Life in the Big Smoke -- Day 1

So, at 7 a.m. this morning, I landed in Heathrow International Airport with roughly 50 other college students. We disembarked from the plane in a massive heap, and then awkwardly followed a crowd of well-seasoned travelers to customs, where we waited in line (FOR AN HOUR) to get into the country. Once we were in, though, we got our bags, called a cab and forever and a half later I was dumping my things all over the floor of my new home for the next 4 months.

Quaint.

This was all after I hacked up a lung and probably got everyone around me sick on the plane. I ran out of tissues about.... 2 hours into the flight, and had to keep reusing the same ones over and over as my dose dripped mucus all over me. On the bright side, I saw X-Men: First Class and learned how to play Bejeweled! That's good, right?

Anyway, after a ridiculous cab ride and making hasty dinner plans with people I just met, I wandered inside my flat and found my roommate. I then ventured to find Fallon and had a nice chat in her kitchen :) I love Fallon. She also helped me later when I almost got lost the first time I went walking. We went to Tescos (well, she led me and Sarah to Tescos) and we did some minor shopping. We're going to do more major shopping tomorrow after orientation. 

So far the trip has been good. Confusing as all hell; I got lost coming back from Sarah's flat and basically wandered the streets of London at night alone while not really knowing where I was going. Thankfully I live across the street from the Natural History Museum and that was... okay at least. My voice is nearly gone and that compared with my Yankee accent has made communication somewhat difficult, but I'm sure it'll get easier. 

The transition to living here was much easier than I thought. The cars driving on the wrong side of the road is a bit of a trip-up still but I'm getting the hang of it (although Sarah and I were almost hit by a cab on our way to dinner) and I overcame one of my biggest fears; making a huge fool of myself. Sarah and I did everything possible to do wrong in the pub, from thinking we were going to be waited on to not paying when we were supposed to. But we did it in stride and with laughter and it worked out fine, and now I feel like I can conquer every restaurant in this city. Maybe. We'll see. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, even though I'm out of money on my phone and I think I spent too much at the Underground, it's all good. It'll happen.

Cheers! :)

View from my window at night!