The plane was very full, but before I left DTW, the kind Delta people offered to move me from my center-center seat to an aisle seat. I happily agreed. Then, as I was just about to take said aisle seat, the guy at the window seat asked if I would mind trading with his wife so they could sit together. His wife had the dreaded center seat, so I recovered the o'-so-glorious privilege of sitting between two strangers who would not appreciate my 1. leaning on them to sleep or 2. waking them up to ask them to get up so I can walk down the aisle. It was not a comfy ride, to say the least.
I made it safely to London at precisely 7:20am yesterday morning, but the hard part hadn't begun yet. Heathrow is a devil of an airport for a young woman with 2 huge suitcases, a carry-on, and a backpack that weighs more than her. The trolleys for luggage are free, so I was happy - until I learned that one cannot take one's trolley on the train to the main terminal. How cruel. But wait, there aren't trolleys in sight when one gets off the train at the right terminal! At that point, I was already sweaty from the exertion of carting all these bags. Only a few huge ramps (going upwards, of course) and the busy central airport area to traverse until the end was in sight. I did easily find the QM group waiting for the shuttle, only to learn that I may or may not make it on the 9am shuttle and may or may not have to wait for the 10:30 one. Well, you obviously know already which shuttle I got on (10:30), but I did have a nice chat with a fellow American coming to QM in the meantime.
After arriving on campus around 12 and collecting my room key, I unpacked, enrolled, and bought some dishes (used plates, silverware, and a pot for 4 GBP. Not bad. I then hopped a shuttle from QM with a few of the Americans I met and headed to Sainsbury's for some groceries. Sainsbury's reminds me of our not-so-beloved Walmart - it has everything for what you think is a good, cheap price, but that could be not true. Anyways, I had bread and fruit and orange juice and cereal, and that's all that really mattered. I also had to buy a new hairdryer seeing as I almost started mine on fire after my post-airplane shower.
My flat is pretty nice, about the same size as my "sleeping closet" at Ashland's Andrews Hall, and I have a bed and bath all to myself. Pictures to follow. I've met all of my flatmates, I believe, which include an American turned Londoner, a Prague-ian (yes, I made that up), and students from England and Wales. Our ages range from 18 to late 20's, so it's quite a mix. Most are starting their first year at QM, even if they're my age or older. I've learned that the British have a much different approach to going to college - it's more of a "when you are ready" idea, instead of a "you've graduated from high school, now you go to college" outlook.
Last night there were some events for the Fresher's Week program, but I, having been up for over 30 hours (honestly, I cannot sleep on a plane to save my life), couldn't bring myself to stay up.
This morning, I did yoga (it felt wonderful to stretch) and had a bite to eat before setting out to turn in forms, get a gym membership, buy a three-pronged adapter plug for my laptop, and fetch a few more items from the grocery store (Budgens this time - much smaller, but quiet and a little cheaper I think). Orientation sessions start tomorrow, classes on Wednesday (I believe - still haven't quite worked that out...).
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