On January 31st, I woke up at around 11 am. I had the most amazing dream about these big, fluffy cakes that just melted in your mouth (Once a Fat Girl, Always a Fat Girl...). I felt calm when I opened my eyes. I just had these few moments of peace and serenity. But then I started to go into my usual freak out before something major happens in my life. I was darting all around my Grandma's house trying to get everything ready. I sort of felt offend when my sisters asked "Why is she acting so weird " DID THEY NOT REALIZE THAT I WAS ABOUT TO CROSS AN OCEAN BY MYSELF AND LIVE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY FOR HALF A YEAR?
What also was funny was my family and how we can't tell time. Dad told me my plane was to leave at 11:05. OK. Cool Beans. But I look at my ticket info and realize that the times are all military times. I checked the time on my ticket and turns out, I actually leave at 9:05. My Dad didn't believe me until I should him this military website on my phone. This caused panic among my sisters. Not because I was leaving sooner then they thought, but that they were not going to be able to shop at the mall or eat at the Medieval Times right next to the airport... I love you both, too.
Then, before I knew it, it was time to say good bye to Grandma and head to this big mall (which I later learned was how my Mother got my sisters to come say good-bye to me in DC... Once again: I love you both, too.) This Mall was huge. It had all sorts of stores and restaurants. We had to pick up a few more things before I Left and then we decide to have my last meal in America in Dave and Busters. That's rights. That game place/ sports bar. I was excited. I haven't to one since my Uncle Matthew's funeral. We walked through the game section and sat in this really nice dinning section. Mom was getting pretty emotional. I was starting to get very nervous. I started to shake a little. This white hotness of nerves came over me and I wanted to just get it over with.
Dinner was yummy. I had ice tea, boneless chicken wings and sweet potato fries. I think we were all enjoying ourselves. Christie left early to go shop while the rest of us went to cheer on Hannah in the game room. Hannah got 1,200 tickets but that still wasn't enough to get her the big-ass teddy bear. ("I want this bear. It's just like Melanie... Only more cuddly.") The mall was closing early because it was New Years Eve but by that point, it was time to head to the airport to say goodbye.
The ride to the airport was scary. I felt my white, hot nerves get even hotter. I couldn't believe I was doing this. It felt like a dream. I texted Jackie and Charlie goodbye. I was going to miss both of them and I felt like I didn't give them both proper goodbyes in person.
Walking into the airport is serious. No time to full around and act stupid. I had a little problem in line checking in. I thought I had lost my passport. My Mom and sisters helped me look through my bag. I was freaking out. But luckily, we found it. Also, I was right on the dot when it came to the weight of my baggage. (CHRISTIE: "Wow! It's only 23 lbs!") My Dad got yelled at by the lady checking my in because he was taking pictures. My crazy family...
And then, we reached customs. They couldn't go any father, although my Mom tried. Mom gave me a hug and started crying; Telling me to not go out at night and look both ways before crossing the street... I was suprised it wasn't worst. Then, Dad hugged me and then my sisters. I waved goodbye and went through customs... twice. Apparently, you are supposed to take your laptop out of your carry-on and but it in a separate in... oops. They guy could of been nicer about it ("Come on, sweetheart! We all wanna get home and have a nice drink!"). I didn't look but I knew my family was laughing at this.
After the second time, I went and sat in the terminal for 2 hours. It wasn't bad at all. I was reading this book about this woman who was a Standby for Elphaba in Wicked. Time seemed to fly and before I knew it, it was time to board. My Dad had booked me in World Traveler Plus. That meant a lot of leg room, personal TV's to watch movies and stuff and a lot more free stuff.
I sat next to the window and was happy to find out that no one was sitting next to me during the flight. When the plane started to move, I felt so nervous. I felt like I had to pee. I looked out my window the whole time. It seemed like forever before we finally made it to the runway. When the plane began to gain speed, I started think a Defying Gravity. This is it!
Up I Go!
The view from my window was amazing. I saw all of these beautiful lights from buildings and cars. I even saw the mall I was just in, The whole view was breath taking and I couldn't take my eyes off it. Goodbye USA, Hello England!
After a half hour of being in the air, the flight attendants came around and gave us drinks and pretzels. I got very cute guy flight attendants who kept on calling me "love" and "hun" in there accents. I read a lot of that Wicked book until the flight attendants came back with our dinners: beef, potatoes, salad and carrot cake. I ate the potatoes and carrot cake. I don't know what people are joking about. That was one of the best carrot cakes I've ever had. They then gave use tea. I got a little to excited about this. I'm drinking tea on my way to London! Of course I saw the Grimm in my tea leaves (Harry Potter joke... But maybe a sign?).
After our trays were taken away, the lights were turn off and I tried to sleep. But I couldn't so I deiced to watch the movies on my personal screen. I first watch The Perks of Being a Wall Flower. It was on my "To See" list for a long time and I was so glad I saw it! Such a great film! In the middle of my viewing, we came across some wind issues. That was scary. We drooped a few times. The seat belt sign was on for the rest of the time, but that didn't stop people from getting up out of their seats to use the bathrooms. I even ha to do this. Since no Flight Staff saw me, I now consider myself a ninja. I sometimes looked out my window and it was so beautiful. It was Peter Pan-Esq.
After the movie (It bugged me they didn't know what the song was on the radio till the end. David Bowie's "Heros"... Come on!), I looked on my screen of how much time we had to London: 2 1/2 hours. I deiced to watch one more movie: Rock of Ages. It's a musical... I like musicals... But it was so bad. What a sorry excuse of a jukebox musical. Mama Mia! had a better storyline, although Tom Crusie looked very hot. I turned it off before the movie was over.
I deiced to turn off Rock of Ages and go to sleep. 5 minutes after I did this, the lights turned on. Wake up! Ugh. The flight attendants then passed out more tea and a Orange/ banana muffin. I looked out my window and saw it was almost dawn. I also saw land. According to my travel log, we were over Ireland. Really? Wow. It was beautiful fro the plane. The horizon, in it's own funny way, looked like a rainbow... Or maybe I just need some good sleep.
We arrived in London at 8:30 am. I was thrilled to get off the plane and actually be in London. I grabbed everything I needed and walked of the plane. It was then, in that moment when it hit me how alone I felt. I was a lone traveler. I knew no one. I was totally independent and on my own, and I was too tired to feel scared. I "followed the heared" (Thanks, Bethany from Potsdam Study Abroad for that tip.) to Immigration. I honestly thought it was going to be simple. But wait... this is me.
I'm beyond exhausted and since I haven't really been on planes a lot, I never knew how bad my Jet Lag was. Well now I do, seem like a mixture of "I'm higher then a MoFu" and "Bat shit cray- cray". I don't think I the guy at immigration understood me. Also, the fact that he had never heard of the school I was going to or didn't have a student visa (Thanks Brockport for telling me abut that... not.), I was detained and had to wait for a few minutes to be questioned even more. I don't know why, but part of my jet leg is being calm in stressful situations. Weird. A few minutes later, a women came and talked to me about how next time I should do this and how she was letting it slide for today. After that, I was allowed to roam England! Yay! I'm too tired to care that I almost got kicked out of the Country! It could of been a lot worst.
I then found m luggage and headed towered the exit. I found the taxi serves. Mom told me to get a taxi so I'm getting a taxi. The woman at the front desk was super helpful. She too, told me, that she has the same kind of Jet Lag as me. That's sort of scary but, OK. I gave her a piece of paper of were I my hotel I was staying at until I got to Roehampton was. She clicked on her keyboard for a few seconds and old me it was going to be 90 Pounds. Well... Mom did want me to take a taxi... I paid her with my card and waited for the taxi driver to come pick me up. The lady at the taxi desk must of told him I was in the worst sort of Jet Lagged so he didn't talk to me the whole ride to the hotel.
I didn't mind. I looked around at the City and fell in love. It was so beautiful. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I felt almost at home, in a weird way. I made this automatic connection to it that I've only made to NYC and Boston. I really am a City Girl.
When we got to the hotel, the taxi driver gave me his card and told me to call him whenever. Nice guy. My hotel was called Brewers Inn. It's in Wandsworth and was a pub and restaurant downstairs but a hotel upstairs. I had this moment of happiness. I was going to go sleep and shower and relax from this long flight and hell at the airport! I pulled on the handle and... it was locked.
No! Not now! This can not be happening. I started to bang on the door. I then went to the other doors and bang on them. I banged on the doors for a good 20 minutes in the cold until the Manager saw me through a window. He let me in and told me that check in was at 2 pm. It was 9:30 am... Oh god.
I wanted to sleep! I wanted to shower! I wanted to get into my sweatpants and watch old British Sitcoms in my bed! I needed to Facebook my Mom! I knew if she didn't hear from me soon, she was going to do something stupid, like try to alert the British Army or J.K. Rowling, or something. Her mind can think these crazy things. But with all this craziness happening to me, I was still in my Slytha Plath Jet Lag mode. I asked him if I could leave my bags there. He said yes.
I went on a walk through the neighbourhood. I realized that none of the shops were open. Happy New Year. But I came across this awesome graveyard just down the street. It had graves from the 1800's and you could hardly read them. I spent a good amount of time there. I then walked for a while and found this beautiful park full of families, dogs and birds. It was so relaxing. I also felt like one of the Natives. I was just walking in jeans, a read coat and a pair of converse just like everyone else. It was nice.
After my little adventure, I went back to the hotel. I was freezing an wanted to get back quickly. I must of looked half-crazed when I walked in because I scared the crap out of a bartender. My room wasn't ready but I could wait in the pub. I sat next to the fire and waited. Listening to all of the accents and how hard it was to understand them. I once had a music professor tell me that English accents are the worst when it comes to articulation. As Henery Higgans would say: "Why can't the British learn to speak?". Finally, I was told my room was ready. I went up a flight of stairs with the manager helping me with my luggage. When I got to my room and he was gone, I almost screamed with joy. Bed! Shower! Joy! I got into my PJ's and tried to get on Facebook so I could tell Mom I was OK, but the Internet was not working! Plus my computer was dying and my adapter was not being kind to me so I could not charge it. I deiced that what I needed most was sleep.
I slept for about 4 hours. And turned on the TV. I woke up and called the front desk about the WiFi. Got on Facebook and found 3 frantic messages from Mom. I told her I was fine and she asked me millions of questions. She told me she wanted to call Scotland yard (See! Her mind goes in different directions...). I told her I had to blog and get my adapter to work (I blew out a socket in my room, but I didn't get hurt!).
After writing this post and really thinking about it, if I have more crazy days like this, I think I'm going to love it here. This really seems like it's going to workout and I can't wait to write more about it in this blog.
Highlight: Changing my "Current Location" on my Facebook from "Potsdam, NY" to "London, Untied Kingdom"... Rock on!
Defy Gravity
Melanie
My Hotel: Brewer Inn
Wow Mel, the adventure has begun.
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie! I loved reading this post--you've got a great writing style! You are so brave and resourceful! I look forward to living vicariously through you as you adventure forth. Have fun and be safe!
ReplyDelete--Shawnee (one of your Mom's friends in Vermont) :)
So proud of you, your living your dream. So many wonferful things await you, during this journey.
ReplyDeleteGlad your settled, safe and warm.
Look both ways before crossing.the streets.
Love you so much and miss you.XOXO