I’m here! Hooray!!! London is such a fantastic place! It is just like every other huge city in that it is busy, it is kind of dirty (ok, maybe a lot dirty), and there are all kinds of crazy people everywhere. The only real main difference I can see is that 1) they drive on the wrong side of the road, and 2) it’s older than other big cities I’ve been to. Ok, so wow! I was awake for 32+ hours straight yesterday! (Ok, I managed to sleep for a little while on the plane from NYC to London, but let’s be honest people. Airplane sleep doesn’t count.) We have done so many things the last couple of days!
I left for the Salt Lake airport at about 5:40 Monday morning and my flight left at 8:30. I was a little upset with the situation because I had reserved a window seat and I ended up in the aisle. Not really that big of a deal, but it sure seemed like a crisis at the time. We arrived in NYC at JFK airport almost an hour early so we had nearly 4 hours to kill. I just mainly messed around on my computer, as were most of the other girls there. All of a sudden we realized that there was a pigeon flying loose in the waiting area of the airport. This is an all enclosed airport, as many of you know, so it was highly unusual for a pigeon to be inside. That was a bit of excitement. We met up with some other girls and we all went out on that flight to London. Here I had a window seat! I was so stoked! We took off and settled in. Just then they announced dinner. Wow! I haven’t had real food on an airplane for a very, very, very long time. It was actually good too! Not the best mind you, but we enjoyed it. After that I was able to kind of sleep for a little while. I woke up to a cranked neck and stiff back, but after only having had 1 hour and 45 minutes of sleep the night before, I wasn’t complaining about the little sleep I did get! They even fed us breakfast! A hot bagel and cream cheese with preserves and a banana. It was quite good actually.
As we were flying into Gatwick airport, the country below us was some of the most beautiful I had ever seen! I couldn’t believe that it was real! I don’t think I have ever seen that much green in that way before. You could even see the sheep grazing in the fields. It was exquisite! When we got in we went through customs, which was a breeze for me, and collected our baggage. I know you are all going to be surprised when I tell you that I was, yet again, self appointed group leader. It turned out pretty well. I navigated us through the airport and got everyone onto the train to take us into London. The Gatwick Express! When we got out we caught a taxi to our flats and got in. First we had to go get our Oyster passes. That’s the tube pass. Then we went on a mini tour of where our facilities are and where we will be having class. Great. When we finally got back from that I got a chance to take a shower. It was fantastic… Well, fantastic as soon as I quit freezing/scalding myself because I couldn’t get the temperature right. I went and saw a Chiropractor today and she was really quite nice. I also went and wandered around the city a bit. Rode the tube, and had a quite good time! I’ve had a rather difficult time keeping myself awake today and now that I can go to bed I’m so very, very happy! I went out to a little deli tonight and then I bought a new adapter for my computer. It seems that mine didn’t come with an essential bit of equipment…THE PRONGS THAT ARE COMPATABLE WITH UK PLUGS!!! I am so annoyed with that! No matter though! I am here in London and I am going to have a simply marvelous time! I have a fantastic flatmate, wonderful new friends, and 2 whole months in an amazing city! I can’t wait!!!
Now if I can only figure out when to cross the streets and how the money works…..
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