Day 1

I have never before felt so self conscious about the way I talk until I got on the plane in Chicago for London. All of the attendants and the pilots were British, and the majority of the passengers were British. I felt like I had the ugliest accent ever, and should not speak so as not to ruin the auditory aesthetics.

On the flight I learned that "lemonade" in Britain is kind of like a lemon/lime soda... essentially, it's carbonated, not like what we think as lemonade in the US.

So I arrived in Heathrow airport yesterday. Going through Customs was relatively painless, so I'm glad to report that. I waited in the airport for about an hour, realizing as I waited that my friend Jake and I never actually planned how we were going to meet. I also realized that while I was en route to London he probably had e-mailed me. So I ate the ₤4 to get internet access at the airport. Sure enough Jake had said he had to work so he couldn't meet me, and gave me instructions on what Undergound (aka "Tube") line I needed to take and what stop I needed to get off at. He said his room mate Sam would meet me. I was a bit miffed, but no harm done. I asked one of the airport convenience store employees on how I was going to pay for the Tube, and he told me about the Oyster Card (kind of like the equivalent of the Chicago Card for CTA in that you scan it and it's cheaper than paying with a normal card... at least, for Chicago that was true until recently). Thankfully the line I needed to take to Jake's house was the line that left from the airport, so I only had to stay put until my stop. Now, Heathrow is on the southwestern end of London, and Jake's house is on the Northeastern end, so I had quite the trek. I defintely passed out a few times from exhaustion.

Sure enough Sam was there waiting for me and we hung out the entire day while Jake and his other room mate, Pete, worked. I had an absolute blast with Sam. We chatted a lot (talked a lot about British vs. American words), drank quite a bit of tea, went for a walk around the neighborhood including a park, and bought groceries. We found a ₤10 note right at the register, and that paid for most of our groceries (we really went for cheap)!

We made a pasta dinner with vegetables and it was quite tasty (and it was actually my first meal of the day; I hadn't eaten since 6am that morning on the plane!). Sam likes to cook (which is good for me as I'm really lazy). Pete and Jake then came in. Had more tea, ate dinner, and then for dessert we had ice cream with some American candy that I had brought (like these little Reese's peanut butter cups and Butterfingers), and they liked it, so I'm glad for that.

I am quite proud of myself. In about 35 hours I had only slept maybe some 2 hours and I managed to stay awake for the entire day. By 10:30pm, though, I was exhausted and completely gone (although it is almost 6am now and I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep). The boys have set me up in their living room for sleeping and I like it.

The house is quite cozy and lovely. Jake's parents lived in it and Jake was raised here. Apparently his parents are now out living somewhere else for a time and they've allowed Jake and his friends to stay here, which is quite the steal in terms of rent and such. Also, I am happy to report that despite the fact that there are 3 men living here they are all quite clean! I am very fortunate.

It is officially my birthday right now and the boys have been gracious enough to tell me they're taking me out. There's a South American restaurant nearby that we'll go to for dinner, and then afterwards we're going to some bar/club to see a friend of theirs perform, followed by (or actually, this is probably going to be an all night activity) drinking. It will be quite fun! I just hope I don't run up a bill...

-AALA