Swansea!

I did it! I got my visa and made it to the UK. I even met the Home Secretary at the consulate in NYC. She was the one who handed me my visa. I posted a link about that on my facebook page.

Bright and early on friday morning, my parents and I left for NY again. We arrived at my grandmother's house at noon and spent the next few hours with her. At 3 we drove to the airport and said our goodbyes. I then waited for my name to appear of the "cleared" list for stand-by and boarded the plane. The picture above was my seat. I flew business elite. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I had a full 3 course meal including free alcohol and watched 3 free movies. I also had a fully reclining chair/bed and had a couple hours of sleep. I awoke in the morning to the sight of my complimentary breakfast.

Once I arrived in the UK, i moved quickly through immigration and customs and met up with Emma and her dad. We then drove down to Swansea and moved my stuff into the flat. We took a few trips out to get some more furniture, a library card and some food. We ended the night with a trip to the nearby pub and called it a night.

Emma's dad flew back to the USA early this morning and we had a long lie in. We arranged a few more things in the flat today and just relaxed. We've skyped with a few people back home in Virginia and a little further away. This week will be full of trips out to find bus routes, a bank, more shopping and a few walks down to school.

The timeline for the next few weeks is as follows:

Emma's dad returning: 17th

Emma's dad leaving: 19th

Class registration starts: 20th

Internet and phone installed: 22nd

Furniture arrives: 24th

Fresher's week starts the 27th

Classes start on the 4th

Skype, email and facebook are the best ways to contact us. I'll try and upload some pics of the flat to facebook in the next week or so

NYC

I'm currently sitting at a starbucks (free wifi yay!) in NYC so I figured this was a perfect time to update the blog. For those of you who knew our departure dates for the UK, you might be wondering why I'm in NYC and not Swansea. For those of you who didn't know my departure date, it was last Wednesday. Now let the filling in commence!

In the final days before my original flight, my visa stuff failed to come together as quickly as I hoped. We rushed as fast as we could but there was no way I was going to be able to fly last wednesday. Emma however, has been in the UK since last Thursday morning running around taking care of everything. We now have an apartment, furniture and a couple random necessities like a kettle. I have been spending my time wondering exactly how an immediate electronic transfer of money takes a week to clear. I love technology. I also got my fingerprints taken and made an appointment in NYC at the british consulate. The appointment is to sit face to face with a visa official and make sure every scrap of paper that I brought up here with me is in order. If they decide that it is and i'm not too shady looking, they should give me a visa this afternoon.

I took the train up here this morning (left at 4am) and walked from Penn Station up to the consulate which took me about an hour. My appointment is at 11:30 and I will be taking the train back to VA tonight (with visa in hand). Tomorrow will be spent making sure all my packing is completely done, canceling my cell phone and say my last goodbyes until next summer. If all goes well, I will be flying out of JFK friday night and will be in London early on Saturday.

If all goes well, my next post will be from Swansea. Until then...