flight home booked!
now, on with the houses!
Saturday, ie. today.
Abbey Road - Bright and early we started at this house where we stood for an excessively long amount of time. It was FREEZING as the house is up on a hill so the wind was nuts. Finally the singing started and we went in. Every girl I've met from this house I've loved so I had high expectations. The first girl I spoke to, the conversation was a bit stiff, but after that, all the girls were just so easy to talk to. I felt like I could really fit here. A few girls came over who somehow knew my name before I could introduce myself. They probably read my nametag, but it made me feel good anyway! Overall, I left really happy!
Tower Bridge - My experience at this house is proof that you really need to go into this thinking about whats best for you and not what everyone else is saying. I heard a lot of girls walking out of this house saying that the conversation was very one-sided and slow and awkward and I totally didn't have that experience at all! The girls were CRAZY spirited and played music for us to dance to before we got in the house. The girl I spoke to was the cutest girl and I loved talking to her. I spoke to her for most of the time until the very end where I spoke to another girl who wound up having to speak to me and the girl sitting next to me because the sister who was originally talking to the girl next to me accidentaly gave herself a paper cut and needed to go get a band-aid. But I totally liked this house and hope to see it again!
Covent Gardens - These girls were sooo sweet, there is honestly no other way to describe them. It was clear that they all really loved eachother and cared for one another and for their sisterhood. I think I could fit in here, but I don't know if I'm necessarily that peppy. I had some crazy conversation with a couple of the girls about getting jobs and apartments after college, even though we were all like WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS AUGH!, it was actually kind of funny. I really liked it here, don't know if its my favorite, though.
The London Eye - This house is fairly notorious for their cheering to be heard from blocks away, but I was underwhelmed. Even after that the girls I spoke to were a but underwhelming as well. The conversation didn't flow, I had to carry it with a couple of the girls I spoke to. One of them I was able to really talk to, but the others, not so much. I just left feeling like I had stated my major, hometown, job aspirations, residence, multiple times with very little else in between. I really liked their shirts and their theme though
Buckingham Palace - Let's just put it out there, that its quite the coincidence that this codename wound up being assigned to this house, because HOLY MOLY was their house GORGEOUS! Even the girls were gorgeous, I felt like I was walking into a J.Crew catalogue they were all so cute in their matching polos. While my conversations here were actually really great, I don't think I could be in this house, I just don't think I'm pretty enough, hahaha. One of the girls kept asking me about the houses I liked so far, so I tried my best not to name names and not say anything incriminating. These girls were also big on the cheering and the excitement, so I left happy but knowing that this one really wasn't for me.
Trafalgar Square - The first girl i spoke to wasn't very enthusiastic about much. She seemed to be just kind of...there. The next girl and I had a great conversation about Italy and event planning and then the next girl I talked to we talked about Perez Hilton, go figure. But I was comfortable with these girls, as I can talk about celebrity gossip and Europe for DAYS, they're two of my favorite subjects! This was another house I liked, but wasn't thrilled by.
St. Paul's Cathedral - I was surpised at how much energy these girls had, since it was nearly the end of the day. I was actually greeted by a girl I kinda sorta knew, as we had a class together last year. We bonded over some stories, as both of us kinda got ditched by friends for boyfriends. The next few girls are kind of a blur to me, as I was so tire I was pretty much delirious by this point. I remember liking them, but just thinking that I don't think we would ever actually click in real life. We were able to talk and laugh in this situation, but in any other, probably not so much.
THENNNN processing.
We could select 9 as our tops and 3 ranked. I had some trouble with mine, as I was debating about the placement of St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and The London Eye. Eventually I did:
* Abbey Road
* Covent Gardens
* Piccadilly Circus
* Millenium Bridge
* Trafalgar Square
* Westminster Abbey
* Buckingham Palace
* Tower Bridge
* St. Paul's Cathedral
2. The London Eye
3. The Tower of London
4. Big Ben
I go get my list at 9:15 tomorrow morning and then have round two, the philanthropy round all day. Last year, house tours and philanthropy were switched, so that's kinda cool. This round I felt confident as I've done it before, but tomorrow will be a switch, since I'll be going in blind. It's the less formal of the two, which is kinda nice. I'll be wearing some khaki corrds and a nice top I got on Black Friday, most likely. This round was jeans and the tee-shirt they provided for us. I actually had to wear galloshes becuase it was so disgusting out. Luckily, my rain boots matched the shirt PERFECTLY. Tomorrow I don't know the shoe situation yet, I'll see how the ground looks. For now I'm going to find some food I think and get to bed!