Tuesday, January 20th, 2004
at 9:07 a.m.
Here I am, back at school and already I have tonnes to write about. . .(notice that since I'm back to London it's a return to Engilsh spelling, heh)
So, the flight. Can I just say rejhrhjfrahk r&^$!$%$*&?!?!? It was the worst experience I've ever had travelling; where do I even begin?? First I was put through a warzone like section of security, wherein I was completely harrassed along side with a whole variety of non-Americans. I suppose they were targeted because they were Muslims (taking connecting flights to the Emirates), and I was thrown in there to look like it was actually not racial profiling. They disemboweled my entire set of luggage into which it had taken me days to make everything fit, then left the whole messy array on the table for me to somehow figure out how to restore. I was already in a very cranky mood when I boarded the plane and saw that not only was I in the middle aisle, but I was in the middle seat. And not only was I in the back of the plane, but we were in front of the lavatories so that it smelled and there as a constant hover of people around. Worse than this though, far far worse, was the fact that this was a redeye flight, on which I desperately needed to sleep to get accustomed to London time, as I had classes the following day. . .and the seats did not recline. Not. One. Inch. So there was no way I slept. I was so uncomfortable, my body was physically in pain, and the seats on this particular flight were "thissmall." By that I mean about 16 inches, so the arms of myself and my neighbors were squished against each other into our sides. For eleven and a half hours. It was supposed to only be ten, but there was no place to land on the airport in Heathrow so we cicled for an hour. Finally we actually landed, but we had no place to park for another hour, so we were at a standstill on the tarmac and they forbade us to stand. I was bursting to get out of the plane, but when we finally did, we had to walk aout a mile, I kid not, to the customs area, after retrieving our luggage, of which I had more than any sane person should have to bear (this, I grant, is my fault, but since I had a ride to the airport before, and flew out of small Gatwick, it was no problem). But Heathrow is MASSIVE. And then I tried to find the Underground, and everyone, plus signs, were giving me conflicting directions, so I was walking back and forth, on the verge of tears since I had gotten no sleep, my luggage was so heavy, and I didn't know where I was going. Finally I located it. THEN I got off too early and for those who don't understand the route from Heathrow to Richmond, let me just say this: I had to cross over to the other side of the tracks to take another line the direction from whence I came, but since I got off too early, I crossed too early, and so I had to drag my monstrous FOUR bags up three flights of stairs and NO ONE helped. Everyone on the platform just stared at me as I dragged these things, step by step, out of breath, red in the face, tears in my eyes. And then I had to do it again since I got off at the wrong time, to go back to the right side. Again no one helped. Then I had to do it again when I was actually at the right station and again no one helped. It wasn't until I was at the top of the flights of steps that I saw that Earl's Court had a lift! I had to do it one more time at the Richmond Station. Altogether about eight flights of stairs up and six down (No downs in Richmond), and not one person helped. Thanks, assholes. Needless to say, the following day my shoulders were so sore that I could not move. One thing I know for sure: I am springing for the bloody taxi next time! When I told the cabdriver who drove me from the station to school that I had taken the underground with the very bags he struggled to get into his cab he stared at me aghast and said, "Are you off your trolley??" YES.
I was SO relieved to be back. I saw my friends immediately in the cafeteria and it was a glorious reunion. I got to hear about everyone's vacations, including what my crazy roommie has been up to the past three weeks on her own in Germany. The answer: lots of trouble involving Australians. . . I also got my present from she, and our friends Rosie and Michael, who had all met up in Amsterdam together. They got me the BEST PRESENT EVER!
They bought a pair of clogs in Holland, and markers, and personalized them according to all sorts of things we had done last semester, and in-jokes, and emblazoned a "2" on the right pair and a "1" on the left, so that together in makes "21". I was so touched, AND laughed so hard I cried. I would love to put up a lot of pic of it, but sadly I forgot my laptop at home, which has my digital camera software on it. Aye aye aye. . .
Also exciting. . .I got my grades. I got a 3.85, so I'm on the Deans List and enrolled in the Honors Program. Which brings me to my classes this semester:
Mondays and Wednesdays:
Tuesdays and Thursdays: And again I have Fridays off, yay!
I think they will be very challenging, as will this semester as a whole, and I don't know how I'll be able to balance work as well, which I will need in order to afford this summer's grand adventure! Plus I have to really keep up my grades because Richmond requires two semesters worth of assessment before they will grant me a sholarship. I can always look outside the school to find one, but it's just so convenient so get it from here!
9:00 - 10:20 Research section (Wednesdays only)
10:30 - 11:50 - World Cultural History (Honors)
12:00 - 1:20 - Ethics and Values
1:30 - 4:30 - The Creative Spark (Honors Seminar - just Monday)
12:00 - 1:20 Principles of Writing III(Honors)
1:30 - 2:50 - When Worlds Collide
4:30 - 5:50 - The Art of Math
What song is playing on my iTunes right now: What I'm reading: What I'm Wearing: Back to anecdotal journalism again! - Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
Plan? - Monday, Jun. 19, 2006
FINALLY things are going better!
(This month redefined my understanding of stress and 'hell') - Monday, April 24th, 2006
Just a few more days! - Monday, February 27th, 2006
Another one to chalk up to College Experiences - Sunday, February 12th, 2006