Preludes

So I’ve been a bit remiss in the updating realm. I promise it hasn’t been purposeful, I have plenty of excuses involving being ill, not having working internet, and Word eating my documents. I’m now switching to the Mac Word Processing program – Pages. Obviously far superior. :-P

But this is an actual update, not just a post to antagonize PC users out there. 

After leaving KC I spent about 5 1/2 days with my brother in Chicago. We discovered that he has become old and boring, which suited me just fine, because I was born old and boring.  We mostly stuck to quiet pursuits, but we did have about 2 or 3 adventures.

First, the Sunday I was there, my brother had the cute idea to drive to Wisconsin to surprise his wife, who was staying there with her parents while they took care of a few things. This required us getting up at 5:30 am. He’s charming, non? 

Our other fun day came on Monday. Matt (brother) and I decided to head down to The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. This photo basically sums up that trip:

Yeah, I know. 

Tuesday evening was spent wandering downtown in Chicago while I waited for Matt to get out of his class. He’s working on degree number three. Clearly this need for school runs in the family. 

Wednesday kicked into high gear getting ready for the flight, which left at 6 pm that day. 

Oh yes, that flight. Here’s the ups and downs:

1. Virgin Atlantic in flight service rocks. 
2. One of few airlines that knows how to cater to the Celiac (or Coeliac) community. 

3. Heavy turbulence for five hours of flight = not a lot of fun. It was kinda like being on a roller coaster for part of the time. For those in doubt, I’m not the roller coaster type. 

4. Tea served two hours before landing is a great plan. Just saying.

5. Nasty customer service people who tell you despite your obvious injuries (I mean, I’m wearing a whiplash collar around my neck), you’ll have to manage your own luggage because she has no record of you calling to request help. Doesn’t matter that a call was made, if she doesn’t have a record of it, you’re still on your own. Fail Virgin Atlantic. Fail in large ways. 

Despite these ups and downs (literally in the case of the turbulence) I made it through Immigration and Customs without any issues. Leading up to coming over here, various folks made it sound like Immigration would be a nightmare. The following is my conversation with the Border Patrol Official:

Border Patrol: Where are you studying?

Me: Oxford

Border Patrol: What are you studying?

Me: Music.

Border Patrol: Great. Have a good time. *stamps passport*

Not really a big deal at all? 

However, I was greeted very enthusiastically on the other side of Customs by my older sister Rebekah. I felt fairly special. She then drove me to the other brother and sister-in-law’s place, on the outskirts of London. They live in between the last couple of stops on the Picadilly line. The other end from Heathrow. 

That was Thursday. I proceeded to nap and enjoy a fairly quiet evening.

Friday morning I babysat my nephews for a couple of hours, and then once they were down for their naps and my brother back at their house, I decided a bit of exploring was in order. I may be the only person to ever get lost in between their house and ASDA, but at least I have distinction. After finally locating ASDA (the English Walmart) I also located the gluten-free section and bought some of the most reasonably priced, and tastiest items I’ve had in awhile that are gluten-free.

Dear America, could you please catch up with England? Thanks, Karen. 

Saturday Rebekah drove over and she and I went sight-seeing in London. We decided to hit the Charles Dickens museum (long time obsession) and then the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. Obviously, you can’t take photos inside, but here’s the outside of the Palace, as well as a picture of me trying to get the Palace in the background. You can tell I wasn’t terribly successful. 

After the Palace we walked to Hyde Park (famed in storybooks everywhere) and took a few photos. This is where we learned, Karen really isn’t great at getting much beyond the people in the photo in the photo. I can’t get a monument or building in the background to save my life. 

Saturday night Rebekah spent the night at our brother’s place so we could get up Sunday and hear him speak at their church. He’s definitely the intellectual one. I’ll settle for being the artistic one in the family. :-)

If you think about it, keep a few folks from my program in your thoughts and prayers, they’re having trouble with the British Consulate. And that’s NO fun. 

Sunday evening we came back to Rebekah’s place, so I could catch a train to Oxford. Unfortunately, I picked up a flu bug and have spent more of the last 24 hours in bed than not. We’re going to drive up to Oxford tomorrow and see about getting me into the flat so I can go back to bed for portions of tomorrow. Another post is soon to come, with pictures of the flat, and hopefully of housemates. 

Stay tuned...