Tuesday, September 7th, 2004
at 4:41 p.m.
(Hey, check out the time stamp, those who know me well, lol)
Day I left: I was a bit concerned at first, because my mom couldn't give me a ride to the International Terminal on Friday, and I could always ask someone, but to be honest I just wanted that last bit of time with her, since I won't be seeing her for several months! But luckily at the last minute she decided to play hookie, so my morning wasn't doomed to be so anticlimactic. I stayed up late with Ryan and Katie, packed last minute (though basically I just put the same things into my suitcase that I had on the previous attempt so it was simple), and then got up early that morning and had one last breakfast at a cafe in North Beach. It was an amazing morning so it was the perfect sendoff, and the fruit salad, homemade cinnamon bun, and coffee were probably better than any caf food I will be having in the next few months. Mmmm. . .speaking of, I am hungry--I keep missing the times it's open, damnit).
I got on the flight which was my first indirect flight I've had, much to my consternation, as I like to sleep away the whole journey and then arrive comepletely adjusted to the new time zone. It was not meant to be this time, however! The first leg was fine, but then the longer one (700, I mean 7, hours) had me seated in the middle seat in the middle row--argh--between one snoring woman and a set of loud chatty businessmen. Oh and the lady behind me (NOT a child, so no excuse) repeatedly kicked my seat and shoved things violently in her magazine pocket so that it would poke me in the small of my back over and over. Also it was an old plane so there was no movie service except for a projection in the far distance, which an extremely tall man in front of me perfectly blocked with his giant head. Of course. I couldn't fall asleep until right when we landed (ew), so I was extremely tired.
Then, since I had no papers to get me into London because all my papers were for Italy and the plans changed last minute I had to spend about 2 hours in customs answering questions, and even then I only received 2 months, so I have to go to the Home Office and extend it, which will cost me about $500. Then I took the Gatwick-Victoria express, which was completely fine, but when I got the Underground for Victoria Station, apparently the Circle Line was down, so I had to take a bus which took ages. Also, haha, I knew how to get to the campus from the tube stop, but not from the bus stop, so I spent quite a bit of time wandering around Kensington looking for it. Luckily I spotted some American college students and sure enough they were from Richmond. They directed me to the location I was looking for, half a block away!
This last part was quite a leap of faith, because I didn't even know I had a room available for me. I had contacted the school when I found out I was switching to London and they said they "probably" had space, and then I faxed off the papers, but I never got a confirmation. So I was a bit anxious! To add to that, the guy with the move-in list could not find me on the list! But at last he spotted me and I had a room!
So I lugged my baggage up the stairs and located my room, which I was glad to have, but wasn't too nice. The carpet was, to be blunt, shit brown, and there was a huge ledge blocking off the majority of the view--so basically there was no view. I unpacked and looked at the things my new roommate had out to see what type of person she was, but I couldn't get much of a feel based on the Hives pin on a courdoroy blazer and Christian Dior lipgloss. She didn't come in until late but by that time I was sooo jetlagged that I couldn't carry on much of a conversation so I just fell into a dead sleep.
Sunday--I got to know Marielos better, and I really like her--so far, so good. She's from L.A. and goes to St. Mary's and is double-majoring in Literature and Fine Art. First thing that made me really like her: She had put up a 'Bush Out' article, which was quite a relief, and I pulled out my Kerry/Edwards sign, and we bonded a bit over that. Down at brunch I met two more girls which she already knew, and the four of us took a walk 2 blocks over to Kensington Gardens. Since it's still so hot over here, tons of people were out sunning, running, walking their dogs, and hanging out my the small lake. We wound our way around the park and then within, where we saw Kensington Palace. The gate is, to this day, covered in fresh flowers, posters, and notes, among other things, in memorial to Princess Diana, since this is where she lived after her divorce.
I never made it over there last year but it's really gorgeous.
After that we headed to Boots for some errands and then back home, where I found out that some other girl had a prior claim to my room so I had to meet with the housing person and get reassigned. Sooo I packed up again, and Marielos and I cherished the last night we still had left together.
Monday--first day of classes!!
Except that, um, I wasn't registered for any. . .
Luckily it worked out amazingly. Sunday night I worked out a schedule, quite a nice one too, and on Monday morning I just happened to immediately run into my Honors advisor, who had no queue and could look it over right away. There were no problems whatsoever, except that one class's exam clashed with another's. Luckily though, it was her class, and so she told me that she would set aside another exam for me! It was such an easy solution to something that had been a source of some anxiety. Plus registering with her let me skip the massive queue outside the registrar as well. Plus, she didn't give me a late-registering fee! It was a nice relief.
Here's my schedule:
Mondays:
Culture, Identity, and Literature: 12:00 � 1:20
History of London: 13:00 � 14:20
Tuesdays:
Museums & Galleries of London: 10:30 � 1:20
Citizenship: National & Global: 1:30 � 2:50
US & UK Comparative History: 13:00 � 16.20 Museums & Galleries of London: 6:30 � 7:50
Wednesdays:
Culture, Identity & Literature: 12:00 � 11:20
History of London: 3:00 � 5:00
Thursdays:
Citizenship: National & Global: 1:30 � 2:50
US & UK Comparative History: 3:00 � 4:20
I have Fridays off once more, and my earliest class is at 10:30, and that's only if we have a gallery or museum trip scheduled for that day. Pretty nice, huh?
So by now I've had all my classes but one, to which I have to go in about an hour.
But first, dinner, and then I'll update more on my room and how my classes are. Ta
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