The hotel Butler put us all at, the St. Giles, doesn't have free internet access. I'm typing this on a PC on which they charge by the minute -- the rates are a ripoff compared to the internet cafe nearby, but they charge a £2 minimum there -- which would end up going largely to waste.

There's actually no real orientation today -- just got to the office, was handed some forms and papers, and sent off to the hotel. There's a group dinner tonight at Wagamama's, a national Japanese chain that's very popular here. The actual orientation comes tomorrow -- it'll likely be very boring, like I said, but hopefully useful. We have the afternoon free, and then we all meet up to go to a show together - fortunately, the show in question is Avenue Q, and not... something that I'd have much less interest in, i.e., most musical theater in general.

Wandered around SoHo this afternoon -- it's the theater district, so lots of huge marquees everywhere. Some amusing juxtapositions between the theatres themselves and the stores nearby. The repetition of chain stores and restaurants -- sometimes more than one at a given intersection -- is beyond laughable, though the same could be said of any large city.

Tonight is free -- hopefully I'll get a chance to do some nightlife stuff, like finally visiting an actual pub. Maybe I'm just too timid, but I didn't quite feel safe doing that by myself.

More later.