May 23, 2007
London Heathrow Airport
8:45 a.m.

Hello everyone!
I would say something more culturally fitting, but I’m not really that immersed yet and I don’t feel quite feel up to being European right now. I’m going off of about 1 hour of sleep and a nap yesterday on my first flight, so here’s to caffeine.

I’m not sure when I’ll actually be able to post this, so hence the time stamp. It may be at least a day before I can since every wireless network I can find at the airport requires some sort of membership, or that you be a T-mobile England customer. Go figure.

So up until this morning everything had been running smoothly (nobody freak out, everything is fine, just a hiccup re-checking my bag for my flight to Vienna; British Airways cannot take the bag until 12:25, so I need to wait outside the terminal.)

My first leg of the trip was entirely uneventful. The smaller plane to JFK was no big deal, and judging by the material the guy next to me was working on during the flight I bet he was a UT graduate student, but he wasn’t really social, so I just read my O Magazine. Flying into New York was neat because I looked up from reading JUST in time to see the Manhattan skyline off in the distance, which totally put me in a Sex and the City mood. Side note because I have like 5 hours to type this and bore all of you: I keep thinking of the series’ final episode “American Girl in Paris Parts Un and Deux” because I’m totally American girl in Vienna/Europe this summer. Let’s just hope my trip doesn’t end in me breaking up with my lover (pronounced Luuuuver), breaking an extravagantly expensive crystal necklace, and having Big come over and chase me down to end the epic.

Ok moving on. So the transport between terminals was about as clear as mud in JFK because I got completely spoiled by the new DFW. The check in people were atypical cranky New Yorkers, except for this one guy at the McDonalds near where I had dinner, he was entirely overly enthusiastic about taking bewildered traveler’s orders.
On my flight over there I sat next to this really old couple (I would guess mid 60’s). They seemed like pretty experienced travelers and were American but I think they lived in England. I never really gave them the grand inquisition. During some of our random comments they asked what I was going to be doing in Europe, and they said that there son did some post doc work at Oxford and is now a chemistry professor. They were very nice, and I got to hear all about their calcium pills etc. that they took at dinner. lol

British Airways is really neat because the TV screen is in the seat in front of you. They had tons of movies to choose from, and really neat features that showed a live map of where the plane was, how high we were, how fast we were going and so on. I got really excited and watched this documentary called “Beautiful Minds” which was all about Autism and tied it into the differences between the male and female brain. I was enthralled. Tried to get some sleep, but there really wasn’t a whole lot of time since our flight got in at 6:10 a.m. London time, which was around like 12 Austin time.

So the problem with my luggage here is Delta didn’t put my luggage all the way through, so I had to go reclaim it, after going through customs and then British Airways cannot recheck it until 12: 25 since my flight doesn’t leave until almost 3 p.m. So this all means, I’m stuck outside the terminal in the small coffee shops they have here until I can check my big bag. It wouldn’t be so bad, if I could find a freaking plug to keep my laptop charged. I’m not really sure what the English have against electricity, but I FINALLY found a plug and had it charging until a minute ago, when a worker told me I couldn’t do that. I can be ON the laptop, I just can’t plug it in. Everybody has their laptops, I’m just trying to conserve my battery so I can continue to keep myself entertained for the next few hours, since reading will only make me sleepy, something I cannot indulge in.

Ok, I love all of you, and someone send England a memo, I need to power my laptop. I’m not demanding internet, only a freaking plug. I swear they are everywhere in the United States, and I’ve been lucky to find one, which apparently I can’t plug into. Whoo-hoo.

*Elaine

London Heathrow
Approximately 1:18 p.m. at the boarding gate waiting again

Update of the boring wait. So after getting kicked off the electric plug, the lack of sleep, really unhealthy food, and a dash of anxiety about getting everything checked in, I really began to not feel so fantastic. I sat for a bit and tried to make myself feel better, but I just kept feeling worse. At this point I was up near where I was going to have to check my bag and I still had a few hours to go before they would even take my bag so I could go into the real airport.
Really, it was just like a movie. Here I was not feeling well at all, and thinking to myself “Elaine, you are such a moron signing up to do this the entire summer and here you are feeling sick on your first day…” and completely second guessing myself. I pulled over to the side to dig out my Pepto Bismol tablets from my giant suitcase (since I still had it with me) and as I’m digging through I look up and at the computer kiosk low and behold I see a familiar Longhorn face. It was a girl I remembered from our Vienna cultural class, so I said hello and she said “Hey! I’m here with two other Maymester students at the café at the end.” It was the best possible thing that could have happened.
I was feeling my absolute lowest (a combination of the no sleep and anxiety because it is all so complicated [including the fact that at 6:30 this morning I had to be completely patted down at a security checkpoint) and here are three other UT students with the same British Airways flight to Vienna, staying in a Hostel RIGHT across the street from the hotel I’m staying in tonight.
My guardian angel made sure I ended up at the right place at the right time because they were in the same predicament I was in about not being able to check their bags. Not only is it REALLY nice to have people to look after your bags while you go to the bathroom and have conversation to pass the time with, but it’s extra support to help you resist jet lag and I won’t be going into Vienna all alone.
In case you were wondering, I felt better within 20 minutes.
*Elaine