A Day of Firsts!

The last 36 hours or so have been so hectic I didn't have a chance to get this blog started up. So for my first post, I decided to compose a post of my firsts, and of course a recount of my arrival and my first day in London!

Getting There:
Luckily for me, other than some miscommunications with the United Airlines staff at O'Hare Airport, departure from Chicago went pretty smoothly. The Flight was alright, economy was packed to the brim with people and with that...germs, yuck. I'll be very upset if the girl behind me coughing up a lung got me sick too. Thank goodness for my Bath and Body Works "Panda Pear" hand sanitizer to appease my germo-phobia for the time being. I ate some lasagna style pasta which was...airplane food, isn't there a joke about how bad it is? Well, I now understand why. I had my own personal TV and I watched "21 Jump Street" which caused me to laugh out loud and in turn warranted some stares from the people sitting around me. The TV also had a "map" option where you could track exactly where the flight was, it was interesting to see especially as we got closer and closer to the UK.

Upon arrival at London Heathrow airport I stood in line at customs for what felt like an eternity only for the customs agent to ask me one question, stamp my passport and send me on my way. I then retrieved my luggage and headed to the underground to catch the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. I then caught a cab outside of the station and headed over to Regent's College to meet up with my group and take a tour of the campus.

The Cabs Here look so funny! I love it!

Being There:

I found my group at Regent's and we took a short tour of the campus and got the chance to sit around and share our travel experiences and I was so fortunate compared to the people in my group with cancelled flights and 13 hour layovers! 

We then travelled to our flats... the first word that comes to mind describe my flat is quaint. It's perfect size for the three people living there for the next 6 weeks, however finding places to put our luggage for the time being before we unpack was quite the struggle.

After getting sort of settled in we headed over to Waitrose to do some light grocery shopping. I picked up some basics, like bread, peanut butter, cheese, milk, bagels, and pasta. 

We then all met up and walked down Edgeware rd. to find a place that served us Fish and Chips (another first to check off the list!) 

Then my flatmate and I headed back to the apartment to watch the Spain Vs. Italy football (soccer) match and drink some Stella Artois (not to be a beer snob but it certainly puts Budweiser to shame!)

After that we both got into bed, we have an early morning of classes the next day, which I'll cover in the next post just to spare your eyes the strain from this long post! 

More Later

-Lauren