'Ello All!
I had e-mailed some of you already about my flight over, but I guess I still have to add it in my blog! (And yes, it is about the same as the e-mail, with adjustments besides the flight part, if you don't want to read it all again!)
I wanted to let all the rest of you know that I am alive over here and kickin! I landed at the Heathrow airport in London at about 8:30 Monday morning. That airport is soo big, it's like an entire mall / city / airport all in one! It's ridiculous. As the quote goes:
"I did not fully understand "terminal illness" until I saw Heathrow for myself."
-- Dennis Potter
But! Then I got to Newcastle at about 1:00 in the afternoon on Monday. I had jet lag pretty bad when I got here, even though I thought I never would!
I made it through my flights alright, had a few stressors along the way, but made it here safe, nonetheless :-)
My first flight was supposed to fly out at 4:23 Sunday, but got pushed back until 5:15. The guy next to me smelled a little like BO, but he was very nice! So it was good.
It left a little later, I didn't think this would be a problem, but I landed later than was planned and ended up missing my connecting flight in Newark, New Jersey! I didn't realize I had missed it right away because the flight number and all of that information was still posted, and it wasn't until about 20 minutes later, I knew something wasn't right, so I double checked, and yes I had missed it! Naturally, I came into freak out mode and I probably looked like a typical, little american girl running through the airport in a frenzy. Long, long story short, me and this lady next to me got the last tickets on a plane to London that night that left at 9:02 (The next plane wasn't until the next morning - like 12 / 13 hours later). I did make it to London in time for my next flight to Newcastle! Thank God. This all sounds kind of pathetic lol. But I was by myself I guess. I knew everything was going to work out regardless, but at the time I felt like I had messed up - big time! But the first flight was boarded and getting ready for take off before I even got there.
The third flight was short, very short, but I was still nervous nonetheless because I was finally going to get to my school and meet my fellow mates! I started dozing off because I was so exhausted -- I didn't really sleep on the planes at all. I still hadn't really eaten anything either, since I was so nervous I wasn't hungry. I barely even ate lunch Sunday lol. Imagine that.
I am exactly 5 hours ahead of all of you, just in case you were wondering.
Newcastle upon Tyne
Jennifer Bills
I'm not really sure what kind of order / if this is right? It just had that information on my tenancy agreement lol. we'll see.
But, I'm doing great! So far I am the only one in my flat, but I have my own room and bathroom and then I will have 4 other roommates as well, with a community kitchen / living room.
Me and Amanda (the other girl that came here from Cleveland) walked around all day and went into shops and markets, to kind of figure out where everything is in the city.
Newcastle is so pretty! There is green everywhere and all of their roads are made up of stone or they have cute little brick roads. They have small cafe shops everywhere, all lined up in old buildings. Everything is in walking distance, but a lot of people walk around with backpacks to carry their purchases in from the markets. Everything is still quite a trek to and from flats, so it's easier to carry them in a bookbag. They have fresh fruit and vegetable stands out everywhere, that are actually pretty cheap. Everything is real city like with a HUGE mall, that has five stories and actually starts underground! Some of their stores have full out restaurants in them as well.
I also almost keep getting run over here because the traffic is the other way! But I'm getting pretty used to the military time and understanding all of the currency at least!
I met one girl on the floor above me from Germany, but not much other than that yet, because I'm an earlier arrival person and it's only been one day. So hopefully I can meet some more foreigners soon!
But the nerves are almost gone! I'm still nervous about school and my roommates, I hope I can makes friends! Once I know my school plans it will be better.. I'm mostly just super excited now!
But anyways, this ended up being longer than I thought it would! Thanks for the genes, Mom.
Thank you all for the support you have given me and also for following up on me :-)
-- Jen
