24 Hours of Sitting

I've made it to the United Kingdom! I have been here now for a day, and have settled in at the Howson's, where I will be staying most of my time here.

It was a long, long trip to get here. After leaving Memphis on Tuesday, I spent 2 and a half hours getting to Miami, FL. I then, nearly died from boredom after 5 hours of layover in the Miami Airport. FACT: Miami International, pretty boring. The people were interesting to watch. This included 4 different dogs, one of which was a part of the K-9 unit for Miami and Dade County, Florida. His trainer/partner was chit-chatting with a coworker who was casually rest his assault rifle on his arm. I thought, "Why on earth do you need to carry that around just on a normal day at work? Oh, right, drug cartels. This is Miami."

While steeling myself for 8 and half hours of flying to Heathrow, I asked God to give me opportunities to just be a light, and cheer people up. I ended up in a seat next to a Hindu man, the only reason I knew he was is that he refused any food except fruit (there wasn't any), and tonic water (NOT bottled). I wanted to try and get to know him, but he spoke and understood English poorly. He was also very interested in watching about 30 minutes of every movie available on the plane. We didn't talk much, despite the fact that I would have enjoyed talking with him, even if it would have been difficult to understand him. God did provide some conversation with the flight attendant. I had discovered early on that my TV wouldn't turn on. No problem, I'll wait until the flight attendants aren't busy handling the takeoff, first round of food, and the babies on the airplane and then I'll have them reset it, it'll be fine. No, it would not be fine. The WHOLE STINKING CONSOLE was out, including the telephone, which also allows you to control your light, and to get the flight attendant. To make matters worse, The Life of Pi and The Great Gatsby were both on the movie list. Anyway, the flight attendant who was helping with that realized that I had the broken TV, and at this point most people were watching movies, or sleeping. She astutely knew I would not sleep very much. This picture sums up my position on the airplane.

The flight attendant gave a sad look, and asked me what alcohol I needed to get through the flight.  She suggested a whiskey or rum to go with the Coca-cola I had at the moment. She even offered me vodka. In case you were wondering, I passed on the alcohol, and told her I'd keep myself entertained with my iPod. I thought afterwards, since when did the airlines carry whiskey, rum and vodka? Must be available in first class.

Anyway, after that point, she checked in with me, and I took it as an opportunity to be extra positive and peppy, I wish I had an a chance for in-depth discussions, but obviously, she has a job to do, and there were a good 150 other people who needed her help too. She did refer to me as a trooper though and smiled and was a little more chatty from then on. I pray that at least my positive attitude brightened her day, and gave her something to think about.

While that story is just plain good fun stuff, the most difficult part of my travel was still to come. Customs is always a nerve-wracking time, just because if the person you are assigned to is having a bad day, they can come up with a reason to deny you entry into the country. Someone with that kind of power is someone to be respected. My worries were somewhat well founded, as she was skeptical of the amount of time I would be in the United Kingdom. I am glad that I knew my return flight, and that it is booked.

After I got past her, my nerves were shot. I sincerely look back at that as Satan trying to get at me, and he did for a time, while I was waiting 2 hours for the train to Leicester (pronounced "Lester" for my countrymen). As I said my nerves were shot, my heart was pumping, and I was jittery. I kept replaying the experience in customs over and over again in my head. Finally, I just asked God for peace, she had granted me access, and I was on British soil; therefore, no need to stress about it. He granted it, and as the coach pulled out to Leicester, I finally was able to relax, and SLEEP.

God was good to me, and has brought me safely to the UK, and I'm thrilled to really begin the internship tomorrow (Friday).

Finally, a wee bit on the weather here. Of course, I'm going to mention the weather, as I now tend to think about things via the weather. Last week was hot (yes, I was in the South), but it was also hot here (to them... i.e. 70 degrees fahrenheit). When I arrived in London, it was cool, about 60 F, and cloudy (shocking I know). As the coach went north, it began to rain, and it rained on and off throughout the afternoon and evening here. Today is pleasant, a little warmer (mid-60s), with a late afternoon sun warming me as I sit here typing away. I'm really excited about getting to see and experience English weather, and see just how different it is compared to America, especially the steamy South. Tomorrow should be more of the same, mid-60s, mix of sun and clouds, with the ever-present threat of a shower.