Saturday, June 30, 2012

Mind the Gap! (between my brain and my spine)

So I won't bore you details of my flight. Sufficed to say it was much like every other long haul voyage - torturous - but I landed on British soil without a scratch on me (though rather sleep deprived).

The line for immigration was monstrous - snaking left and right for miles. I was feeling rather fragile and miserable at this point as I joined the queue - and it occurred to me that it's rather disheartening to arrive at the airport when there's no one to meet you. Not that I expected someone to be waiting - only that it would've been nice to get a hug at the end of a frankly torturous 22 hours of flying.

I lugged myself and my baggage onto the Tube (minding the gap!) and tried desperately not to look like a tourist as I exited at Waterloo station and walked around a bit trying to get my bearings and locate the College. Naturally I walked ten minutes in the wrong direction, but I got there in the end.
 Súbor:Bakerloo line - Waterloo - Mind the gap.jpg
Now, Murphy's Law states that "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" - so I was not surprised when there was some hiccups sorting out my room but I got my key in the end with the help of two jolly security guards.

I grew brighter as I made my way into the courtyard and looked up to see this majestic panorama.


I eagerly swiped my key and took the lift up to my floor. With growing excitement I turned the key and opened the door of the flat to reveal: a shoe box.




Okay, so it's got all the necessary amenities (including a mini fridge) and it's clean but these pictures do not convey the smallness of this room. The bathroom is a closet. I'm not going to show you a picture of that because who really wants to see pictures of toilets?  Strangely enough, it's not the smallest room I've ever had to live in- but just believe me when I say there is more space in my little Honda hatchback than the bathroom.

Anyway, it's almost 10 o'clock and only just starting to get dark - which is confusing in itself. In my infinite wisdom I brought myself a microwaveable container and 90 sec porridge sachets which now enables me to stay in the entire night and shake off this rather taxing jet lag I seem to have contracted.

Hopefully I'll have something a little more interesting to report tomorrow when I trek out to do a bit of exploring.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

count down

Three more days and I'm off to Old Blighty. To the land which brought us Colin Firth, One Direction and Colonial Imperialism.

IT'S GONNA BE BLOODY BRILLIANT!



I should add that I do not like One Direction. I'm sure if I was a pre-pubescent tweeny their sexually non-threatening allure would have me in an (ironically) hormonal haze but at my age it might be considered just a bit icky.

Colin Firth in BBC's 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice, in his sodden linen shirt and riding boots on the other hand is the man I credit with my sexual awakening and no doubt explains my unfortunately penchant for men with "dark triad" personality traits. Bravo sir, Bravo.