Well, I made it to London!! I'm now going on my third day here....and may I say, if the last two days are any indication of how this year is going to go, I'm going to be in for a very interesting 12 months. Where to begin....let's start with my arrival into Heathrow airport....
All was going great....all my flights were right on time, the trip over was virtually turbulence free, and I was on my way to actually meeting Audrey at the time we had arranged to meet at the King's Cross tube stop. But as I neared customs, I noticed there was a very long line, which wrapped around 2 long hallways leading into the customs area. Everyone in line looked to be from a variety of countries...and most seemed to be around the ages of 20-25. My heart began to sink, and as I arrived in the customs area, I looked up to see a sign posted at the entrance of the line where all the people had started from....it read "First time students". Darn it!! I made my way to the back of the line...and slowly inched my way forward every few minutes....for 2 hours. Needless to say, the arranged time to meet Audrey had passed by the time I made it through...so I picked up my bags (which were there waiting for me at the baggage claim....points for that one)....and made my way to the underground. I got off at King's Cross as planned, hailed a taxi, told him the address of my new home, and off we went. The neighborhood we drove through was lovely....brick houses, lots of trees, restaurants and pubs and shops everywhere....the we drove up what I knew was my street....only to stop right outside a house halfway up. The address read 6 Winchester Place....the address of my apartment building. And my heart sank again.
I told the taxi driver that this could not possibly be my place...that I was supposed to be living in a student accomodation, and from the pictures looked to be quite a large building. So we looked around on the street for a bit, then walked up the street a bit, where low and behold, there was a large brick building, much like the one I was supposed to be living in...only it wasn't called WInchester Place....the sign outside read "Elizabeth house". hmmm. The taxi driver was kind enough to drive me up the winding entrance road, where there was someone waiting to help me with my bags. Ok, so not the correct address, and not the correct name, but this had to be the place. As I made my way inside, I saw other people waiting around in the common area. One of the parents of one of the people waiting to be let into their rooms told me that things weren't quite set up yet, and that the rooms that were supposed to have bathrooms (like mine) not only don't have bathrooms, but the few that do had been double-booked for some reason. I didn't think my heart could sink any lower, but it did. I went up to what was supposed to be my room, which I had already paid a deposit and first installment on, went inside, and sure enough, no bathroom....and the room looked nothing like the pictures shown on the website.
I was given 3 options....one, wait around and see if a room with a bathroom opened up (not likely), choose another room without a bathroom, and use the communal bathrooms located on my floor, or transfer into another building which had rooms with bathrooms. Well, I haven't lived in an apartment without a bathroom in about 10 years, so I decided to take the last option, and move to a different location. I thought maybe I'd like the area more, so I'd go ahead and try it out. They called me a taxi, told the driver where to go, and off I was again....2 huge bags and a duffel bag in tow. As we drove out of the neighborhood, which I was noticing was nicer and nicer as we made our way around it....such beautiful homes, families walking about, little cafes everywhere.....the area we were making our way towards looked less and less nice...somewhat run down actually....and kept getting worse. I asked the taxi driver how the area was that I was moving to....he laughed and said "not as nice as where you were"....oh jeeze. I gave it a few more minutes, then told him I was really sorry but could we stop and drive back to the other place? He was so nice and understanding, and even let me use his cell phone to call back to the other place to ask if they still had rooms available....bathroom or not. They said yes, and told me they could arrange one as soon as I got back.
Ok, so maybe my building wasn't at the address it was supposed to be at, and maybe it wasn't even named correctly, and maybe I didn't get the room I wanted or paid for, and maybe the kitchens are about 1/8th the size they're supposed to be, and maybe there's no room to sit down in the kitchens, and maybe the entire place doesn't look like it does in the pictures on the website, but the neighborhood it's in is absolutely beautiful....and there's a tube stop not to far from where I am. I"ve already met some really nice people who live in the building, and everyone i've met and who has helped me up until now has been very kind and understanding. And I'm in London....one of the best cities in the world. So I think I'm going to be ok....more than ok. I think it's going to be a great year.
Did I mention the fire alarm went off last nite as I was falling asleep and everyone had to evacuate the building in their pajamas? No? Well that's another story.....
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