The Arrival

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Note: This entry is for February 2, 2010. I’m a day behind.

Today, February 2, 2010, I arrived in the city of London at 9 am Greenwich Mean Time, or five hours ahead of EST time. The journey itself was much better than I expected.
My journey started at RDU International. This being my first international flight my parents decided that it would be a good idea for them to help me check in. So we went, and check in wasn’t as bad as I thought. All I needed to do was make sure all my information was right, provide an emergency contact number, and check my bags. After all that, I said good bye to my parents and joined those who had gone early. After awhile, the lot of us went through security, which was a breeze, and waited to board the plane. We boarded to a barely full plane at around 8, half an hour before take-off. The good thing about the plane being so empty was that I was able to spread out in my window seat row. For the rest of the plane ride, I slept, ate, and listened to some audio books.
We got to London at around 9 am London time, or 4 am RDU time. We were picked up by our faculty advisor and boarded a bus that took us to our flats. During the bus ride, the bus driver talked about how the area we were in was the “playground for the rich and famous.” We also had the chance to do a little sight-seeing. We got to the flats after a fairly long bus ride and a short lecture by the flat advisor.
Once I got my luggage, I rushed up to the my flat, E. The flat itself is small, but a bit bigger than I expected. We have the basics, kitchen, common area, two bedrooms, 1.5 baths. Well, .5 bath was actually just a sink and a shower. The best thing about the flat is the fact that our kitchen opens up into the common area. This makes food making so much easier. Besides that, I am ok with where I am living.
After I unpacked, I went to the flat across the hall and hung out with the people there. We did some food searching and ended up going to a somewhat sketchy looking chicken place. The food was ok, but the coke I got was delicious. Then, we did some essentials shopping. One of the things that I noticed was that a lot of the food is somewhat natural or as very few ingredients compared to US food. For example, the coke here had less than ten ingredients and contained no artificial colors or preservatives while back home there at least ten ingredients. After all that was done, we did some exploring around the area. Then, we attended a housing orientation and safety orientation. Towards the end of the night, I hung out with the people across the hall and then crashed at 9:30 pm.
The thing that I had the most difficulty with was with the jet lag. When I was up and about, I was awake and chipper, but if I sat for a long time, I would start falling asleep. Overall, I think I did fine, but it was still difficult.
Note: There will be pictures starting tomorrow, Feb. 4.

Until Next Time,
Jefe