I woke up Monday morning with my stomach in knots knowing that in just a few hours I would be on a plane to England. Chris came over for lunch and my sister skipped her 4th period class to take me to Pearson. With a quick goodbye to my dad, we Chris hauled all my luggage into the truck and we were off.
At the airport I had butterflies in my stomach. I weighed my luggage, checked in and stood in a long snake line to check my carry on baggage. After all that was done we stood around chatting and waiting for the inevitable moment of the big goodbyes. Stalling, we stood by the gate/check carry on area chatting and telling my myself this does not need to be a very emotional moment.
At 5 o'clock I decided to say my big goodbyes [I didn't cry] and waited in line to check my carry on. What a pain to take my laptop out of its case and take off my shoes before I could enter the scanner without beeping. Susan had her bag thoroughly inspected, something about some hand sanitizer or something. Watch out she might get ya in the eye. With a final wave to my family we took the quiet trek down a hall and down some stairs to sit by our gate. Sitting there it still had not sunk in my head that I was going to England. The last time I was in Europe was 8 years ago and that was with my family.
Our boarding time was supposed to be 6:20pm but even though we didn't have working cellphones or working watches we had a feeling it was getting pretty close to that time or about that time and we hadn't been called yet. Once we, finally, boarded the plane we passed by the "1st class" section where I had to take a second look at those seats!
I wouldn't have a problem falling asleep in these seats!After settling in our seats and waiting to take off we moved toward the de-icing station and waited for another 15 minutes for the plane to be de-iced. During take off I took Susan's advice and closed my eyes which helped and I felt us leave the ground. Sitting on the plane was a little unsettling but I just had to trust it.
We don't look nervous at all! Our meal was chicken pasta with a fruit/veggie salad, a bun and a brownie. Not bad. Susan and I decided to watch a movie together since Air Canada plane seats each have a television on the back of them. We watched PostGrad, you know the movie where the girl graduates from college and can't find a job and has to return to live with her parents and is blind by her friend's affection for her? Yeah it was ok. Kinda reminded us about ourselves. After a couple of dozes I woke up to breakfast which consisted of a muffin. It was ok as well.
Landing went so smoothly and I now could finally relax. Susan and I made our way off the plane and went searching for our luggage. We found it within 30 seconds (literally) and with 25lbs on our backs and pulling 55lbs we were off toward the tube station. Taking the escalators was a mission (for me anyways). I devised a plan where I would place my carry on bag on the escalator alone and then hop on with my backpack and suitcase. We made it onto the tube during RUSH HOUR. I don't think people going to work in the morning were impressed with the amount of space we took up on their train. We made it to the station where Susan had to pick up the key to her friend's flat and then were off to another station toward the place. With blisters forming on our hands and our shoulders getting sore we finally made it to the flat where we carried our luggage up in shifts. After settling our belongings the next best thing happened...a nap!
After our 5 hour nap we went to the local supermarket and bought some essentials; bananas, cereal, milk, apples, etc. Susan's friend Sam showed us around the neighborhood (basically the downtown part of the west side) where I recognized stores (H&M, Foot Locker, The Body Shop, Starbucks, etc). We ended the night with skype conversations with our friends/family back home.
Tomorrow is our induction meeting where we get to sign stuff and learn a little bit more about our teaching jobs. There is still a lot to get settled before we will begin to feel like we are living in London and not living out of suitcases.
Good afternoon Toronto, Goodnight London
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