Oh hey there, America

Sorry it's been a while, things have been pretty hectic lately.

Hello from America!

I arrived in Greensboro, North Carolina last night after an exhausting and eventful outward journey. As always I barely slept before we headed to Manchester airport (at 3am) so I was tired as well as nervous. It didn't help that I had received an email from United Airlines telling me that my Munich to Washington flight was delayed by over 2 hours, which meant that unless they caught up time I would miss my connecting flight to my final destination. First flight was alright, although I felt a little nauseous with nerves and it had taken forever to get through security. My second flight was still delayed, and so I had way too much time to waste and not enough water to drink. When I found somewhere to buy water, I was so stressed I left my jumper, passport and boarding pass on the counter! Luckily I realised quickly and ran back to pick them up. The second flight was horrible because it was so long and I can't sleep on planes. I ended up watching two films - Transcendence (great film) and the new X-Man (alright film) - and still had over two hours left to try and get some sleep. I slept fitfully, despite being so exhausted. Arrived late in Washington and was told that I had been put on a flight to Greensboro on Sunday afternoon, and would therefore have to collect my bag and stay overnight. Luckily the airline provided a hotel voucher and food vouchers, so I didn't have to think about claiming on my insurance.

After a horrible stressful moment about my luggage and a tearful phone call with mum I made my way through the maze that is Washington IAD, used one meal voucher for a hot chocolate, water and fruit from a lovely man who was super nice and gave me directions to the shuttle bus for the hotel. Now I was expecting a Travelodge type thing, but this hotel was super fancy, and I was so grateful to be able to go to sleep in a lovely room with a comfy bed.

Sunday
I took my time getting ready to leave the hotel, and made use of the coffee machine and chaise lounge in my room, which was pretty cool. Luckily I had the fruit and some other bits that I could eat for breakfast so I didn't have to use my last voucher at the hotel restaurant. Getting through the airport was very uneventful so I chilled at the gate watching Eddie Izzard videos and letting my friends know what was happening. The flight was horribly noisy but luckily very quick. I had a wonderful taxi driver who was chatting away to me the whole time, and gave me his number so that I could call him to pick me up for the return journey.
I arrived at my friend Sarah's apartment at 7 I think, and it was so so good to see her! We picked Becky (ahh I was so excited to see this girl!!) and had dinner at Hop's with Sarah's roommate Hollyn. They had gluten free vegetation burgers! It got very confused ordering my burger because in America you choose every component, and I'd only ever had a burger from McDonald's where unless you specify what you don't want then there isn't as much choice. Other than the confusion the meal was great and it was great to catch up with my girls and get to know Hollyn.
The workload is crazy here, so we spent the rest of the night studying (and getting distracted talking about boys) in the library.
It was a really nice day, and I am so grateful to my mum and all my friends for keeping me chilled through the more stressful parts of my journey.

Today (Monday) I am meeting up with Becky after her class so we shall see what today brings!

Things learned on the outward journey:
Do not attempt travelling to America on your own if you get stressed very easily and don't have a sense of adventure. I'm lucky because although I get stressed easily I do have a sense of adventure, and that meant that I could recover easier from the stress and look back on it all with a smile.
Try and find some kind people to help you or just be kind to you, because they make the world feel 10x less scary.
If it's free, use it or eat it!!