Friday, August 22, 2008 - Back in the UK, Part 1 |
| This covers the first couple of days, 21-22 August.
Arrival at LHR was a rude awakening. It was as if half of humanity was standing in line to get through UK Immigration. There were hundreds of freshly disembarked passengers from all over the world clutching their passports... and this was before 7.00am!
I didn't intend on jumping the queue/line but I stood in the non-EU line with my spouse. I wasn't sure if that was OK so I asked a member of staff if what I was doing was OK (and flashed my UK passport). On hearing my story, the lady pulled us both out of that line and marched us to the head of the EU line so we flew through Immigration. It was kind of embarrassing but the Immigration staff said that in the future we should queue together in the EU line (because we are a family and it is faster).
I spent the first day with my parents and I'm relieved to see that they look well. My Mum certainly looks thinner than when I last saw her but she does have some energy because he cut up and trimmed a 15lb whole salmon while I was there.
I don't recall British police being particularly friendly or helpful when I lived in the UK but one came to my assistance in Tottenham Court Rd. tube when I was trying to decide on which exit to use to get to the British Museum. The officer must have seen me thinking out aloud and directed me to the correct exit.
The highlight of the first couple of days was completely unrelated to my being in London. On Thursday, August 21st, my best friend, R, gave birth to her third child, a boy. Now, since she told nobody, including her husband, of the baby's gender, the parents have to decide upon a name. They haven't come to agreement yet but luckily they have six weeks to register a name. My friend had a super smooth delivery (less than 15 minutes) and was discharged within 24 hours of the birth. I plan on visiting her on Tuesday.
That's all for now. |
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About Me
Former Londoner, now living in Durham, NC since 2002.
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