Well, I finally made it. I'm writing this on my first night here, but you won't see it until a few days from now when my internet gets fixed (ITS is gone today).The plane ride wasn't so bad. I hate takeoffs and landings, but other than that, it was endurable. Unfortunately, I got little to no sleep because of the nighttime antics of my fellow passengers. We landed a little earlier than we expected and so expected to take a long time getting through customs and finding our contact person. Customs was a piece of cake. I showed the lady my passport and a landing card. That was it. All the reams of paper I had in my backpack of letters and support letters I didn't need after all. When we got to the other side of customs we looked at each other and said "that was it?" It was that easy (Praise God!)
The next part wasn't so easy. We hauled our luggage around and searched for our contact person. Finally a lady, who could see we looked lost, herded us into a group of seats that were occupied by some other American students on their way to Canterbury. We were all suffering from Jet Lag so we really didn't get to meet them (supposedly we get to tomorrow). We just know they are from the USA and live in the same dorm. That group anyway.
Finally, after about forty minutes or so, our contact person showed up. It was understandable, since she thought our flight was coming later. Then, we spent another fifteen minutes or so because she thought she was missing some students (i.e. us). She checked off our names, but it didn't click that we were from the missing university. (she couldn't speak/understand English that well). Well, we finally got the problem solved and filed into a bus bound for Canterbury.
It was an interesting bus ride, to say the least. Four people who seemed exempt from the drag of jet lag talked the whole way there, LOUDLY. I was hoping for a nap, or maybe some silence, but it didn't happen. They didn't seem to be my kind of crowd. The scenery was beautiful though (which the talking people missed). England has more hills than I thought it would. To cut grass, they use sheep. Very eco-friendly.
Canterbury is so cute J All the streets look like medieval England. When we arrived at our house (which is the CRAZIEST house I've ever been in. I get lost in it all the time) there was a crew of people there to help us. The first thing I had to do was to lug my forty pound suitcase up a steep flight of stairs. My arms still hurt L Fortunately I got some guy to carry up my other one. I've got a wardrobe in my room…a really cool one J We unpacked our stuff and then went around sightseeing. Laura and I bought some food at the local Tesco's and ate it in my room. Our house is so confusing that we went exploring and discovered a nice kitchen in the basement. Every two feet or so, there is either a staircase or a door. To get from one end of the house to the other would take an eternity if one wanted to go about it quietly, so no one does and you can hear the constant slamming of doors. Our kitchen (the one we are assigned) smells really bad and is filthy, which is due to the Russian students who don't clean up after themselves. They are nice people, just extremely messy. We have to use a different fridge from them because they keep liverwurst in theirs. The rest of gang went to a party at the university, but I was so tired I fell asleep just as they were leaving and so missed the party.
Day 2 (written on the day in which they occurred)
Ok, now on to today's events. Orientation was today, so I got up at a reasonable hour and shivered my way through breakfast. It's colder here than I thought it would be. Laura's room faces the rising sun, so she is fine. My room, however, is larger (more deluxe) than hers, so I pay for it in shivers. We ate our breakfast in the basement kitchen and made coffee with the stuff we bought the night before. I tried to boil water on the stove for ten minutes, but the thing was still cold. It was then I discovered the water-heating machine. The coffee tasted terrible because I made it too strong and we didn't have any milk to put in it.
By this time, everyone else got up and went out for breakfast and then together we went to the University for orientation—but we were at least twenty minutes early. In Britain, one can never be early, and everything happens at least five minutes later than posted. We got to meet one of our professors today who will be teaching our modern Britain course. He and this other cute British chap Doug were in charge of registering us for classes. By hand, no computers.
Ok, one would think that in a university with over 15,000 students, they would have a computer system like they do back home. Nope. Registration took four hours. There are a couple hundred American students here and they all had to be registered. Apparently, they said they didn't have our paperwork, and so didn't know what classes we want to take. (I was SO mad after all the hours I spent figuring out my class schedule so nothing would conflict). Luckily, I remembered what courses I wanted (that will transfer back). I am taking Victorian Novel and Children's Lit. Do I get to pick a section? No! Apparently,(to be read in a very British accent) "If I talk to the person real nice, they might let me in." Everything here is so happy-go-lucky and disorganized. There is a ton of stuff that they didn't tell us at orientation, like about our mail, our internet, etc—that they didn't mention. Instead, we watched a video about fire safety. Good, but not that necessary.
We were so tired after orientation that we went shopping. Twice. I bought a lamp for my room (my room is very dark) as well as some hangers, groceries, and the washcloth I forgot to pack. Then we went to eat. I tried fish and chips…they were amazing except for the fact that they were fried (not the healthiest thing in the world). I am making it by buying (and intending to eat) some broccoli.
It's funny, but I don't feel like I stick out here. Everyone is really friendly and nice and there are lots of foreigners so no one stares at the silly Americans. I'm proud to be an American. I might feel differently once class starts and I interact with more British kids, but for now, everything is cool.
Whew! That was a long post, partially due to my lack of internet, which I just fixed. You may expect shorter posts in future.
Cheers!
--Mary
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2 comments:
So where does your wardrobe go? I hear they go somewhere special in England ;).
The registration reminds me of horror stories I heard from my parents and grandpa about college.
(Not to mention how computer programing was done way back then, punchcards *shudder*).
*insert snide comment about underwhelming English tech.*
yeah, the people here are not very techno savvy. They have this new building, Augustine House, which is the library, and they installed radiators in it (in a room with a 20 foot ceiling). Don't ask me why. One would think they would put in a modern heating system, but no.
oh, and yes, my wardrobe leads to a very interesting land called the back of the closet in which I have had many adventures (such as realizing my wardrobe has a drawer in which to keep my socks).
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