Let the adventures begin…

I wasn't able to get internet until just now, so this describes my day of traveling!
6.26.2010 at 11:30 am

This last month at home has flown by and the time has finally come for me to begin my grand England adventure. I’m currently on the 4 hour flight from LA to Atlanta and then will have another 8+ hour flight to London. I should get into London around noon and then I’m planning on meeting up with Caitlin Rowland to wrap up the 24 hours of travel by taking a 2-3 hour bus to Cambridge. It’ll be a strange experience being sans cell phone and being unable to call Caitlin or Meg to meet up and to reassure my parents that, yes, I made it to Cambridge and no, my luggage wasn’t flown to a small rural farm in the middle of Russia.


Trip Expectations:
I’ll check into the program and immediately meet the sincere, sensitive, musician that helps me find out my father is actually a member of the British Parliament while also transforming the English social customs with my charming charisma and funky American fashion sense.

Oh wait… I just described the exact plot of What a Girl Wants. Let’s try this again.

Real Expectations:
I’ll meet some awesome kids from different parts of the world and make some great friends
I’ll get to explore Cambridge and London
I’ll hike in Edinburgh and imagine living in the castles there
I’ll get to venture to several other countries in Europe
I hope to watch a world cup game in a pub with lots of people and cheering
I’ll have tons of stories and pictures for the most epic scrapbook EVER!

Have to conserve laptop battery for my long flight, although hopefully (fingers crossed) I’ll be able to sleep most of the time.

6/27/10 at 2:10 pm
Well I’m on the bus to Cambridge. Score one point for Rachel’s traveling abilities. I managed to make it to where I want to be with no mistakes and only a few asked questions.

Initial Observations:
-In getting directions to the Central Bus Station, the attendant called me “love.” Soooo cool
-People just look British…I can tell. Between the shoes, cuffed pants, hair styles and accents, I’ve pretty much become a master of identifying the English.
-Despite the 3 hours of sleep that I am running on, I am still experiencing just an amazement of being on a different continent and in another country. I’ve never been to Europe and just knowing that I’m here is so cool. I’m soaking everything in with a fresh eye and it makes me think back to my first days at Harvard when everything was brand new. Hopefully I can maintain this excited attitude throughout my trip!
-They drive on the wrong side of the road! I knew to expect it, but that doesn’t make it any less weird when I look up to the front of the bus and see a gaping hole where the driver should be and then pan to the right to find the driver. So weird. I’m glad I don’t have to drive. I’m already an average driver in the US.
-International flights are awesome, free movies, games, tv shows and food! Unfortunately I sat in front of nocturnal and very talkative men who severely affected my ability to sleep. Looks like I’ll have no trouble falling asleep tonight.

I’m pretty sure there are about 15 students on this bus so luckily they can guide me to where I need to be when the 3 hour bus ride is over. So. Much. Traveling.

~3:30
Our bus broke down. We are in a small town called Hemel Hempstead I think. I was finally asleep when the bus came to a stop and it was so hot in the bus. It is a pleasant little town with a little creek and ducks and bridges. It seems there are a lot of PKPers on this bus so I started talking to a few of them. There was a bar right next to where we broke down so a few of us went in to watch the England Germany World Cup game. It was so exciting in there, even with just a smallish group. They started cheering so loudly when England scored—hopefully I caught some of it on video. I really hope England wins so that we can watch again. On the road again now in a different bus. Probably a one hour delay, but I’ll get there eventually, and hey-at least I have a story.

11:20 pm
I’m in my room finally and ready to get to bed. Good thing we’re so far forward here in time and I’m so tired. We finally made it to King’s College and the minute I stepped out of the taxi (from the bus stop), I was instantly amazed. It was almost the best time to get there because the whole city was basked in a golden halo of light. I immediately started taking pictures, but I don’t think the pictures will do it justice. We were just in time for the welcoming dinner. It definitely felt like a flashback to freshman year of college where there were tons of people that I didn’t know and I was overwhelmed with the possibility of meeting everyone. Luckily Meg found me and we met up with Caitlin Rowland. We stuck together for dinner and just soaked it all in. They served wine with dinner which was so strange. I know we're of a legal drinking age but I guess I didn't expect that it would be encouraged.

After dinner, (which was very good!), I took my stuff to my room and I’m living on the same floor as Meg. I have a little cute single room with all the furniture. We got a tour of the campus area and again, it was absolutely breathtaking. Meg and I couldn’t stop giggling because it was so amazing.
Orientation and first day of classes tomorrow—hopefully I’ll get to meet some people at meals and scope out the area.

Things to do:
Find out how to get internet (so weird being disconnected from the world!!)
Buy a cell phone!!
Exchange money
Learn my way around!

I’m exhausted. Also, I had to take a freezing cold shower—and I mean like Shamu water at Sea World cold—because I couldn’t figure out the hot water. Meg couldn’t figure it out either so that makes me feel better. How many Harvard girls does it take to figure out a shower??? I’ll keep you posted.

July 27