So finally the day came!!!!!!!!! My alarm went off at 6:45 am and woke me up very abruptly! At 8:04 I was waved off on a train from North Camp station by my mum and dad and I shed a little tear, but not too much; I didn't want the other passengers looking at me :| I was finally on this journey alone and I was nervous for the first time, mostly about the weight of my cases and hand luggage and getting through security smoothly with my HUGE backpack of electricals.
I had done it, I was airside, woooo! I breezed through duty free, I didn't care for what was there, saw a chair, got to it, collapsed. I was exhausted! I must of sat there for about half an hour just resting, doing my final goodbyes on my phone.
I have never been on a plane for longer than 2 hours, so I didn't know how I was going to cope for 8 hours! I was basically spending half my waking day confined to a tiny chair and the rest of it queuing and waiting around! But really the flight was OK, not HALF as bad as I expected. It definitely helped sitting next to lovely people, I chatted with them for hours at the beginning, about my life, their life, their experiences in Canada. I was given top tips and places to go and it was fantastic! Lunch was served, it was... meh, but as expected, had a glass of wine. I FINALLY got to watch The Lego Movie, greatest film of all time by the way, napped for about an hour or two, filled in my declaration form, watched some Big Bang Theory, was served a snack (pizza! yum!) and before I knew it we were ready for our decent!
Got off the plane and immediately had our passports checked by security before we got through to customs, I was asked why I was here, "To study" I said, and I was asked how long I would be here, "112 days" I said and secretly facepalmed myself in my head....I think '4 months' would have been sufficient but oh well. I was allowed through and finally got to customs. Oh my. People were packed in like sardines and the queue went to the back of the room, luckily I was near the exit on the plane so had got off quickly and was one of the first from our flight in the queue, but then I saw Adam, who is the other student from Surrey a few rows back, I tried to mouth him something and he didn't understand so I left my place in the queue and joined him further back. I figured if we're going to be here a while I'd rather be with someone and talk to someone even if it meant waiting a bit longer....
When I finally arrived at Gatwick I wandered through to arrivals and found out I was in check in section B, B for Briony? A good sign clearly, what a good start! I wandered down to find section A, and C...no sign of B. Not a great start after all! I walked through to find a small cubby hole with no signage but a big family waiting around with their bags, now I know it was a cheap airline but this can't be it...surely?
Well it was not, I eventually discovered this mysterious land of Check in section B down a corridor, away from everything else?? I queued, for the first, but CERTAINLY not the last time today and was asked by the assistant how many were in my party, "One." I replied confidently, having never said that before and realising more so that I was all on my own...
I got to the check in desk, this was it. Now, you have to understand that packing was excruciatingly painful and I don't want to even reminisce let alone write about the experience that I had, obviously, left until the last minute, hello, this is me we are talking about!
Anyway, I was allowed 23kg hold luggage and 10kg hand luggage. I was wearing a giant hoodie and carrying my coat and a gilet jacket that wouldn't fit into my suitcase (not that I had the spare weight even if I had the space). I was also wearing my memory foam neck pillow so it didn't have to be weighed either.
I guess you're dying to know if I fell victim to ridiculous oversized/overweight baggage fees, well.... I didn't! YEY!
My bag came in at 22.8kg and my hand luggage 9.8kg, cutting it fine indeed, but I didn't care, I was checked in and it was just security now! Remembering I had 9.8kg plus my hundreds of jackets and coats I was carrying, oh, and don't forget the neck pillow!
I really had nothing to be worried about going through security, I didn't have anything I wasn't allowed but I was more concerned that I needed to unpack most of my bag and take up 3 trays and I would get beeped and patted down and my bag searched...but it was all absolutely fine, YEY!
I had done it, I was airside, woooo! I breezed through duty free, I didn't care for what was there, saw a chair, got to it, collapsed. I was exhausted! I must of sat there for about half an hour just resting, doing my final goodbyes on my phone.
On a side note: Thanks to everyone that wished me luck and sorry if I didn't reply, know I got the message and it made me smile!!
There were 2 other exchange students from Surrey on my flight that I had spoken to but never met. Whilst collapsed on the chairs outside duty free I met Jamie, who had had the exact idea that I had and had found a chair right outside duty free and collapsed there, we will be friends I could tell!
We chatted for a while, got some water, sweets and magazines and before long we strolled down to our gate, there was not much waiting around after that, we queued, of course, but we got straight onto the plane where we parted and I found my place next to a lovely elderly couple and prepared myself for the LONGEST flight of my life so far!
I have never been on a plane for longer than 2 hours, so I didn't know how I was going to cope for 8 hours! I was basically spending half my waking day confined to a tiny chair and the rest of it queuing and waiting around! But really the flight was OK, not HALF as bad as I expected. It definitely helped sitting next to lovely people, I chatted with them for hours at the beginning, about my life, their life, their experiences in Canada. I was given top tips and places to go and it was fantastic! Lunch was served, it was... meh, but as expected, had a glass of wine. I FINALLY got to watch The Lego Movie, greatest film of all time by the way, napped for about an hour or two, filled in my declaration form, watched some Big Bang Theory, was served a snack (pizza! yum!) and before I knew it we were ready for our decent! Got off the plane and immediately had our passports checked by security before we got through to customs, I was asked why I was here, "To study" I said, and I was asked how long I would be here, "112 days" I said and secretly facepalmed myself in my head....I think '4 months' would have been sufficient but oh well. I was allowed through and finally got to customs. Oh my. People were packed in like sardines and the queue went to the back of the room, luckily I was near the exit on the plane so had got off quickly and was one of the first from our flight in the queue, but then I saw Adam, who is the other student from Surrey a few rows back, I tried to mouth him something and he didn't understand so I left my place in the queue and joined him further back. I figured if we're going to be here a while I'd rather be with someone and talk to someone even if it meant waiting a bit longer....
AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER we made it to the front, showed my documents and got my passport stamped (for the first time, YEY!) Because it had taken so long, our bags had effectively come and gone, they had all been taken off the belt and dumped next on the floor as the belt was needed for another flight. I spotted mine straight away, this is why you have a purple case! While Adam took a good 10 minutes wandering round to find his few cases. Eventually we got outside and looked for a taxi, it was a 40 minute wait so for a bit more money we were offered some swanky limo type car and Adam agreed. It was about half an hour drive to the hotel and I just stared at the window the whole time! It didn't feel like I was in another country, sure they drive on the wrong side of the road, half speak french and have stupid plastic money but I didn't feel scared. We arrived at Adam's hotel and we both got out there, he got his room sorted, we dumped our stuff and went out to find some dinner. We didn't wander far, we couldn't afford to get lost! We found a little pub and went inside, not much to tell from there, I had a Hamburger and Coke got back to the hotel and got a taxi a few minutes down the road to my hotel where I got into my room and again, collapsed! What a long day! I am finally here and have no idea what is in store for me! For now I will try and sleep because it is actually 3am British time and I have been up since around 7am.
Sorry for the long post, it was a long day! Haha!
Bye for now,
Peace and Love
Briony x
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