I'm Going Down Like London, London, London??

So let's see here. It's been like a week and a half since I got here and I will quickly try and describe both the bad and the good of what has gone down, as there's been plenty of both.

I hung out with my parents the night beforehand which was kinda nice as I barely got to see them while I was there. They've opened up a new business there in the mall in Morrisville which looks really cool but that mall is kinda scary. There's like no business. Which is odd being that it's right next to the airport, but whatever. Mom and them must know what they're doing, so yeah that was fun. We got up on Tuesday and we all went to Perkins and had breakfast, and then they took me over to the airport where I got rushed onto the plane at like literally the last minute and had to throw my wonderful blue comforter away (I'll miss you comforter!) because it was taking the scales over and I would've had to pay $150.00. So yeah got rushed onto the plane, and realized as I flew away that my father left the wheels for my manual on the other wheelchair frame in the car, so yes as of now I have a manual wheelchair frame but no wheels. Quite annoying.

But anyway, on the plane over to London, sat next to this lovely elderly lady and we talked about everything including her love for (dare I say it) black pudding, an her friend's revulsion to it. lol. So that was fun. Then I got here and the drama started right away. I didn't even get an hour to get used to it. As when I got off the plane, the people in the airport couldn't figure out how to release my chair straps, and they wanted to cut them off, which I didn't want. So yeah that took like 30 minutes of nothing, and then I got to th top of the terminal and couldn't find any representatives from the school so the airport had to make an announcement and put me on the spot, but I finally found them, and we got going.

I met some new people including Natalie, who's been my godsend through this thus far. She's another person in the Creative Writing program (her stuff is like whoa) and she's also from North Carolina-Queen's city!-so that was really cool and we hit it off like right away. I got to the school and discovered just how cold London can really be from the Carolinas, as it was an immediate 55 off the plane I wa it.s frickin' freezing. Our guide from the airport, Mark (who's actually kinda hot in a retro Beatles kinda way) was really nice, and I got moved into my room with relatively little fanfare (unlike the situation that was Ludwigsburg, Germany). So yeah but then the problems began again.

Apparently, like in other parts of Europe, people in wheelchairs are eitiher A) elderly or B) not in sight, so like they have laws that forbid people from riding the buses or public transportation if we use scooters and whatnot. Case in point, I do. So at this moment, I'm kinda stuck as to how to get over this, as buses are the primary mode of transportation for this part of the world followed by of course, the freakin' Underground. So yeah, that's a major problem. But with the school and all, everything is progressing albeit rather slowly and classes officially start Tuesday for me. So that will be interesting. I'm laughing at some of these choices on our reading list like Steven King's "The Long Walk" which was actually pretty good. A group of boys who volunteer to walk in this race where everytime you fall below 4mph, you're killed and the last person standing gets The Prize, which is whatever you want for the rest of your life. So yeah it was weird, but good. Now I'm reading E. Anne Proulx's "The Shipping News," which is also interesting about some nobody kind of guy who up and decides to relocate his life to Newfoundland, after his whole life goes wrong in all sorts of ways.

Have I covered the basics? Oh wait not quite. The men. So yeah the people here, not so sure that's going to work, whereas in Germany I had an absolute blast with the international team, this time's a bit different as there's like this wall behind us (the people who've done this "school" thing before) and them (those thare like oh so psyched to be starting it for the first time. I suppose I can't begrudge them their chance at happiness but damn! do you have to be so damn drunk all the time? I mean in America even WE have limits as skewed as they are. But anyway, lot of guys trying to holler, don't want to them all but there's Graham, a hot 45 year old who just wants to get off on my feet, Sven, 27 from Germany who just suddenly disappeared off the earth after supposedly to meet me here at the University (didn't happen), and the one I'm most excited for, Sean, 23 who just graduated from Kingston University down the street here and spent a semster at UNC-Charlotte. So I'm getting my Brit who already knows a bit about the Carolinas! Score! But I haven't met Sean yet. We're planning on getting together Monday night. That should be fun I think.

So more updates in the future including, how after a year and a half of not getting sick in DC, I move to London and get violently ill in the first week, as well as the infamous "squash" ordeal. Later!

*whisper* Seven Days....

Yeah it's kinda getting like the Ring, it's that scary. So yeah I have less than a week to go now before the biggest thing I've ever attempted in my life comes to full fruition and I'm ready to just get it the fuck over with now. All this prepping, all the stress, heartache and worrying over finances, acceptances, plan B's, and all of that, I'm ready for it to finish and die.

I went with my brother today (who on a side note is doing much better now, he is a manager of a cafe, and has his car and his license--though his driving scares the crap out of me, stalling every few minutes--and his own apartment, when he moved in with Anime Matt) and we went shopping over at Plato's Closet in Crossroads. It was bittersweet for me to be in there again, since I've always come back to them every year or so, whenever I was in the area because I know that they'll always have something I like. And for those of you who don't know, Plato's Closet is a secondhand twenty-somethings clothing store, kinda like a hip thrift shop without the hobos. So yeah I went in their for what feels like the last time today and I copped a few sweaters and a couple jackets and a book or two for good measure. I'm certainly going to miss that place. I mean where else can you get a $300.00 Angora wool jacket, a DKNY fleece jacket, a $40.00 pair of jeans, three sweaters a belt and two books for $97.00? Priceless, I tell you!

I decided to come back home, after pulling money out to give back to Matt after he let me borrow $100.00 this past weekend when I went with Efrain back to Robeson County (ehhhh daddday!) for his mom's third wedding to Mr. Bill. That was really nice, and the wedding was simple yet elegant, (Efrain's sister Ballina looked SOOOO amazing in that red dress and that make-up!!! oh my God!) and it was really nice. I had a good time and the food was good, as was the fellowship. We managed to sneak in a few hours in Pembroke as well, and that was good. I got to hang out with Tracy and Marcus for awhile, which is always good for a laugh. We drank mango vodka and just talked and it was nice. I managed to get to church last weekend with mom and it was interesting to be sitting back in that place after being gone from it for awhile. The guy that was preaching was literally just like grandpa which I wasn't feeling but his message was good, I suppose. Speaking of which, we went to see them as well after church and that was actually a good trip. We went to Golden Corral and hung out eating and laughing at our crazy grandma who demanded that the waitress (who's only real job is to make sure we're good and clean the table of dishes) get her some hot pieces of chicken from the bar. Hilarious!


So for London, that has been interesting. Everything is completely finished. I have my plane ticket, my room, the people picking me up, and my loans have arrived and are waiting on me to get there. So yeah that's all done. I receieved a packet about the program the other day and it was really interesting to read. I guess now things are getting serious, as I was only catching about half of what the man was trying to say when I was reading the once-over from the Program Lead, but I'm hoping I'll catch more of it once I know what's going on for sure. I do know one thing though, the school has a very nice system worked out online for many things but they need to do some immediate improvement in that area! If you're going to offer enrollment online don't wait until people are about to show up before you fix it! (I've already signed up for classes but with a week to go before I'm scheduled to arrive, they still haven't been confirmed. Not a good look!) And I also went and bought a bunch of textbooks via online tonight, and that was interesting as well. I don't know if they're all going to get here in time (I hope so) but I guess now I'm really a student as some of that stuff is so over the top but I'm still going to try to pour into it and get something really deep and meaningful out of it, even if it's just to put something down for a thesis. lol.

So yeah the last week going into the last week has been really good. I've gotten to see a lot of people and eat at the places I like (Zeno's and Kabuki will always be the best!), see a wedding and hang out with old friends from Pembroke. Play videogames and go shopping. Pretty well-rounded, wouldn't you say?