Settling in, or trying to.

We landed a full hour before we were meant to yesterday (apparently there was a good tail wind because it only took 9 hours from LA, which is unusual). I had hired a car to take me to my flat, my family and I decided that would be the easier route, especially because I live off the Jubilee line which would require going all the way to Green Park and switching. So I got a lovely little tour of the area between Heathrow and West Hampstead (there was a lot of traffic and it was pretty run down).


My flat.

I live in a block of flats that has just opened this year and was made just for students. I got a studio on the first floor so I have a little kitchenette and my own bathroom which is perfect for me. There is a lot of floor space as well considering I believe this is a handicapped room because of the collection of call buttons and shower seat, so I guess if I every feel faint, I'm in good hands. I've mainly just been trying to get all the essentials to get me through the rest of the month, unfortunately for me, I'm living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. 

I forgot how much I hate living with other students  undergraduates. So far I have been serenaded at 1:30 in the morning by "You're the One that I Want" from Grease (unfortunately just one verse of it with a very prominent emphasis on "you-hoo-hoo") which was followed by a repeat of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" (Just "Darling you send me" over and over again), the consolation being that there was only one girl singing this one and she actually had quite a nice voice. And then tonight it sounds like there is a rooftop party happening (if my eavesdropping skills are to be trusted, which they are because the guy who said it I think wanted everyone in West Hampstead to know). As long as I can't hear it, I'm good with it. It's not that I wouldn't like to go to a rooftop party, I just don't think I want to go with this crowd. Not yet at least. 

So for the time being I'll get settled in to my little flat while I munch on some green grapes.

Did I mention that I can hear the Metropolitan Line going by? It's right outside my window (I can't see it because there is a brick wall with some barbed wire in the way), I hear it rattle along the tracks in that old familiar way and occasionally toot a horn. And even though the occasional shouting and mis-sung lyrics that come from my neighbors get me down, I just listen for the train, and it puts me right again.

In fact I was questioning whether I made the right choice coming back. Before I had a group of friends waiting for me, I had accommodation planed, trips organized and theatre to see every night. It's completely different now, I know no one, I'm dealing with getting things organized and where and when I should be somewhere and by what means--frankly it scares the shit out of me and makes me want to curl up and never come out of my room. But then I went on my traditional walk. I've done it on the second night in London every single time I come here. I get off the train at Westminster, take the Houses of Parliament exit and walk across the bridge to Bankside, then all the way to The Tower of London. The first time was with Bill and Ainsley, second with Christine, this time I went solo. I honestly didn't feel in danger at all, there were so many tourists and people enjoying the cool night and the remains of the summer festivities on Southbank. And stand there watching the sun set behind the Houses of Parliament and hearing Big Ben chime again, reminded me why I wanted to come back so badly. And as I walked and took a hundred pictures (117 to be exact) the feeling of home began to grow back and with the gentle rock of the train as it speed from station to station (is it just me or is the Jubilee line super fast?) I felt like I had never left.

Must run now, it is getting late here and I have to be up early in the morning because I am meeting a fellow member of my program(me) in Maidenhead where she is currently docked (she lives on a houseboat thing and she is floating it down the Thames from Oxford to London!). I will leave you with some pictures to stare at if you've been put to sleep by my post.