Greetings from England!

Well, I'm here! :D After a very long and hectic journey, complete with trying to carry 2 fifty pound suitcases up an escalator, a seven hour flight where my seat was directly in the middle of two people, and a 5 and a half hour bus ride that was supposed to only be 2 hours, I made it! :) I am very, very happy to say that I am writing this blog in the comfort of my new dorm room, with my emptied suitcases neatly stowed away under my bed and my clothes hanging in the closet. I can't even believe that I'm really here, after all the paperwork and intense planning that went into this trip.
I just glanced at my first blog on here where I was talking about how I still feel like a little kid, and I had to laugh. During this whole trip so far, I had to be a real adult for the first time. I flew by myself for the first time, having to claim my bags at the next airport and recheck them in (something I have never done without my parents to help me). Honestly, I was terrified. I walked off that plane, expecting to see someone I knew to greet me and help me in the direction I needed to go in, but I was on my own. After silently freaking out for a couple minutes, I took a deep breath...and called my mom. (You thought I was gonna say I became this beacon of confidence and bravery huh?) Nope, I had so many questions and I called my reliable source who will calm me down and help me even if she had no idea what I was talking about. So I finally made it to the baggage claim, after riding on a scary shuttle filled with strangers and not knowing if I was even supposed to have gotten on it or not. But when I got the baggage claim 11 (I repeated in my head over & over as I walked there), it didn't say my airline, like I knew it was supposed to. Again, I silently freaked out, until I saw him. The man with the eye patch! Okay, it was really scary having a man with an eye patch sit behind you in an airplane, but at that moment, seeing him waiting at baggage claim 10, I was never more relieved to see his pirate attire. The next challenge: maneuvering two painfully heavy suitcases and a carry-on up an escalator. If you have never done that, I don't suggest it, its incredibly embarrassing and makes you feel like you're staring in a scene from the movie Elf. Anyway, I finally found my ticket counter, rechecked my bags and made my way to the gate. Once I got there, I was sooo relieved to see my friends waiting there for me because I knew that I didn't have to go it alone anymore. Like I said, my seat was directly in the middle of 2 seats and our row was in the middle of two more rows on either side, so I was dead-center. Of course, haha, I really didn't expect it to be any different ;) The flight was normal, I slept a little bit and watched some movies on the little screen while eating gross food and listening to a little boy get sick a couple rows back. Once we arrived in Heathrow, I was again met with my enemies, the 50 pound suitcases. The whole group went through customs (again we had to go alone, another test of our adult-ness), and lugged our bags to this big bus, which was to take us 2 hours to the university. Well, it was supposed to be two hours. When I woke up from a little nap on the bus about an hour into the drive, I looked out the window to see a blizzard all around us, covering everything with white. That's a problem: The drivers on the road are not used to snow like that, they usually drive in sleet or rain most of the time. Sure enough, every car on the road was at a stand-still, with people getting out of the cars not knowing what to do. Our bus was sliding all over the road too, and I don't think we made it over 10 mph for a loooong time. The two hour drive turned into a 5 and a half hour drive, on top of a 7 hour flight and a 2 hour flight. We were exhausted, so most people slept and the rest of us just sat there bored out of our minds. We made it, and brought up our luggage to our rooms, which are really little but manageable because we have our own bathrooms! :)Our group then had some pizza for a late dinner and were given instructions for tomorrow.
So here I am, pretty much unpacked, in my pajamas and totally looking forward to climbing into bed. Tomorrow we have orientation stuff all day, starting at 10am, which includes a trip to the town, so that'll be really cool. It's now 12:23am...so goodnight everyone! :)

ps. my posts won't probably ever be this long again, don't worry ;) haha I just had a lot to say this time :)