Hello, England!

Hey everyone... I made it!  I have just finished settling in at the University of Kent -- which is absolutely beautiful.  Trust me, I will make it my mission to have pictures soon!

After leaving Indiana last night, we arrived in Chicago quite early so that Mom, Deme, Zen and I had time to just kind of hang out before I took off.  I was doing fine until it was time to pass through security on my own.  I have never flown alone before and was absolutely terrified that I wouldn't find the correct gate, would miss the call over the intercom, or that some other horrific hurdle would ruin my trip.  However, after waving goodbye one last time (the last image I have in my head is Deme smiling back at me and just typing this causes my eyes to water) I made it through with only a minor amount of sniffles.

Once I got to my gate, I was immediately in awe of the diversity around me.  Indian, English, Spanish, American, Asian... and the different languages all mixing together temporarily kept my mind off of the fact that I had just left behind the most important people in my life and that they were probably walking further and further away from me.

A few moments later a middle-aged guy sat next to me and asked where I was heading.  I told him and he immediately responded, "Beautiful, beautiful.  It takes a different kind of person to be able to study abroad, but it's something everyone should do."  I learned that he is a professional photographer who constantly travels around the world for his shoots.  He gave me a list of his top suggested places to visit and mentioned that I may want to consider teaching English overseas... apparently the money is wonderful and hey, it's a reason to explore the world a little more :)

After boarding the plane (which was HUGE) I found myself sitting to a woman who was on her way to visit her parents in Romania.  This was the first time she had left her husband and travelled alone, so she was a bit nervous without him.  Another girl, about my age, from Indiana, was traveling to Spain to study abroad for a year of grad school.  Unlike me, she did not have any accommodation plans and said she was just going to wing it all.  It was nice that we were sat next to each other as we were all, somewhat, in the same boat... and we all promised that if one of us cried, the other two would join!  Fortunately, the flight attendants and their British accents, along with the food and movies kept us entertained enough to avoid breaking down.  While I did fall asleep for about an hour, I was awake for the rest of the flight.  When I wasn't reading, I was intrigued by the screen in front of me (each seat had an individual TV) that showed our little plane on a GPS of sorts along with the amount of time left, the weather, the speed of the plane, etc.  I'm not exaggerating when I say I probably watched that thing for nearly 3 hours in total.  Needless to say, I was elated when we started to descend and I could make out London Bridge and the London Eye from above the most crowded, amazing city I have ever been above.

Once the plane landed (on time, mind you) we had to wait nearly fifty minutes to exit.  For some reason, it was unable to connect to the terminal, so they loaded us, 50 at a time, onto a little bus that drove us to it.  From there (big, proud moment) I went through the UK Border processing, found my luggage -- and pulled it off of the belt -- and went through customs all on my own.  By this time, my suitcases and two carry-ons were becoming major nuisances and once I found the University of Kent representatives, they could tell.  They helped me out a little, and then, as we were trekking through Heathrow Airport, jumping on other trains to get to other places, I was faced with a very steep incline.  I was out of steam and mortified that I simply couldn't move anymore.  A representative from another university made my day when he ran up behind me and carried it to my final destination!

After some waiting in the airport for other UKC students, we boarded a coach which then took us to Canterbury.  I was begging my body to stay awake for the hour and a half journey, I didn't want to miss a thing.  But I found myself dozing off and on the entire way.  Kent is quite a way from London and the two are separated by a lot of countryside, so it reminded me a lot of Indiana - speckled here and there with old ruins and simple country homes.  I'm still not used to vehicles driving on opposite sides of the road than in America.  None of the signs are the same, either... I'm still pondering what many of them meant.  I did see signs for Leeds Castle and Whitstable, both of which I hope to visit soon!  I didn't fully come to until I saw that we were entering Canterbury and the town is amazing.  It's situated on a hill, but the university is on an even higher hill overlooking the city.  The houses, shops and restaurants were all so quaint -- how you'd likely expect them to look.  Yet, the fact that I'm actually HERE seeing all of this and describing it to you is still surreal to me.

Once we pulled into the school I assumed it would be a tiny campus and we'd easily find our way once we were dropped off at the Registry.  Psych!  It's huge!  It may not seem as large to other students who have been at big universities but I've spent my time at schools with ten buildings max.

So, once again, I had to unload my luggage and load it back into another coach in order to get to my dorm.  From there, it was still a lot of walking and, lucky me, another British gentleman was kind enough to take one of my bags for me and lead me straight to my room.  The apartments are nothing like I was expecting but I love it!  I can attempt to explain my living situation to you.  My building is called Stock Court and I believe it has three floors.  On each floor there are three or four hallways "A," "B," "C," and "D."  Each hallway has its own key.  Once you enter the hallway, it's like a hotel, each person has their own rooms... five or six in each hallway.  Also in this hallway is a kitchen with two refrigerators, a sink, cabinets, and what have you.  The school supplies some of what you need to get by in the kitchen, but I still need to get groceries and some utensils.  Once you enter your actual room, there is a lot of storage, which is wonderful, but I found it quite difficult to fill even half of.  Then, you get your own bathroom, which is also nice, but I must get used to its tininess soon!  By the way, there is nothing separating the shower from the floor, so we'll see how the whole draining thing goes when I take a shower.  I also have a perfect view... there's a little footpath just outside my window, with a wooded area and soccer field behind it!  I've already seen numerous squirrels and bunnies!

The school also supplied me with curtains, towels, and bedding... all of which are blue.  I also have a blue wall and blue chairs.  It's not that I'm not fond of blue, but it's a bit much, which I suppose the lime green door is supposed to make up for.  I'll have to work on toning it down a little!

Everyone here has been so helpful...  it is amazing.  In America, if you need help, you maybe get a verbal direction, and if you're lucky a finger pointing you on your way.  Here, people walk with you, talk with you, take a time out to get you where you're going.  I did get lost when I attempted to take shortcut back from getting my ID card at the Sports Centre, which is pretty centrally located.  I made it back to the flats and houses but could not distinguish one building from another and ended up getting to take in the entirety of student housing before finding my building again.  My sense of direction is horrible and I hope it improves over the next week or who knows where I'll end up!

It's strange hearing hundreds of people around you who don't sound like you at all.  I adore the accents everyone has here and am a bit jealous, but on my accidental journey back to my apartment I heard two girls chatting in familiar voices behind me and stopped to ask if they were American.  Indeed they were and one of the girls is named "Ali," too.  It was quite a relief stumbling upon people who are just as far away from home as me.

After getting my student ID, I ran to the convenience store located just about five minutes from my apartment and, after pacing the aisles and scanning the shelves in confusion and curiosity at all of the differently packaged/named foods, got a little basket of which the only thing I recognize is Sprite -- but even that bottle is shaped differently.  I'll be having English peanut butter and jellies and crackers until I can make it to (or feel like going to) a bigger grocery store.  Did I mention how odd it is to be able to purchase alcohol and cigarettes (which they have placed in little holders that say "SMOKING KILLS") on campus?  Much different than Fort Wayne!

When I returned to my room I was able to meet a few of my flatmates -- two girls and one guy thus far!

Well!  That is enough for now... I'm contemplating whether or not I want to go to Woody's Bar (just down the sidewalk) for a meet and greet event they're having tonight.  I'm so exhausted I think I may just go on a little walk and cuddle up with a book until I fall asleep.   We'll see!  I've got a busy week ahead... and I'll be turning twenty-two in Europe on Tuesday.  Am I dreaming?

Updates soon,
Aly