Non-Foggy London Town

In the very short list of things that Kate cannot do, we must officially add….sleeping on planes. It’s pretty much impossible for me to get comfortable on an airplane. I hope one day to conquer this issue and learn to sleep anywhere, but at the moment it still plagues me and becomes a hindrance when traversing several time zones.

Since I’ve updated this blog, you now know that I’ve landed and arrived safely in London. And I have a lot to catch you all up on so this will be a two-part blog. The plane ride was smooth, despite the fact that I got an hour’s sleep at the most. I was in the center seat of a three seat row. The woman on my right was really odd. She seemed all knowing about plan travel, with her noise-cancelling Bose headphones and a really cool mask that blocked out all light, but when dinner came around, she assumed that she could get the “Vegetable Curry” without preordering it. And then, when she obviously couldn’t, she ordered the beef….yeah, I’m still trying to understand that one. Overall, it was an uneventful flight with a touch of minor turbulence.

We landed at 730 and once I went through immigration, I had to truck from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 to get the coach that would take me to my residence. I’m very happy that I came through Terminal 1 and that my immigration only took 20 minutes, for those who came in through Terminal 3 had to wait two hours. Thus, I actually spent an extra two hours at Heathrow Airport, waiting for enough people to arrive so we could board the bus at head to London.

After a 30-45 minute drive bus ride to London, we arrived at King’s College. I got into my dorm room, which is small but will be perfect for what I need this coming month, but I’m not sure I could live in a room this big for an extended period of time. We all have our own bathrooms and refrigerators in the rooms. When writing this on Friday afternoon, we did not have WiFi but will hopefully have it by tomorrow, Saturday, morning. (side note: We got it on Saturday morning!)

Once I was settled in, I ran into a friend and fellow library science student, Melissa, who was about to head to find food and WiFi. Her companions were serious travel newbs. Well, one of them definitely was. I’m going to call her Kat. She’s from the south, Mississippi in fact, and she is kind of dumb. I tried to be nice about it but she just has no idea how to travel. She didn’t call her bank to tell them she was going to be overseas and didn’t bring any pounds with her. So when the restaurant declined her card, she was very shocked. She also made us all go get Indian food, because she’s picky and everyone needs to cater to her food tastes…She also didn’t take her key with her or lock the door to her room. We’re already best friends. Sorry for ranting but it really was dumb.

After lunch, we stood in Waterloo Station by the McDonalds to access the WiFi on our Kindles/iPhones. Then Melissa and I went for an adventure, where we walked along the Thames, purchased tickets to see Henry V at the Globe Theater tomorrow evening, and then got some breakfast and snack food. (Side note: the weather has been quite nice. Sunny but windy. I hope it lasts!)

Then we met up with our professor and other library science people for a longer tour of the region. We got our Tube cards and took a trial run on the tube to Leicester Square. We had dinner nearby and finally got back to the dorms around 730. I was seriously dead on my feet and had pretty much gone crazy by that time. I took a quick shower and then passed out. Great first day in London! It’s now Saturday so I will post my second blog later this evening with a recap of the day. And I will post pictures of my room!

-        -  Kate

An American Classic

Well, I'm finally at the airport. Made it through the check-in and security just fine. And before I board the plane for London, I decided to have one last American classic.....a Bud Light. You really can't get more American than that. After this, it will be English beer for an entire month. What a rough month it will be.

I'm still not nervous at all. I believe I've packed everything and if I haven't, I can just purchase it while I'm there. London really isn't a third world, er, developing, country, so I will not have the same issues that I had when I went to Egypt. And let's all hope that I do not lose my luggage this time. That would be seriously bad news.

My flight leaves in just under an hour and I will land at 730 on Friday morning. There is a five-hour time difference between England and the East Coast so it will be the wee hours of the morning for most if not all of you. It's highly possible that I will have wifi across the way from my dorm so I may be blogging even more frequently that first believed. (Also, if you were worried, I got my book reviews done. And a day early. Boom.)

This will be a short blog because I don't have much to say. I'm really looking forward to being there and am not nervous at all about fitting in with the culture. I believe the only thing to worry about is if I will make my return flight. :) Next time you hear from me, I will be in foggy London town. Til then!

- Kate

A Quick Jaunt Across the Pond

(Editors note: Sorry about not finishing my Ireland blog. I got swamped with school at the end of the semester and then it ended...and I moved...and then something else rather surprisingly happened...and now I'm leaving again. So it just never happened. Sorry! I plan on returning very soon so I promise to blog on that trip.)

I must say, I am insanely calm despite the fact that I am leaving the United States in two days. For those who know me, this isn’t usual. I’m seriously acting as if I’m merely going to one state over when really, I’ll be across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom for one month. Normally, I would be freaking out. I mean, I really should be freaking out. I shouldn’t be able to sleep at night due to excitement. I should be looking up every possible library/archive that I will be visiting. I should be planning all of my weekends and evenings. I should be worried about everything that could but probably won’t go wrong. This is what old Kate would be doing. However, it seems that Kate is now laid back about life. She’s mellowed in her old age and has learned how to go with the flow.

Right now, I’m positive you're rocking back and forth and muttering, Inconceivable. (In the most non-crazy way.) Well, I'm not sure how or when it happened but sometime in the past month or two, I’ve become more relaxed and laid back about life. It’s all too short to worry about all the minute details. And in the end, all the major ones get done. I’ve just somehow learned not to stress too much about it. NBD kids. I’m handling everything with extreme ease. Packing? Yeah it will get done. I made a list. I’ll be fine. I'm sure you have questions. Such as, will she have to resort to working the corner in Piccadilly Circus to pay for food and booze? Not at all. I'm totally flush with cash, being a grad student and all. (but really, I am good with money. I will not resort to such illegal activities and be forthwith deported.) How will I communicate, you ask? I got Skype working and I’ll get myself a phone in the UK to call people I meet while I’m there. Homework? Well, I have one of my book reviews done and I finished reading the second book. It’s not due until Thursday. It will get done. And it's a library science course - it shouldn't be too difficult.

Still, this trip to England is a pretty big thing. And since I’ve just rambled for two paragraphs, I guess it’s about time that I actually explain what I’ve been alluding to above. Back in January, I discovered a Study Abroad program through the University of Southern Mississippi. Their “British Studies Program” takes a large contingent of students across the pond to study and live in England for a month. When I saw that there was a library science component, I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I would be able to visit libraries and archives in England and Scotland? Sounds like a dream month. I applied, was accepted, and have been slowly preparing for my trip since April.

Well April quickly turned into May and then June and now my departure is finally here. On Thursday night, I will fly out of Dulles International Airport and by Friday morning, I will have arrived in Foggy London town. For roughly a month, I will live in the dorms at King’s College in London. The course takes us to different libraries and archives in London and the surrounding region. After two weeks, we pack our bags and head to Scotland for three days. Then I have a five day mini-break where I can go wherever I wish. My goal is to visit Germany, Austria, and/or the Czech Republic. Then it’s back to London for the last week of classes, final exams, some Olympic celebrations, and then I’m back in D.C. on Saturday morning July 28th.

It will be a whirlwind and I’m asking all of you to join me on it. I’ll be blogging in two different blogs. One will be for the University of Southern Mississippi and then my personal blog. (Here is the link to my first blog entry for USM: http://blogs.usm.edu/blogging-abroad/2012/06/19/there-and-back-again-a-grad-students-tale/ I'll try to remember to link that one to this one as well). There may actually be a third blog, for my actual course, but I will know more about that when I arrive. Suffice it to say, I will be writing a lot. And I plan on keeping a journal, as well as sending lots of emails to friends and family. So expect to hear much more from me in the coming weeks. And this blog will be much more interesting and open than the school one…..I don’t have to be politically correct on this one :) And I promise to have lots of hilarious stories….or at least I promise to make some up if nothing funny happens. (I also promise to refrain from talking in the third person).

See you on the other side!

- Kate