I am here. I am sitting in my flat off of Turl Street in the Jesus college living quarters freezing my ass off but too lazy to go over and turn up the heat. I guess I'll start my day from the beginning, or rather the beginning of yesterday. The flight from Rochester to Dulles was extremely short, just like the teeny tiny plane we took. It was smooth, though, and got me into D.C. with plenty of time to spare until my plane for Heathrow left. Everything with the flight went pretty well. I was seated next to a very rich, given nice enough, St. Andrew's student from Vermont. I really don't know how to interact with rich people. I jokingly tried to tell him about the pretentious area that the HGTV dream house was built in and that my dad and I had investigated the astronomical taxes, and he proceeded to tell me that he was from right around there and the skiing is great. Oops. Whatever, he was pretentious and watched his what I presumed to be an Ipad the entire flight and spoke very haughtily.
Getting around Heathrow was no big deal. Got my luggage quickly then jumped on a bus to Oxdord. The traffic was crazy this morning to get down here. British people drive crazy. I saw a sign that said "variable speed limits" followed by a BMW wooshing by at what looked like almost 90. There are tons of BMW's and Volkswagens, and I even saw two Jeffies today=] The one thing I couldn't help but notice as we wizzed through the English countryside was all the green. There are green trees and huge areas of grass all over the place here and it's so strange to see coming from the barren fields of Upstate New York. My college has a lush courtyard and vibrant green ivy on the walls. Parks are bright and inviting. Yes, it is dreary and drizzly, but at least there is the green to make it feel like spring a bit. The weather is not bad, mid 40's, much warmer than home.
The cabby that drove me to get my information was so nice and it was a nice entrance into the town. Jesus college is in a fabulous location. When you walk out the exit of the second quad, you face directly at the covered market, which I have already been in twice and fallen in love with. I grabbed a baguette with turkey and cranberry sauce for linner when I realized I hadn't eaten in nearly 12 hours. I brought it back here, ate it ferociously, then passed out for a nap promptly after. My room is very small, but livable and the common area for my roommate and I is huge, at least twice the size of my AGC common room back at Geneseo(<3). When I got in today, I was a hot mess. I got up to my room, realized I was completely alone and couldn't reach my mom and dad or Kels and just started sobbing. I knew I would. After lots of hoop jumping, I got the internet up and called mom and dad immediately. We have a skype date later tonight=] Calling landlines from Skype is a great deal at 2 cents a minutes, so I put $10 on an account and called it a day. Too easy and cheap not to.
I did some shopping to get essentials earlier. Hand soap from Boots, a potted plant from a local florist, some tape, and some hangers. I've got half of this city figured out already, but it's just a strange skill I have. There are so, so many restaurants and stores. I certainly won't want for anything here. I have to watch my money though, because a few dresses and pairs of shoes have already tempted me. My sister was right, of course. I'm going to want to shop.
People have been extremely friendly so far. A very handsome British blond guy asked me if I need help with my bags earlier, as I live in a building with two windy flights of steps and no elevator, and I declined politely. Guess it's an independent, "don't think I can't do it" American thing. Or maybe just a Makenzie thing.
We're going to the pub in a bit. I have to take a shower to wash the flith of two days and two airplanes off me, and lucky for me, there's one shower and it's two floors down. Lovely. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I'll do what I always did at school freshman year, strap on my towel and trek down. We'll see how it goes.
I'm homesick already but so excited to see where this adventure will take me. I'll write again tomorrow.
Cheers,
Kenz
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