As far as arrivals go, our arrival in London was fairly smooth, I thought.  I’ve not had much experience with entering other countries, but the first line moved fairly quickly and I don’t think any of the people in our group were stopped in customs.  I had gotten four hours of sleep on our flight from Philadelphia to London, which is more than most got, I think.  Due to that, and partially adrenaline, I was feeling pretty good once we got out of customs.

That being said, it was all a bit of a blur, so maybe I wasn’t as awake as I think I was.  I think I was alert, just not processing.  I will do my best to describe the scene:  I remember that there were a lot of people with signs, but it was fairly easy to find the CCSA sign.  Our little group was the first out of customs so we stood off to the side by a coffee shop while waiting for the rest of the group – from Cincinnati, I think – to get through baggage claim and customs.  They were only a few minutes behind us.

I remember debating with myself over whether or not to get a bottle of water or not.  The guide had told us that it could take up to an hour to get to the Hampstead campus, and I was sure that if I were to get a water bottle I would have to go to the bathroom.  However, I was pretty sure that I was a bit dehydrated, so I decided to get a water bottle.  Then I saw a vending machine.  I thought that it would probably be cheaper and easier to buy water from the vending machine, as the coffee shop seemed to be very busy.  Then I decided that my first experience attempting to buy something with British money should probably not be with a machine, so I finally made the decision to forgo on the water bottle.

I think the whole experience would have been much more difficult if I had been on my own.  However, I was not.  By the end of our long trip, there were six of us from Western, and we pretty much stuck together.  We went through all the lines together, we navigated our way through the airports together, we waited for our flights together, etc..  Speaking as someone from a small town, it was very helpful to have peers to go through the large airports with.

In the Philadelphia airport, my mother called to let me know that I had forgotten my camera.  We had gone to the coast for the 4^th of July and I had taken my camera out of my carry-on bag to take pictures of the parade and apparently had not put it back in my bag.  Of all the things to forget…  Anyway, so I did not get many pictures at our arrival.  I had my iphone with me, and I took one picture on the bus ride to campus.

It’s a little blurry because the bus was moving, so I’ll tell you what it is (or, at least, what I think it is).  It is a lovely brick building with a McDonald’s sign on it.  I’m assuming that makes it a McDonald’s, although I am a bit skeptical.  I have yet to be convinced that that beautiful brick building near Heathrow airport was a McDonald’s.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get back to it.

I had no Aha, I am in London moment.  Not when I stepped off the plane, not when I made it through customs, not when I first stepped outside.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s all been fantastic and beautiful and wonderful.  There just hasn’t been that struck-by-a-bolt-of-lightening feeling that I guess I was expecting (which is probably a good thing).  Being here just feels natural.  I think that’s the simplest way to explain it.

Final note:  I have not yet bought another camera (although my parents did give me permission to), but I did take a lot of pictures on our city tour with my iphone.  I think as long as I keep it charged, I can manage with it, as it does take really great pictures when the pictures are not being taken from a moving vehicle.

Emily W.