January 22, 2016
We landed at Heathrow airport around 11:00 AM. I was incredibly excited and equally exhausted. I had managed to snooze for an hour or two on the plane, but it wasn't nearly enough. After retrieving our luggage and going through customs, we met out professors near the exit of the airport. We took a coach to the guest house that would be our home for the next three months. After about forty minutes, we arrived. The guest house was a series of connected row houses. The exterior was coffee-colored stone with creamy white trim. We were handed rook keys as we entered, laden with bags and luggage. My room was 104. It was a small room, with a bed, sink, small desk and minuscule wardrobe, but it was nice. The radiator was situated in a black faux-marble fireplace with a wide mantle. It made for nice touch. After about an hour of unpacking and fighting the urge to lay down in bed, the professors took us out to buy some lunch and show is around. Our group ended up in a Tesco Metro about fifteen minutes walk from the HC. It's incredible how a few small changes can make you feel like a clueless kid again. Before I left, everyone told me, they speak English there, you'll be fine. They do indeed speak English. But with the accent, different words, and strange phraseology, they may as well have been speaking a different language. We bumbled around Tesco for a while, trying to decipher pounds and figure out which of these strange foods would make the best lunch. Eventually we made decisions and checked out, then headed back to the HC to eat. I spent the next few hours unpacking my luggage and fitting all my things into the minimal storage spaces available in my room. At six in the evening, we headed down to the dining hall for dinner. We had large bowls of soup and were all quite surprised when an entree and delicious apple desert followed them. The food was good--not nearly as bad as everyone had warned me it would be. After dinner it was finally time for bed. I slept well, exhausted from the long trip and the constant barrage of new.
YOU ARE READING
Mind the Gap: A Memoir
Non-FictionRed buses, old-fashioned taxis, Big Ben, the River Thames--these are the icons of London. But beneath and between the tourist attractions and busy streets of this city lie unlimited wonders just waiting to be discovered. I'm just a student in London...
