Whew! So I finally made it to London. I arrived yesterday morning around 11:30 UK time, 5:30 CST. It's been a whirlwind adventure thus far, and I thought I'd give you all some updates!
First things first, I decided to make a blog to document my experience. Maybe you're reading this on Facebook, or maybe you're reading it on my actual blog that I created, "Tales of a 15th Grade Something," a la Judy Blume. I settled on the name because this will be a place for me to jot down the "tales" of the year; I am a junior in college (which makes me a 15th grader, yikes); and sticking to the original titular "nothing" from Judy Blume's novel seemed to dismiss the amazing things that I'm doing this year. I'm not doing nothing, quite on the contrary. This is bound to be my most eventful year yet, and it's not ending after my experience at Oxford ends! After coming home, I will begin winter term at Knox, which is scheduled as the notorious Repertory Theatre Term, or "Rep Term." This is a full ten weeks of Knox's theatre department behaving like an actual Repertory theatre, producing two shows and fully immersing ourselves into the world of the theatre. I will not be taking any other classes during this term, only focusing on producing the shows and delving into every aspect of a production–- performance, props, dramaturgy, costumes, set build, stage managing, etc. I don't know if I will document this experience, but we'll see how it goes. Then during Spring Break, right before a new term begins, the Knox College Choir (of which I am part of) will be traveling to France for a week to tour the music we work on throughout the year. So yes, I am indeed doing something this year, definitely not nothing. Hence: "Tales of a 15th Grade Something."
Now that I've introduced the blog, I'd like to document my journey here. It's around noon here, but for most of you reading this, it's 6am. Ew.
I left my home at 5pm, arrived at O'Hare right before 6. After checking in and going through security (which was surprisingly easy. In fact, I was yelled at by the TSA agent for starting to take my electronics and liquids out of my bag. Apparently we weren't doing that that day, so...), I arrived at my gate almost two hours early, ready to start my adventure. My anxiety kept telling me that I was in the wrong place, that I wasn't going to be able to get on the plane for whatever reason, that this journey was doomed from the start, but none of that happened. It was a smooth transition onto the plane, minus them paging me to the desk to change my seat, which scared the crap out of me and resulted in an anxiety stomach-ache for the entire flight. The plane ride was easy, and the time went by really quickly. I had an overnight flight, providing opportunity to sleep (which, of course, I barely did). After arriving to Heathrow, I was able to move throughout the airport with no hiccups. Though, I did get through customs suspiciously easily. I entered the "no claims" entrance of customs and simply walked down a long hallway until I came out the other side to an airport cafe, where the driver that I booked was waiting for me. I thought that I'd have to go through a lot of hullaballoo to get through customs (a negative test result, my student visitor letter, my Passenger Locator Form, proof that I'm returning to the US, etc.), and when I didn't, I was convinced I'd entered the country illegally. But we're all good! No one even stamped my passport.
I am staying at place called The Stay Club in Kentish Town, London. I'll include some pictures of my room at the bottom of the post. It's a small room that I'm living alone in, with everything I could possibly need. I have a bed, which is quite hard but still comfortable, though the comforter is thick as wool and it's hot as hell outside. The UK doesn't have air conditioning, so being inside can be unbearably hot at times. I have a tiny little bathroom; a nice desk area; and even a kitchenette, complete with a hob (stove), a sink, pots and pans, a fridge/freezer, a microwave, and some kitchen utensils. As much as I'd love to eat out every night, it'd be healthier and more cost-effective to cook for myself most nights. So, if you have any single-serving meal ideas or recipes, please let me know! I enjoy cooking but I am not used to having to cook for myself nearly every night.
Yesterday mainly consisted of getting myself settled in. I met up with one of the staff members running my program, who took myself and the other Oxford students (there are six of us) on a tour of Kentish Town's High Street, where we found restaurants, grocery stores, boutiques, pharmacies, etc. They gave us a quick explanation of how public transport here works, which I am still unclear of. I will just have to figure it out, I guess. Learning is best by doing, right? Anyway, after the tour, the staff left the six of us on our own, so we ventured out together to get dinner and do some shopping. We got a British classic: fish and chips. I was pleasantly surprised, considering I'm not a fan of most fish. I wasn't overly impressed, though. Maybe it was the jet lag, we'll see. The six of us hit it off immediately, created a group chat, and now I have five built-in Oxford friends! Yay! We went shopping at a store called "Poundstretcher," which is basically a UK dollar store. After coming back to the Stay Club, I unpacked, watched a few episodes of Glee, and went to bed. I slept like a baby, considering the jet lag and also how little and poorly I slept on the plane. I was running on like an hour of sleep!
Today, I have orientation meetings about health, extracurriculars, and academics. At 4, we're going to something called the "Flight Club" in Victoria, London, to meet other students and play darts. I think I will be venturing into central London a bit to grab a SIM card from one of the staff of my program. Other than that, there's not much to report! I'm still exhausted, and it doesn't even feel like I'm here, but I'm surprisingly calm and adjusting just fine. I'll be in London taking a class on British identity in film for three weeks, then I get on a train to Oxford to start my term there. It's a lot, but I'll keep you all updated, probably weekly, about what's going on. If you're reading this on Facebook, I'll let you know my UK number once I receive my SIM card. Until then, feel free to text me on my current number if you have it, or message me on Facebook. Bye!