Hello! I am now posting from England. Prepare for a flurry
of posts such that you all will get sick of me, and anyone who has signed up to
receive these posts via email (which you can do in the sign-up form on the
right of this page) will immediately unsubscribe. This week has many delights left
in store…
Wednesday, the plane landed at Heathrow at 7 am local time
(that was 2 am Eastern Standard Time). We were dropped off briefly at the
hotel, and then had a briefing and planning meeting there with our wonderful
staff from the Marshall Commission.
Wednesday’s delights involved a trip on the London Eye (a
large enclosed Ferris Wheel-esque sight-seeing tour) and dinner with current
Marshall Scholars (including those in their second year of Marshall study).
Most excitingly, Wednesday=SLEEP. All of the sleep. Bed at 9; awake around 7 to
shower and eat breakfast at the hotel. Events began at 8:30 am on Thursday…
…including a visit to the Houses of Parliament, a Q&A
briefing with current Marshalls to discuss life in the UK, the prepping of our
bank accounts (perhaps the most exciting thing all week), and numerous
briefings with Commission Staff. The evening culminated in a reception
sponsored by Her Majesty’s Government, which involved many delightful people
(including the international scholarship advisor from UEA – hurrah! someone from
my school!), a wonderful discussion with our Marshall-Sherfield Scholar (doing
postdoctoral research work), and…bed!
Friday we will be extensively briefed at the US Embassy and
then be shipped off to our universities! It’s really beginning, folks.
No way would I unsubscribe or get sick of reading about your adventures (large and small). :) Keep the posts coming! I am so glad that you arrived safely in England and that thngs are off to such a good start (despite the $50 luggage issue - sheesh!) XOXO
ReplyDelete- Linda