I'm finally here!

I left Lexington (reluctantly, goodbyes are not good for me) at 5:00 PM Eastern time yesterday. My first stop was the Chicago-O'Hare International Airport. I was supposed to have a layover of 4 and a half hours, but because the plane I was supposed to fly on was canceled due to mechanical problems (that's always fun to hear) I got to switch to one with only 3 hour layover instead.

Besides the fact that I was wedged between two gentlemen who didn't understand personal space, the flight to London wasn't too bad. It's been twelve years since I took an international flight and the changes were wonderful. I had my own personal television in the headrest in front of me which had episodes of The Office on one of the channels. How perfect is that? The food was a lot better than I recall too. Unfortunately I am not nearly as skilled at sleeping on planes as I used to (but I am partially attributing that to nerves) and only got about three hours of sleep.

By the time the plane landed I was so nervous I felt like I could have been sick. However, it was all unwarranted and everything went off without a hitch. My passport and visa were fine and the only additional evidence I needed to be let in the country was a letter from UCL that I was glad to have thought ahead to put in my carry-on.

The real fun started at the baggage claim. The luggage trolleys were just a little too small for my SIX pieces of luggage. You should have seen the looks I received as I had four pieces stacked on the cart that I was pushing with one hand, my pillow propped on the handlebars in front of me, a duffel bag across my back, my laptop backpack on, and another piece of rolling luggage trailing behind me in my other hand. I managed to gimp along to customs though, where they didn't even want to go through my things, which I had no problem with, and then made it outside. It was a splendiferous 57 degrees and overcast.

I had originally planned on taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington and then walking to my hall, but with six pieces of luggage I scrapped that idea and queued up for a big black cab. The taxi driver was so incredibly nice and loaded every piece into the cab for me, teasing me the entire time and wanting to know why I had left my kitchen sink at home.

It took half an hour to get to my hall and, before tip, my cab fare was a whopping 55 pounds (about $110). The cab driver had to park a bit away from the entrance to my building so he carried all of my luggage into the lobby for me too before he left.

Remember how I was excited that I didn't have to wait as long for my layover in Chicago? Well I ended up paying for it. My room wasn't finished so I had to wait in the hall lobby for over an hour to move in. It was a good opportunity to people watch. Of everyone I saw, only one other was an American. I couldn't identify half of the languages I heard everyone else speaking. It was kind of surreal.

I finally moved into my room at about 1:00 PM London time and spent most of my day unpacking. At about 6:00 I got ravenous and decided to go hunting for take away before it got dark (our hall cafeteria won't be opening until the 20th). I quickly discovered the only draw back to where I live - it's so residential and uppity that there isn't a whole lot of quick food. I walked around for half an hour and kept seeing all these really nice hotels and restaurants but couldn't find anything quick I could take home. Eventually I had a brain wave and went over to Paddington Station, figuring that with the amount of tourists through there there would have to be food. I found all sorts of stuff- Indian, little sandwich shops, Middle Eastern, even a McDonald's and a Burger King. I grabbed myself a shawarma meal, I can't tell you how excited I am that I can get one of those so close by. Worth note- Coca Cola tastes different over here, and I had forgotten that their ketchup was different, it's almost pink.

Anyway, that's been my first day here. I'm planning on doing a little exploring tomorrow and I'll take some pictures if I'm not scared of looking like a silly tourist!