I have been hesitant to write my first blog post from abroad for fear that the negativity would overwhelm the entire post. I did not and do not want to only focus on the negative, but my frame of mind has been just that since my debacle of an arrival. So, in the interest of avoiding sounding like a whinny, negative grouch, I will give a brief (okay, I tried for brevity, it just did not work out so well) bullet-ed overview of my first week.

Sunday:

• arrived at Philadelphia with less than two hours till departure
• couldn’t find a parking lot near enough to departures gate so that my boyfriend could spent those last minutes with me
• went to two wrong places until eventually finding the correct terminal (employees sent me the wrong way twice)
• get to security check point, wave goodbye one last time just before crossing the x-ray security threshold
• get through security fine, arrive at appropriate gate, sit and wait, board plane, settle in for 7 hour flight to Frankfurt Germany

Monday:

• arrive in Frankfurt, okay 55 minutes to get to next plane…not so much
• hit a literal wall of people at the passport check point (what ever happened to German efficiency?!)
• stand in line for what was likely more than 45 minutes
• run to gate only to find out that because it was such a small plane that the passengers were ferried out to it by bus, which left 30 minutes earlier
• sent to another gate (for next soonest flight) back down the terminal, down a flight of stairs with my two bags and half as far down another terminal
• told that they could not transfer me from that gate/desk and I had to go back up stairs and to the very–and I mean VERY end of the first terminal I was in
• fine, was given the next-next-next flight…don’t ask me why
• they transferred my checked bag…or so I thought
• wait two and half hours for the next flight (I might add that my ride from the school from Brussels airport was to leave at 12 pm…my new flight would only arrive at 11:30 am)
• pay 5 euros for an hour of internet service to email BF and attempt to stave off a minor break down…fail
• get on flight, get to Brussels after 11:30 am, wait at baggage claim carousel until all the bags have been expelled…no bag
• find baggage claim desk, wait in line for over 30 minutes, find out my bag is still in Frankfurt, it will be here in a few days
• look for the shuttle bus…major fail (having assumed that I had a ride to the university I had not considered alternate routes–big mistake)
• find train station, get a ticket to Maastricht, ask employee at the platform which train was which to Maastricht
• get on train, think everything is fine, start to feel better (i.e., like I’m not about to burst into tears)
• train ticket guy comes through, tells me I’m on the wrong train (I’m heading towards Antwerp! In the entirely opposite direction)
• get of in Mechelen, halfway between Antwerp and Brussels
• find two lovely security guard gentlemen who write out the trains–yes, I said trains
• transfer trains twice, finally feel okay like it is all going to be okay

• get to Maastricht, need to get to my guesthouse/dorm before 5 to check-in properly
• with no phone, money (well, euros), internet or map I wander around the one side of the city, circling back to the station three times
• by the 3rd time I realize I can get euros there, not to mention something to eat and drink since I cannot remember eating since 3 am EST
• wander again, despairing and wishing for death, my shoes cutting into my feet, my body utterly exhausted, and tears ever at the ready (I should add that I do not cry in public very often, in fact it’s something I abhor, which of course only made the situation worse)
• finally work up the courage to ask the fellow coming out of the building, beside which I had sank in abject despair onto a 1 foot long cube of stone in a quiet space between two rows of buildings (an earlier attempt at asking for help failed miserable when the person I spoke with could barely speak English and was not from Maastricht or the Netherlands)
• he very kindly directed me to the proper bus to take me there
• get on the right bus, keeping eyes peeled for my stop
• apparently I failed, again, missed my stop when I realize the bus has stopped completely and the driver as started to eat her dinner or snack
• she tells me where I was supposed to get off, tells me she has to stop for 10 minutes before starting her next route…I cry in the corner (behind her so she cannot see me)
• finally arrive at the guesthouse, get my key and vague directions to where my room is
• open my door and start babbling like an idiot to my roommate
• go out with new roommate for dinner

• fall asleep at something like 4 in the morning, no toothbrush, no significant clothes, no makeup, toiletries, other shoes, etc

Tuesday:

• wake up at 8 for orientation
• …there is some other stuff, but most of it is a sleep deprived, emotionally exhausted blur, needless to say by the time I got back to my room (after finding out the my bag had not arrived) I realized I would have to go out shopping for everything I lacked…
• all the shops in Maastricht close early, so after being out all day walking and being “orientated” I had to run back down to the city center
• took a whirlwind tour through H&M and a drugstore for toiletries (toothbrush, yay!)
• come back to room, pack all my purchases and the few applicable clothes I had in my carry-on
• fall asleep sometime around 4 or 5 am

Wednesday:

• leave super early (or so it seemed) for the train station to Brussels
• get to London after 8 or so hours
• get on the Tube (which is awesome!)
• walk to hostel
• walk/tube to the London eye
• …basically it just loads more walking and walking and walking, the sites were great but all the walking was just running my physical reserves even lower

Okay! Some positives (see, they’re here finally)

Wednesday:

In London we rode the Tube everywhere, by the second day I was riding it alone and it was invigorating…some small thing to boost my poor battered soul, I suppose.

The London Eye was our first outing (aside from the awesome Tube). It was a very cool introduction to London. If you ever go to London, it is totally worth it to ride it!

I think I used half my batter power on my camera on the Eye alone (since my charger was in my lost luggage I was running on whatever battery charge was left from Sunday).

But it was worth the battery suck, the views are amazing all around. At one point I was just clicking away because I thought everything looked gorgeous, without thought or intent.

Don’t mind the glare, it’s just the reflection and odd warping of the curved windows.

Thursday-Sunday:

The next four days are a mishmash of museums, attractions and other terrific activities. Rather than bore you with the minute details, I’ll give you a photographic representation of the rest of my time in London.

And the best part: The British Museum!

This is from the Assyrian exhibit–my absolute favorite. I saw things I’ve only seen in books and it was so great.

Then the mummies! I was about half way through, starting with the Greco-Egyptian mummies, when the camera battery gave out.

And that was my first week abroad. A few horrible days traveling, a night in Maastricht and five days in London. I’m still adjusting, and since classes haven’t started yet, my body is out of sync and craving some type of stable schedule. Yet, I think it’s getting better. I only start to descend into melancholy once or twice a day, rather than every hour; I am learning my way around town; I bought a bike and braved the mean cycling streets of Maastricht once; and I finally received my class schedule–sort of, for one block at least. Half way through my second week, as I write, I find that I am craving the familiar, whether it is a cheesy American tv show or some food or drink similar to what I had normally at home. I was able to get my luggage on Monday, which helps a bit. Adjusting is a bitch. Whether it is from culture shock, a largely traumatic journey, a change in or lack of routine, or perhaps a longing for the familiar change is always difficult. But I’m trying to keep perspective. It doesn’t help that most of the time it doesn’t seem like I am truly in Europe. I do wonder when exactly that will sink in…

Location: London, UK, Maastricht, the Netherlands