August 20th, 2012
I decided to write an addendum to my blog post: "Why Wandering Nomad". Feel free to check out the link there for more! As I've explained in that post, I believe college students are nomads. My own journey to Bath, England for study abroad becomes more and more cemented as I've sent in all my stuff, gotten back my passport and visa, and I found out that I'm living in a house a mile away from school with my friend Eleanor! Yay!
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| A is home for me, B is SMC and C is ASE! |
Right now I'm just feeling anxious about going abroad. All the preparations are slowly coming together, while some...like packing...need to happen like yesterday. I've said most of my hard goodbyes already, some more tearful than others.
I know that once I get there, the UK will just sweep me off my feet and I'll be having so much fun! It kind of reminds me of my first day of freshman year two years ago. WEIRD. When did I become a junior? Haha.
So I wrote the beginning of that post before I left for Bath - so much has happened since then! I will write another blog post about my adventures in Bath, but as a wandering nomad, I will share the tale of my trip to get to this wonderful city.
I arrive at the airport with just enough time to check my bag, find the currency exchange, and say goodbye to my family.
Walked through security without a problem - although I forgot to remove my liquids which I then found out it was optional...go figure.
My flight was supposed to leave JFK at 7:10, Sunday the 26th. By the time I got to my gate, there was an insane line for the next gate and no seating room. I had to sit across the terminal and pray to God that I would hear/see the boarding call. Boarding did not happen until 8, (where I went in the wrong boarding entrance and got to see what the other half lives like with full chairs and space to stretch) and we didn't actually leave the runway until 10:10 - a good three hours later.
By that point, I was tired and hungry. I had just taken my Tylenol PM for my headache and then out come the food trays. It's then I remember that I didn't make a food reservation. I asked one of the hostesses if I could still get a meal if I didn't order one and alas, the answer was no. So to quell my angry stomach, I slept for a good 5 hours.
I did get breakfast though and I was extremely happy! I also thought I didn't have a personal TV until I opened my armrest and voila! Didn't end up using it until about 30 mins before we landed in Paris.
Of course because we left late, I missed my connection flight to Bristol. Had to wait in line for the connection service for a good 20 mins before figuring out that somehow my flight reservation also got mixed up and had me taking another two connections from Paris to Strasbourg, Strasbourg to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Bristol. The next possible flight would've been at 5 PM or the next day. Thank God for that wonderful AirFrance woman who thought that was messed up too and was able to find a flight for 3:55 to land in Bristol for 4:35. I was happy and went to go wait in my terminal for 3 hours.
Tried to phone ASE and I kept dialing wrong because my phone still thinks its in the US and my battery had died on my laptop so I couldn't figure out how to contact them to tell them I was going to be late. After finally getting through - I called my mom and after some stress tears, took a nap, and read on my Kindle for a bit.
Of course, our flight got delayed because they had to switch planes for maintenance reasons. Then we got called to board only to return to our seats because the plane wasn't clean. Bum-mer.
Finally we boarded the plane and left Paris around 5 (Paris time). Arrived in Bath around 5 (Bath time) and made it to the bus to Bristol with no problems. It was a gorgeous view and I couldn't help but smile to myself as we drove through the gorgeous countryside. I kept thinking, this isn't real, I'm still in Vermont. And then I saw sheep and I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
Got off the bus at the Bristol Temple Meads train station - found my way to the rail card purchasing area 5 minutes before they closed. I tried to make it to the next train (2 minutes later), but didn't know where to find the platform. It gave me a chance to settle down and just sit for a half hour.
Took the bus for 10 minutes to Bath where I then picked up a taxi to my house where I was greeted by my friend Eleanor and a few housemates. Everyone is really nice and we're all very similar so I'm looking forward to some new friendships and a great house.
I'd post some pictures of the journey but frankly, I didn't really take any. No worries though - I took some pictures today and I should post them by the end of the week along with a summary of my time in Bath so far.
I'm loving it and I'm so glad to be here - I can't wait to see what the rest of Bath and England has to offer!
Sending all my love back to the States,
Katelyn :)
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