Living abroad is tiring!

I had no idea it would take so long to get adapted to my environment in an English-speaking country.  I know this may be hard to believe, but not all British people are as easy to understand as Hugh Grant, Colin Firth or even Jason Statham!  :)  For the first couple of days here-especially during the first couple of days of class-I really struggled to understand what people were saying.  I had trouble ordering food (do I want chips, crisps or fries with that sandwich?).  I got excited when people were talking about football, only to realize that they were only talking about soccer. 

Not only is the language barrier exhausting, but I'm also physically exhausted from living in city where I must use public transportation every day.  Aaaah...I'm so American.  I've become soft from stepping outside of my house and jumping straight into my car every day.  Now I walk several blocks to catch a bus, to walk several more blocks to take the tube, to walk several more blocks to get to the school.  (I'd estimate the distances more accurately, but, again, I'm American and we're not so good at that!) 

But I think I've reached the turning point.  I've been here a full week now and today I woke up energetic.  I hardly noticed the walking.  During lunch, I sat with a smaller group of the students in my course and was able to fully participate in the conversation.  (though I still accidentally ordered fries instead of chips with my sandwich!)  And, most important of all, I completed my first evaluated teaching session-SUCCESSFULLY!!!!  The feedback was rather general, but a lot focused on being enthusiastic and engaging the students with an open body posture and a free use of gestures.  I was rather happy about that until one of my colleagues pointed out that, as an American, I'm probably naturally more engaging than most Brits.  :)  Oh, well.  At least that's one positive reason for taking the course in London-I have a bit of an advantage over the competition!