I never thought the day would come when I would finally be leaving my family and friends for an entire semester across the big pond, also known as the Atlantic Ocean. It took me, literally, a day and a half to decide what to pack and to get it all in my suitcase and under 50 lbs - 46 actually...yeah!!! My parents, brother and I had a very American meal at Waffle House and then they dropped me off at a shuttle which took me directly to my terminal at the Atlanta airport.
My trip then officially began at check-in when I argued with the British Airways lady who kept telling me she couldn't let me in the country without a visa. Apparently they just changed the law from needing one after 90 days to 6 months and she was unaware. After 15 minutes of phone calls and triple checking, she finally let me through. I then had a wonderful flight which was only about 7.5 hours, then had no trouble finding the train and then finally a cab. I left my house in Aiken at noon the day before and arrived at my new London flat at noon the very next day. The cab driver definitely made my entire trip though! As soon as I had my first conversation with a true Brit I had officially fallen in love with this city! The driver was unbelievably amiable, gave me a tour of the city on the way to my building, and had the funniest and driest humor I've ever experienced. His answer for practically every question I asked began with a perfect and informative answer and was then followed by a joke and then him saying, "ah that's just pure rubbish!" The best welcome to London anyone could get!
Check-in a the IES Residence Hall was a breeze and the entire staff was so friendly! After being handed mounds of schedules, paperwork, etc I headed up to my flat and opened the door to see a very excited and already settled in Kathrine Moore. She'd welcomed me with some extra hangers and an oversized South Carolina flag which we immediately hung on the wall. We got settled in, had some group general meetings, and then hit the town to discover the surroundings and after walking literally all night (~20 miles I swear) to grab necessities at local stores we were in desperate need of a London cocktail.We headed to a local restaurant and Kathrine ordered a margarita (in London haha) and I ordered a flute of some sort of champagne/vodka concoction and my goodness was it gooooood! It was wonderful to be in an actual local cafe/restaurant and chat and enjoy an adult beverage :) Then we got the bill and my I flute was about 9 pounds which is equivalent to $14 - a damn expensive flute concoction haha But that's how the burrough we're located in is - Chelsea. Chelsea is literally the Rodeo Drive of London. It affordable to live in the area our building is located in only to the utmost upper class and you can definitely tell by the shopping and types of people walking around. It's an absolutely beautiful area, but definitely not the norm. The tax driver I first had was telling me about the people in Chelsea by calling them posers. I asked if he meant people who mock others and he said, "No silly, people who love themselves." He then said they call Saturdays in Chelsea, "Poser Saturday," because all of the 'posers' come out shopping. haha
Every single Brit I've met has been unbelievably friendly, helping, and welcoming even in our very upscale burrough of London. Speaking of which I cannot wait for tomorrow for the first day or orientation to learn anything and everything about this city, program, and my very very very very exciting semester ahead!
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