Day #1

So my first day here in the U.K. was very long...wow I had no energy at the end of the day and still went out because everyone was saying the best thing to do is stay up until at least 10pm so I can get into a routine schedule here. So yeah, like my previous blog said, I got here around 6am through plane, and after a train and taxi, I arrived to my home stay house around 8am. I met some of my host family but its weird because they aren't really the typical host family I was expecting. Martin is a single dad (I consider him my landlord) with 3 kids around my age. His oldest daughter who's 23 lives at home along with his son's friend. His son and other daughter are back and forth between here and their mother's house. They are really nice, but in and out of the house all the time.

Here's some pics of my room:
1) my own mini fireplace and mantel! 2) a wash basin (aka sink) in my room 3) my desk/night stand and window 4) my bed, i love my really thick comforter!
I told you, it reminds me of an old fashioned hotel haha, very "quaint"

Anyways after I got settled in and unpacked I took the bus to campus with Sarah my roomate...dang its pretty far, it takes me probably around 20-3o min to get to school, its like a 10-15 walk to the bus stop and another 10-15 bus ride to campus. I've walked to the bus a couple times now though so I guess it'll go by faster once I get used to the routine. I got a weekly pass to ride the bus, its like 10 pounds but a deal compared to the 3 pounds you would have to pay every day. On campus I explored and got lost for a bit. Funny, I was in the Psych building trying to find the office to talk to my advisor but the fire alarm went off and we stood outside for while. The buildings here are so confusing! Its not just the outside layout but inside too, I swear I walked around the Psych building like 5 times before I found my advisor's office. And the room numbers are like Pevensey 1 1B08, so its like you have to find the right building because there's 3 buildings under the same name, then the right room number with the right letter prefix and more random numbers attached, wtf!? We'll see if I can find any of my classes on Monday...wish me luck!

Anyways, after getting some business taken care of I ate lunch with Sarah before she went off to her next class, checked out the library (where they have no bathrooms side note), and met with Sarah again to head back home. We stopped by the grocery store on the way back called Sainsbury's. It looks huge on the outside but looks like any other grocery store on the inside. The brands are so different, there's not much of a food selection but Sarah and I decided to make a huge Thanksgiving-like dinner one night because we're both missing home-cooked meals. There's a Starbucks there which reminded us of home so Sarah got some chai and we sat for a bit until I started falling asleep. Back home I took a 2 hour nap which seemed like forever when Sarah woke me up to get ready to go to a party. Her classmate invited her to a girls 21st bday so we headed over there even though I was about to knock out again but I pulled myself together for the sake of meeting new people. On campus we met up with Byron from Boston (aka Sarah's classmate) and got lost trying to find the party. It was in an apartment-style dorm on campus. There were tons of people there, mostly international students. I met a couple people from Boston, Colorado, Texas and Chicago. I was also introduced to Balmer's, some alcoholic cider drink that's way better than beer (since that's all they seem to drink here)! After a game of flip cup and chatting, we all left for a pub in town called Font (lol even though my room mate called it Script haha). There was like 30-40 of us that all piled onto a double decker bus...I felt sorry for the driver because a whole bunch of drunk people took over the upper deck haha. We got into town where a couple of us girls ran around frantically looking for a bathroom until we found a small restaurant to go in. The pub was pretty nice, it was a mix between old fashion and modern, two stories and very intimate...and by that I mean there was a couple making out on one of the couches when we got upstairs. The birthday girl Heather, had some rounds and we made a toast to her. I felt like the old one because everyone there either just turned 21 or wasn't there yet. After an apple sour shot and a sex on the beach, Sarah and I went back home and stopped by a Subway to eat.

So yes, that was my first day. Sorry so lengthy! Today I'm planning to watch a movie with Sarah, head over to campus for another advising apt. at 4pm, and then back to campus for another gathering and maybe more pubs tonight. I'm not planning to stay up too late because I have to get up around 7am tomorrow morning for a day trip to London! It's really hard adjusting since I'm not in a group of people in a program or living on campus, but I'm glad Sarah is here. She's having a hard time and missing home a lot, but I hope we can get through this together...I don't know what I'd do without her here :( I'll end this blog with some pics from the party and pub last night and should update later.


1) Flip cup- the game got pretty intense! 2) With Jen and Lauren, both from Colorado 3) Toast to the birthday girl, Heather 4) Toast with my roomie, Sarah 5 & 6) inside and outside of the pub