You alright?

I'm in UK, trick! Yeah, that was corny song reference. But really, I have arrived safely and with little damage, except for some sore shoulders and feet. But man, do they hoit!

Basically, I left on Saturday to LAX at 3 AM with my pops. Equipped with two suitcases, a carry-on, and my ginormous backpack, I sat in the passenger seat -- making scattered conversation with my dad so that he'd stay awake -- while trying to keep my own eyes open. I'd had a lot of trouble sleeping the evening before and probably accumulated a total of 3 hours at most. We made it to the airport, where I met up with Elaine, Tommy, Michael Luuzoid, and Aaron. Retrieved my boading pass, checked my luggage, and made it through security with relative ease. Before making my way to the terminal, I had a heartfelt goodbye with fasha. I asked him if he would miss me, and he said, "of course." I knew he would say that, lulz :).

My first flight to Atlanta was only 4 hours, so I wasn't sitting/exposed to that recycled airplane air for too long. The only problem was the landing. It was ROUGH. In fact, it was the worst one I've ever experienced, and I felt so.utterly.nauseated. Ridiculous, son. After getting off of the plane and finding water/a place to rest, it slowly passed. Since we had 4-5 hours to kill, the group went for some overpriced airport food. Afterward, we played countless rounds of 13s and a game of Mafia. Funzo, fasho!

Boarded our second flight to Gatwick London around 5 pm. Unfortunately, the chairs were not as spacious as the ones on the previous flight. I knew this was going to spell trouble for me lata. Things started off alright, but then we experienced some turbulence which made me feel like barfing again. Thankfully, I didn't. I felt hot and cold and almost feverish the majority of the flight. Because I was conscious practically the entire time and couldn't sleep, I was plagued by major discomfort. I was suffering so much that I cried, but only a little bit. It's true, I can't hang.

So 8 hours later, we finally made it to London. I was green in the face and in need of some rest. Too bad for me! We all obtained our student visas, purchased our train tickets to Brighton, and picked up our luggage. There was a lot of it. And that is an understatement. We took a short ride to the South Terminal, where we tried to make it to our platform and catch our train to Brighton. That didn't work out so well because we had to return the carts on which our luggage was piled. A porter came along and picked up all of our luggage. In an amazing display of strength, he piled the luggage of 8-9 people onto two dollies and transported it to where we needed it to be. In short, we hopped on the train and got off at Brighton. Then we hopped onto another one which took us to Falmer. At Falmer, Sussex staff greeted us and we got onto buses that drove us to Lancaster House for check-in.

Greasy, sweating, and having missed a shower and two teeth brushings, I was in no mood to socialize. And plus, it is so hard to make a good impression and look cute after a long trip. I got my welcome packet, my keys, and made it to my room. I unpacked and tidied myself up. Went for Tommy's noodle stash and had some instant pho in a bag. Doesn't sound appetizing, but it was HEAVEN! Really. Afterward, went on the campus tour but was too tired to understand what was going on. Somehow, I made my way back to my room and knocked out for 3 hours. Woke up and stumbled into the Welcome Reception, where there was a ton of beer. A little music, some finger foods. It's true... food here is not all that and a bag of chips. It's just bad. Sorry to say :(

Ok, so for first impressions: I am in the countryside, and I love it. My surroundings are green and lush, which is a nice change from OC. From my dorm window, I can see a ton of rabbits hopping around. I am expecting a flock of sheep to come through any time now. The university is quite old, as are our accomodations. I live in Norwich House, and there is a funky, fishy smell in my corridor. Still, I'm happy to have my own room, complete with its very own bed, desk, closet, and sink (<-- kind of odd, but convenient)! Oh, the bathrooms are co-ed. It was weird peeing alongside Michael Luu. The toilets don't exactly flush when you want them to and the water pressure in the showers is inconceivably weak.

Time to get ready for orientation at 9! More updates soon.