My first question since my trip truly began is how on earth do airplanes fly? Seriously? That being said the flight went pretty smoothly. Saying goodbye to my family was hard, and as soon as I saw my mom tearing up the dam broke for both me and my sister so we were all crying, but once I got through security nervous excitement replaced my sadness for the time being. At first flying was exciting, especially since the last time I had flown on a plane I was 13-years-old. Although once we took off and were in the air for about an hour some of the joy of flying wore off, mostly because I had a middle seat and the lady in front of me seemed perfectly content to spend the entire seven hour flight with her seat reclined so I had about six inches of space for my arms and knees. No wonder they call it cattle class. And honestly, they need to make the call buttons more difficult to hit because I'm pretty sure the guy next to me accidentally called a flight attendant with his elbow about 14 times in one hour. Things perked up a bit when I found out we would be getting dinner on the flight since I was starving when it came around, and for airline food it wasn't that bad. The pasta was all right although I found myself questioning whether or not it was cheese or tofu mixed in with the noodles. For now, I'll let the mystery stand, but I was pleasantly surprised by the cheesecake we had for dessert.
Because it is virtually impossible for me to fall asleep sitting upright, I was wide awake for the whole flight passing the time by reading and watching movies. But, the benefit of staying awake was being able to watch our descent. As lame as it might sound, it was so cool to look out the window and see a solid horizon of clouds grow closer and closer, streaked with yellow and orange from the rising sun, and then whirl by us in blur as we plunged through the barrier. Then, I got my first view of England and it was all I could do not to lean across my neighbor and press my nose up against the window like a kid in a candy store. I had this big ridiculous grin on my face watching the green countryside and little toy houses play like a movie scene beneath us and, finally, the city spread out in the distance. It still hadn't hit me that I was going to London, but it was starting to feel a little more real.
I made it through Border Control and baggage reclaim without a hitch and even managed to find my way to Terminal 3 where I met up with my Arcadia Orientation group and my friend Maddie from school without too much trouble. We had to wait about an hour for our bus because there was so much traffic which was only annoying because it was 2 in the morning back in the States and everyone was exhausted. We finally made it to our hotel, which is actually a set of apartments (or flats as they are called here) and even though we were cautioned not to, Maddie and I took a two hour nap because we didn't look or feel much better than zombies.
At 4 in the afternoon here, we had our first orientation meeting which was really just going over the orientation schedule, and then we went out for our first London meal. We went to a little restaurant called Wagamama (I still can't get over how much I love this name) where I ordered Vegetarian Katsu Curry which was basically sweet potatoes deep fried in bread crumbs served with curry sauce and sticky rice along with a side of gyoza or chicken dumplings. The chicken dumplings were actually really good and the main course wasn't half bad although I wasn't a huge fan of the curry sauce.
After dinner, we were free to do as we pleased with our free time so me, Maddie, and Alex walked the streets for a little. Apart from some obvious differences, I was kind of surprised to see how much the feel of London reminded me of New York City. Of course, they drive on the opposite side of the road and the architecture and flow of the buildings has its own charm and beauty that differs from that of New York, but the bustle and pace is much the same with jay-walking pedestrians constantly within an inch of death and the idea that traffic lights and lines are seen as more of a suggestion than an actual rule. It even smells the same, although I'm sure most cities do.
Later on in the night, we took our first real nightlife adventure and a group of us went out to an Irish bar a couple of blocks away. The bar had a great laid-back atmosphere, not to mention a great selection of music. We ordered our first legal drinks (mine was a pint of Heineken), grabbed a table, and got to know some of the other kids in our orientation group for a couple hours, though we headed back a little early as everyone's jet-lag started to hit them full force. Even tired and hungry, it was a great start to our stay in London, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow and the rest will bring!
Finally, in memory of 9/11, I would like to thank everyone who responded that day that changed America forever, and for all those who have served, currently serve, and continue to keep us safe <3
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