The one thing that makes this trip different than all the others is that I will not be visiting someone that I know. It's not my grandpa picking me up in Arizona; it's not seeing Katlin's beautiful face in NYC. I'm going to a place where I know no one. It's pretty exciting and surprisingly not scary. It's just weird; different. The only thing I have been slightly concerned about is customs and that is only because I've never done it before, so concerned isn't even fitting. It's just that it will be new to me.
On the way to the airport I didn't feel a certain way. It was just one of those things where it was finally happening and I was on my way. My mom was taking a bunch of silly pictures of me while I was at the airport. My sister told me she loved me and would miss me. I marked the day on her calendar when I was coming home. My dad told me to use my head and everyone told me to have fun and take lots of pictures.
Getting to my terminal was quick and easy. There's something about traveling at night when no one else is around =) I printed off my boarding pass, checked my bag, went through security, and then some security guys smiled at me as I went down the ecalator and that was that. Then I waited for the next 2ish hours at the gate. I didn't have a seat assigned and they overbooked, so I had to take care of that at the gate. Everything worked out though and I was able to get a window seat on top of it all. I tried reading for a little while but that was just making me sleepy at the airport so I got Starbucks and just waited to load the plane. The guy I sat next to was nice and we helped each other out. We sat in the front of our section so we had to figure out the modifications. He showed me where the tray was (hidden in the arm of the chair), I showed him where the headphones plugged in, and this other guy had to help us figure out where the TVs were (folded under the armrests). I had the movie Chimpanzee playing but I was only watching it and not listening (the sound quality was terrible). I tried to play the in-flight trivia but they changed it but it was not nearly as good as what it used to be. They fed us dinner and I chose the vegetarian option (sidenote: sometimes I think it should be called the starchitarian option because there are so many noodles and not so many veggies). It was this pasta thing with some sauce and veggies along with a salad, cheese, crackers, bread and butter, and a cinnamon brownie. BTW the cinnamon brownie was the best thing ever! Why have I not made those yet? It is just like Mexican hot chocolate but in food form. Ah-mazing.
BTW I'm using my flexible keyboard right now and Dad, it's fantastic. It works really well and feels awesome haha.
Anyway I filled out my landing card wrong the first time (I skipped a line and was writing the answers on the top line instead of the bottom). I wasn't the only one though so I think that says a lot about their format ;) I slept for maybe an hour on the plane from pure exhaustion but after that I was awake. You just could not get comfortable and even though I had jeans, a tank, and a pull-over, topped with their blanket and my zip up hoodie, I was cold. They gave us breakfast too which consisted of a banana (which I can't eat), a blueberry muffin, and OJ. I also had some coffee.
Descending was fantastic. The clouds were so beautiful and fluffy, as my sister would say. It was a kingdom on its own. Then I saw little houses and cars driving on the left-hand side and then a red double decker. It was exciting. We landed right on time. We went down a long walk to customs and on the way I saw many Olymipc sponser ads. My favorite was the Coca-Cola ad. I'll see if I can find a picture online. I was rushing to meet ISA on time so I could't stop. Going through customs was easy. I was prepared with all the documents that ISA said I should have and they didn't even want them all. After that I went to claim my bag, found it right away, and then exited. As I was walking out I was looking at every single person (which were dozens of people lined up) trying to find the ISA sign. I didn't see anyone so I went out and turned around to see what terminal I was at and it was terminal 4.. I needed to be at terminal 3 so my first Brit convo happened with the guy that worked at the information desk. It was awesome. So I went down the lift to get to the express train and then took that to terminal 3. I had to walk down many hallways (I was trying to stay and the left lol) and at the end I saw Maria holding the ISA sign. At the same time another student, Lindsey also joined. Maria took us over to all the others, told us what was going on, and then Tom came over to give us out packets. It was this plastic envelope holding a variety of things and he said, "Well first of all, there is a chocolate bar in there and that's the most important part, right?" There were also brochures and our insurance info, important phone numbers on a card for us, and our detailed schedule. After that we waited for the last remaining few to show up and in the meantime we all chatted. I met some girls that were in my class and some others that wanted to go to Paris on our weekend off. Then finally we all went to get on the Coach. We met the coordinator who is also named Maria and she welcomed us to London. We line up in the order of our halls and that is when I met Emily. We are living at Alexander Fleming House. We all got on the bus and Maria said it looks like we have a bit of liquid sunshine. It was a little sunny and drizzling, but that is what they call their rain =)
I will leave it at that for now because I have to go down to meet Tom in a few minutes. He is taking me and Emily to our orientation. After our orientation we get to go on a London Tour and ride the red double decker bus for two hours =)
I will finish the rest of day 1 and what happens today later this evening.
Cheers!
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