Well, I have started this travelogue a few days late; however, I wanted to reflect upon my personal experiences while in London so that I can preserve the memories of a lifetime.
Day 1: On Monday, July 4, 2011, I began my journey in Birmingham airport. I had many emotions on that day: I could not believe that I was doing this; I was scared; I even woke up crying. You may be wondering why was I crying when I was going to London?! It is scary. The fear of the unknown had caught up with me, and I was quite overwhelmed. These feelings only grew into more panic as I discovered that my flight was delayed due to the thunderstorms. After a while, I asked the flight desk about the delay, and made her aware of the fact that I needed to meet my friend, Ashley, who was flying out of Nashville. We were suppossed to arrive and fly out at the same time, and the desk told me that I would not make that flight. Yes, I was freaking out; after calming down, I approached a second desk. She changed my flight so that I would make it on time, but failed to give me back my boarding pass to London for the second flight from Atlanta. She was not at the desk anymore; therefore, I asked the first desk if I could obtain another boarding pass. She rerouted my baggage, and told me to get on the plane that was leaving immediately. Well, as I was standing there even more freaked out, I realized just how real this was: I was leaving for England for a month... I boarded the plane, and waited for the weather to cooperate. We finally took off for Atlanta. I arrived at Atlanta airport, got off the plane, and asked which concourse that flight 272 to London was on; of course, it was at E10, and I was at Concourse A. You have to understand that I have only flown once in my life, which was two years ago to Minneapolis. This time it was going to be to a foreign country, no doubt. I found a train within the airport, took it to Concourse E, and rode the escalator to E10 where I found Starbucks. There is nothing like caffeine to keep you going... One of the group members, Blair De'Bowens, arrived as well, and we boarded the plane together. Also, my friend, Ashley Gonzales, whom I was waiting on had just arrived at the gate on her flight from Nashville; luckily, she made it on time to board the plane!
The flight to London was surreal. Many students from various states were traveling there to study, whether in London, or in Oxford. It was fascinating to talk to other students that shared the same goal as myself. Ashley and I watched our own personal televison screens (I watched part of The Adjustment Bureau, while she watched The Dilemma). There was a lot of turbulance on the plane due to the weather. It was an 8 hour flight to London, and a very long one. I managed to sleep in a tight place. They served us dinner, and I was so hungry that I ate almost every bite; I think it was spinach pasta, or something like that. Also, we were served breakfast on the plane, which was some kind of English muffin; it was really good.
We arrived in London about 10:20 am (London time) at Heathrow Airport. We had lost six hours. We went through Customs; I am not going to talk about that. Nevertheless, I made it through, although I felt dead. Ashley's, as well as others in the group, luggage did not make it, in fact they waited two days before Delta got it to them. I was among the blessed who had luggage. The trip from the Airport on the Tube was quite an experience, especially with a backpack, and a large suitcase that had to be pulled, as well as lifted onto the underground subway, and up a ton of stairs to the lift. Somehow, I managed; however, I'll be needing to see Dr. Gary Randolph when I return on July 30! (haha) The Tube ride was an experience; we were so delirious... The recording on the Tube tells you to "Mind the Gap between the train and the platform," I have already developed a British accent for this phrase. They also state where you are going, in our case, we get off at Russell Square from Picadilly Line; they mention that the last stop is "Cockfosters," which in our delirious state, was quite funny and some of us (Ashley, as well as myself, and some others) giggled every time it was said. I know; I am not twelve, but, hey, I was delirious and jetlagged. It is still funny though.
We got off the Tube, wheeled our luggage to the University of London dorms, which is where I am staying, and got my room. I have a room which faces another building; I can see everyone through their windows (everyone has been dressed so far); so, I am careful since if I can see them, they can certainly see me. I have a bed, a desk, and a small sink; actually, my room is a decent size, and the window is a casement window, so I opened it. When I arrived, I realized that there is no air conditioning here in London, so, I think I am going to die. That night we went to Brunswick Square, which is full of shops, such as The French Connection (with its weird advertisement of a man on a toy horse that I do not understand the concept of, but I digress); I bought a small fan at Robert Dyas for 14.99 British pounds, but who cares, I was hot. The rate of the U.S. dollar here is, well, 1.64 American dollars equals one British pound. If I have 1000 US dollars, it is like having 600 American dollars. No, things are not cheap, and vary in price! We ate dinner in the dining hall at the dorms; I ate some kind of quiche, which I did not care for. Later, Ashley and I went to a really cool convenience store down the street that has everything from bagels, fresh fruit, tshirts, milk (which is in different shaped jugs that I adore), coke, sprite, etc.. I bought milk, hummus, pringles, and two sprites. I was already getting dehydrated from the trip. Our next morning was to include what Dr. Peterson and Dr. Bibbee called "The Amazing Race," where we would find eight sites (we were only given clues, not the names of the sites). This was to be our first official homework assignment.
I got to sleep, I think at 2 am, having to be awake by 6 am. A reminder for those who do not know: the sun rises here at 4 am and it does not get dark until 10 pm.
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