Monday 2nd May: Arriving back in Nottingham!

I had to wake up early to get my plane out. I think I left the hostel at 6:10am. They had a free breakfast at this hostel and they are kind enough to prepare something for people if they are leaving too early to be able to have this breakfast. So, I got... a cheese sandwich. The most boring sandwich in existence. But it is better than nothing.

I waited at the airport for a while and that was fairly typical. Except that after checking in, I had to wait at an area by some screens to see which gate my plane would be leaving from. It said that passengers should not go past this point until they had seen which gate they need to go to. So I guessed that there wouldn't be any more indications after that point informing people of that. I was getting a bit nervous when, 15 minutes before the time when it was specified that boarding would be closed, there was still no gate number attached to my plane. Finally one appeared, also specifying the estimated time it would take to walk there: 20 minutes.

I also had to get through the metal detector. I had to take off my shoes which confused me. Later I realised that they have metal rivets for the laces to go through. But they have not set off any other airport machines. I finally made it through, and then went for a bit of a jog toward the place where the plane would be departing. I made it there fine. They were still letting people board. I had predicted that they couldn't stop people from boarding given that there must have been some problem which caused them to arrive later or something.

Plane ride was normal. I got a window seat. I was a little confused that the plane ride was only going to last for 20 minutes. Amsterdam is quite close to England. But, 20 minutes hardly leaves time to get into the air and then back down again, let alone the time in between. But Netherlands is +1 compared to England time. So it took 1 hour twenty minutes I guess.

There were lots of wind turbines in the ocean and in other places. I noticed that some parts in the water seemed to be getting quite shallow with sand buildup. I wonder if that is a deliberate attempt to claim more land, or if it's some kind of effect of water flow.

I wasn't sure if we were crossing ocean or the bay to the north east of Amsterdam (since we had to turn around a little bit which disoriented me). We hadn't seemed to have crossed much water before it was announced that we were over England now and would soon be coming up towards London. The channel seems to be really narrow. I think we started dropping altitude ready for landing as we went over London.

I think this photo is trying to observe that there are lots of freight ships around the bay near Amsterdam or somewhere. They are all bunched up waiting to get in. But you can't see it in the photo.

Still over Netherlands? I was starting to think that this might be the opening of the River Thames. I have consulted Google Earth and I'm fairly convinced that the pointy thing is called Foulness Island, which is just north of the mouth of the River Thames.

This is London. We got a really great view of it. I could see the london eye, Hyde Park, and all those other things.

We landed in England. It was good. Then I had to line up for a while to get admitted into the country. The guy asked the hard questions again "when are you leaving? Have you bought a ticket back yet?". "Leaving sometime in June or July. Haven't bought a ticket back, yet". He let me in. Yay. While waiting to get, I met a guy behind me who is also Australian. He's from... Adelaide. He studied at Adelaide uni, on North Terrace. He did some engineering thing and is now living in Ireland. He seems to be having a great time. He was a nice person.

I tried to change some money so that I could pay for the bus back. But the lady said there is a 5 pound commission fee. So I withdrew some sterlings from the cash machine. Then I bought a chocolate muffin from Gregg's. It is great to be back in an English speaking country. It gives me some understanding of what it would be like for international students who don't speak English as their first language. In a non-english speaking country, I found that it is sometimes easy to feel a little bit isolated, and because it is often impossible or very difficult to communicate with people, I've found that I might sometimes look a little bit rude. It makes me think quite differently toward people who might be in those situations, to have felt a similar thing in some sense.

It is good to be back in England. I can ask for a chocolate muffin without having to worry about the language. Despite some differences, the country feels really familiar and friendly. It is interesting to me that at the start of my journey, I found London to be a little scary and unfamiliar, but now the threshold has shifted a bit.

Then I waited at the bus station just outside the airport. It was cold outside. I'm back in England. While waiting, I listened to Fredrik Thordendal's amazing solo album again.

Then I caught the indigo bus back. England has changed a lot over the last month. It looks like spring. Everything is very green.

Then I got back to the university. That is my hall up in the distance. So close to home.

I picked up my key from the reception office and then made my way in. My suitcase of stuff was still in the cleaners closet where I had left it. That is good.

I tried to unpack some stuff. I put on some new clothes from my suitcase. I might have made some kind of attempt at a maths assignment that is due the next day or the day after that. Today is a public holiday. I think it is for the royal wedding that happened over the weekend. So there are no lessons today!

I had a meal in the hall for dinner. It was very strange to see everyone again and to be back in this place. It was also strange because everyone I know here is also an exchange student, so they have all had strange adventures as well. It was strange to hear how they had gone to some places close to where I was a week before me and that kind of thing.

I put these up on the third I think. These are some maps of places I've been. I made a really nice collection of maps I think. I like maps.

In the evening I went to drink some beer with Matthias, Fred, Charlotte, Paulo, Kristin, Mareike, Katrin, Marion, and some of Marion's friends from Austria. It was strange to be back in Nottingham again. It is also strange that has become normal to wake up in Amsterdam one morning and then be in Nottingham in the afternoon.