so they get something. Our first meal was an amazing broccoli cheese soup. So yummy.

We went to church today. The students were assigned to their wards. We're just staying in the Hyde Park ward because it's close enough for our kids to get to their weekly activities. We still don't know about scouts though. Seminary is at 6:15 AM. Ugh! The tube doesn't even run that early. I think buses do. I just hate to have Heather do that by herself. Caroline, the other 15 year old here, is taking the home study course. Heather probably will too, but Scott thinks it takes away from what seminary is for the kids. Hearing a teacher bear testimony and group interaction. I think we're in abnormal circumstances and it will be OK if she does the home study course for one semester. The schedule would kill us and Scott realizes that.

I'll write more in a day or two. We have a field trip tomorrow to the British Museum (which is only partially opened) and St. Paul's Cathedral. I'll take the camera. In these pictures below, all our kids are doing electronics! Even Daniel. Pretty sad. They did have a long day though.