LIYSF 2015: Day 0 – Travelling to London

Today was a rather enjoyable day, after a decent night’s rest I packed up the final items for the trip and took the skytrain into Vancouver with some of my family. It was nice to spend part of the day walking around Vancouver before beginning my overnight flight to London. My flight departed at 5:05PM Pacific time, and arrived at 10:32 local time in London. For all of the plane junkies, I flew an Air Transat A-330, which was surprisingly comfortable for an economy airline.

This was my plane (don't worry, more interesting pics are coming!)
This was my plane (don’t worry, more interesting pics are coming!)

Having successfully completed a (rather exhausting) flight of 9 hours and 27 minutes I have arrived in London, England!! This is the first time I’ve travelled alone and pleased that everything seemed to work out without a hitch (so far at least). It is all rather exciting. I am at the Gatwick airport just south of London, awaiting a train that will bring me to Imperial College in South Kensington, my home for the next two weeks while attending LIYSF.

While I wait, I can begin working on my flawless British accent, one of a few non-LIYSF specific goals for my stay here. This includes things like:

  1. Having tea and biscuits in London
  2. Learning to speak with a perfect British accent
  3. Not getting lost
  4. Seeing famous touristy things

But of course, I am about to set off on an incredible two week journey through current science, historic England, and all of the while having the opportunity to form friendships with other young scientists from all over the globe! What an amazing opportunity LIYSF is, and an amazing opportunity made possible by UFV! It all officially begins at the welcome in the Halls of Residence which will be held tonight.

*posts uploaded upon access to internet of course