I'm Here!

So I got to Charlotte around 1 yesterday afternoon, and it was very hard to say bye to my parents. When I was going through security, one of the policemen pulled me aside and tried to calm me down, and gave me tissues. It was really sweet. Then the guy I was standing behind was asking me if I had missed my flight and I told him that I was studying abroad and that it was hard to leave something familiar for 6 months. He was really nice and told me to have a few pints once I got to Aberdeen and all my worries will go away. Sounds Scottish right? Anyway, the flight to Newark was chock full of business dudes coming back from a conference or something. When we flew into Newark, I could see the New York skyline and the statue of liberty. I find it cool that the last thing I saw of the US and the first thing I'll see when I return will be the statue of liberty. Anywho, once we landed in Newark about an hour early, I met up with Grace. We took our turns watching the luggage and walking around and such. The flight to Manchester wasn't too terrible. They served us dinner about an hour into it. I had penne pasta with mini meatballs, a salad, water, a roll and milano cookies. It was alright for airplane food. I watched Love Happens (freakin sad movie) while I ate dinner. I fell asleep to Fame, as soon as one of the many babies on the airplane finally shut its mouth. But then we hit some really bad turbulence. It lasted about an hour, no lie. I was praying the ENTIRE TIME. But after that I couldn't go back to sleep so I watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and fell asleep again. By that time, they were serving us breakfast which was a croissant and fruit. It was yummy. We landed at 7 and Grace and I headed to find out where and when our next flight was. We got to transfers, and the guy told us where to go and sent us through customs. It was surprisingly easy until I freaked out because I forgot where my computer charger was and could have sworn it was on the plane. The guy had to search my bookbag, for what I don't know... but one of the ladies was nice enough to call the airline and asked if they found anything, and they hadn't. So I checked my luggage, and there it was... freakin me moving things around before we left Newark. Anyway, Grace had to get her visa, so I waited with her as the guy questioned her about if she was going to work, if I was going to work, what we were doing here. It was kinda ridiculous. Once we got through, we had to get a boarding pass printed but the lady had no idea where the gate was. So we wondered around and then they finally posted our gate. We had to board outside because the plane was so tiny, but that's okay. I was the first person to board and got to meet the pilot and stuff. They served us a croissant sandwich with cheese and tomatoes and coffee or tea. I decided on coffee, but it was a big mistake. I either needed like 5 cups of sugar or it was just plain bitter. The flight took like 30 minutes in all, and we landed in a rainy, cold Aberdeen. We went and got our baggage and it was all there and met Louise a student at Aberdeen. She directed us to a taxi and the taxi took us to Hillhead. Aberdeen is quite a cute city. I hope I can get out and explore soon, but I have no idea how long it would take me to get there. We checked in at the Centre of Hillhead and got our keys. We are on the top floor (4th) of Adam Smith... and they didn't have any lofts (elevators) so we had to carry our luggage up the stairs. It was funny to say the least. We were both expecting our uni-box to be there, and they weren't so we'll be sheetless tonight. I tried to get as settled as I could as the realization that I was in Scotland, and I'd be here for the next 5 months sunk in... I got to skype with mom and dad before they left for work. Grace and I went to check with the mail guys to see if we had anything and they said we didn't. We checked out the store that's here in Hillhead as well, and they had some good stuff, but nothing that I wanted to purchase yet. We came back and Grace slept and I unpacked and got to talk to Trey. Internet here is iffy but it's wifi. Hopefully we'll be getting some food and go walk around soon. It has stopped raining for now and I can see some blue sky peak through. I'm definitely a little bit homesick and can't wait until I see a familiar face (Trey). I'm settled in, but I definitely can't wait until I get my bed sheets and then can hang pictures on the wall.

This was an incredibly long entry, but thanks for the prayers and the support through all this. They are definitely appreciated!