Power Trip

After 11 hours on a plane, I arrived in London yesterday. I would have blogged about my arrival last night, but I felt like I could be an extra on “The Walking Dead,” so coherent thoughts were not happening. A great example of this is as I was being shuttled to the Study Centre, I barely looked around. When I did look around, I couldn’t really process what I was seeing. I mean, I was in LONDON for crying out loud! London is an overwhelming city. The streets are teeming with activity and people. The traffic is crazy! Between mass transportation buses, the buses loaded with tourists, the taxis, and the people on bicycles (motor and otherwise), I don’t know how anybody drives here. It reminded me of the scene in “Sean of the Dead,” when Sean asks David if he has a car in order to get everyone out of the zombie-infested city. David’s response is, “I don’t see the point in owning a car in London.” I’m with you David, I don’t think I could see a point either. Apparently London has one of the nicest and easiest public transportation systems around. I have yet to experience this, but I’m looking forward to it. As a girl who has always driven on her own, on my own time, experiencing public transportation in such a large city will be interesting.

A place I definitely want to get to!!
 

It’s strange… Looking around, the city doesn’t appear that different than any major American city. I have been able to find a favorite grocery store, a couple of pubs that look promising, and some parks. I am reminded very often however, that this is indeed a city in another country. I *think* I have the money figured out somewhat. I have been thinking about it in terms of dollars so I don’t feel so bad about the exchange rate. I find myself thinking, “oh, that’s only $3.00, not bad at all..” when in reality it is £3.00 and that is really $4.45. I will probably just keep living in that comfortable little delusion for a while. I also *think* I have the electricity thing figured out as well. I haven’t fried any appliances, and my devices are charging as we speak.

OF COURSE this is safe!

The one thing I am having trouble doing is disconnecting myself from my life at home. I find myself looking at the clock and thinking about the time difference and what is happening at home at this moment. For example, it’s almost 5:00pm in London, which makes it almost 9:00am in Washington. At 9:00am, I’m usually watching “What Not to Wear” and drinking coffee while my kids finish their breakfast. I know I have to stop doing that. As things continue and activities and assignments keep happening, I’m sure I will think less about that.