What’s 8 months? Well not much except for the fact that my favorite boutique shoe store is no longer on St. Christopher’s Street. Not a huge loss, considering I never dare walk into the store knowing that the result of that act would be a workout for my debit card. The window displays were always lovely. I finally arrived to London last night very late. The flight was long, to say the least and with no more battery life left on any of my entertainment I was left to only start freaking out that I just move to London…again! All I could think in my 34 minute decent into London Heathrow was “Sarah what were you thinking! Sarah what were you thinking! This is crazy! Oh my gosh, I am going to London, what am I doing!…”. That feeling unfortunately went throughout the night, but I did get some sleep thankfully. I woke up this morning and just said to my self “Sarah just take it one day at a time…first shower, then lunch”. After I checked out of my hotel I walked around to find something to eat. Its strange that really nothing had changed and I just walked the center streets of London with confidence. The experience was a little dream-like, everywhere I looked there was a memory of last year. The corner I stood at when I met all of my classmates for the first time, the pub that we all went to after class, and a friend’s old apartment building. I feel as though I have never left, but then again just enough is different to where things don’t feel quite as they did.
I waved for a taxi and went to my flat. I rang the front bell and waited…nothing…I rang the bell and waited…nothing…looked around…rang the front bell and waited…nothing. I had my suitcases and bags; everyone was looking at me as they walked past. I called the number on the front of the door and finally got a hold of someone to let me in after waiting outside the door for 20 min. It gets better, there is no elevator, and so I schlep all of my suitcases 3 flights of stairs and finally get to my flat. To my surprise it’s really nice. I have not met my roommate yet, but she is from Brazil and another from Japan. Why do I get the feeling that I am in for a cultural experience?! Shockingly my room actually has two huge windows, so it gets good light. Light is something I have learned is a rare treasure in this city. I have a kitchen, living area, and a nice big bathroom…with a shower this time! After unpacking, I went across the street to grab a sandwich and much to my surprise I also found these little mango cups with a wedge of lime. Of course I snatched one of the few left on the shelf to try. Crazy as it is, I never thought to squeeze lime on mango, but let me tell you it is a ‘hello, good morning moment’ and the epitome of sweet and sour.
As for my homesick feeling, it is getting much better now that I am unpacked and a little more settled. I guess I forgot how this whole moving away thing works, even if it is a place I know well. I realized that I left a bag of my cooking utensils at my house, so I need to go buy those tomorrow before class starts Monday. I cant wait for reception to open up on Monday, so I can get my internet password…for now I am just using my phone whenever I can get wifi.
On the agenda for tonight is meeting up with old friends at the Royal Opera House for a ballet and dinner to follow. I cant believe it has been 8 months since I saw them last!
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The Beatrix Potter ballet was wonderful. How could dancing bunnies, frogs, and pigs, not make a person happy…or at least laugh a little. After the ballet we went to an Italian restaurant, delicious as always and just as I remembered it. Around midnight I decided to turn in, because jet lag was hitting me. I am very lucky that my flat is on one of the most central streets in London; however, I now know that on Saturday nights the drunks like to come out and mingle directly under my window. There is also a religious ‘band’ that walks up and down the main street during all hours of the day singing in a language that I don’t understand. I saw them today when I was on my way to the store and almost wanted to stop them and let them know that A. at night people like to sleep in quite B. singing the songs in English would probably benefit their cause seeing as they are in England C. excessive drum playing at 2am will no longer be tolerated by a certain American student. Even though I had the perfect argument I refrained from making more of a scene.
Nothing too much going on today, just getting ready for class tomorrow morning and going to the grocery store. Once I saw the size of the kitchen in my new flat (that I am sharing with 4 other people by the way) I instantly called my friend Kelsey and told her that I would be at her flat cooking quite often. We have two mini fridges between all 5 of us and the oven is so small! No joke the opening is the size of my computer screen…ok it’s a little bigger than that, but you can imagine how difficult it will be to fit a cake pan inside of that thing. My roommate and I had a good laugh about that one. She joked that I would have to make my cupcakes individually because the oven is so small! My roommate and I tried to figure out the washing machine today with the help of our other roommate from France, who is learning to speak English. The fact that I am trying to speak my VERY limited French in England is one of the many quirks of my living situation and a sign of many adventures to come. Well that’s student housing for you I guess.
I am very anxious to meet all of my new classmates. I can only pray that they will be as awesome as my last group. Now I am off to Kelsey’s for dinner…why do I get a sneaking suspicion that I will be the one doing the cooking?
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