Getting started

view from my bedroom window
The last days at home were strange. I cannot really describe the feeling, but it had some kind of routine about it. Somehow I managed to pack my bag on Friday night which is quite unusual for me. Normally I do all the packing the night before I fly! Even my mother was worried about that. The reason is simple, I had hand all luggage that did not fit into my bag over to Christian, Hildegard and Tobi who are coming tonight.

Getting started was not as easy as I thougth it would be. Saying goodbye to my grandparents was surprisingly smooth, as it is usually quite hard for them. They always fear that it is the last time they see me.

down at the pond

So I left at 3.30 am to catch the train to Frankfurt Airport at 4.18 am. That went all very well and I arrived at the airport on time. Flying with British Airways has some advantages, especially the baggage allowence which is 23kg and their hand luggage regulations. But it took ages to get to my gate and I had to pass 2 security controlls. I got myself a blister and it

seems my laptop got a few scratches from being dragged in and out of the bag all the time. As I was carrying many electronic items in my handluggage, I had this nice "special security check", which took ages and when I finally arrived at the gate the
plane was ready to board. Then we had to wait nearly an hour on the plane before we were allowed to take off, as there was heavy traffic in London and so instead of flying circles above London we remained in Frankfurt. So due to this the flight was 45 min delayed.

But that is not the end of the problems, because when I arrived at Heathrow I thought I had lost my mobile and one of my bags took ages to come through. So in the end it was 10 instead of 8.15 am when I left the luggage reclaim area. The school had told me that someone would be waiting for me at arrivals, but I could not found that person anywhere and I checked all the people carrying signs with names on it. Well, so I decided to get the next possible bus to Rickmansworth.

Arriving at Ricky Station I got a phone call on my mobile from Miss Batty, asking where I am and when I told her I had just arrived, she started laughing and told me that there were still 2 men waiting for me at Heathrow. Great, that cost me an extra £5 and a lot of nerves! Fortunately at least my mobile turned up again.

So I moved into my flat (Prep. Dept. 3) and later on had some lunch. For those who have been to RMS, the food is still the same! And this apple-crumble is still delicious!

Later on I had a walk around the grounds, which have not changed much either. Here are a few more impressions. Trinity Term is definitely the nicest term of all!

the alley to Southgate

I tried to get one of the squirrels that live on the grounds on the picture, but they are so fast and not as tame as the ones in Hyde Park. But I got one in the end, even though I did not manage to get a real close shot at it. Even though I prefer the red ones, the grey ones are cute as well!