Live from London

Well folks, welcome to London. Capital of the UK, the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and surely the biggest city in the world without any free wifi to pilfer. Really, it's quite amazing, my future device has been practically rendered impotent. All I can do is check the time, check my calendar, and utilize the Tube map I downloaded. I suppose that's alright though, this can become a month-long exercise in primitive living: Can one 21st century man survive in a large city without a working mobile phone? Maybe I'll write a book.

If any of you need to travel across the Atlantic anytime soon, I would highly recommend British Airways. Two reasons. The first reason is self explanatory: free wine. It makes perfect sense, why wouldn't you want to chill people out on a plane? When you think about it, hurtling 30,000 feet above the ground at 600 mph in a metal tube with wings is a lot more horrifying than society has created it to be. The second reason is that you arrive at Heathrow Terminal 5, which feels like something out of the new "Star Trek" movie. Given the futuristic nature of the building, I thought perhaps I would just forgo the hour-long Tube ride to the University and just take a magnet train or some such device, but alas, that was not to be.

The one other notable thing about British Airways is how unfailingly polite everyone is. When we were queued up to leave on the runway in Philadelphia, the pilot came on and apologized. When the seat belt sign came on, the pilot again apologized. I asked if they had any pinot noir, and the flight attendant apologized. I settled for the bordeaux.

I spent most of yesterday in a jet lagged haze, owing to the fact that I slept maybe a half an hour in a 36 hour period, but that didn't stop me and a few others from exploring our area. That is perhaps for another post. Needless to say, we're a bit out of the way of central London, being the London you see in the postcards. I'd say maybe 15 minutes on the Tube. I hope to take some photos of the University and post them later this week.

On a final note, one thing that has been comfortably reassuring is how normal everything feels. I'm sure these Hamline folks are already tired of my references to my junior year spent in England, but in truth, that year of living has colored everything I experience here in England. Arriving in Heathrow, instead of the usual anxiety that accompanies coming to a foreign country, I felt completely at ease, like I would when flying into Minnesota. I can't hide my accent, but I hope with my demeanor and actions to fit into this city as fully as possible, which I think is an attainable goal. In any event, it feels good to be back.