Daniel is in England

Well I have to keep this post short - I am in London's Heathrow Airport sitting at a coffee shop that has wireless internet (PAYING 5 POUNDS FOR 1 HOUR)!

I got into London yesterday morning around 6:15 a.m. My parents and I proceeded to wait for what seemed like hours for a bus to come take us to the hotel that was approximately 45 seconds down the road.

After getting to the hotel and waiting an hour and half for a room, I changed and headed out to meet Sean! My parents were tired so they chose to stay in the hotel to rest, so they let me run amok in London for the day. I met Sean's family and we went to the Imperial War Museum, London Eye (ferris wheel), Wax Museum, etc., etc., etc. Sorry - no more time for details, my hour is about up and I have to board. I'm off for 12 plus hours flying coach! I will post when I get into Singapore!

Love,

Daniel

P.S. The picture above is Sean and me in the center of Picadilly Circus.

Welcome (My First Post)

Hello everybody - this is my first post (of many)! I am excited about keeping everybody up-to-date about my adventures from the other side of the planet and excited about hearing about all the happenings in the Western world!

For those of you who don't know, Duke recently opened a medical school in Singapore and my dad was offered a job chairing the Health Services Research Department. My Dad came to my Mom and me sometime this past winter to let us know he had gotten the offer. The weeks that ensued basically consisted of me listing all of the reasons why we should go...and I guess the rest is history.

I will be leaving tomorrow (Monday, the 28th) evening. My parents and I will be stopping through London and spending Tuesday and Wednesday there. *Funny story - it turns out that my best friend Sean is in England right now, so I should be able to meet up with him for a little while there.

Wednesday we depart for Singapore. This is the first time I will be flying anywhere on a one-way ticket! Once in Sinapore, we will be staying in a service apartment (a mix between a hotel and an apartment) for a while until we find a place to stay. I start school on August 11th. I don't know much more beyond these couple of facts.

I'm going to be getting a new phone and I don't know what sort of plan I will have. What I can tell you is that I will have Skype. Skype is a FREE internet program in which two people can talk using either the microphone built on on laptops and some desktops or by using a cheap and easy-to-use plug in computer mic. If interested, check out this website for download: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/. Once you've created a Skype Name, add me as a contact - danielmatchar. My email address is danielmatchar@yahoo.com and I have a facebook page that I check pretty often.

I hope to hear from everybody soon - leave me comments here, send me an email...just keep in touch. My plan is to update this blog pretty often (and include lots of pictures), so check in with it frequently. Keep in mind that Singapore is 12-13 hours ahead (depending on datelight savings) of time here on the East Coast of the U.S.

Peace and love,

Daniel