10:07 PM London time:
I am here and have been for about 13 hours. I flew out of LaGuardia yesterday and had a lay-over in Detroit before catching the BIG plane for London. My flight from NYC was delayed, and we took off about an hour and a half after we were supposed to. The connection in Detroit was a bit rough - we entered the terminal at gate 19 and they wanted me to RUN to gate 54. All-the-while they kept announcing "Paging Passenger [insert my name here], to Gate 54, last call for NW flight 32 to London." I'm sure it was quite amusing for everyone watching me attempt to run the length of the terminal (35 gates, plus all of the other stores, restaurants, etc). Now, I haven't sprinted since high school gym class, and while I like to pretend that I can run everything is null-and-void when you have 25 lbs strapped to your shoulders. I could have never made it in boot camp. At one point, I stopped at gate 38, about to pass out! The conversation went something like this:
Me: *gasp*gasp* They *gasp* keep *gasp* calling *gasp* my name.
NW Attendant: What?
Announcement: Paging Passenger [insert my name here] ...
Me: (pointing at the ceiling) *gasp* that's me *gasp*
NW Attendant: You'd better run! That flight is about to take off!
Me: Please tell them to wait *gasp* I'm trying...

Long-story-short, I made the flight and arrived in London around 9:35 am (that's 4:35 EST). There wasn't much involved in "Customs," it was more like a huge line to show your passport, get a stamp and leave so you could fight the crowd in the next room for your luggage. Of course, I found out later that this is a big holiday weekend for people in the UK, so traffic (both highway and airport) would be bad.

Life, homes, etc. seem pretty familiar so far. The cars take a little getting used to. I kept waiting to get into the right-hand lane, and a tiny panic came over me when there were cars headed directly at us on the right! We went to the grocery store this afternoon - very familiar looking - except that the brand names are a little different. Oh! And, Coke bottles are taller and skinnier. The house here is great and the room that I'm in is cool. If you open one of the closet doors, it is a shower. I'll send pictures once I get a digital camera. The town reminds me of "Bend it Like Beckham." Again, pictures later.

I'll post again tomorrow! I plan to go exploring - the actual town is about a 10 to 15 minute walk form here, but there is a post office and a few shops (including a wine shop) much closer. Have a good night!

Yo, yo, yo... Kickin' it in the N-Y-C... Brooklyn Style!

So, my time in New York has been fun - I LOVE this city!! I flew in last night and spent the day at the British consulate, then wandered around the city. The Entrance Visa was fairly painless - just a long line to stand in - but once I was up to the window (they do everything behind thick plastic/glass in NYC) it went fairly quickly. I had to return to pick up my passport (with the Visa stamp in the back), so I found a neat little park around the corner, ate a bite of lunch and read a book my sister suggested, "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World," by Haruki Murakam (I like it so far - a little out there, but good). Once I picked up my Visa, my sister called to meet her on her lunch-break, so I took the train down to City Hall and met her for a little while. I decided that it might be a good idea to enter England with a few pounds in my pocket, so I rode back up to the British consulate to get some currency (my sister and I tried at her bank, but they said that it'd take three days to order currency). The BC is at 51st street, we were about 65 blocks away. I spent the rest of the afternoon, wandering around Union Square, then headed home. We rode into Williamsburg (the hip area of Brooklyn) for dinner and I got this wonderful Brooklyn Industries (great clothing company!) bag for England. It was a great way to spend my last night in the states...

Typing that, it has finally dawned on me that I am hopping a plane for England tomorrow. It still doesn't seem real to me.

I am worn out and exhausted... the last few days have been a blur! Let's see... Saturday, on my way out of town, I blew a tire. It was one of those things where I said to myself on the way out of town, "I hope I don't get a flat tire," and what do you think happened?! I wasn't even 30 minutes outside of Charlotte!! My parents' ended up driving to North Carolina to help even-out the load and we didn't get to Tennessee until 9:30. Since Saturday, I haven't had much time to breathe, let alone post, there's just so much to do. My work permit arrived yesterday morning, so everything is a "go" to fly to New York tomorrow, get my entrance visa on Thursday, and fly to London on Friday. It still has not completely sunk in that I am leaving the country for a year, I'm just hanging out in Knoxville for a little while before I head back to Charlotte in time for school to start...

By the way, I am typing this entry from my NEW computer!! A laptop computer, at that. I am so excited to use it (finally - its only been in Knoxville since the 16th!)!!

My flight leaves for New York at 4-something, and I just know tomorrow is going to be nuts. Just wanted to say "HI" to everyone and let you know that I have not entirely dropped off the face of the earth, just trying to get situated... I'll write more soon.