Crimson Bisque

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Back from London!!

The MOST harrowing experience of my life in the UK to date i tell you...

Let's start from the beginning!

When i arrived at London Luton airport... i had to take the Thameslink from luton airport parkway (the train station essentially) to King's Cross (remember Harry Potter... yes THAT train station) BUT... THAT particular night.. the trains didn't run to King's cross! so i had to take a train to KENTTISH TOWN (yes...i dunno where it is EITHER) and then take the underground... which i had to do anyway to get to Marisse's (mum's friend) place anyway!

Ok i FINALLY reached Marisse's place at 11pm... what time was lunch? 2pm... more importantly... WHAT was for lunch.... damn small and thin ham and pickle flour tortilla.... the day itself was horrible... had massive gastric of some sort... in the morning... woke up and had FRS (Fixed resource session... and fancy term for lab really) from 9-12... usually FRS doesn't last that long anyway... BUT... ONE: i didn't bringn my lab coat cos i had so frazzled... TWO: the lecturer went ON and ON so we ended at TWELVE... my hopes for a quick lunch in between that and PBL were DASHED... esp since i didn't pack lunch.... (yes with the frazzledness again) so here i was in PBL (Problem based learning) and my stomach was growling (COMPLETE embarrassment) and basically... PBl ALWAYS ends late... so i ended at abt 1410 instead of 1400 like on the timetable... and dashed to the med sch (wolfson) canteen to grab a bite... but guess what... they had NO SANDWICHES of any WAY, SHAPE OR FORM... so there...i had to dash out to grab that measly tortilla... you must be wondering... class over already what... dash what dash... guess what... i had a BLOOD PRESSURE training course AT THREE BLOODY PM!!! so yes i had to dash out to Byres road (essentially where students get ALL their meals, groceries and whatever... super nice street to walk along... but of course more expensive than eating lunch at the Union... but that was too far away for me....)

After the BP class which i must admit was quite fun... (my bp was about 90/60... a little low... but fine for a young female says the nurse who was training us!) i had to dash back home... throw some books into my bag so i could study in London cos as usual... PBL is on Mondays AND Thursdays so i won't have enough time if i just didn't study/research on Tuesday... and make a mad dash to meet Narin at Govan (Narin is Auntie pat- my mum's old classmate's son.. they were the local family i lived with and practically heaven sent! Narin is my age btw.. and yes he drives) so that he could drive me to the airport!

ANYHOW... back to London....

the next morning we had to take the train from London Victoria to East Croydon to get my visa done... the train was DELAYED as usual apparantly... why?! it got DERAILED can you believe it... my train was only delayed for 10min.. i think others were abt 20-30 min (signal difficulties apparantly)

So i get to Croydon right? guess what... i had to queue from 8+ to 11+... to get the visa stamp? NO dearies... to get a bloody QUEUE NUMBER... and this queuing takes place OUTSIDE the building btw... sure they build a shelter and all... but it's still drafty! so i was still damn cold...

Then i get my number 302.. and go to the 1st floor to pay (250 quid) to do the visa on the spot and then i went up to the 1st floor to wait for my number to be called! guess what the number was at the time... 199... and what am i? 302!!! so i had to wait from 11+ till 2+ for my number to be called... but hey at least i got the 5 year visa..

Anyway...we went back to Chiswick (where my mum's friend lives) and then packed up and went back to luton.. guess what... the TUBE was DELAYED... so i had to take a later train from king's cross to luton which meant that i MISSED MY FLIGHT BACK TO GLASGOW... yes you heard me right!! FREAKING HELL!!!! luckily there was a flight ot edinburgh.. called Narin's cell in the end to tell him... hey stuck in luton...missed flight... going to edinburgh instead...

Now THIS is why uncle iain and auntie pat are heaven sent... he actually drove all the way up to edinburgh airport to pick me up... cos he said if i went with my plan and took a bus to edinburgh train station then take a train down to glasgow... it might be too late and i would have missed the last train to glasgow anyway.... cos it was already 10+ when i arrived in edinburgh...SIGH...

Anyway... arrived home at 11+...wanted to shower but ended up talking to floormates Mhaa and Morag till 1+ in the morning so finally CRAWLED into bed at 2+ and woke up at 7+ this morning for my 9am lecture... SO NOT WORTH IT!!! oh well...

cos i came back so late and woke so early...i didn't speak to carol AT ALL till i came back from the lecture!!!! that's how long and weird these few days have been!

ok then she's SUPER hungry and wants me off the com NOW!!! haha...

till next time!
Anyhow

Inscribed @ 6:32 pm