Norwich-ing It Once Again

What up, dudes!? Or something less dumb… hehe…. Hi! So, I made it back to Norwich, after 24 hours of traveling, which, hopefully, I will not do again until I go back to NM for good! For those of you who don’t know, I spent the last week (ish) in New Mexico, seeing friends and family, mountains again, driving again, spending American dollars, and going to Laura & Chris’ Wedding… it was all quite fun! Needless to say, however, I’m glad I’m back in the UK, but I must admit that coming back was a lot harder than I expected it to be. I think I may have stayed home for a bit too long. After the wedding excitement was over, and I’d seen all my friends at least once, the novelty of it started to wear off and I sank back into my old routines, and it started to feel like home again, rather than just a vacation.

Anyway, the trip back was good. I woke up at about 5:30 that morning so that I could take a shower and make it to the airport on time. I had finally gotten over my jet lag, and now here I was, waking up *before* the crack of dawn so that I could do it all over again. I was flying standby, so there was a bit of apprehension as to whether or not I would actually get a flight, but I got onto the flight from ABQ to Atlanta just fine, and then I had a 4.5 hour layover in Atlanta. I busied myself by watching Friends (of which I now own all ten seasons, thanks to Christmas), and getting on the internet. It was great, although, whoever the genius is that decided we had to pay for wi-fi in public places is no friend of mine.

So the time to board the other flight was drawing near, and I still hadn’t heard from the check in people whether or not I had gotten on the flight. So getting slightly nervous, I went and asked even though they had told me just to wait for my name, which was what they told me (again) when I asked. But, just after they started boarding they called my name, and I got my ticket. When I looked at it though, it said that I was in seat 1G. “Did I just get first class?” I thought. And lo and behold, I did! So I walked up, in amazement, to first class, and while I’m trying to stuff my two bags in the overhead compartments, the flight attendant comes up to me and asks if I would like her to hang my jacket up!? So of course I said, sure. So now I’m in even more amazement.

I tell you what, they really do treat you like you’re gold in first class. I thought it was great, cause I’d never flown first class before. But the seats are enormous, they offer you champagne as you’re sitting down, you get to choose what kind of meal you want, and its freshly cooked, right there… or at least it tastes like it has been. I also had my own personal little movie screen, which I could choose what movie I wanted to watch, and then when the flight attendant saw me watching a movie, she came over and gave me nice big ol’ noise-cancelling head phones! Anyway, I spent the entire 7 hour flight in shock and awe, thinking that I gotta do that again. Anyway, thanks Mr. Wesselman!

Well, we made it into London by about 6:15 the next morning (due to the 7 hour time difference), and I went through passport control, and all that and had to go find the National Express ticket counter so I could get a bus back to Norwich… I had decided going into London to get the train just wasn’t worth it. So I bought my over priced ticket and waited about an hour (thankfully not 3 or 4!) for the coach. By this time I’m already nearing sheer exhaustion, but the coach came and I got on it, knowing that I had another full 5 hours to go. By the way, there is absolutely nothing redeeming about coaches. They are uncomfortable, almost impossible to sleep in, and this one was freezing! I made it back to Norwich by about 2pm that day, so I’d been up and going for almost 27 hours at this point.

Well, I couldn’t go to sleep, otherwise I’d be screwed for that night, so I chatted with Heather for a little while as she’d just gotten back the day before from Italy and Spain. I took a shower and then we made dinner after running onto campus to check our mail and stuff. Oh, and I have a new flatmate… the one who moved into Leigh’s room. Her name is Kara and she’s from Hawaii and so far we’re getting along just fine. She’s pretty nice. Anyway, I made it til about 9:30pm, barely, after watching Friends and making cookies with Heather to try to keep me awake, but after that I was completely and totally gone. I slept for a good 12 hours that night, too, and boy could I feel it this morning! Shoot, I got up and made breakfast though (mmmm, breakfast!) and then we (Heather, Kara, and I) hit town to go shopping.

So now I’m all stocked up on food, and ready to start the semester, even though I don’t know what time my classes are. Bleh. Haha, I guess I’ll find out on Monday, and hope I don’t have one then!

Well my roommates are slowly trickling in. So far the flat’s about halfway full, but I think the rest are getting in tomorrow evening… and once again, we’ll start school, and all will be back to normal… sorta. Anyway, Leigh, if you’re reading this, we miss you already and its weird without you! And everyone back in NM, I miss you already too, but I’ll be seeing you in six months!