Every Emotion on the Spectrum

I have had so many new experiences in the past 48 hours that I'm not exactly sure where to start. I took a flight out of Charlotte, landed in London, spent time with my brother and his family, moved into to my dormitory at Exeter College, and had my first formal Oxford dinner. If I tried to write about everything all at once this post would be about 40 pages long, which strangely enough is the exact same amount of pages have to read before my first seminar tomorrow. To save your interest and mine I will write about my experience traveling and spending time with  my family in this post. The one I write tomorrow shall be about my first day at Oxford. 

I flew out of Charlotte at 6:45 on Friday evening, the night of my 26th birthday. I was scared to death. I haven't flown in almost ten years, and the one time I did fly I was with a group of about 10 other girls and 5 women from our church, so I wasn't exactly alone. I can honestly say I haven't been that worried, scared, or nervous in several years. I am a scaredy cat any way, but in unfamiliar situations the emotions sky rocket. Luckily, there were several small children on the plane that were handling the situation better than I was, so I had to pull it together so as not to be shown up by a group of 7 year olds. On the flight I sat next to a young woman around my same age named Mikayla who was traveling from Texas to London. Making a friend really helped the situation, as did the two glasses of very dry table wine (ehh...) and Monsters University on demand. 

We landed in London a mere 7 hours later, around 3am NC time, 8am London time. I slept for around an hour on the plane, so the entire day that followed was a little rough. I met my brother, his wife Kayla, and their 6 month old baby Riley at the airport. It was so wonderful to see them for the first time in two years. My brother looked different (a little more man-like if that makes sense) and they talked with much less of a southern accent. The journey from the airport to their house was between 2 and 3 hours. We stopped at the 'services' on the way back. Services are like rest areas, places on high ways where drivers can stop to take a break. It has a parking lot, a small yard, some restrooms, but there is also a giant food court! It was crazy! Out of no where pops this building with a subway, KFC, a salad place, a fish and chips place, TWO STARBUCKS, a convenience store, and of all things, a casino. It was unreal. Unlike anything I'd seen in America. 

After getting to their house we relaxed for a while and then went to the grocery store. So far, everything I've noticed about the products and material goods in England are not that different from those in America. They are essentially the same thing, just a little bit different on things like the packaging or the colors. 

Example: Cool Original in light blue bag instead of Cool Ranch in dark blue bag

Also at the grocery store I discovered the world's CUTEST jug of milk. It was so tiny and perfect and cute. I don't even really like milk, but I would drink this milk all the time just to look at the jug. Words can't describe it... I'll upload a picture below. 

LOOK HOW CUTE IT IS. SO TINY!!

Once we got back home we grilled out for the 4th of July. We had grilled chicken and hot dogs, mashed potatoes, and corn. It was delicious! A very American meal to celebrate a very American holiday. After dinner two of their friends came over to visit. Later we ate ice cream and watched TV. 

Our Fourth of July Feast

Always gotta have ice cream after dinner!

Its so wonderful to do average every day things with the people you love. Sharing life with loved ones is what makes our lives so great. It was so pleasant to spend time with my family after being apart from them for so long. My brother is so funny and Kayla is so smart. From all observations Riley seems to be a perfect mix of both of them. It was my first time meeting Riley, and he is the most wonderful baby. Generally, I don't like children and certainly not babies, but this one is something else. He is the most happy and pleasant baby. And he is so smart! You know when you can just look at someone and tell they're smart? That's what he's got. I might be biased, but he is by far the cutest baby I've ever seen... Just look for yourself. 

Celebrating the Fourth in style

Ready for a long day of traveling

Starting the day with some sea creatures

Zach looks just like this during car rides too!

Is he not precious?! World's Cutest Baby 2015. We got up rather early this morning to got going on the trip to Oxford, which is about two and half hours from where they live. Once we got here it was difficult to find parking, and we ended up parking about a 15 minute walk from my dorm. Jay and Kayla helped me with my luggage and hung around from a little bit after we checked into my room. But they had to get home and I had school things to begin on. Before they left we did manage to take a few pictures. All the pictures below are taken in the Quad of Exeter College, my home for the next 3 weeks. 

 

After Jay, Kayla, and Riley left I read over lots of paperwork and information for summer school. I also got settled into my room. I will post about my studies, my room, and the formal opening ceremonies tomorrow, but heres a sneak peak: None of my outlet converters work. Being the cheapskate that I am I paid like $2.39 for three on Amazon and they don't fit any of my American plugs despite being called 'universal.' They could also be called universal because they're made for aliens... I'm not sure. But regardless I've got a laptop at 19% and no way to charge it until I can find a store tomorrow after lunch time. So since I have hardly any energy left (both in my laptop and in myself) I am off to bed. Good night Internet.