'The' Flight.. and first day in Roma

The trip over here was just terrible.

I arrived at Stanstead at 10am for a 12.45 flight and I only just through boarding at 12.10! My suitcase was heavy, yes I grant you as it was full of books so after standing in the queue for 40 minutes I then had to go and stand in another queue to pay excess luggage.. they only allow you 15kg so I had to pay £82.

I was then allowed back in the front of the queue to put my bag through... only to find they class a laptop as a bag and you are only allowed one carry on bag.. not a handbag and a bag just a bag. So I had to go through the whole proces again.

I was almost in tears and I think the girl knew. I went to the front of the queue, much to the disgust of everyone else and said.. I am sorry but I didnt realise I can't take this laptop on board.. in NZ you are allowed a laptop and I didn't know'... she took pity on me, didn't charge me and labelled it for me.. but no.. it doesnt end there. If I wanted it to go as fragile I had to take it to another queue to go through the scanner.

Still more to come.. I then had to wait another 30 minutes in Security and once through security where you get well and truly frisked BELIEVE IT!! .. unfortunately it was by a woman! I then had to take my shoes off at another line. Yes, everyone has to take their shoes off and walk through another scanner while the shoes go through separately. I guess that's London for you.

After an uneventful flight which was only 2hrs and 5min and the bus from the airport another 45 minutes with me trying to manouvre a 32kg suitcase, laptop and backpack which has now disintegrated! Needless to say when I did finally arrive I didnt venture out and so only started exploring Monday morning.

Rome is warm still, a mild 28 degrees when I arrived yesterday afternoon and the sun is shining brightly this morning althogh I am in jeans.

My digs leave a bit to be desired. It's a room on the first floor of a very old building right in the heart of Rome, that is its a 7 minutes walk to Termini Station which is great as its only 2 minutes to my school which means no money for busses. On the first floor are two other bedrooms with students, a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom. Phillipa, one of the other students came and introduced herself to me last night on her way out. She completed the course a month or so ago and is now teaching!! After talking to her I felt a bit more confident about getting a job teaching as she said it was easy to get a job once you had completed the CELTA course.. so time will tell.

I was feeling very sorry for myself last night.. no TV or Radio or music of any kind... stuck in one room with no groceries etc but this morning everything seems a bit brighter. I guess I will just have to get my shit together, meet other students on the course and start working hard. I start officially on Wednesday... so more news from me at the weekend.