You've left me here alone, I'll walk the streets of London

I did not do well with the word of the day, but I think that while I'm in London I will have enough to write about to sufficiently fill a blog entry. So, that will be on hiatus until my return in December.

In lieu of the word of the day, let's talk about transatlantic trips! On Thursday I had tea with Amy (which was lovely) and as I was biking home from her house and over the Stone Arch Bridge, looking at downtown and feeling more Minneapolis Love than I've ever felt, I realized how much I'm truly going to miss home. Minneapolis is a beautiful, wonderful, amazing place and it's been my home for twenty years. This Summer I've grown to appreciate it more than ever before and it was tough to leave. BUT it will still be there when I get back in all its mid-December glory. Everything and everyone where its supposed to be when I get back and that's a comforting thought. And three months is really not much time at all, I can barely believe how fast June turned into September. By the time it comes I'm certain I'll be sad that the experience is coming to an end.

Thursday faded into Friday, as it has a way of doing, and I was ready to go...and then I wasn't...and then I was again and I fluctuated the whole day. Until it was finally time to go to the airport and it wasn't a matter of being ready or not, I was going. The idea of actually leaving, actually studying here in London has just been such a nebulous concept for 10 months that even on Friday it felt like it couldn't really, finally be happening.

The plane ride itself was one of the best I've had. I had a nice and interesting seat mate who didn't take up too much space and gave me helpful hints about England as she's a law student at Cambridge. Also, thank God for Benadryl. I took two and actually slept for a good five hours, so when I got to Heathrow I wasn't completely and utterly exhausted.

Speaking of Heathrow, I feel like people make such a fuss about it, but it just seems big to me. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Fortunately I managed to navigate its size with my two suitcases and make it to another terminal to meet the Queen Mary group and catch the shuttle.

The ride from Heathrow to the University was exciting. We drove through a large portion of London, so I've seen The London Eye, The Thames, Parliament, and Big Ben. I'll actually go and visit them soon and be that tourist with the obnoxious camera. It has to be done. Conveniently, the bus parked right outside my hall. I picked up my key from the front desk, went to my room, which is on the first floor, right inside the door, and took a deep breath. Waiting for me in my room was the box of 'essentials' (pots, pans, plates, silverware, bedding, etc.) that I had pre-ordered and was worried might not arrive until Monday. That was a relief.

After getting most of my things put away, I realized (or at least I thought) that of the six rooms in my flat, I was the only one there. So, I decided to take a walk around campus to see what was going on. I managed to get a bit lost for a decent amount of time, but didn't really meet anyone and when I came back to the flat it seemed that I was still the only one there. At that point I started to have a little bit of a moment. I felt so disconnected from everything and everyone. There was no one in the flat, my internet wasn't working and I don't have my London phone yet, so I couldn't talk with anyone, it was dark and I wasn't tired. But, I wrote in my journal and reflected on how amazing this experience is going to be and that I can really deal with one rubbish night.

And when I woke up this morning, well rested with the sun streaming through the curtain, I realized just how okay everything is going to be. I walked into the kitchen and two of my flatmates, Benn and Jess, were eating breakfast. I was so excited that they actually existed. We made introductions and expressed our mutual excitement that we were meeting. We went grocery shopping and went in together on a number of things which is nice and probably much cheaper than doing it individually AND I am not the only vegetarian! Which is also rather exciting.

I am officially enroled as a Queen Mary University student as of this morning, I even have an id card with a silly picture. I don't know if there's much that could make me more official than that. I also made two trips to the library to sort out my internet connection difficulties, because nothing can ever just work on the first try. This evening three of my flatmates and I decide to meet the other flats of Varey House and ended up hanging out with a group two floors above for a few hours, we got on quite well. Now that I've actually met people, realized how great my flatmates are, gotten a few things accomplished, and seen that some days are completely sunny in England, I feel loads better.

I also found out today that classes don't actually start until next Monday, and that's Tuesday for me because I don't have a Monday class. Hopefully I'll be able to get a bit of sightseeing in this week.

Chances are if you're reading this, I miss you already. But, we will see each other again soon and it will be all the sweeter for the time apart.