My Luggage Woes

I honestly cannot believe that I'm here in Britain. It still hasn't really dawned on me that I'm away, and that I'm going to be away for a year. The flight here wasn't too bad, and we actually landed at London Heathrow airport an hour ahead of schedule. I got some money changed into pounds, surfed the web at the airport, then went in search of my luggage. That's when it all started. I took a medium sized suitcase and a medium sized duffel bag. Both seemed pretty light when I left Mountain View. In London, now armed with the two aforementioned bags, a tote bag, and a backpack, I started to feel the weight. It didn't help that the underground train I was supposed to take was about two terminals away, and I had to drag all this stuff around. Then, to make matters worse, once I got to Victoria Station where I was to change trains to get to Worthing (where I'll be staying for a week), they had no elevators or escalators. I had to carry these bags up a lot of stairs. In fact, after the climb, I stopped at a cafe, had some breakfast, and lounged for about an hour and a half.

At the cafe I met a nice Australian girl who allowed me to sit at her table whilst I ate, and we chatted a bit. She's working in the UK for a year. She was also kind enough to watch my bags while I looked for a restroom after my long trip. I finally boarded the train to Worthing, only to find out that I was in the last coach, and had to move to one of the first four coaches because the train actually separated into two at one of the stations. I had to make mad dashes from one coach to the other whenever the train stopped at a station, and it was no easy feat, with all these four bags hanging on me. The funny thing is that I actually thought I had packed light this time. I need to do some serious reevaluation before I travel again.

My contact here in the UK was very nice, and actually found me a host family to live with while I'm here. The lady who is hosting me, Pauline, came to meet me at the train station and brought me to her house, where I'm sending this from. She's really nice, and she also recently started knitting. I'm pretty excited. She was also telling me about cheap tickets to fly to various European countries around. I hope to get a visa for one of the EU countries so I can do some sightseeing before leaving the UK.

Okay, I need to take a shower and/or a nap, because I feel pretty tired. Oh, and the house is right by the beach too...Worthing Beach! Lovely! I'll put up some pictures soon once I have the chance. Yay!!