1st Day

I’m finally here!! Yeah! It was a long journey so let’s start from the beginning……

It started in Evansville, Delta flight to Atlanta. This went surprisingly smooth. My whole family plus Ben and his family went to Denny’s for lunch and we all enjoyed each other’s company. We then caravanned to the airport because everyone wanted to see me off and I wanted a few more hours with them.  Once we were all waiting outside of security and looking out at the planes leaving the airport (actually only one plane, Evansville is a very small airport), waiting for my flight to be called, it really was sinking in, I was off to London. This came with another hit, I was going alone, no Ben to help me this time, no one to stop the tears if they ever chose to come. This was a scary thought but also empowering because this would be the first time I would be doing something on my own- I kinda liked the sound of that. Once the good byes came, I started to tear up, but never got too emotional-which came as a surprise, to me and probably to everyone else too.

The next thing I know, we are in the air and landing in Atlanta, whole thing went off without a hitch, thank God! So I get in the airport and there was a little confusion about which gate my flight was departing from, but the crises was quickly averted and I sat at the correct gate in plenty of time. After checking in with Ben and my Daddy, I ate at Fridays and then got a hot chocolate from Starbucks, making it back to the gate about an hour before departure, perfect. Except immediately after I sat down, my first delay made its appearance, this would not be such a big deal except for the fact that I had transportation that would be leaving the airport at noon and this delay was going to get me there at 11:15, which was pushing it a bit. But I kept my cool and sat patiently.

And now the second delay, which not only was annoying in the first place, but we all had to move terminals because they were going to put us on a different aircraft all together.  I still managed to keep my cool because this was still going to get me there on time. In the process, I met three other people who were involved in the same program as me and we decided to cling onto each other for dear life. We finally boarded the plane, put our belongings in the appropriate places and headed down the runway……

My third and final delay. As we were getting ready to launch ourselves for take off, they found another technical problem and we were forced back to the gate and to board another flight. This was starting to upset me, I never became outwardly emotional but I was starting to brew on the inside. This was not only going to cause me to be late and miss my transportation, this was going to cause me to miss my orientation meeting and miss vital details about the rest of the week. Well, finally we took off and I endured a relatively sleepless night with random people I had never met before and was forced to trust. We finally landed in London at 3:30 pm, 5 ½ hours later than original planned. At this point, I was calm because on the way down I was given my first live glimpse of the city I thought I would have to wait another 10 years to see. It was pretty magnificent, the tall skyscrapers in some areas, the super old buildings in other areas, and the large residential areas where all the houses looked exactly the same strewn throughout.

Once off the plane I high tailed it to customs where there was a simple two question game and I was through!!! I met my fellow students at the baggage claim, where we waited an eternity to finally get our bags, and then we were off!! We weren’t really sure where we were off to since we now needed to find our own transportation to our residential areas and none of us had ever ridden a subway or a taxi. We followed the signs to the underground, which was super cool and we even had to get off and get on a connection train to our final destination at the Paddington station. We were very proud of ourselves. Now to tackle a taxi, well thank goodness there was a sign for that too and we followed it out and what do you know, a constant line of taxis, just waiting for the idiot American who knows nothing about public transportation.

I finally arrived at 5:45 pm, exhausted from lugging 120 lbs. of luggage all over London. We knocked on the door and what do you know, no one is home! Hmmmmm, this would normally be the point where I sit down and start crying uncontrollably while thinking, “Why me?!” However, I was still running a high from the little adventure I had been able to take without calling home and asking Ben for directions to the London Underground, so I said to the boy with us, “We will stay with the bags while you go and find a payphone and call the emergency number they gave to us.” The boy agreed and we waited outside with all our belongings on the front steps. He came back and said someone would be there shortly (meaning an hour) and I was finally able to see my new living space for the first time.

It’s a very quaint neighborhood and a cute apartment, I live with two other girls and there are a total of 6 girls living in the flat and 26 living in the whole building. I am now in that awkward stage where I haven’t really been able to see any part of London except underneath it and I am missing Ben. I know once I’m out and about tomorrow, I will be able to relax a little and truly enjoy myself, I can’t wait!

Side note; All pictures are courtesy of Ben because he bought me a camera for Christmas!

Love from London,

B