Here I am, London!

So, here I am.

London. The United Kingdom.

January 14, 2012. (Or, as the Brits might say, 14 January 2012.)

Okay, okay…it’s technically the 15^th at this point. But you can’t blame me for being confused—it’s been almost 48 hours since the last time I slept, but I wanted to get a lot of this out now, while it’s still fresh in my mind.

At any rate, my journey abroad began in earnest yesterday (today? two days ago?), 13 January 2012, at around 12:30 PM. With two large suitcases, a laptop, and my book-bag, Nic and I sat out for O’Hare. I was a mushy mess for most of it, but I did provide Nic with the…uhm, awesome (can I call it that?) pre-trip interview you can find linked here…

Who's This Handsome Traveller?

Okay, so maybe it’s not the best video in the world—but I think I looked cute in my little traveling hat. (By the way, did you catch my Anderson-Cooper-like nervous giggle around the 1:00 mark?)

Shortly after the video we made our way to the TSA security area and said our goodbyes. Pandas everywhere were weeping. It was pretty sappy, so I won't go into it too much here. 

And after that it was a matter of simply waiting for my plane…

And waiting…

And waiting…

And waiting…

It turns out that, thanks to the blizzard-like conditions on Wednesday, numerous flights in and out of O’Hare were delayed. Including mine. We didn’t actually take off until about 5:30 PM CST. Now, if I had been scheduled on a direct flight to London this would not have been a problem—but I had a connecting flight in Toronto at 8:30 PM EST.

Even then, I wasn’t too worried…

Until I learned that I would have to go through Canadian customs, collect my baggage, and then make my way all the way to the opposite side of the airport, recheck my baggage with British Airways, and then go to the proper terminal...

And then BA informed me that American Airlines had not given me the proper receipts for my checked baggage, so there was a chance I would have to pay again. (Fortunately, a call was placed to a supervisor and BA allowed me to just give them the copy of my receipt from AA.)

A long, tense story cut short: I made it on to the BA flight as scheduled, and we took off for London at around 9:30 EST. That flight was fairly uneventful, other than a baby who cried and cried the whole way, preventing any chance at sleep. Oh, well—I can sleep when I’m back in the States, right? Oh, and I got to enjoy a Canada Dry ginger ale while flying over Canada. It amused me… Clearly, I was already sleep-deprived.

At around 9:30 AM GMT my flight touched down at London’s Heathrow Airport. I was a bit worried going through customs because I had received conflicting information regarding the visa application process, and so I feared there was a chance I would be deported before I even had a chance to do anything deportation-worthy. Fortunately, the agent didn’t seem fussed, and actually commented that I had provided too much information—that all I actually needed (for the length of time I’m staying) were the letters from Columbia and UEL.

Within about an hour of my arrival in London, I was safe and secured in the home of our (mine and Nic’s) friends, KG and MM—they’ve been kind enough to provide me shelter from the elements until I conquer Buckingham Palace and make it my summer home… I mean, find a suitable (cheap) flat somewhere.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur—I’m terribly jetlagged (hence the boring post here, which you probably stopped reading eons ago, meaning I can just say yadda yadda yadda shapoopie and no one would notice). I have already discovered two awesome shows, however. The first is called “Come Dine with Me” and the other is called “Borgen” (a subtitled import from Denmark). And, before I sat down to type this, I chatted with Nic and the Fish through FaceTime for almost an hour, which was wonderful!

FaceTimin' it with the Family!

And on that note, I need to grab some sleep.

Until next time…