Monday, 1-1-96
10:25 PM Evanston Time ☺︎
4:25 AM London Time (1-2-96)
Wow! It’s for real now… I am on British Airways as I write this en route to London, England! Just finished watching my first on flight film, The Bridges of Madison County. It was a romance and I even got teary eyes towards the end…
Dinner was good, chicken — breadsticks — crackers — cheese — a lil’ candy bar — and… I even had a small bottle of sparkling “Chardon” white wine! Yes, I am finally legal (at least in Europe)! After dinner I had a cup of tea — I figured if I am going to London for at least 3 months, I best acquire a taste for the city’s beverage of choice. I actually enjoyed it, I think the herbal taste is going to grow on me.
I arrived at O’Hare’s International terminal at 5 PM today to check in. It took just a few minutes and then I was free until boarding time at 6:45 PM. Mom and Dad decided to park the car and come in and wait with me.
Being New Year’s Day, the Rose Bowl was underway with NU & USC playing in the big game. This is the 1st time since 1949 that the Wildcats have been to the Rose Bowl, let alone any bowl for that matter…
Mom, Dad, & I decided to watch the game from an airport bar called “Parades.” When I kissed them goodbye Northwestern had just scored a touchdown making the score, towards the end of the 3rd quarter, NU behind by 5 (I forget exactly what pts. were had by both teams…) Well, as of yet I am clueless as to who won.
So far I haven’t really gotten to know any of the other Birkbeck participants on the flight. In the airport, when I was checking in I met a girl, named Lauren. She seems nice & down to earth. We also hung out with another girl, whose name has escaped me, right before we boarded.
I am sitting in 44E in a center section seat. There are 3 guys in my row, all who seem friendly, but their names have also escaped me. One of the guys is best friends with the “Kevin Bacon Game” guy from Sachem (a leadership honorary, for juniors, that I am in at U of I). He appears to have a greater love for photographs than yours truly & had been looking at & arranging them the whole time. The guy on my left is reading a book about Michael Jordan & the guy on my right is constantly reading, then watching the screen, & then listening to his Walkman. When we first got settled he was reading “Circle of Friends.” Well, speaking of friends, the sitcom Friends is on the screen & I think I’ll watch it!
Later ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: A few things struck me about this, my first journal entry from almost 23 years ago….
One it was clearly pre-September 11, 2001, as I described my experience at the airport preparing to fly internationally and having my parents being able to stay and hang out with me, more so than increased security would allow today.
I think it’s cool that I shared current events, such as Northwestern University playing in the Rose Bowl, which was a really big deal in my hometown of Evanston (where NU is located) back then! And it also shows how I wasn’t that into sports, not being able to recall the score of such an important game when I boarded the plane.
I recall those traveling with me to London, via the same study abroad program, being excited that we’d become legal on the trip over, as most of us weren’t 21 yet. Many of us decided to order a drink on the flight, because we could. I would turn 21 two months later, while there.
I also got a kick out of the attention to detail I shared, such as what the guys in my row were doing! And the references to out of date technology, including a Walkman.
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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