It's super weird to be writing and realizing that most of the people who will read this are so far away now instead of places like the room right next to me.
I'm finally pretty much settled in here in my dorm at Manchester. So far I'm LOVING it here. I figured since I'm finally at a relaxed point I would fill you in on my adventures so far.
Day 1: Traveling - I woke up and left for STL to catch my first flight. Saying bye to everybody was sad, but I know I won't be gone for that long. I had to switch planes in Chicago and then from there I headed to Newark. Once I was there I met up with some of the other Mizzou students who were coming here so that was nice. I exchanged all of my US currency here and got a cash card that I can load from my bank account. I'm really happy that I did this because it has made paying for things here so much easier and faster. The flight from Newark to Manchester was pretty smooth sailing. It was only about 6.5 hours or so. I wasn't able to really sleep on the flight so that was a bit rough. I sat next to a very interesting lady though! She is a nursing professor at some college near her home in southern England. Her one goal in life is to visit 60 countries by the time she turns 60. So far she is at 45! She visits such interesting places and had so many amazing stories to share with me. However, she has not yet visited the US. She really wants to see Yellowstone but she says that traveling to the US would be too difficult for her because it costs so much to travel around and takes too much time when she only has one week to see as much as she can. Either way, she was great.
Day 2: Arriving - Our plane landed in Manchester around 7:00 am their time but 1:00 am Missouri time. The time thing is odd to me. Talking to friends and family back home is weird because when I go to bed it's supper time there and when I get up it's the middle of the night. ANYWAYS. When we got off the plane we had to wait in line to get our visas. That was WAY easier than I was expecting. Then we got our bags, luckily none of us had a bag get lost. We found a table and hung out at the airport for probably close to two hours because check in at our dorms was at 10:00 am. We took a private hire cab to our living district called Fallowfield. The currency switch for me has also been a challenge. They use a LOT of coins. They're all different shapes and sizes which takes some getting used to. After all of us got settled in to our dorm room we met back up and went for a tour around Fallowfield. Basically in Fallowfield there is our residence hall district. There are lots of dorms in the district. Then there is a long road that has tons of places to eat and pubs. Everything that I need is in walking distance, technically. The road that goes through Fallowfield runs directly straight all the way to campus and then into the city. After the short tour we went to a pub and got a drink. All of us were pretty tired at this point but we all were trying to stay busy so we would stay up until it was time to go to bed here. The pub we went to used to be a church! That was interesting. I came back after that and unpacked a little. I also gave in and took a short nap because my head hurt really bad from the jet lag. I finished off my first day in this new place by taking a walk and exploring the main road then ate at a place called Yo Yo Noodles with a few friends. You can pretty much get any type of food you want here so that is awesome. Yo Yo Noodles had the equivalent to the Lo Mein at China King in Centralia. I'm trying to not eat too much similar food to what I'm used to. I want to branch out some. FINALLY, when I got home it was late enough that I went to bed at 10:00 pm after being awake for 34 hours.
Day 3: First day of orientation - We took the bus into campus which cost 1 pound. I'll end up buying a semester bus pass later this week. Monday's orientation was pretty uneventful. I almost fell asleep during it. Jet lag is real, people. Basically they just talked about the school and whatnot. Nothing too crazy. Also, they are really into fire procedures here. We haven't been able to figure out if they have a lot of fires or something, but it's seriously odd. The lady started orientation explaining what to do if we had to evacuate during our orientation meeting. Next Wednesday we have to attend a fire safety lecture. Seriously. I don't get it. After orientation our rather large group of friends walked to Curry Mile. This is a portion of road between Fallowfield and Uni (they call campus Uni - short for university) that is pretty much nothing but food of different types. We went to a place called Kobeda and it was amazing. They also gave us so much food. Then we went to a few stores to get some necessities. I came home and took a nap again. That evening we went to an international student meet and greet. That was pretty awkward but we met some cool people and went to a bar with them. We finished off the night by going to a few pubs in our area. It was pretty fun but drinks can be expensive here. Apparently they haven't heard of $0.75 triple wells like at Big 12. Weird.
Day 4: Today....more orientation - Today I walked to campus with one of my friends who goes to school in Maryland. It took us about 30 minutes to get there. It really was a nice walk though. We were able to really see all of the buildings on the way and just look around. All of the buildings here are super old which really adds a lot of character to the city. It's beautiful! Today's orientation session was slightly more interesting. We went over more class stuff and got our packets of course information and such. I was lucky and my course schedule doesn't have any problems so far. A lot of people had time conflicts and have to do a lot of work to change their schedule. After orientation we continued our walk and went into the city. We probably walked another 30 minutes but I didn't keep track that time. We had lunch at a place in the city. The way you order food here is way cooler than how you order in the US. You walk up to the counter and order and pay at the same time and they bring you your food when it's ready. It's really neat and you don't have to wait for your check at the end of the meal. I like it. We kept walking and went to a HUGE department store called Primark. Basically it has everything and is really really cheap. Typically everything here is so expensive. However, this store is even cheaper than in the US. I bought 2 shirts, 10 hangers, a large blanket, a shower caddy, and an arm band for your iPod while running all for about 30 US dollars. Basically we found a place EVEN BETTER than Target. We took the bus home instead of walking this time. That would have been a really long walk, but at some point in my stay here I'm going to do it. It's just really nice to see the sights you just can't see on the bus. Since I got back to my dorm I haven't left. I finished unpacking my room completely and decorated it with my pictures and cards. I also met two of my flat mates and talked with them for awhile. The tutor (RA for the dorm) came down and also introduced himself to me and talked for awhile/asked if I needed anything. Everybody here is so welcoming and kind. It's fantastic! It's 10:30 pm here now so I'll probably just stay in the rest of the night and catch up on some sleep.
It's finals week here for the students finishing their fall semester. They do their semesters differently than we do back home. So pretty much my flat is dead right now and I haven't been able to meet very many of them. The ones I have met have been very nice though.
So that's what I've been up to the past few days! Obviously I'm not going to post a day-by-day schedule like this all semester. That's too much for me.
All in all, I'm absolutely loving it here. This city has SO MUCH TO DO. Seriously. I don't even know where to begin. I can't wait to start exploring and traveling. Also, I've met exchange students from all over the world and our rather large friend group is quite diverse. The US to other countries ratio is kinda crazy though. There are so many students from the US here.
Later.
