bi-ding!

here i am, i'm really going to do this online techno journaling thing... but only because i'm in london. i hope this doesn't replace my journal, but i know it might replace emailing with friends. i hate to do it because this is a really impersonal way to keep in contact. but not if the readers post comments frequently! (hint-hint) i hope that everyone at home will enjoy. i'm just going for convenience here--which isn't always the best route, i know, but it's kind of a must in my situation.

so on to the journaling/storytelling: (no summarizing involved)

i stayed in the fabulous raddison airport hotel with papá. but i couldn't enjoy it to the fullest, because we got there & i just tried to figure out how to connect to the internet for my flight ticket information. i was dead tired! those who know me may testify that i can fall asleep quite easily, but that night was different. i was falling asleep everytime i sat down, but i was also half-asleep for the rest of the time. my body took over, and after finally connecting, i just crawled into the high-tech beds, which had remotes that filled air into the beds making them more soft or more firm--i would have played around with that had i been awake. waking up was fairly easy & papá and i made it to the airport just fine. we checked the new samsonite hard-side suitcase, having to remove just 2 sketchbooks to keep it underweight. he walked me to the security point & i think we both didn't realize it was the goodbye-point. we were both calmly uptight about doing everything that we said goodbye & i love you from a distance. unexpectedly, i smiled when i turned & didn't see him anymore becaue i was sad that i didn't get to hug him. i wouldn't have guessed i'd feel that way. i think he & i are a lot alike in public situations. i don't know exactly how that is. we like to get things done without making a scene but without being wimpy. i think we both focused on that & didn't remember about anything but the logical crap until it was too late.

i made it just fine to my gate, & quickly met with my travel group--austin, emily & jessica. i'd known them all from before. it was fun to talk during the wait time. we flew to texas first & met up with andrea, who just graduated in speech pathology & was coming with us too. i like her. she gave us wheat tortillas and grapes--i like to eat grapes. she's awaiting a mission call. i loved her shoes. the second flight went well & i smiled to see new york from above. i had window seats on the first two flights & loved it! the view from an airplane window is incredible. i really was so fascinated for some reason--more than ever. clouds are amazing! who'd-a-thunk we'd ever be able to see inside & above clouds. how impressive... the new york airport was fun for me. i was smiling as i walked around and observed. it was under construction so it was hard to find the right gate because we had to go outside and back in. but at least i can say i've been on the street of new york; smelled new york air; saw the new york sky; blah blah blah. we boarded pretty fast & then sat there on the static airplane for 2+ hours! we could have watched a whole movie. the delay was first due to someone who checked their bags, but didn't board the plane so they had to go find the bags & take them out. then there was bad weather all over new england so every flight was delayed & we were waiting in this big line to take-off. it wasn't horrible though. andrea switched seats and sat by cool people. i wish i would have spoken with the vegetarian princeton student or the half-african-half-polish familiy traveling to hungary. i heard bits of what they said to andrea, but was in no position to join the conversation. so i slept a lot instead. the lasagna dinner wasn't bad. the bagle chips & muffin bar were horrid. maybe because we ate dinner at 9pmish our time, and had 'breakfast' at 1am our time. my tummy hurt after that. i slept and read my book (of mice & men--from danny sullivan for the high school literature club that never really met).

we got landed in london around 8:15 am instead of 6ish. i'd say we were a bit confused or uneasy as we took our bags to the tube and onto the streets to get to the london centre, but did everything exactly as we should have. we couldn't take the tube route that i had memorized because the picadilly line of the subway was suspended. they kept announcing that it was "due to a person under the train." i hope that didn't mean dead person literally under a train. in any case, the entire line was transferred at the same stop, which made for a very crowded ride with our luggage. thanks to mom & papá, though, for one very handy-turny suitcase. (the others each had two roller suitcases.) i was impressed with one very helpful black guy standing in the doorway. he helped all of us with all our luggage & helped people squish to make more room. he did it all without a smile, but i was impressed nonetheless. even with the suspension, we made all the right stops & transfers to get to notting hill gate. the hardest part was lugging our luggage up the staircase to the street. but once we got there, we were all quiet with awe as we just looked around during our walk to the centre. it was about 5 blocks--a fun 5 blocks.

i rang the doorbell (is there a different british word for doorbell?) and jenny answered! just the one i wanted to see. her brothers were playing the london version of monopoly in the dining room. (already a reminder of my family who has had monopoly out on the kitchen table for the past weekend--a weekend that made me wonder why monopoly was so famouse. our game was super-boring; to me, at least). the five of us in the group were pretty much the first to show up. i was hot, sweaty, & tired, but not uncomfortable physically--or socially. that tend to happen in new situations, but joe (ostraff--jenny's dad, my art professor & fellow longboarder) made me feel quite loved & wanted from the beginning. we had a really good chat & his son caleb took my bag up to my room.

i'm in room 4 on floor 3. only the boys' room is above us. there's a large bathroom on my floor and 7 bunks in my room, making for 13 roommates. our flat is very old; very english. the cielings are high & decorated, but BYU has remodeled it several times & so everything looks very well-preserved. i had second-pick & chose a top bunk by the door to the fire escape. there's no air conditioning except in the classroom, so that door will make for a valuable breeze. i couldn't decide whether i wanted top or bottom (i really debated for a while), but then i saw signatures on the boards above the bottom bunk. one of them read, "Top Bunk: Megan Kawasaki is a Kung-Fu Freakin' Master." that sealed the deal--i'd take the same bunk as my good friend megan. (we used to chant that slogan in the high school halls).

i showered a rewarding cool shower & didn't make the bed or unpack before going with jenny & a few others to stroll around london. we visited a grocery store inside a mall (where i stepped inside my first H&M!) . we also used the ATM there & i now have my first english currency. we took the tube around a bunch & she showed us hyde park & the downtown london LDS chapel. i was loving it--paricularly everyone's shoes. they were all so different & so cool... it's weird, i know. i chose to stick with jenny to run an erand to Lilywhite's--a sporting goods store. they didn't have what she came for--volleyball nets. i got tired from all the walking & we were home after several tube rides. (the program gave us a tube pass for this week so we can go exploring. i must put it to good use!) i didn't really buy anything during our excursion, though i wanted a lot. i figure i'll do my shopping when i know what's out there, i guess. i hope. but i also need to watch the budget!

we got home in time for me to begin helping with dinner--i was assigned to the first week of kitchen-duty; a good thing because my one week will be overwith at the beginning. plus, i got to meet tina right away. tony & tina live here to watch & host all groups that come through. tina has a great culinary reputation & only proved it tonight. i helped to chop everything for the salads. the big industrial kitchen is downstairs & all the big platters are sent up on the 'lift.' This would be of particular interest to my darling siblings-- there is a door to open downstairs revealing two shelves. we, for example loaded the shelves with platters of breadsticks, then closed the door & pushed the send button which took the breadsticks straight up to the dining rooms! it's a very handy mini-elevator. our main dish was a soup of some kind. i wish i knew what was in it, but it reminded me of the knudsen soups. dessert was fabulous bread pudding with custard. tina's also famous for her custard. i sat myself & everyone i knew sat at the same table. austin got a kick out of ashton's favorite song being karma police. i hope ashton can sing it for austin someday. i spent a while learning the ropes of kitchen duty after dinner. i had some good talks with jenny while she taught me.

then i spent a good amount of time with emily & jenny--we talked & visited our 3 different rooms. i finally unpacked. i lent jenny some skirts. i met two other girls in our room, andrea & chelsea. andrea mather went to lone peak & knows lorilee really well. i ended up watching the last bit of ferris beuler's day off. i could have easily fallen asleep, but my plan was to stay up tonight so that it's as if i just had one night of really bad sleep. i don't know if it will work, but that's why i'm here typing away. because i can. i don't think i'll have this amount of time again while i'm here, but it's a good start, right?

in any case, there is someone in line for the computer now.