I'm flying out of LAX into London Heathrow on Sunday, September 16th, 16:45. I'll arrive in London on September 17th at 11:15.
I have an orientation with the EAP UK contacts on September 17th starting at 16:00. We'll check-in to the High Holborn Residence near Convent Gardens a bit earlier than that; though I'm hoping, as it's only a five minute walk from the Holborn stop on the Piccadilly line out of Heathrow T4, that I'll be able to drop off my luggage and sit outside somewhere. I've heard that's good for jet lag, which I'll undoubtedly have, if only that I don't feel it right away. (Here's to hoping that I manage not to get on the wrong train~)
You might be, at this point, wondering what EAP means. It's an acronym for "Education Abroad Program" and it's run by the UC system. They've got partnerships with various schools across the map, or something like that anyway. (Here's their homepage if you're interested in learning more.) I'll probably be referring to EAP regularly, as I'm told I'll need to be in touch daily with an EAP contact. To convince them I'm still alive and not yet a drug addict, probably.
I've been sent several emails that contain the itinerary of my nearly two-whole-day / three-calendar-day stay in London. I'll be writing about them as soon as I can after they've actually happened, but here are some things to look forward to reading about:
day 1: meet other UCEAP students going to the University of East Anglia. We will go into "town," apparently, and then after 8 PM will have free time in the city.
day 2: the schedule says we'll be going about for 12+ hours. I'm not sure I'll be awake for everything, but assuming I'll be able to report on activities, we'll be visiting the Tower of London, Convent Gardens, a batch of "culture-awareness" orientation talks, dinner at a popular restaurant and will end the day in a West End show: Chariots of Fire.
day 3: taxis will collect us at 10:15 and take us to Liverpool Street Station, where we'll take a train to Norwich and arrive at 12:30. There'll be taxis to take us to UEA.
I think the UEA exchange student orientation will start on the 19th as well, but I'm not totally certain.
* * *
Today I'm planning to go out and get travel-sized liquids to bring with me on the plane. Apparently the largest we're allotted is 100 mL of each liquid, which is conveniently never the size that regular things come in. Similarly makeup like mascara and "lip gloss," according to the airlines website, have to be in the same bag as the shampoo and things.
Amanda's been on long international flights before and told me I need to bring my own blanket and pillow. I'll probably get a neck pillow but I don't know that I want to take up space in my carryon with my snuggie, which is what she suggested I bring along. I want to bring my laptop as my "personal item"--the thing they allow you in the cabin besides carryon luggage--because it's probably the single heaviest thing I'm bringing along and I don't want to take up pounds in my 50 lb allotment for baggage.
I've been told to sleep on the plane, drink a lot of water on it and when I arrive, and stay outside as much as I can after I get to London to avoid jet lag. I've never had it, so I don't understand how serious it is, but I think for the first few days it's possible that adrenaline will string me along. This is completely new for me--flying abroad, and alone!--and while I am not afraid to do new things it's not too often the chance presents itself.
It's funny that I've always felt, whilst encountering something new, that somehow I'll feel different, that somehow I'll be different in a place that feels deep: in my bones, in my chest, at the back of my neck. And I've been talking about this recently with a friend who's felt the same, but it's never that we instantly become someone else; I think we're only always ourselves, carrying the same worries and outlooks and needs; and I think that what's the strangest out of everything is that we're always at the forefront of our own life's line, and we have all the choice possible spread out before us at every moment, and these are large moments, but we each still inhabit the same body, with the same mind, and same heart. When I began college, I magically expected to become social and "cool" and it seems silly to say it now, but of course I didn't! I suppose that much the same thing is occurring this time: I've always expected to feel twenty, to feel prepared. I'm doing the real things, the things outside of the body, to make this happen, and it still feels entirely up in the air. The way that big things are a dream forever until they happen.
I know myself in these ways: I have never been a preparer, I've always been a rather passive person, I have always had large, explosive dreams. And I think I'm at the point now in which it's advisable to move, and keep moving. I think things will start to fall into place.
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