10:00 AM in Britain: Well, I'm here.

(This post and the one following have been posted later since I have just now gotten Internet.)

Wow. I can barely keep my eyes open. No, really. I’m serious. I have no energy, and I really want just to sleep. Too bad I have to stay up another ten hours until I can. Blast you, time difference!

The plan ride was good, albeit uneventful. I met Carol (a friend of a friend, lives in Huntingdon, England) at the gate—she’s a peppy, cheerful lady—and she let me know that, though she’d been on standby, she was most likely going to get a seat on my flight. Praise God! Someone to travel with!

Holy crap, I’m falling asleep. Wake up, Amber!!!

I actually slept on the plane! I’ve never been able to get good rest on a plane before, but I took Mr. Klempner’s advice and bought some Tylenol PM. The dosage is two tablets; I took one and was out for two hours. It was great sleep, too. Oh, and did I mention that I didn’t have anyone sitting beside me? That’s right. I had two seats all to myself, so I spread out and got comfy.

Yawn.

We landed around 6:10 am (45 minutes earlier than I had expected) at Gatwick. Sorry, England, but Gatwick Airport is not pretty. It’s just not. Hartsfield is way prettier, at least compared with Gatwick. Carol and I drug all of our crazy luggage through the airport, found the train to the Gatwick Express, heaved our bags onto the GE, rode 30 minutes to Victoria Station, alighted the train, and found a black, yellow-signed taxi to drive us to Regent’s College. Our cab driver was old and adorable and had a lovely British accent. Imagine that.

When we got to Regent’s, we were greeted by staff members (students and adults alike) who welcomed us (me and Carol) and got our bags. Check-in was a whirlwind. I got a key, an info packet, a guide, a book… it was like moving into Shorter freshman year. We found my room (on the “first floor” in England, second floor in the US)—room 121. My roommate wasn’t there yet. She still isn’t here. The room is smaller than I thought it would be, but we have bunk beds! I’ve never had a bunk bed before. I can’t decide if I want the top or the bottom… I’m thinking the bottom.

I’ll post photos later. Carol took tons of photos of me in the taxi, in my room, unpacking, etc.

Nappy time.