From Where You'd Rather Be

London, UK

Coming back to London after my time in Croatia was a relief. I was happy to be 'home' even if it wasn't my home per se. Either way I was glad to be surrounded by home comforts and know the language. The flight home was about 1.5 hours and yet it took me 3.5 hours to get back to my place after landing in London. This was mainly because once you arrive in London you have to line up to show your passport and you either line up in the 'UK/Europe' line or 'Other.' On this particular day the 'Other' line took a couple of hours and when i finally got to the front and the finger scanner failed to work i was told "Oh well, it's not working, but it's ok you look like a trustworthy person."-Great security measures Gatwick, glad i waited for 2 hours for a nod of trust from a stranger!

It was great to see my London family again, the boys thought I had gone to visit Australia, because to them if i wasn't in the house I must be in Australia! It was also great to be back with my London friends and see the boy M that I had started dating before I left. The most romantic part of us meeting in London is that he's also Australian and lived about 30 minutes from where I lived back home in Sydney, but had arrived a month ago for work. We had organised to spend the day together the day I got back and when I showed up at his place he surprised me with tickets for the London Eye. We went up at dusk which was perfect because on the way up we had a marvellous view of London in daylight and on the way down we had a spectacular view of the twinkling lights as the city tucked itself in for the night.

After such an amazing evening it was a shock back to reality the next day when I heard from Australia that my Grandpa had passed away. The news physically hurt. Sadness consumed me. Not altogether unexpected and I believe that he is in a better place, but still numbness sunk in and I felt very alone. It was the first time that I realised just how far from home I was and it was awful not being able to console my brother for three days due to various commitments as well as the time difference. Thank goodness for Skype, although as my Grandma's generation are not always privy to such technology I hate that i was not able to hug her let alone see her while telling her I was there for her...I loved my Grandpa and always will. He was a special man and although there were both good and bad times, he will be dearly missed and i will hold a place for him in my heart always. Rest in Peace Grandpa, I Love You.

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One Saturday night we all went to a club here that is called a 'Roller Disco" and is a club where you put on rollerskates upon arrival and drink, dance and go to the bathroom with your wheels on! Plus the theme is 80's disco which means put on as much fluoro and 80's gear as possible.

Halloween arrived and i was shocked how into the preparations the English get. I had always thought it was an American tradition that Australia had attempted but ultimately failed to mimic. But the supermarkets had a whole aisle dedicated to costumes, fake blood etc and so too did Poundland making it even cheaper to buy a whole costume. My friends threw an awesome Halloween party and we decorated the apartment with cobwebs, pumpkins which we carved ourselves and even a knife with fake blood on the tip and down the mirror in the bathroom! We all had great fun dressing up in our blood, gore and fear-evoking attire!