The Great Adventure: Chapter 1
The sound of a distant voice came from the darkness. "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts; we will be landing in London, England shortly." I groggily opened my eyes; I've been sleeping on the plane for 8 hours. I checked my cell phone for the time, it was 3pm in Canadian time. I got to remember to change my times. In the UK, their time was 5 hours ahead of us. I lazily stretched in my seat, relinquishing any tension left in my muscles, my feet felt swollen and numb. Getting out of the plane will be hell, I looked out my window to see how close we were and I was astounded by the view. I saw fields of green bordered by rocks and the tantalizing sea. Every mountain was curved beautifully and the landscape seemed to just flow together. The sun had set and the clouds turned a deep purple. It must've been evening over here or close to night. As the plane began to descend onto the runway, my heart began to race with excitement and my muscles began to tense from anticipation to what lies ahead of these airplane doors. The plane landed with a soft thump and started to cruise to a stop, I got up and collected my things and walked into the airport. The place was huge, hundreds of people walking this way and that way; it made my 5 foot frame feel about 2 inches tall. With my SWAP guidebook intact, I went to the baggage claim to find my travel guide. At the baggage claim stood a tall girl in a blue pants suit and a short ponytail, she looked to be in her early forties. "Hi, I'm Lisa and are you Anya?" said the blonde in a bubbly and clearly evident British accent. "Yes, I am." I smiled shyly. "So Anya, welcome to London! I hope your flight went smoothly. Well, as you may know I'm here to help you to your hostel and get you settled in for your first few days here." I nodded. She then proceeded to go on about what I have to prepare for now that I'm living here like transportation, communication and employment. As she talked, she helped me get my bags and flag down a taxi Damn, she seems good at this. The taxi came around the roundabout, its quick presence somewhat surprised me. The cab wasn't like the ones back home, this one was black and old-fashioned like the ones you see in movies, my face lit up. "I knew that you were very fond of coming here so I tried to make your experience here as authentic and as cultural as possible." Lisa gushed. I was overjoyed by Lisa's generosity "Thank you so much Lisa, I really appreciate it." We both got in the back of the cab; through the passenger window Lisa told the driver the address of the hostel. By then, it was dark the sun was long gone and the moon was hidden behind the clouds. During the drive, Lisa told me about herself and I to her Lisa worked for SWAP for over 15 years, she was born in London and has traveled most of the world. Her excited and bubbly demeanour made me smile. "Oh, here we are this is your hostel dear." Lisa said. She then paid the cab and we stood at the doorway of the hostel. Through the darkness I could make out a 3 storey house, it was tall and not very wide there was also a garden around the front of the yard. Lisa and I stepped into the building and there was a small receptionist desk with a stout, rosy cheeked man, around his fifties flipping through a magazine he then looked up and smiled. "Good night to you my dear, how may I help you?" "Hi, my name is Anya I registered here to stay with you guys for the year?" I said. "Oh yes, Anya Boride is that correct?" I nodded. "Well welcome Anya, my name is Fred and my wife Jillian also works here. We both own the hostel but she's asleep right now… he rolled his eyes petulantly, but on that other note we've been expecting you darling!" I smiled politely. "Well then Anya my job is done for tonight, here's my number get settled in then call me when you're ready to start looking for work or if you need help with anything. Goodnight!" Lisa exclaimed and then left out the door. "Well you must be exhausted Anya, here let me show you to your room. We can take a tour of the house tomorrow if you want." said Fred " Thank so much for your hospitality Fred, it means a lot to me" We went up a flight of narrow steps then turned right into a small hallway with a door at the end. He opened the door to find a room big enough for two people, there were two small beds at opposite sides of the room and on the left of the room was a window with a view of the street below. I then got my beddings, thanked Fred and prepared to go to sleep. Despite the fact that, I already slept 8 hours, I was dead beat tired. As my head hit the pillow my mind began to spin on all the new things that just happened then I slowly drifted off to a peaceful slumber.
