Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I need to express
my profound hatred for airports. Rough
transition, I know. But it has to be
done. Because I am the daughter of an
airplane mechanic and inspector, people generally assume that I either love airplanes
or I love flying. In fact, I do enjoy
flying when I get a window seat. :)
However, I do not wish to carry on in my father’s footsteps and work on
airplanes for the rest of my life. I
cannot wrap my mind around the physics behind the concept of an airplane. There were over a hundred people on the
triple 7 that flew me to England. How
did we stay in the air? How is there a
bathroom on the plane? Where does my pee
go? Where do the stewards get the fresh
water when we’re thousands of feet in the air?
It’s all crazy.
Unfortunately, to enjoy the incredible process of takeoff
and flight, one must go through the hell that is airport security. This is the number one reason why I cannot
stand airports. Sure, I understand that
heightened security is a must, especially after the horrible events on
9/11. But I’m still not convinced that
taking my shoes and belt off to step through a machine that can see me naked is
worth the awesome experience of flying.
After trekking through security, there’s the waiting period
before the plane boards. This can and usually
does take longer than a caterpillar’s transition to a butterfly. Time almost stops. Especially when you’re about to get on a
plane for eight hours
My final point isn’t really about the airport itself – it’s
the surrounding traffic and parking situation.
I’m no stranger to flying, but every single time I go to O’Hare (or most
any other airport), the traffic is cray and the parking is even worse. It just breeds stress, whether you’re the
driver or the passenger.
Not that I got that off my chest, I can discuss the smooth
flight I had to London Heathrow.
Everything went pretty well, expect for the fact that I left my contact
case and glasses in my purse, which I had stowed away in the overhead
space. This was a huge bummer because I
couldn’t sleep with my contacts in, which caused me to be extremely tired after
we jumped ahead six hours in London. The jet lag didn’t really set in until the
next day, but I’ll get to that later.
Thankfully, I managed to get about two hours of sleep on the bus ride
from London to Canterbury. This was all
the sleep I had for the entire 48 hours that mushed Saturday and Sunday
together after my flight.
Staying positive in the airport! :]
Day Two: Exploring
Canterbury
Honestly, there is so much to write about. I feel so incredibly overwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great kind of
overwhelmed. But still overwhelmed. The beauty of this place is beyond
words. There is so much to see and
explore! I don’t even know where to
start! Everyone from my host institution
has been so friendly and welcoming and helpful.
The orientation process started today and will continue all throughout
the week. I am filled with a sort of
restless excitement that makes it difficult to sleep, even when I’m extremely
tired at night. This life is so new and
fascinating; I can’t believe it’s mine!
I feel like I’m living a dream.
Kaitlyn & myself on the coach to Canterbury from Heathrow
Yeah, we're pretty excited!
Last night (which was Sunday), there was a mad rush to go
shopping for groceries right after we moved into our apartments. This is because everything closes early on
Sundays, including the food shops. Our
group arrived at around noon. At that
point, the shops were closing in four hours.
So instead of unpacking and napping – like we all desperately wanted to
do – we went out to buy a few groceries to tide us over until Monday. So the British students who helped us move in
took us into town, very kindly showed us the various grocery shops, then left
us to figure out our way around! My new
friend Matt said, “We aren’t going to walk you around or take you back to your
flat. You need to figure this out on
your own; it’s all part of the experience!
Have fun!” Because of the whole
not-knowing-our-way-around thing, what should’ve been a simple job took a bit
longer than expected. Considering it was my first time in the city centre and I
successfully came back with groceries and a working pay-as-you-go-phone, I feel
pretty dang proud of myself! Woohoo! I didn’t get back to Vernon Place (our building)
until 4:30 (or 16:30 – proper British time!).
The tiresome process of unpacking took up the next hour. Afterwards, I had to prepare a small meal for
myself.
By the time I was done eating, the British students from the
Student Republic arrived at Vernon to pick us up and walk with us to the
Student Union. This was such a crazy place! The Student Union has its own bar and lounge attached
to it. The welcome “meet and greet” was
basically a social event for all the new students on campus, freshers included.
(“freshers” = freshman). The bar/lounge
is epic. It has a cool dance floor with neon
lights, a DJ table, a large bar, some tables and couches, and… a beer pong
table. That’s right, a table specifically
set up for beer pong. Weird, but considering
the fact that the legal drinking age here is 18, most of these students have
probably been drinking since they were like 15.
Student Union Coffee shop!
Needless to say, I didn’t stay too long. That’s not really my scene. I went with a few of my fellow Americans and
two British students (who were exchange students at NCC last year) to a cute little
pub for dinner. *Big cultural difference*
When you are ordering at a pub, you have to walk up to the bar or front table to
place your order, pay, then go back to your table where you were seated. The food is brought out to you, and you then
eat and leave whenever. No tipping. Another cool thing is THERE ARE NO
TAXES. Well, actually there are, but they
are built into the price of each item.
So when I see a pack of hangers for £2, they are exactly £2, nothing
more! Pretty cool, eh?
All of the American & Canadian exchange students at CCCU
Today was pleasant. I
went to orientation, which is just loads and loads of information. It’s all very helpful and overwhelming. I still don’t know my classes or my schedule
for next week. That makes me a little nervous, but oh well. Everyone starts classes at a different time
at CCCU. Each department (like History,
English, Theater, Science, etc.) starts their classes whenever they
choose. So your schedule depends a lot
on your course of study (a.k.a. your “major”).
After the morning session of orientation, we took a break for
lunch. I went to get more groceries with
some friends then made a sandwich with “crisps” (potato chips) and grapes. Yum!
Success. After lunch, I went on
an audio tour of Canterbury with my friend Carmen (an American student). The orientation staff literally handed us a
map and a CD player and said “Have at it.”
So we followed the map on our own and played the CD player as we went along. It provided basic information about all of the
historic sites (there are SO MANY historic sites). The tour lasted a total of two and a half
hours. Since it was a walking tour, I am
pretty exhausted and ready for bed, but before I crash into my thin and uncomfortable
bed, I am going to the Student Union coffee house with a few American friends. We will relax and drink cheap Starbucks
coffee (we get a student discount). YAY
LIFE.
Photo shoot in Canterbury ;]
Exploring the city centre with NCC friends :]
More pictures to come!
– KBRITISH WORD OF THE DAY:
Motorway - the expressway or highway
