Arrival

Well I made it! The flight kinda sucked but at least I got here. Charlotte to Newark was good, even though I got lost in Newark for a little while before realizing I had to take a train to a different terminal. I got my boarding pass, grabbed some dinner and got on the plane. It was then announced that we had a problem with the computers and luggage was messed up. They took some time to sort all of that out but eventually they said they got everything straight (liars). After that was solved, it was discovered that we had another problem. The fuel guage in our right wing was broken...our fuel tank was full but the guage was reading zero. We could still fly like this but we would be forced to be within 1 hour of a serviceable airport at all times. Last I checked there wasn't an airport in the middle of the Atlantic. So our new route would have to be up thru Canada to Greenland, over to Iceland, and down to London. And so phonecalls were made to ensure that these airports were in fact open and serviceable (someone got woken up out of bed...), and engineers worked on the fuel guage. Eventually another British Airlines 767 landed at Newark and wasn't leaving anytime soon so we were able to borrow spare parts from them. The engineers fixed the fuel guage. However, since it hadn't been tested we still had to be within an hour of an airport at all times, so the phonecalls continued to wake people up. We finally got going around 11:30 or midnight (only 3+ hours late). I was obviously going to miss my connecting flight to Glasgow from London, but upon arrival I got another one scheduled immediately. I found out that the customs lady in Britain does not like Americans, so that was a bit of a pain. But I eventually got thru and got to Glasgow around 3:30ish. Then I found out my luggage was gone and they had absolutely no idea where it was. So they took as much of my information as I could give (pretty much a name and description of my bags...I had no address or phone number to give haha), and I jumped on the bus for the university. I got here, got my room key but the registration office was closed so I couldn't check in and register. And I had no way of getting ahold of Keith because my computer couldn't connect. So I grabbed my backpack and headed downtown. I love the downtown at night, it is beautiful. I will try to post some pictures to Facebook soon. I walked around, feeling very lonely and a little scared. I had had a very rough day and was absolutely exhausted, not exactly the recipe for a positive emotional state in a foreign country. But I found a Starbucks with internet, logged on and updated some people as to my safe arrival, facebooked Keith and found a tentative way to meet, grabbed some dinner and went back to my room (which looks like a prison cell, although the feeling is going away now that I'm getting settled in). Today I registered for some classes (I think), and attended my first class! I also got my internet working, hooked up with Keith to find a good place for a cell phone, and got some necessary things for my room. My bags arrived in Glasgow although I won't get them until tomorrow morning, but at least theyre here. Today has been a lot better...I'll update later what all was going through my mind to comfort me last night as I was laying in bed. Until then I'm out for some dinner with newfound friends!