I am finally here! Well I've been here since the AM, but I am now writing to you all. First I will start with yesterday (the 23rd of January). For the past week I had the things I was going to bring with me laid out. Of course, I didn't start actually packing until Saturday morning. To anyone who is planning on being out of the country for four months, pack in advance! We had trouble with weighing issues, but we figured it all out. We ended up not leaving the house until about 12. Which was later than we were planning. Of course no troubles with security at the DSM airport so it would have been fine to not be so early. I said goodbye to my mom, Rachel, Matt and Amy. Then headed off on my adventure. Once I got to my gate I called my dad and Joe. We boarded and I read some and slept some on the two hour flight to Detroit. Once in Detroit I went to my next terminal, found where my gate was and went in search of food. I called my dad again to let him know I was safe, called Joe and tried Gretchen, but she was stubborn and didn't answer ;) She called me back though. I ended up getting McDonald's, I didn't even eat all of it. I took it on the plane with me though and munched on it while we were taxi-ing. (right word?) I went through the list of movies that were available for us to watch, so many good ones! I ended up quickly texting a couple people telling them I might not end up sleeping because they had a lot of movies to watch. The plane finally took off and I started watching the movie Adam. Very good, look it up. During that movie we got our supper. Teriyaki chicken, with mashed potatoes, salad, roll, and a cookies 'n cream brownie. Also, a three ounce water, strange. The chicken was ok, I forgot that there were mashed potatoes, so when I saw other people eating them I thought it was cheese. It was a long day, don't judge. I then watch Four Christmases and then Love Happens. Both good movies, both happy endings. Just what I love. After those movies were over we still had two hours of the flight left. I decided to try and sleep. I don't know how well it actually went.
After finally arriving into Heathrow airport you have to go through the UK Border. Well, since I didn't turn some things in with my visa application, whoops, I was then refused a visa. The UK Border Agency finds that suspicious. I had to sit on some benches next to some Indian kids who were also having trouble. the guy eventually got back and I got to go through. I need more paperwork of some sort though. I'll have to remember to email someone about that. The good thing about having to wait, I didn't have to wait for the luggage to come out. It was already waiting for me. I left the baggage claim area and ran into a couple other people who were headed to Vandon House as well. One, Hannah, I met over facebook and recognized her so that helped. We got on a shuttle and off we were into London. We arrived safely to Vandon House, got our packets and went to our rooms. I am on the first floor, so that is nice. Only one flight of stairs, well two but they're both small. I met my roommate today and she seems very nice. I think we'll get along just well. Our room is big, with little storage, unfortunate. We have our own bathroom, and it even has a tub, that I can straighten my legs in! No shower though, but it's right across the hall which is very handy. I didn't fully unpack until this evening. I was tired and worn out. A few of us girls decided to go for a little walk around London. We are about 200 metres away from Buckingham Palace, it's beautiful! We then walked part of St. James Park, which has a lot of ducks, pigeons, and pelicans in. Then we headed off toward Big Ben, Westminster and saw Parliament and the London Eye. We walked along the south bank of the Thames for a bit and then crossed back over the river to find our way back. Kind of confusing :s I'll get the hang of it once I walk around more. It was 2 PM when we got back so my roommate and I took a little nap. Well sort of. I awoke around 4 because the girls next door are a little loud :s and these walls must be paper thin because I can hear them talking now. I woke my roommate up at 5 so we could go down and eat. We had Dominoes pizza. Not enough cheese, also the Sprite tastes different here. I'll get used to these things though. We ate and sat in the lounge because there were too many for the dining room area. At six we met up with the head guy, Mark Simmons, who took us around the "block", not a block at all. He showed us places we can get food, phones, and other things we want. Vandon House really is in a great location. I love be able to go outside and know that if I walk 5/10 minutes in one direction I will be by the river around amazing sites. After our little walk we went to a pub. Most people got Strong Bow, which is a cidder, that I'd tried before, so I went for something else. I tried Pimm's and lemonade. Pimm's is a drink my cousin brought around at Christmas and told me they drink it here, so I thought I would try it. I got back to my room maybe around 8 PM my time and decided to unpack. Which is good because my suitcase was lying right by the door so you couldn't open it very far. We are now just lying in our beds, not that tired anymore. I may turn on the TV, I want to see what British television is like. Here are some pictures below of what I've seen, and what I hope to see more of! I will add pictures later. Cheerio!
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