My (not so) Long Journey Home

---

---

And so ends of my European experiment. I would call it a success, on the whole. Apart from housemates who were not the most inviting of people (they were nice and easy to get along with as long as you were perfect in everything you did) and living in a place where the dollar went nowhere, I made some great friends from all around the world, had a good job with people who were welcoming, easy to get along with and fun, got to live in the financial capital of the world in a foreign country, and was able to see a large chunk of Europe in just a few months time.
My last day and 2 nights in London were a chance to catch up with people one last time and say my good-byes. It was also a chance to show an old friend my stomping grounds, even if only for a short while.

Saturday, May 31st:
Easy flight to Stanstead and bus to Golders Green, so we walked the few blocks to my old place and knocked. Ben, my replacement, answered and welcomed us in. This was to be the kindest reception I got from anyone. I discovered that Jo was home and went up to say “hi,” and was greeted with a very cold reception, clearly showing that she didn’t want me there. We put our things in the lounge and headed over to Daniel’s to grab my bags. Last I had heard from him, he said he would be in town for me to grab my stuff. He was not home. I tried to get a hold of Beverly Taylor, but no luck, and eventually got Jonny, who was heading out and believed that Daniel was in New Haven. As it was Shabbat, I had no way of reaching him. So we went back to my old place to shower and just generally clean ourselves up.
On the way I stopped by the landlady’s place. She was home, but as it was Shabbat, and the extra key was in her husband’s office, I would have to wait until about 10:30 to get it from her. After showering, and getting another cold reception from Ryan (Jo’s boyfriend, Elan, was friendly, though - and Aaron commented that he had gotten a grander reception from him roommate after a week in Hawaii than I did after a month away) and not a single question on how the trip went, I got a hold of my friend Sara (actually my old roommate Abram’s ex) and we planned to meet up later on that night. My phone promptly died.
We ended up waiting for the landlady so I could get a key and we headed down to the middle of town. While waiting, Aaron and walked over and grabbed some fish and chips to take back to the house (had to get some real English food in London, right?) We had a little bit of a screw up buying Aaron’s tube pass (I wasn’t thinking and we ended up buying a pass that was way more than we needed for one ride, and wasn’t valid for the bus ride I knew we would take back). But once past that, we tubed down to Leicester Square and I gave Aaron a night tour of Westminster. We hit all the major things, from the river and a view of the London Eye, to Parliament Square and the houses of Parliament, to Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. We got a night bus home with some of the partiers making it an early night, booked Aaron a cab to Heathrow, and crashed.

Sunday, June 1st:
Woke up early this morning with Aaron saying goodbye and helping him with his stuff downstairs to the door. Rochelle was there asking us if one of us was going to Israel…we were a bit confused, but apparently the cab company specializes in that. The big problem was that the door had warped since I had gone and Rochelle couldn’t get it open, so the cabbie is waiting, Rochelle is angry and I’m banging on the door and the lock (it was actually the problem, as it wouldn’t disengage), until Ben comes down, understandably pissed as it is 6:30am, and pushes the door in and then turns the lock without a problem. Rochelle disappears and I mumble “thanks, sorry about the noise.” I then help Aaron get his stuff to the cab and wish him a good flight. Then back to the couch for a few hours.
I get up, get a hold of Jonny again and get the keys to Daniel’s from the Taylors. It turns out Daniel is in New Haven, but at least we have an extra key. Jonny had to run out for band stuff, but we made plans for tonight, and fortunately, Laurie stopped by to feed the dog (Raymond and Beverly had gone up to Leeds to get Mark from university) and we asked him if he was in, but he was out tonight, so we said our goodbyes and good-lucks. I grab all my stuff and trudge over to the house to unpack and repack. I had managed to get a hold of both Sara and Katie and made plans with them for today, so I headed out to meet Sara for lunch in Marylebone.
We got together at a neat little joint for lunch down that way and really just caught up and chatted and hung out for a while over lunch and while walking around the area afterwards for a few hours. During lunch, however, I got a text from Jo, who said they housemates wanted me tonight (honestly, the message was in such an offended tone that you would have thought I had punched her in the face), and I replied that after the leper treatment, I would gladly find other digs. I had my stuff all there, but figured it could wait until I wanted to swing by and grab it. Daniel replied by text that he would be happy to let me stay. After a while of walking and talking with Sara, we parted ways and I met up with Katie at a pub near Borough Market. Unfortunately, Rachel Steven couldn’t make it (the four of us had become a bit of a group together) and She and I got to talking about anything and everything, and just carried on until I had to run and grab my stuff from the house, as it was getting dark and I had to meet Jonny at his place to watch the England-Trinidad and Tobago match.
After grabbing my stuff, a nice little chat with Ben, some iciness with Ryan and Jo, and returning the key to the landlady, I brought my stuff over to Daniels, where I dropped it all, and walked up to the Taylors for the game. Raymond, Beverly and Mark were also home, so I updated them on all the happenings of the past month. I also gave Mark my US cell number as he and a few buddies will be doing a transcontinental road trip and we should be able to catch up with each other. After the game and some socializing with Jonny, I said my goodbye to the whole Taylor clan and went down to Daniel’s to finish packing and crash.

Monday, June 2nd:
Up early this morning to shower and drop the keys to Daniel’s off at the Taylors’ place, than to the tube to the train to Gatwick for my flight to JFK. It was not a whole lot of fun trudging everything up and down the stairs in the tube stations and then the train station, but I made it.
Upon checking in, it turned out that I was at nearly double the weight limit for my bags for the regular economy class of Zoom Airlines, so it was actually cheaper to upgrade to Premium than pay the fee for the weight, so I ended up in the nicer seats. In the waiting area, they always have some liquor company giving out free samples front and center. Today, it was Patron, a very good tequila that is apparently only sold in about 4 stores in London. I thought noon was early for a shot of tequila, but at the sales desk there was a well-dressed guy buying Patron Silver. I talked to him for a minute, and it turns out he was buying the bottle to impress his financier, whom he was on the way to see, and I ended up convincing the guy to get the Patron Platinum, which is certainly a more impressive gift.
The flight was easy and comfy. The guy next to me was a Kiwi who was moving from London to Whistler, Canada to take a job on a whim. We chatted for a while during taxi and takeoff, but since there were very few people in our class, he moved to another row and we were both able to spread out. I was also able to get some writing done on the flight, plus a bit of a nap.
Landed just about on time, and with no problems at passport control or customs, I was soon picked up by the shuttle and one we loaded up all the people we were on our way to New Haven. Nice group of people, too. The driver was friendly; there was a woman a bit older than me in CT on work from Ireland, a woman just going home and a college student guy who had just come back from birthright. The driver was originally Moroccan, so when he was describing that his niece was pregnant, we heard of her desire for “grenadines,” he began to describe them and I soon blurted out “pomegranates!”
After fighting the traffic from JFK (I landed at 4:30 on a weekday) to New Haven, I was the last to be dropped off and I walked home to a wonderfully warm greeting from mom, Dave and Dixie. Dad was at a golf tournament. We ate on the patio in the backyard and soon dad was home, and we were all together. I also talked to Bethany on the phone for about an hour and a half FOR FREE!! It felt good to be home.

---