Keep your eyes open, ears open and don’t get arrested.
— Parting words with Papa d.
After a very emotional goodbye with Lawrence the previous Friday, the day had finally come to say goodbye to my parents. At 6am on Sunday 18th August, we set off for London Gatwick airport armed with my two well-packed suitcases.
Gatwick was packed! We had come at the prime time for flying and so were met with great swathes of people rushing to check in for their holiday’s. Luckily, the Aer Lingus check in desk was very quiet. It was a nervous moment for all as Pops loaded my suitcases onto the weigh in, but, by some miracle I ended up being 0.01kg under the required weight. So, my father happily put his wallet away and it was time to say goodbye 😦
The thought of not seeing my parents, Lawrence or the greatest country in the land for four months was not a pleasant one. But, I was excited for what lay ahead and even though I knew I would miss my loved ones terribly, it was important to make the most of the opportunity that had come my way!
So with a final hug goodbye, I was off alone to America!
I enjoyed a relatively pleasant flight to Dublin. I had purchased the newspaper at Gatwick so as I flew away from the UK, I happily sat and read about the political doom and gloom that I was leaving behind. Although, it is safe to say that I wasn’t exactly heading for a better nation…
As we began the procedures for landing, I checked my boarding pass to see what gate I needed to get to next for my second flight. However, I was very alarmed to find that it said that the gate would close in 5 minutes. After frantically attracting the attention of the air hostess, I found out that the airline states that gates close earlier than they do to encourage passengers to be on time. I made a mental note to inform Aer Lingus that I thought that this was a very cruel move. A mild panic attack did not make for enjoyable on-flight entertainment.
The next stress was border control.
As I had flown via Dublin, I was required to go through American customs whilst still technically in Europe. My first impression of Americans is that they don’t really seem to want you to come into their country. After taking off my shoes, jackets, all of my bags and quickly eating an apple (without choking) after realising that no fruit was allowed, I made it through security.
I was then faced with an hour and a half to go before my flight and a very long queue to check my visa and passport. I noted that the man at the desk had a very strong American accent and seemed to slightly dislike his job. He checked all of my necessary documents and took my passport but then informed me that I would have to go through to secondary questioning. I mentioned the small fact that I had to board a plane very soon to which he replied ‘Hm, yes you do.’ Very unhelpful. The secondary questioning room was a small room filled with lots of people, including my good friend Meg who was also on the way to Duluth. After 20 minutes of waiting, Meg was called for her interview and I was left to anxiously wait. Another 10 minutes passed and I asked one of the officers, in a very polite fashion, if there was anyway that I could have my interview sooner rather than later otherwise there would be no point even having an interview as I would have missed my flight. The officer replied that I could either take my passport and go travel around in Ireland or I could sit and wait.
I am very aware that security checks take a while having travelled to China this summer but the Americans take this to the extreme. I am not a threatening character. Yes, I was wearing lots of layers which may have looked suspicious but that is purely down to the fact that I cannot travel light. I could not understand why after waiting for weeks to get my online visa request confirmed, 4 hours at the embassy in London and a further week of processing after my initial visa interview, I had to wait another 45 minutes for them to ‘double check’ it again. I told Meg to stop the plane whatever it took and hoped for the best.
Luckily my prayers were answered and I was called up. I made it just in time for the final boarding call and settled down for a long 8 and half hour flight.
My first impressions of the America as a landmass is that it is divided up very neatly. There were endless patches of square farms all perfectly separated. Lake Superior could have easily have been mistaken for the sea from 30 000 feet.
After two films, one rather unpleasant meal and a long snooze, we finally landed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’m not entirely sure why but I was quite surprised to hear so many American accents when I got off the plane, I think I was expecting to hear British voices…
Anyway, Meg and I reunited and had a very nice catch up as we waited to be joined by our fellow Brit Olivia and to board the shuttle to the university.
The shuttle driver was very American. Very happy and very large. He delighted in our British accents and asked all the stereotypical questions including: Do we drink tea everyday? Do we know the Queen? Do we drink tea with out little finger up? He was quite easy to keep entertained once we informed him that the answer was yes to all of the above questions.
During our journey we were introduced to “Minnesota Nice”. This essentially means that the people of Minnesota are considered to be very friendly. So, halfway through our journey we took a short stop at a petrol station. The driver then offered to buy us anything we wanted. In the UK, this would not be seen as a kind thing to do. It would probably be seen as a mild form of grooming… However, I reminded myself that we were in America. Americans (except for the immigration official) were on the whole quite friendly and so I let the driver buy me a cookie (after checking that it was a sealed item so he couldn’t have tampered with it)!
It took another hour to finally arrive at the University of Minnesota, Duluth and I spent a good majority of the journey on a sugar high. It was eerily quiet on campus and I couldn’t help but think that I had walked on set of High School Musical. Meg, Liv and I walked around trying to find the correct office for a good half an hour until we were finally rescued by one of the international students who had been designated the role of taking us to our accommodation.
I must admit, the organisation from UMD was not the best on our first night. Meg, Liv and I all lived very close together in Oakland Apartments so we were all dropped outside and left to find our way. I presumed this would be quite straight forward, but I was wrong… It was impossible to find my way around the apartment block. There were no signs, no numbers on main doors and ultimately no help! After climbing multiple sets of stairs with my large suitcases, I realised that the numbers on the doors did not correspond to location in the way that I previously might have thought. Luckily, just before I decided to move in with Meg or Liv for the night, I came across my apartment.
I was met with a bare, cold flat! However, exhaustion had definitely set in so I made my bed, unpacked my night time essentials, messaged my parents and Lawrence and snuggled down for my first night alone in foreign lands!
A PUD ABROAD 