Update

The past few days have been pretty busy with orientations, fairs, and shopping. So far I've been to Freshman Orientation, General Course Orientation, Accounting Orientation, Registration, Fresher's Fayre, and met with my Academic Advisor. Hours of my life lost with no gain.
I joined some clubs, the typical: Finance Club, Student Investment Club. Some new ones: Hummus Club, German Club. And some frightening ones: Rugby. That may be a mistake, but we'll soon see. When I asked the captain if there were any guys my size, he said there were smaller guys and that I'd never run into the big guys on the field. I didn't think the playing field was segregated like that, but what do I know about rugby anyways. I still think he's lying to me, especially because everyone I've seen so far is absolutely humongous. So far I've gotten a couple emails from the captain asking about my level of experience and detailing tryouts on Saturday. I'm not too afraid of getting hit, I mean I did play football for four years. I'm more afraid of not understanding the game and making some terrible mistake like making a forward pass or something. But then again, there are 3 teams for every level of ability and experience. I'm not even trying to move beyond the 3rd team. Though I imagine this will turn out like Bad News Bears, I bet I'm still the smallest guy on this team.
But despite the pain I will likely experience from rugby (I'm expecting to break my first bone!), the pain of trying to get a cellphone is so much worse. Firstly, as a Verizon customer, I couldn't unlock my phone from home because Verizon phones are unlockable. Secondly, when I first checked out a Cellphone Warehouse, they told me I could buy a pay as you go phone (a burner, if you will) or a 2 year contract. Not wanting either, I went next door to a Phones4u, where the guy told me about a monthly rolling plan that can be canceled at any time. 350 minutes and unlimited texts, sounds ideal. But here's where the trouble begins. To buy this sim card, I need a British debit card since they still have chips in them (so outdated). Without the chip, I couldn't buy anything but a pay as you go. So, I went to HSBC to ask if they could switch my US card to a UK card, but they couldn't do anything since my account was registered in California. So to get a new card, the bank in Fremont would have to request the card and send it to me. It's easier to just set up another bank account. So, I went back to HSBC with my passport and set up another account. But first I had to get a signed letter from LSE saying I was a permanent, though temporarily, resident of the UK. Then the bank manager had to email ad get confirmation that I had an HSBC account in the US. Once that was all done, the account was made, but the card won't be mailed to me for another week. Herein lies another problem, I don't know where the mailboxes are in my building or have a key to open them. God only knows what I'll need to get that key. And once I get this card and activate it, I'll have to transfer money into it, and then finally I'll be able to get this sim card. In the meantime, I got a pay as you go phone and simple £10 plan for a total of £15. At least I have a phone, but I'll have to go through the whole process of switching my number to my new plan once I get the new sim card. Why must this place be so complicated and convoluted?

There's more I want to say, but at this particular moment, I have to go back to campus (a 25-30 minute walk) so I can head over to Berrylands, LSE's athletic fields, for Party in the Park, another Orientation Event. More to come...