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!