Hello from Bath, England

Margaret Ann and I at our gate in Dulles

I safely arrived in Bath yesterday around 1pm (that's 8am back home), after a very long day of travel.  I left Dulles Airport at 6:30pm the day before, and had one of the best overseas flights!  Our flight was fairly empty, so no one was in the seat next to me.  I had lots of space to relax, and of course I loved having Jessica and Margaret Ann just across the aisle from me!  One very exciting moment for us (though very twampy*, I have to admit) was listening to the background music of the flight progression screen.  After watching an in-flight movie, I checked the flight progress before trying to sleep, and I instantly recognized the music:  Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King!  The three of us were very excited about this, and yes, I could name the which scene from the movie the music went along to. :)  We arrived in Amsterdam 45 minutes ahead of schedule, so we found a Starbucks and relaxed before splitting up to go to our various flights.  In Amsterdam, you have to go through security at your gate, and I got to experience the new scanning machines!  I also met up with 6 other ASE students at the gate, and once we landed in Bristol, we all shared taxis to Bath.

*TWAMP = typical William and Mary person

Moving into my flat was an interesting experience.  I'm on the fourth floor, so I carried my luggage up eight flights of stairs!  After that exhausting experience, I discovered that my apartment was locked (the others had been left unlocked for easy entrance by the students), but thankfully an Su (my ASE mentor) was right around the corner and could unlock it for me.  Ironically, I was locked out again 20 minutes later, as our door lock is very finicky, and wouldn't accept my key.  Unpacking my luggage was definitely a chore, as was finding places for all of my school stuff!  Two downsides of our flat:  our desks don't have drawers and we can't hang things on the walls.  However, our flat was recently remodeled, so our bathrooms and kitchen have new (or close to new) appliances and furnishings.

my desk and bulletin board

the beautiful view from my window

Our small but newly renovated kitchen

Why do our sinks have one faucet for hot water and one for cold?
It makes your hands alternately burn and freeze :(

Yesterday was primarily set aside for getting to know the house and unpacking, so today was our first real day of orientation to the Programme.  Today was also the first day that I had to walk around Bath.  I feel so much more acclimated to the city now that I've walked around a bit and figured out where most things are.  I'm so excited to explore the city more and get involved in activities in the community!