austin powers was wrong

I am yet to see anyone with bad teeth! Austin Powers solidified my idea of British people and their lack of dental hygiene, but in the many orientation sessions we've had I've actually learned that back in the day there really was no fluoride in their water; however, that has definitely changed, but on the other hand, dental health is not covered by insurance even now. Therefore, almost everyone has very clean pretty teeth, but orthodontic work and dentist treatments are normally not participated in, so everyone has clean teeth just not perfectly straight teeth. So Austin Powers was wrong with the whole teeth thing - people do brush their teeth here and the water is perfectly fine to drink.
Speaking of people, I LOVE the people here! They are so classy and proper as well as the city itself, but then they have this dry sense of humor and are all about some brews. Enjoying a beer is a very social thing to do and an exceedingly common one. There is also a huge difference between pubs and clubs/bars. When they say they'd like to meet to have a drink they literally mean one drink. Pubs are meant to be very social, relaxed, and casual atmospheres where you meet with some for a couple hours or more and have a couple/few drinks in that time. It's a very quiet relaxed place and one is located on every street most of the time in multiples.
Today started early again with a trip to Birkbeck College which is aka the University of London. As soon as we arrived there was a huge cafe filled with mounds of students and we headed to a conference room where we got yet arrive be smart and safe talk, alcohol/say no to drugs video, and then an actual police office spoke with us. He was a hoot! He told us how, as big as London is, that it is such a safe place that the local officers do not carry firearms. They only do when of course guarding the royal family. He taught us about crossing the streets (they drive on the opposite side of the road) and talked to us about street smarts. The #1 crime in London is actually theft - it happens daily and 24/7. He basically said keep belongings with you and in sight and you'll be fine - common sense. That's basically what he told us and then he handed out key chain alarm/taser things for answering questions. Come to find out England is about the size of Wisconsin and 31 Englands, size wise, can fit into the US. We then got introduced to academic advisers, learned more about IES, and then were given finger sandwhiches, crisps (chips) and drinks. The sandwhiches were very light and labeled fish, veg, or meat and the crisps of choice were either cheese and onion or prawn cocktail. Being adventurous I tried the prawn (shrimp) cocktail flavored crisps and they were surprisingly good  but very very interesting. The food really has been great here. After the END of orientation (yeah!) we headed back to our building in Chelsea. Everyone in the program ended up going different ways once we got back - grocery store, bed, etc. So I ended up walking around ritzy and 'posh' Kings Road in Chelsea which is where we live.
I had the best time! I walked for hours in and out of boutiques, markets, and local cafes which featured everything to customized cupcake shops and bakeries to local coffee joints - it was a blast! However, everything in our area, specifically called the royal burrough of London, is so expensive! Most stores have after Christmas sales and so forth going on and the first sweater I checked out the price tag on was 50% off at 136 pounds which is equivalent to $211.97...so yeah I didn't do much shopping even though I'm sure I will in the future. For the first time for me, I will actually be putting shopping on the back burner, because my #1 goal without a doubt is traveling! Anywho, I did purchase gloves for 24 pounds which is $37.41 and they were 75% off haha Scotland cashmere signs were every and apparently the utmost necessity for a London-er so that was my one purchase and a very practical one if I may add. :) I then got my very very not so great looking nails done and who knew that in the center of such a 'posh' area there would be a gorgeous vietnamese nail spa haha at least something familiar was around!
Night came and after those shrimp cocktail chips I was in serious need of some sustinance so I ran down to the local market and got a small frozen pizza - I needed something American in my life at that point. Kathrine and I met up with some girls for dinner at a local hang out called the Stock Pot where you get large, cheap portions and good beer - I just went for company and to drink while they ate. They had the best Italian beer and it was freezing!!! The rumors of the Brits drinking hot beer is totally false - freezing and absolutely delicious is a more appropriate description. :)
Afterward, one of the student assistants who works for the program I'm in, Kamel who is 20, attends Queen Mary and gave all of us his contact info earlier in the week and he ended taking a huge group of us out to a pub in Leister Square called Montagu Pyke - it was awesome! It was all wooden, 2 floors, with high ceilings and flickering lanterns on the walls with relatively loud but relaxed music. When we walked in the song playing was one of Dire Straits and I immediately thought of my Dad's love of classic rock. :) Most of the music played in public areas like that is American and most of the time not near up to date, but still good! After the pub closed at midnight, all do, we headed to a bar. It was insane!!! They played Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Usher, and other popular American music and people were grinding, jumping around, swaying their hips, snuggling/kissing on couches scattered throughout, taking shots, etc. I have never in my life seen such a sight - I am officially convinced that Brits take 'a night out' to a whole different level. Ladies were given a ticket for a free beer upon entry so of course I took advantage of that. When I finally made it up to the bar amongst the pushing and shoving I was absolutely shocked at how relaxed and amiable the bartender was. His name was Pepe (like the skunk) and even though the place was so packed and nuts that there were about 5 different peoples butts touching me, he asked me how I was doing, what he could get me, made jokes and was laughing up a storm - as personable and friendly as he could possibly be...when a bar in the US is packed to where you can't move most bartenders are running around madly and just want to get you taken care of and out of the way - well not Pepe and the other British bartenders here. He took his time throwing up the bottles and twisting and turning and dancing...it was definitely the most entertaining creation of a drink I've ever experienced! We made it to the dance floor and I think the entire time I was in bar/club/whatever you want to call it I probably willingly took 3 steps - all the other movement was because someone pushed or shoved me in that direction. Everyone was very nice, it was just that packed! You would think being that packed it would miserable but it was humorous and an absolute blast! From dinner at 7 til this time I only had 4 beers...the amount of time it took to get to the bar was unbearable, but considering that the tube (subway) shuts down at 12:30 we had to use the double decker bus service to get us home. Trying to find #19 was an adventure to say the least and on that adventure the guys in our group peaked into every McDonald's on the route home hoping they would be able to woof down double cheeseburgers - no luck. We safely made it back to our dorm and luckily for them a local convenience shop was open across the street.
Bed time! Another successful and Bristish-filled day. :)