Back to England, more Japanese students and issues at Heathrow

15/6 - Hello from London.

There was no feeling of eager, giddy excitement for me while waiting at the gate in LAX. This is just another familiar place; I know it well. London is like my other home. After arriving at Heathrow, taking the tube to Kings Cross and walking to my hostel, I feel completely at home here. I'm comfortable. The accents, the signs, the different language, cars that drive on the left side of the road, the ancient buildings...none of it present the unknown.

I first visited London in 2010 for a month. This is the first international city I visited in my life. While riding the tube from Heathrow, I reflected on the past six years and how my life has shaped up. London has obviously been a heavy influence on my life because I seem to find myself here quite frequently. This city has a special place in my being, and I'm thankful to be here again. In fact, it doesn't even feel like I'm traveling because I know this place too well. London is like that old friend you embrace and interact with as if the two of you never left, but in fact you haven't seen each other for years. I'm happy to be reunited with my old friend.

As for the journey here, there were of course some bumps along the way. My day started with my debit card being flagged down for fraud after I tried to buy a Eurostar ticket (the train that connects London to Paris) before notifying my bank. That meant I couldn't fill my car with fuel before leaving Porterville. I was getting stressed out and eventually had to laugh. No adventure is complete without a snag like that.

After landing at Heathrow, I waited an hour at border security. While talking to the customs agent, she got suspicious of me and retained my passport and made me sit in a small area out of the way with a couple of other people. She was gone with my passport for about 15 minutes. I think she got suspicious when I misunderstood one of her questions. She asked if I had been back to the United Kingdom or Ireland since I left England last September. I said no, not hearing the part about Ireland. That confused her because of the stamp from Ireland in my passport.

I flew with Air New Zealand because that was the cheapest ticket I could find, but it might be my new favorite airline. There were absolutely no issues at any point in the process. Customer service was friendly, the food was surprisingly fresh and tasty and the seats comfortable. To top it off, the airline produced a Men In Black spoof to present the safety spiel at the beginning of the flight. It was so creative it made me smile; no other airline has managed to make me enjoy the safety information video, so credit to Air New Zealand. This is difficult to do because that information becomes so repetitive the more you fly. You eventually know it by heart.

16/6 - I realized today I'm a Londoner. I do not get chills from the sites of Big Ben, Parliament or the London Eye anymore. They are simply features of the city. My friend Chris said this is how people who actually live in the city feel. But despite the lack of a chill down my spine, I'm still very much happy to be in London, a city that holds a special meaning to me. It was also great to stroll the city with Chris for a few hours.

I met my group from Kaichi High School today after arriving at Brunel University. There are seven kids in my group, each with a different level of English. Luckily, the group is more talkative than the one last year. It was also great to see friends from last year's program as well, including Jess, the woman who introduced me to it. I can already see how this year is much more different than last year. This is because I feel more confident and I already know people.

And this year, excuse me for sounding arrogant, but it seems I'm much more interesting just for the simple fact I flew from California to be here. The people who I have told that too were all surprised, and it's great fun to see Japanese students react to that kind of information. Additionally, the photo I sent the program several months ago features the huge beard I used to sport. I've already been told several times it looked great!

17/6 - Tatsuki, Shunsuke, Nono, Arimas, Nazomi, Ryunosuke and Yuma have already warmed up to me, compared to last year when it didn't happen until the second to last day. They all spoiled me on the bus back from Hampton Court today with gifts of food and Japanese soaps, and they are actually talking to me rather than me having to initiate all conversation. It's quite enjoyable.

At Bourton on the Water, all of the kids had an order of fish and chips, complete with tartar sauce and vinegar. I did much of the same as last year, such as taking the kids to that 1/9-size model of the village. We also spent a lot of time searching for a place that was open to serve food before noon. But the best part of the day was Shunsuke, with my encouragement, marching up to a group of local kids, introducing himself, shaking hands and speaking with them. That's how you strengthen your language skills! The kid is a stud (he plays baseball at school).

From left: Arima, Tatsuki, Shunsuke, Ryunosuke, Nozomi, Yuma, Nono, Michael

We also visited Hampton Court today. It's always interesting to stroll the palace and read more about the shenanigans of King Henry VIII and King George I; maybe I'm just getting old...

But typical of England, it rained off and on today interspersed with bright sunlight. I broke out my sunglasses, which inspired Nono and Shunsuke to rock shades as well. My group has already shown some personality!

Tomorrow we'll do group presentations and see a Kyogen, which will be translated into English this year. I'm really looking forward to it!