“Oh shoot.” I realized my toe was not only blistered, but
that the nail on my pinky toe punctured it. Time to get the nail clippers out.
My feet still aching, blistered and now wrinkly were about to be in for a treat
– sitting. More like lying in a twin mattress to watch BBC. Either way, there would be no more
pressure on the souls.
We had walked all over Kensington with Bill, the Director of
the London Center, to find the bank and the phone store. A long line formed
immediately at the store, so a few friends and I decided not to go in. We were
outside with Bill, when he point out a small glass door quickly with gold
letters spelling out a realtor’s name. I would later find out that this man,
Alan, would give me one of the best deals any student could have.
A new friend Dan, old friend Kristina and myself meandered
back to the ICLC. Yes. Meandered meaning we got lost and then found our way. At
the point, I realized the bad shape my feet were in. I looked at my right heel
briefly after going at a NYC pace for about an hour, and saw complete
irritation. Screw it. I just kept going.
The three of us arrived back and went to the computer room
to message our families. Groups were there, forming. My heart just dropped. We
actually had to find a place that day. We had a list of realtors from our
orientation, but the mixture of jet lag, housing and finding flat mates
amplified the situation. (Not to mention: I am in a foreign country.)
These were the most terrifying 15 minutes of my time in
London. My best friend Jamie was not at the orientation and I could not call
her since I didn’t have a UK phone. I hopped onto Facebook, thank God she was
online. I proceeded to ask her a series of frantic questions. Many people came
to London with a set group of people they wanted to live with. All I knew was
that I wanted to live with Jamie, that was it. We wanted to meet new people.
And we did.
In the long and short of it, my old friend Kristina,
new friend Dan, my friend from Spanish class, David, and Jamie all agreed to live together (Jamie didn't know who we were living with, but trusted me).
We needed one more though. Kristina and I had asked around for other girls who
needed a flat, and one girl seemed interested but didn’t commit. She was
frantic too, but she couldn’t make up her mind.
Kristina was still talking to this girl when I saw Anna.
Anna was sitting in the computer room, quite literally about to burst into
tears. She didn’t come with housing plans. I hugged her, telling her it’s going
to be okay and if I find out anything that I would tell her as soon as
possible.
Kristina and I ran to the hotel to check in, and decided
that if the girl who couldn’t commit, well, wasn’t going to commit, then we
should move on. We didn’t have all day. We saw her in the elevator as we went
down and told her that we were going to find someone else to live with us if
she couldn’t confirm that she would be with our group. It was fine, no hard
feelings. Kristina and I wanted Anna. We had no idea who she was but there was
something about her that we both liked. Also, we had no time. Then saw Anna in
the lobby. We ran to her.
“Do you want to live with us?” I said.
She hugged me immediately. It was honestly one of the best hugs I’d ever
had. We sighed with relief.
“Yes,” she grinned.
We all gathered 30 minutes later and made the phone call
that would solidify our new home in London. The biggest stress of the day was
over.
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