If It's Friday, This Must Be London

Well I made it! I know this post is getting on here a bit late (it isn't Friday anymore), but I have been very jet lagged as well as both busy/exhausted.

Getting to London was a very long and uncomfortable journey. It took us about two hours just to get to SFO on Friday with traffic and once there we had to figure everything out since although it was a Lufthansa ticket, the flight was totally taken over by United Airlines. My dad wanted to be very sure that my luggage was going to the right place and that I had the right ticket.

I was very nervous and only ate in the airport out of a feeling of necessity rather than legitimate hunger. To be honest, I haven't had any appetite in weeks. Between issues with my visa (to be explained in a later post) and the general anxiety of moving to a brand new country for a year, I have been too stressed to want to eat. (Yet at the same time wanted to have one last plate of sushi and Mexican food before entering a land without decent versions of either).

Saying good-bye to my parents had not really hit me at the time. I was far too concerned with making sure everything was in order and that I would make it to the plane on time. Also, I don't think I wanted to be able to process it at the time as the reality of it would have been too much to handle. Even with my dogs I had to distance myself a little bit from the reality.

They watched me stand in line for security for awhile before saying good-bye. It was a little odd since we couldn't shout across the line at each other to talk, but the emotional meaning was there. We would be separated for 9 months and this was prolonging that.

The line didn't take too long (maybe 30 minutes), but I had not realized I needed to take out my laptop, and so my bag got an extra inspection. From there I went to my gate and sat at the top just looking at what I expected was my plane. The thought occurred to me about ten minutes in that there was no where to board where I was sitting, and from my previous experience flying to Disneyland with Sarah and Shira, that meant I had a problem. There was an escalator by the gate sign, which I figured I needed to go down, and luckily I found that that was where I was supposed to be. Shortly was on my way to London!

Inside the plane!

I was energized for the plane ride, but also nervous. Luckily, no one was in the middle seat and the gentleman who had the window was very nice. He lived in Napa and worked with wineries and beer companies. This was an incentive trip he had won which also offered him the chance to go around the country and meet the overseas partners. He was with two other friends, but they were separated during the flight.

I had bought lots of snacks and figured out ways to entertain myself. I hardly used any of it. After lift off Pitch Perfect 2 started playing, and so I plugged in my headphones and enjoyed it, since I had been meaning to see it. They served food later on too, which was questionable.

Note the fact that it is called "cheese food" not cheese.

Awhile after the not bad but definitely not good snack, I had dinner. Although I told myself I would not eat a plane meal, I figured it couldn't be that bad and would try it.

Pasta, bread and salad

 The pasta was very sticky and had some off flavorings (but I know this is all microwaved crap and probably shouldn't have done it), plus it spilled on my white shirt (I have a curse). The bread was surprisingly okay with the butter, but the salad had too much weirdness going on for my liking.

Vanilla ice cream and a mini water

But at least there was desert! Can't mess up ice cream. And when the refreshments came around, I made sure to stay hydrated, even if it meant using the plane bathrooms (and trying not to think about how gross they are too much).

After that it was bed time. They died the lights and suggested we sleep so as to help ease ourselves into the other timezone and minimize jet lag. The neck pillow I brought was too thick for the already forward shooting headrests. It worked better when used by the little corner with the plane supplied pillow supporting my back.

I listened to some strange music that was a mix of opera, what sounded like musical or movie instrumentals, and generally odd instrumental music as provided by one of the airplane radio stations.

I didn't sleep much and slept the most without my expensive neck pillow. Still, my seat wasn't reclined and every time I tried to stretch my leg out in the aisle, someone bumped into it. I was jealous of both my row mate who had sleeping pills and the guy in the aisle next to me. There were two seats empty next to him, and so he was able to put up all the arm rests and sleep with his head on his mom's lap the whole time (he was about the same age as me, for reference).

I gave up sleeping and perhaps gone an hour of rest. A rerun of The Big Bang Theory was on and I watched that while also coloring in a coloring book I brought (good for stress relief is what studies are now showing, plus a good and easy time killer). After, Tomorrowland was on and I watched most of that.

I skipped breakfast (microwave omlette or pancake anyone?) and wasn't hungry anyways. 90 minutes later I was in London.

View from the plane

Customs went quickly (although it could have gone faster if I went into the designated study abroad student line that I did not know existed) and by the time I got out with my stamp, my luggage was already waiting for me! I had a long traverse to gate 3 where Swansea University representatives were waiting, but just kept following the signs. I made it on the first bus the school shuttled out and soon was riding through London!

And the Welsh names on everything begins!

 
Which...looked almost exactly like any highway in the US. It was greener (CA drought gives us issues) and the signs were giant and blue instead of green with smaller text, but mostly all the same.

Since there were multiple lanes, I didn't even have the weirdness of people driving on the wrong side of the road. What was strange is that their was a tiny toilet on the bus. The first guy didn't know how to turn on the light and was forced to go in the dark.

The bus ride was about 3 and a half hours, which was long after just getting off the 9 hour flight.

They said this was good weather.

Then the sun came out and it really was good weather.

There was also a toll booth that we had to sit out for awhile. Unlike SF, they don't use FastTrack.

Long yellow license plates instead of small and white.

Once we hit South Wales, things started getting a lot prettier. Instead of getting excited about the occasional old brick house, there were loads of them.

The green pastures were more common. Sheep grazed as well as bunches of cows. Eventually, we even got to see some of the bay. I didn't get any pictures of that unfortunately since I was sitting on the wrong side to get a good shot. But a girl from Malaysia that I talked to during the whole trip got some good ones.

I took a quick nap despite the beauty (I was very tired and it was only like 20 minutes) and when I woke up we were almost to the school. Wales is lovely, but I was really sick of traveling by this point. We got off the bus, grabbed our bags, collected our keys, and were off to the dorms.

Everyone during the process was very nice. Multiple people offered to help me with my bags. I only accepted once with going up a little flight of stairs after getting my keys. I don't think the guy who helped me realized my bag was almost 23 kg (47 pounds to you and I) and did struggle some.

Once I was in my room a girl from Cyprus offered to have her family help me settle in as well. But seeing as they took a plane in with her just to help her move in, I could not accept. Besides, I wanted to learn self-reliance. Yeah, it was hard watching all the Freshers have their parents help them move in (even the girl from Canada had her mom there), and reflecting on my Freshman and Sophomore year when I had that as well, but I knew that this was part of studying abroad. Hard travel (with some lovely views) and ultimately learning to rely on yourself rather than on others. At least I didn't have that much stuff with me to unpack.

The journey was long, but I know it will be well worth it. Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans study abroad, which means I a having an experience not everyone is lucky enough to have. Additionally, I will be doing it for an entire year. Now the thought is daunting now, but I know that in nine months I will be upset about heading back to the states.