I've Arrived

So I'm here.

This reminds me of a strange version of going off to Uni and going to Australia. I've gotten to my apartment (which is extremely secure feeling, so that's good) and managed to find a place to buy a pillow and a towel (no blanket yet.) I'm hoping to make it to TKMaxx (the UK's TJMaxx) and find something there "on offer"

The plane journey itself was exhausting. I woke up about 6:30 EST. Flight out at 11ish. Got to JFK... cue minor moment of panic.

My bags were supposed to transfer but I wanted to absolutely make sure that was the case. I figured I'd connect through the terminal and that would be that. But nope! I was unaware that JFK made it so difficult to transfer terminals. I didn't even know where to go or how to get there. Eventually though I made it! Unfortunately, when I tried to go ask about whether or not my bags were transferring no one from my airline had yet arrived. So that was stressful. Eventually though (after much of me sitting on the floor stressing) they did show up and everything was fine and then I went through security for the second time that day. Hurrah!

I dragged my tired butt around the terminal searching for food. Most of the stores were being renovated, so that was on the frustrating side, and my backpack probably weighed a good thirty pounds. Did I mention that at this point all I'd eaten were a couple of dried apple rings and a tiny bag of Doritos? Because that was a thing. Finally settled on the crowing glory of airport terminal food - a burger and large fry from McDonald's - and made my way to the gate.

While sitting there and browsing my facebook the way any normal person with a smart phone does in an airport, I got a message from my aunt and uncle that they'd be flying out of JFK internationally that day too, and would our paths maybe cross? Happily I got to spend an hour or so catching up with them before they left to wait at their gate for their flight to Turkey (!) and I returned to my own gate. It was amazingly lovely to see them, especially considering my own emotional turmoil at the time. Hugs from people I care about were exactly what I needed.

Eventually we boarded the plane for the most exhausting 6.5 hour flight I've ever been on. Normally I have no problem sleeping on planes but for some reason the window was farther away than normal so my lean-head-against-side-of-plane-and-sleep method was less than successful. Plus I wanted to eat the food (chicken tikka!) In total I got somewhere around 2 hours of intermittent sleep and saw Monsters U (eh,) part of Identity Thief (decent,) Silver Lining's Playbook (erm, slept through large chunks of that,) and... I can't remember, but I think there was another one.

Landed at Heathrow went through Immigration, got a card that I have to mail in because I didn't know the one thing, grabbed my bag, went through customs and then set off to figure out which mode of transport I wanted to used to get to my place - I could either take the express train to the Tube or two different Tube lines.

As the price differential was about 15 quid, which is around $22, I went for the cheaper version. It was fairly easy and reminded me of riding in Philly - some stations were underground, but most were actually outdoors which I quite appreciated. I arrived at my housing a bit early but they were happy to check me in.

The room is bigger than mine in St. Mary's sophomore year and has pretty much everything I could need. Whoever lived here before me wasn't the cleanest, so I have some kitchen cleaning I want to do, but otherwise I'm very happy with the condition. And I've had no trouble at all with the internet so far, which has been great.

I wandered to the nearby shopping center to pick up a few necessities (notably a pillow and towel) and to see if I could find anywhere that was hiring (Disney Store is certainly a possibility) but halfway through my legs and arms started screaming in protest and I had increasing difficulty keeping my eyes open, so more trips there will definitely be on my to-do list. For one thing, I need to try Nando's and Wagamama's!!!

I came back to my room and my resolution to stay up as long as possibly failed. A six hour nap caught me by surprise!

I should be posting a vlog soon, so look forward to that :) Tomorrow my first adventure on campus awaits!

This Came Before

So a full year abroad to get my master's degree seemed to warrant its own blog. That could just be my way of thinking about things but I hope to have a lot of things to make this year count.

Coming up with a name was hard and at first I wanted to focus on the whole "I'm in London, I want to make it count" thing, but in no way does that make a good url so I simplified. Imperial to describe place and year to describe time.

I've called this post "This Came Before" with the idea that when I return home from London I'll do a "This Came After" post to summarize what my year was like, how it changed me, where my experiences have gotten me, and to see what I thought the experience would do for me starting out.

I do also want to mention that I have every intention of doing a concurrent vlog on my youtube.com/kittenpaws33 channel. Vlogs having to do with London or this year or travel in general will get the "imperialyear" hashtag, while any random music/makeup/fashion videos won't. I haven't decided where I'll put in the inevitable sciencey things. I'll figure it out eventually.


This Came Before

Setting out for London for me is an incredibly scary/exciting/nerve-wracking/sad prospect. I'm leaving behind someone I really care about, more than I ever have someone before, so that in itself is a scary and sad prospect. I've grown up a lot in the last 5 years and this relationship means far more to me than its predecessors but I do have a tendency to lose and/or decrease contact with friends and the like when I move away from them.

Also going in the scary/nerve-wracking column is that I have never been to the UK, let alone London, before nor have I lived in a city proper. I am in general an anxious person, particularly in large crowds, so a large city is rather intimidating. I'll need to learn the tube, get my student Oyster Card, set up a bank account, get a phone plan... My 9 weeks in Australia have helped prepare me for this, but I'm still freaking out a bit. Not gonna lie.

In the exciting column is the program I'm going to be studying. It will set me up with the skills and connections (I hope) that will help me be a "female Bill Nye for the Internet" or at least someone who does some of those things. I want to help the science world befriend the world of the everyday and I want to do it in a way that is creatively fulfilling for me.

Hopes for this year: meet lots of people, make lots of friends, develop lasting connections, have a job waiting at the end of this (with benefits and the ability to pay off my debt/pay my bills would be nice,) and most importantly make this year count. If I'm going to be away from someone so important for a year than you'd better bet I'm going to make it worth that time away. I want to come back from this experience more solidly empowered by who I am and closer to being who I want to be.

Oh and if I can get a part-time job over there so that I don't go completely broke and can actually pay off my debt when I get back, that'd be great.