Arrival in London

This is my first official post from London! I landed at Heathrow Airport around 9:30AM yesterday morning (that is around 4:30AM Eastern Time). As I had previous suspected, nervousness and anxiety creeped up on me while sitting at Logan waiting for my flight. I felt that ever-familiar twinge of sadness and recognition of the fact that once I landed at my destination, I wouldn't be seeing my family and friends for two months. I think those feelings of nervousness were just as much provoked by the fact that I had to wait at the airport alone for two hours as they were because of the fact that I would be arriving in a foreign country.

However, once I arrived at Heathrow, my worries shifted from missing my family and friends to navigating the overwhelming airport. Luckily, it was easier than I had anticipated thanks to some strategically placed signs and just following the crowd. I made it through what seemed to be a maze of hallways and escalators until I finally lugged my suitcase off of the conveyor belt and set off in search of whatever transportation would bring me to the Nido Student Housing, where I am currently staying.

To be honest, I packed lightly, and yet, my suitcase (all 40 something pounds worth) felt that much heavier thanks to jet lag, wearing a backpack and carrying my purse. By the time I found the exit, I was exhausted and in no mood to navigate by myself via train. Though much more expensive than the train, I found myself a black cab and asked them to bring me to the Nido.

I was thankful for the silence of the cab driver and distracted by being on the highway...on the opposite side of what I am used to in the States. We drove past Oxford Street, where there's a bunch of high-end shopping, but we didn't go past any of the hot-ticket sites. At that point, I really just wanted to get into my room, unpack and relax.

I got into my room in the afternoon and began the unpacking process, which was surprisingly relatively quick. As you know from my previous post, I tried my best to pack lightly -- and I really did. Some of the other students (even some of the guys) brought two suitcases in addition to their carry-ons. Now, I'm not sure whether or not they were smarter about packing or if they brought a lot of stuff I didn't need, but it made me re-evaluate the things that I brought with me. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if I brought enough, or if I'll be making a few shopping excursions  for those items.

I didn't really know what to expect upon getting to my room, but I'm sure you're at least mildly curious to see where I'll be staying until August. Below are some pictures of my room.

This is what you'd see upon entering my room. There are two twin beds, two desks, two wardrobes and a bathroom. It's a bit tight, but when you're working all day, and exploring all night, I don't think space will necessarily be a priority.

This is the view from my room. Some gravel and buildings. I'm not sure if the buildings are any sort of landmarks (pretty sure they're not) but Kings Cross and Saint Pancras International are just around the corner. If my room was located somewhere else, I might be able to see them -- they're both train stations.

This is another lovely room shot. That's my roommate's desk and chair. You can't really see it, but her desk has two shelves for some of the kitchen supplies like bowls, utensils, cups, etc.

My wardrobe here is the complete opposite of what I have at home: narrow with minimal clothing and shoes. It might look semi-full here, but I can assure you, those shelves are deep and I haven't even hung anything up yet (due to the lack of hangers of course...but that is another story.) Quite the departure from life at home.

This is not the entire bathroom, but I figured I didn't need to take a picture of the whole thing because next to the sink, on the left, is a tiny shower, and it really is just a white rectangle. It is not really much to photograph, and it's not much to actually shower in either. I'm lucky if I can even shave my legs considering the amount of maneuvering I need to do in such a narrow space. However, I can assure you that I will not skimp on showers just because of its smallness. Cleanliness is not a quality I left behind in the States.

Just a disclaimer: this is messy for me. I do not like to leave my bed looking like this! However, with that said, all that my bedding consisted of when I got the little package was a pillow (or really not a pillow at all, considering how flat it is...) pillow case, fitted sheet, duvet and duvet cover. Nope, not even a sheet. Granted, the room is warm and I probably don't really even need much of a blanket, but it still would be nice to have a proper set of bedding. I do have to say though, when you're in a sleep coma due to jet lag, you don't even notice that you're on a bed let alone that you don't have a sheet.

Obviously, this is not a picture of my room, but I thought it'd be cute to show the little Nido Student Living packet I got upon arrival and my neat little access card. Also, you'll notice my cell phone -- the kind I used to use when I was in high school before Blackberrys and iPhones were the norm. It's an international cell phone that is --gasp-- Pay as You Go, which no one ever uses in the States but is apparently great for travelling around Europe and even better when you're only going to be in London for two months. Also, that cute little blue card is my Oyster card. For those of us who have navigated around Boston, the Oyster card is pretty comprable to a Charlie card -- same concept.

Alright so I realize that this is a very long post and I apologize for that (sort of). I'll probably write another post later with everything that I did last night and today, although I mostly did a lot of sleeping and a lot of wandering. Nevertheless, I'll share that next time so that you can be all rested before what could probably be another marathon of a post.

If you have any questions about what else I've been up or comments about anything in general, just comment after any of my posts and I'll make sure to answer!