First Impressions

I'm officially in London! It's been such a shock getting used to actually being here instead of looking forward to it. I don't think I quite realized I would be staying here until May until Friday morning...which left me fighting off tears in the morning, but letting them pretty much completely flow on the way to the airport, then in the entry. I didn't just cry a little - it was like red face ugly crying.

But I knew that would happen. So I've had my first few good cries while here, and I get to check that off my list. Getting through the first night is always the hardest, which is why I'm lucky that I had Katie to text at 4:30 AM over here when I woke up after 3 hours of sleep. Combined with my dorm being ridiculously hot (even with the heat turned off completely), and not having bought bedding (or pillows, etc., I used my flight pillow and a blanket last night) and having had absolutely no sleep on the plane, I think a good cry and sister-to-sister late night text is exactly what I needed.

Today I woke up at the crack of 11:30 after being able to get back to sleep around 6. Jet lag is really kicking my butt, because I would never wake up around 11:30 at home. My friend Mevy, who came here with me, and some new friends and I decided to go to IKEA to pick up some household things we needed. It's so easy to forget that you need things like scissors, soap, and pillow cases when you've always had them with you. We thought we would take the tube down to the Tottenham Hale station, then take a bus to IKEA since it's on the outskirts of London, but the city was doing maintenance on the Tottenham Hale station, so we had to get off at the Seven Sisters station, find a bus to take us to the Tottenham Hale station, then get on a bus to go to IKEA. It was definitely stressful and took more time than we had hoped, but IKEA was a success! I was able to get a duvet cover and two pillow cases for only 4 pounds, which is like $6. When we got home around 5:00 it was completely dark. I guess days are shorter here!

We were also able to get some groceries for the time being at Tesco, which is like the British Walmart. I found out that to use the buggies (that are chained to each other) you have to insert a pound coin to unchain them, then when you put them back together you can get your pound back. It makes so much sense! I'm sure they don't have to worry about loose buggies everywhere in the parking lot and around the store.

That's about it for now - I'll post some more later this week! I have orientation tomorrow, then class registration on Tuesday. Classes start next Monday so we have a lot of time to explore before then!

Top left to right: Sunset on the plane from Charlotte to Detroit, Bus ride from the airport to our dorms with a Polish driver who didn't speak much English, A photo of the flight details on my tv screen in the plane a little over half way across the Atlantic (it was -64 degrees!), Mevy and my roommate Liz on the way to IKEA today, my first meal in England! a BLT, Super English bread I got in a mini store/grocery store near my dorm today