I'm here!

So, I'm finally here in London! It's really exciting and I'm having a fun time. Let's see, I guess I'll start by talking about the flights here.

The flight from St. Louis to Chicago was fine and there were no problems, but the same cannot be said about the flight from Chicago to London. First off, I had a backpack and my carry-on suitcase and when I went to the Air India place to get my boarding pass, they told me I could only have ONE carry-on (that includes purses, backpacks, etc.). So, I had a fun time shoving all the stuff from my backpack into my suitcase, but I did it and nothing broke (that I know of).

So, once I traveled to my terminal by shuttle, went through security and finally arrived at the gate, I realized that there was not really any food there without going out of security and coming back in, so I decided to wait for whatever we had on the plane.

We started boarding around 8:15 for our 8:50 flight, and I was in the second or third row from the back with a bunch of other students from the program. The plane's AC wasn't working, so it was BURNING up on there. Usually planes are so cold, but we were so hot. THEN, the pilot comes on and says that they're trying to fix some minor problems, so we were delayed for a little while longer. After he said this, about 20 minutes later all the lights went out, there was some random things dinging (the interval was a m3 if anyone cares to know...I'm such a music major), the lights came on, went off, people were getting freaked out (not me), but ultimately everything was fixed and we took off about 9:50.

The flight was decent. The plane's pretty old and very economic (little leg room, few TV screens, old movies, etc.), but it got me here, so I should be thankful (especially because the AC came on once we got up in the air). They served us dinner around 11 or 12 (Central time) and it was actually pretty good. There was an Indian dessert (the plane is staffed with Indians and everything is in Hindi, THEN English...there's a change!) and it was really tasty once I gave it a chance. I slept on the plane a little bit and woke up a few times to some crazy turbulence (it was QUITE bumpy!), but thank goodness I slept so that I had some energy for Saturday!

We arrived safely around 10:45 and were already running behind schedule with the program that we're with. So, when we got to the flats, we didn't have as much time to get settled in/clean up, but it was enough to drag my suitcases up to the second (and a half?) floor. The flat is cute, but fairly small (as is expected). We have a kitchenette with a mini-fridge, stove/oven, sink, and microwave, a TINY bathroom (enough room to stand in front of the sink and that's it), a loft for two people to sleep in, and then a little bedroom where I'm staying with my roommate, Wendy. I'll add pictures later, once I get a chance to take them.

Yesterday after we took our suitcases upstairs, we went to the college for lunch (fish and chips) and a few orientation meetings, and then we got a chance to move in to the flats and clean up (showering felt SO nice!). Around 6, everyone met up and we got to walk around the neighborhood and I got to meet a lot of new people. At first I was worried about finding people that I would get along with (some of these girls should NOT be here..."once you get past the blisters, heels really don't hurt that much"...are you serious?!), but I met some people that I get along with and seem to be fun.

Well, I think that's all I have for now. I'll try to update soon, but first I want to get my wireless internet to work (it says that it can't find the connection, but that's a lie!). Time for another fun day in London!