Monday-Birmingham!

Now I'm in Birmingham, which is in the UK. It's in the middle bottom part of the country.

So, today was definitely my strangest airport experience yet. I got to the airport extremely early (because it was raining, and I couldn't think of anything better to do than drink coffee, read, and watch people in the airport), but was actually one of the last to get through security.

I guess to leave Prague, I needed to get a special stamp on my boarding ticket (which, since I'm flying with Ryanair, isn't a boarding pass at all, it's just a sheet of paper printed from the computer. No seats are assigned, you just pick one when you get onto the plane). They kept my passport and boarding pass and had me sit off to the side, and told me it would be 10 minutes. Well, about an hour later, everyone else had finished checking their bags and I was still waiting--and still had to go through customs and security. Finally one of the stewardesses got the stamper, and said that they only had one (which just seems silly).

I got through customs and security pretty quickly, but I got to the gate just as the plane was boarding. It was just a little nerve-wracking.

When I got off at the gate at Birmingham, customs was up first. They were definitely the most difficult to get through out of all the countries I've been to. They asked me the name of the hostel I'm staying at, what I do for a living, what I studied in school, how much money I had on me and in my bank account, if my parents were helping me with money, and some other things. I was a little taken aback, but I guess they take things seriously--they are Brits, after all.

But, I got in safely, and that's all that matters. Now I'm sitting at my new hostel enjoying some free pizza and a beer (they're licensed to serve alcohol, too)!