Home time

Where to begin?

Well first things first I'm back home in dirty, grey, grimey London town (I'm sure I'll warm to the place again soon). I'm a little bit jet-lagged but not too much thankfully though I still feel very spaced out. As if this is all a dream. I've pinched myself to make sure it isn't.

So yeah, so far its nice to be back home. Flight back went very quickly and before I knew it we were in the arrivals lounge at Heathrow looking fro my brother who was picking Andy and myself up. The first thing that struck me was hearing the British accents again. Very odd. My accent is no longer special!

After managing to cram Andy and myself's luggage into Rob's little hatchback, then cramming ourselves in, we sat and watched the world (at least that part of the world around the M25) go by. Still, it didn't feel real.

We got home and my family had put up a welcome home banner which was sweet of them. I finally had my first proper cup of tea in a year (tea with the scum of the Thames on it) and settled down in front of the telly and watched the BBC. Things really haven't changed much have they?

Balloons!

I spent the night slowly unpacking stuff and trying to work out where to put things. Considering the sheer amount of time I had been up I really didn't feel all that tired.

Next day I was going to hit the ground running. I would start with getting my hair cut, get my suit cleaned, have a wander around the local high street shops, pop into the library and then head back. I was just about to leave the house when I suddenly realised I didn't have my house keys with me and I had no idea where my Mum had put them. I hunted high and low in all the places I thought they would be but nothing. I was trapped in my flat, with only my memories for company.

That kind of knocked the wind out my sails a bit, but at least I managed to get my hair cut when my Mum got home and showed me where she put the keys (in a pretty obvious place if I'm honest, not sure why I didn't check there).

The evening was the BUNAC night out in London town. I was really up for this, ready to get back out in my city and have a good night with some of the good friends I made in Canada. Unfortunately the Central Line decided to go mental and it took me nearly two hours to make a journey that normally takes 35 minutes. Sigh.

Still I made it and met with Si, Gav, Paul, Andy, Alan, Alan's brother Colin and two of Si's friends - Zoe and... another name. Blame the jetlag.

We had a great night. With them there it felt very much like we were still on our travels and London was just another stop. So when we said goodbyes... it was sad.

We went to the Maple Leaf, London's only Canadian themed pub (and it was pretty awful if truth be told) and the Red Lion, a great pub near Carnaby Street. A few beers with some good friends. We'll have to do it again very soon.

Now I know what you're all thinking, 'Hey Ian, what about yur travels in September? Where's your HILarious account of your time in the United States of America and maybe some kind of summing up or overview of the year?' Well you can just shut up OK? I've had enough of your demanding type.

Only joshing fans. Over the next few days I intend to fully update you all. I'll be dating the posts from the time they actually cover. For example Seattle will be dated Sept 5th. So keep an eye on September. And stayed tuned for all the exciting things that are sure to happen to me now I'm in London again!

Sigh.