A pretty phat flat.

I finally began to seriously look into some permanent living options on Monday after my first day of classes. Some reading assignments had been given and I could not imagine doing them while sharing a room with 11 backpackers and listening to a pub quiz take place on the other side of my wall. I diligently searched gumtree.com and made a list of 6 or 7 that I would call that looked alright - good location, decent price, mostly girls...

I called the last one on my list and the girl who answered wanted to know if I could come over that night when all of her flatmates would be home. Perfect.

So I headed over there and after a minor mishap in finding the place (apparently #29 is three blocks down from #28 and #30.... hmmm...) I found it and Loly, who answered the phone, brought me in to show me around and meet everyone. Jess, from California, was in the TV room with Loly's friend Benjamin (who I was assured is not a permanent fixture in the flat) and Jenn, from Canada, was cooking in the itty bitty kitchen. Loly is from Chile. She showed me what would be my room and bathroom - looked good! Lived in, but still pretty nice. Especially for the price. We sat around and chatted for awhile and the 4th flatmate, Dom from Poland, came home. They were all very sweet and seemed like fun girls to be around, and they said they had to decide that night who they were going to pick. Eeee! That made me nervous. Loly said I would get a call in the morning informing me.

Weeellll... I got a call about an hour later asking when I could move in! Yippee! They also went ahead and picked a replacement for Dom because she's been wanting to move out anyways. So I came back over the next day with rent and deposit money in hand, and moved in yesterday after class!

Getting all my stupid luggage from the hostel to the flat was a bloody hassle (ha) but at least I won't have to do that again for awhile. Then I went to TKMaxx (yes, here it is a K instead of a J - hilarious) and got some bedding so that I could have more to sleep on than a bare mattress that night.

I woke up this morning just delighted to be living here! It is so lucky that I found this place so quickly! I'm really loving my flatmates so far. I haven't seen Jenn much, but Jess and Loly both spend a lot of time in the main room and they couldn't be easier to get along with. They are talkative and both have a funny sense of humor. Veronica is my roommate who took Dom's spot and she is very sweet. She's Spanish and just interviewed for a job today. We're having a lot of fun together - she doesn't speak as good of English as Loly but she's really keen on improving so we talk all the time.

Oh and the area I'm in is great. It's called West Kensington. Right around the corner there's a tube stop, an atm, an internet cafe (good if you need to print something), and a couple of different convenience stores. There is a Tesco (Walgreens/grocery store) only a few more blocks away, and within a couple of tube stops there are several malls and plenty of shops for anything you could possibly need. There is a lovely little garden right across the street, too! I will take some pictures as soon as I can... just needed the ole Kodak to get a little charge in it. So that is all for now, and I will be back on for pictures later! Ciao.