My plane departed from RDU at 11:30 Thursday morning. Everything went smooth enough. They did run me through the full-body x-ray machine, so I guess the Polo shirt, Sperrys, and blazer made me look like a bad guy. Upon arriving at Boston-Logan, I found ways to kill time, including eating lunch at Wendy's for my last American meal. I flew out of Boston around 7:15 PM and I feel no shame in saying that the sun setting behind the Boston skyline was a beautiful sight. I had imagined after countless long bus trips with church and band that I had become hardened to the discomfort of those journeys. However, the 5.5 hour plane ride did not suit my legs. Only the movie "Battle: Los Angeles" could put me to sleep (yes, it's that bad). In the morning darkness flying over Ireland, I used the plane's map to pick out the lights of Cork and Waterford far below, and I thought back to that trip years ago. Shortly after 6 AM GMT on Friday morning, my plane touched down at London-Heathrow.
I was a bit worried that I received my visa without the security agent looking at any documentation besides my passport, but turns out I was just over-prepared. Allison Bonner (Farmville, NC connection!) and I met some other Carolina-King's College students at a Krispy Kreme in the airport. Everything tasted the same, but a single glazed doughnut cost an equivalent of $2. From there we crammed four of us into a taxi and headed towards the neighborhood of West Hampstead, where my residence is. My hall, Lord Cameron, is a university residence but is located off-campus in this, what is considered to be, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in England. And sure enough, around the Heath (think big park), there are some huge houses. Friday evening was filled with a hall meeting and social to meet new folks. They are all real nice, mostly from England, but I have made friends with a guy from Berlin and a girl from Montpelier. They seemed excited to have an American in their midst. From my third story bedroom window, I can look out over West Hampstead, the Heath, and see the downtown skyline in the distance.
Today, after a cool (sub-50 degree) run on the Heath, I met up with a group of UNC/KCL students in the shadow of Big Ben. They were actually having a cycling time trial for the 2012 Olympic qualifying. After walking around Westminster (British Parliament) and Whitehall (British government agencies), our group continued on walking down the streets of downtown London. We saw the London Eye, Thames River, Royal Courts, and St. Paul's Cathedral. In the late afternoon, I went to visit the British Museum where I saw the Rosetta Stone and the library where Karl Marx infamously wrote "Das Kapital".
Overall, getting here and settling in has been alright. I did feel bad missing church today, but luckily there is a Gospel-centered Evangelical church on my block that I hope to attend in the coming months. Anyhow, sorry for the long post. Hope all is well back in North Carolina.
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