No Place Like Home...?

Heathrow International Airport

I entered the study abroad program completely blind. Normally, people make the decision to pick up and move halfway across the world with a plan in mind and typically do not make the move alone. Instead, I was leaving behind my comfort of the familiar and was jumping head first into uncharted territory. With my family staying back home in Florida and my friends staying in New York, I was beginning my journey alone with no one to help me make it through the tough transition from New York to London. So now I was left to make the six hour flight alone.

The hours leading up to my departure time made my nerves grow stronger and stronger. I was sitting in the terminal looking around at the other NYU students and realized how truly nervous I was. Many students were in the midst of conversation and seemed excited and happy to be there. They all seemed to be familiar with one another as though they were making the journey together. In my timid mind, none of the faces were recognizable and almost a bit scary. An airport terminal had never made me feel more uneasy than what I was feeling at that moment. Maybe it was a bit melodramatic but being surrounded by unfamiliar faces and heading to a foreign land can make someone feel very distant.

As expected the flight was delayed, which meant more sitting and waiting.

After an hour of waiting boarding began. It seemed as though all NYU students were placed in similar seating. Realizing how ridiculous I was acting, I started talking with some of the students seated around me. I quickly came to realize that I was not alone. Everyone seemed to be in similar situations, although they were handling it much better than me! I was initially under the impression that it was common for people to study abroad in groups with friends but I was proven quite wrong. 

The six hour flight seemed to fly by more quickly than I expected. After much turbulence, we landed at Heathrow International Airport at around eight o'clock in the morning to a misty and gloomy London.

After the quick run through customs we were all shuttled by bus from Heathrow to a building called NIDO, our new place of residence. Many of us were leaning against the bus windows within the first five minutes of the ride, exhausted from traveling and clearly no where near adjusted to the new time zone.

The rest of the first day seemed to glide by. After unpacking and sleeping off some of the jet-lag my newly formed group of friends and I decided to explore our new neighborhood and brave the wild streets of London. Everything seemed that much easier now that I had people to experience this transition with me.

That first day could have been difficult. But after I realized that I was not alone in this situation I was able to make that first day in a new city a memorable one.