Day #36

By now, you all know that I'm not one to complain (cue sitcom laugh track). Instead of complaining, let me give you a play-by-play for what should be next summer's hottest blockbuster:

Sleep-deprived girl takes bus to Canterbury bus station, where she boards her second bus, 2 hours long to London. Though most of the trip is uneventful, it should be noted that she tried to use the bathroom (since it's free and most of the bathrooms in London cost money), but there was no toilet paper and the door wouldn't stay closed, so she forewent that plan.

the face of tube confusion

Since she doesn't have wifi in London, she mapped out the exact tube routes, complete with lines and changes, to get to both the theaters and then back to the bus station with lots of extra time. Those plans were not to be; both the lines she needed were under construction, so she had to find another, slightly more roundabout route.

Two stops away from her final destination (with an hour to go until the play, thanks to all the delays), there is an announcement on the tube that there has been a "point failure on the line" and people should probably "find alternate means of transportation" since they were "experiencing severe delays". Like everyone else, she gets off the tube, slightly worried about the time and being in an unfamiliar city with no way to get out.



She walks into a shop to ask for directions, but the shop owners don't speak English. Instead, some of the customers tell her that there is a bus, but it takes half an hour to get to her destination, costs money, and she'll also have to wait for it to actually come. Instead, she goes back to the tube station to inquire when... she sees that the train she was on not 10 minutes ago had apparently fixed its delays and was already gone. And has to wait for the next one.

With half an hour until the first show, she finally gets to her destination. It should be noted that her last meal was at 9am and it was then 2:30pm. Hangry and frazzled, she tries to use Starbucks wifi to find the theater without success. She buys a small sandwich, finally gets some directions from the 3rd person she asked, and sprints the last leg of her journey while eating.

BUT on the bright side, she did make it on time! And she made some more friends in her class, enjoyed the show, and was able to follow native English students from the first theater to the second (a much less stressful ride!). After a wonderful dinner with lovely company, she saw the second show and enjoyed that as well.

Unfortunately, she was not able to make her bus due to more delays on public transportation, and had to buy another bus ticket home. BUT AGAIN ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, one of her new friends was taking the later bus back, so she had good company. Which was definitely a positive since this later coach from London got back to Canterbury station 4 minutes after the last bus back to the university. So the friends had a nice walk back together. And another plus: Daylight savings kicked in just in time, so instead of getting back home at 2am, they technically got back an hour earlier, at 1am!

Although it starts out with some frustration and conflict with public transportation, I definitely think this story has many more positives than negatives. Also, I'm alive, so there's another positive! And now, SLEEP.