So It Begins

   Here comes my first post from London.  My head is spinning as I try and think of all the things that have happened in the past two days.  I am currently sitting in our library at the BYU London center.  I'M IN LONDON!!!  Yesterday I went to the airport early in the morning for my flight to JFK that was schedule to fly out at 11:00.  I went there about two hours early, a typical thing for an international flight.  Well our flight was later delayed an hour, then two hours, and then three.  Fortunately a lot of people from my group were there and so we had time to bond and to wander around the airport.  The major concern was whether we would be able to make our connection in New York.  We finally got on the plane (I got to sit next to a very musical little girl) and got to JFK, and then true chaos followed.  Just imagine the scene from Home Alone as the family runs through the airport.  That describes us perfectly.  Our plane was getting ready to leave so we ran to the terminal to try and catch it, but missed it.  We then heard of another flight in a different terminal that we attempted to reach, and also missed.  It was to the point where we thought we would be staying in New York for the night when there was one more flight that opened up at 11.  We were able to hop onto that one, but only a few people at a time as they were finding open seats.  I was the last one to board, which was fine when I found that they had put me in FIRST CLASS.  An awesome seat that massages and turns into a bed, space, delicious food and a warm towel! (Still don't quite know what those are for).

   But enough of the pre-London stuff! We got to the Heathrow airport after a seven hour flight (which I slept through beautifully).  Nic from the program met us at the airport and guided us through the tube to get to the London center.  I couldn't stop thinking about the scene from Harry Potter where Harry takes Mr. Weasley through the tube to get to the ministry.  We got to the center where we were assigned to our rooms and started learning about the rules and what not.  The center is really cool and I'm excited to be staying there.  We then went out and about. 

  We took a quick tour of our neighborhood, walking through the Kensington gardens going to local stores.  We also got our Oyster passes for the tube, which will allow us to go on the tube as much as we need for free. We also stopped by a little restaurant where we got schawarmas (still don't quite know what they are, even after I ate them).  We took them to Hyde park and ate them while the British people thought we were interesting people.

  Even though we were all exhausted from our flight and many adventures in airports we managed to keep busy and spend a night on the town.  We went to a local pub called "Phoenix" and watched the soccer game between Spain and France.  The pub was completely packed, so we watched from the doorway. It was so much fun though!  Chelsea had some spanish guy come up to her and pinch her cheeks and say, "You are so cute and little. I love your smile."  She officially won quote of the day with her comment later.  "I still can't believe that spaniard pinched my cheeks."  We then decided to conclude the day with some delicious Galaxy Chocolate.  

  Though we didn't actually get in to London until about 3:00, we still managed to have many adventures today.  I am so excited for all the things that we will be doing on this trip! London is absolutely beautiful and I am so lucky that I get to be here!  

  Also, I was going to post pictures, but of course the internet was not behaving.  Maybe tomorrow.  :)