MSP-LON

An excellent trip always starts from a complicated beginning.. at least now it does! On Wednesday morning, I went to the MSP airport to catch a flight to Cincinnati, which would later connect me to a flight to London. When I arrived, I learned my flight was delayed. Really no big deal since I had a six hour layover in Cincinnati, however, about an hour and a half after my flight should have taken off, the flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. I was fourth in the long line to re-route, and coincidently, a woman from England was right behind me. So we chatted for a bit and both got an excellent non-stop, first class ticket to London that arrived 20 minutes before my planned plane would land. Pretty nifty! Her name is Ann and she is magnificent. We found our new gate together and then ate lunch and waited with each other. A few hours before our flight, we received our boarding passes, however, right after I got mine, there was an announcement about how the flight was overbooked. Since I had nothing better to do, I volunteered to go on the next flight, sacrificing my first class ticket, but gaining a $750 voucher for Northwest (and it’s good in Europe!) and money for a meal. Yum.

So my plans once again changed, and I was set up to fly to Amsterdam later on that evening. And then that flight was overbooked… Just kidding. I stepped on board my first plane ever Wednesday night. It was a lot different than I thought. It felt like we were moving so slow, but before I knew it, we had crossed all of Wisconsin! It was pretty cool. I slept on and off and the flight was amazing. I looked out my window during the night to see a sky full of beautiful stars. I watched the moon and sun rise. It was beautiful. And I saw the ocean for the first time ever, over eight miles below me. The plan arrived on time in Amsterdam and I had to attempt to get my boarding pass to London. I found my gate, after some time spent wandering around, and then I waited six hours. I wanted to go into town, but I didn’t have any Euros because I was not planning on going through Amsterdam (or any other country that uses Euros). Also, I did not have an actual ticket, just an agenda from Northwest, and I did not want to leave and have that cause problems later. So I visited a museum and the gift shops in the airport to get my fill of Holland culture. Finally, my flight to London took off and I arrived in London, with no place to stay.
(Above: The sunrise over the atlantic. The small light is Venus and bigger light is the moon)

I somehow accessed wifi at the airport and was searching for places, but didn’t have a phone to check for availability. A woman from the airport directed me to another concourse where there was a hotel. When I reached the other concourse, I couldn’t find what she was talking about and was about to leave when I saw a huge sign that said hotel. I stood by the hotel booth for a few minutes and finally worked up the courage to tell the woman that I needed some place to stay that was cheap. She knew of a nice hostel in Oxford, and so I continued to travel two and half hours by train to Oxford. I met a couple while I was waiting for my last train, and they accompanied me for awhile and pointed me in the right direction in Oxford. Unfortunately, the map confused me and I ended up taking a wrong turn almost right away. About a quarter of a mile later, I realized my mistake and turned around. I found the hostel immediately after I walked past my starting point. I struggled and got my luggage and myself in. I was somewhat tired and so I climbed into bed as quietly as I could. In the morning, I left as soon as I could for the bus station to meet someone from the school. I didn’t have to wait long until I saw a man with a sign. He hadn’t even put it up when I approached him. He led me to the dorm and I moved in and showered. Shortly after that, my roommate came as well as some other students. We walked around town and grabbed some lunch. Right about now, most people are napping because of the jetlag, but I don’t feel it, nor did I yesterday. These last days were so hectic that I didn’t notice the time difference. It is really weird to think about the difference, especially when it is late afternoon here and only morning in Minnesota. It reminds me of all the things I have done already and you are not even awake yet! Anyway, to make a long story short, I left Red Wing and arrived in Oxford. Orientation starts now so I must go.

Things I have learned:
Moving walkways are fun, especially when you speed walk.
I do not know Dutch.
British people are so nice and helpful : )
Dang, my luggage is heavy!