Lancaster University, Week 1

I'm proud of myself for getting everything to fit!

Saturday (Oct. 1)

I woke up really nervous!  I was scared because even though I've been away from home for long periods of time before, I was never really by myself.  I always had family to rely on, and I was extra scared because I would have to adjust to a culture I wasn't familiar with.

My flight was at 2:30pm so I showed up at around noon.  My mom dropped me off but she left me and my sister to meet up with my cousin to have lunch there and send me off.  I was so nervous, I was afraid I'd throw up if I had anything to eat -- so I just ordered a wrap and salad with fries.  I was actually really sad about leaving Minnesota because of the gorgeous fall we were having.  I wanted to stay and go to the apple orchard, hang out with my friends outside with the smell of leaves all around us...I've always loved fall, but I never knew how much until I had to leave!

Minnesota Fall

Arriving in Atlanta was the easy part.  Getting from Atlanta to Manchester was even scarier.  It finally really hit me how far away I was going.  I could already hear everyone's accents and it was just a really crazy moment for me.  And I'm used to long flights and 14-hour jet-lag, but I was still scared, nervous, and really excited.  There was just so much anticipation.  I just had no idea what to expect.

Sunday (Oct. 2)

I arrived in Manchester airport on Sunday at around 8am.  That flight took forever and it took a lifetime just get through the border.  There was a huge line.  I think it took me 45 minutes.  It took me a while to find the bus that was supposed to take me to Lancaster University, but when I showed up, everyone was really nice and very helpful, as was everyone at the school when I arrived.

After I got settled into my room, I totally passed out.  I was sleeping when I heard a knock on my door, and it was just a few of my flatmates going around meeting everyone.  It was really nice, because I've always felt really awkward first meeting people.  They made it easy for me!  I have 7 other flatmates: Carolyn, Simone(?), Cíara, Zhen, Greg, Jude, and Shaun.  They are all really nice people.  It's a mix of exchange students and UK students.  Carolyn is from Buffalo, NY and Zhen is from China/Canada.  I haven't talked a lot with Simone, but she's from Brooklyn, NY.

Later that night, a few of us sat around in Greg's room chatting, drinking beer and wine, and attempting to watch There's Something About Mary.  Ahh...they drink a lot here!  Not to get drunk or anything, but they drink often.  It's fun and I love it.  It's different from college in the US because I feel like most kids don't actually know how to drink.  They get to that drunk point, and then drink more.  It never made sense to me.  I think kids here know how to drink more responsibly.

Monday (Oct. 3)
Today was the beginning of Freshers' Week and exchange student orientation stuff.  Basically, we were getting talked at all day about registering for classes, campus facilities, Students Union, college residence officers, International Student Support, history of Lancaster, etc.  It was so hard getting out of bed.  I got up at 9:25am and had to be in the building that is literally 20 ft from my flat.  So I took my time getting ready.

Zhen and I decided we would walk to the library during one of our breaks to register and get our student IDs -- because without it we had no access to internet.  I thought I was going to die.  It was so annoying!  We had to stand in line for nearly and hour and a half.  Ridiculous I tell ya.  We missed out on all the talks in between our break and lunch.  When we got back, Zhen and I found Carolyn to get lunch at Wong's Chinese restaurant.  It was really comforting.  They had all these Snoopy figurines -- they were adorable!

After lunch, the three of us went back to finish up getting talked at, and at the end we had cakes and tea (with milk!) like real Brits.  Then we headed back to our rooms to get ready to go into town with Cíara.  She is so sweet for taking us.  She has her car on campus, so she drove us into town to get groceries and other essentials.  We went into Sainsbury's and Wilkinson (which I think is like Target).

That night, we went out for pub golf on campus!  Colleges are different here.  It's not really separated into areas of study, it's more just a way to not get lost in the crowd (even though there are only about 12,000 students here).  There are 8 colleges here: Lonsdale, Fylde, County, Pendle, Bowland, Furness, Cartmel, and Grizedale.  I'm in Grizedale. :)

Each college has its own bar.  Like I said, they're serious about drinking here.  All the flatmates went out together (minus Simone), and it was just like bar hopping, except there was a 'par' for a specific drink at each college.  We started out at Lonsdale, I think, then the Graduate bar, and finished off at Grizedale.  I'm not actually positive that we only went to those 3, but I'm sticking with that for now!  Grizedale bar is really nice.  I really like it.  Although I think the Grad bar is my favorite.  I may be biased because everyone else was talking about how it was the best, but I really think that out of all the ones I went to that night, it was my favorite and definitely the most memorable.  My flatmates said it was the one that was most like a real bar, and I would have to agree.  It's small and cozy and not well-lit.  I haven't had that much to drink in a long time, but I had so much fun!  Everyone is really friendly and drama-free.  I don't know if it will always be that way throughout term, but it was nice going out with people who didn't get mad at each other for doing stupid things like my old friends did back at home.

We all came back and hung out in the kitchen until the early hours of the morning.  I love nights like this!  I think at home, I felt really lonely being around people and having "shallow" friendships.  At home, I feel like I have friends, just not ones that I can call up and sit around with.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel like people are more genuinely nice here, not just "Minnesota nice."

Tuesday (Oct. 4)

Today was registration day...and I don't really feel like talking about it or reliving it.  It was awful.  To keep it short, I waited in a huge line for about 2 hours, ran around trying to find the different departments to get into seminars, and ended up only getting to one.  This campus is really confusing to me because there aren't big, separate buildings like the U of M has.  It feels like they're all kind of intertwined with each other.

After that little adventure, I was so tired from running around that I passed out again.  I fear that Carolyn is already catching on to my strange sleeping habits...Hee.

I woke up later to watch Bridesmaids with the girls (minus Simone, plus Jude) in Cíara's room.  But I fell asleep watching that too.  I think I still have jet-lag or something because I can stay up till 4am but I cannot for the life of me get up at 10am.  Oh, wait.  That's normal for me.

Wednesday (Oct. 5)
I woke at noon to go see all the department heads that I couldn't meet with the day before -- and they weren't there.  Again.  Registering for classes has probably been the biggest pain in the butt so far.  I skipped out on all the orientation stuff for the day, and hung out with Carolyn watching SNL and doing our nails.  And that night -- you probably guessed already -- we went out to a club!  I went with some of the flatmates again.  Cíara invited some of her friends over and we chatted, did some pre-drinking in the kitchen.  Jude, troublemaker he his, started messing with the light above the table in the kitchen.  It was full of nasty wasps!  I was scared it was going to rain wasps on us...it was the most disgusting thing ever.  He shook out all the bugs out the window, but it took a while to get the fixture back on.  Hee.  I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  It was hilarious and so gross.

Mint

We took a taxi to a club in town called Mint (I think?).  The taxi was super affordable!  I mean, granted there were 6 of us pitching in, but still.  It was maybe $1.50 each?  After a while at Mint, we migrated over to Sugarhouse which is a Lancaster University nightclub.  The place was huge!  There were 2 rooms and loud music.


Jude, Cíara, Carolyn and I took a double decker back to the Uni.  Jude and some other boys sitting in the back of the bus showed Carolyn and me how to play "backseat of the bus."  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos...only video.  :)



We ended up grabbing some individual pizzas at Pizzetta Republic on campus before heading back to our flat.  It was sooo good!  I tried it with garlic mayo and it sounds kind of weird but it was amazing.

Margherita personal pizza

Thursday (Oct. 6)
Yay!  It's Shaun's birthday! :)


Cíara bought a card for all the flatmates to sign and give to Shaun for his 21st birthday.  Carolyn and I spotted some decorations at Central, a convenience store under our flat, and she decorated his door with balloons and a banner.


This was the day that I finally got registration under control.  It was crazy, and intense, but I got through it.  I ended up waking up at noon again and skipping the Freshers' Fair.  Honestly, I did not want to have to wait in that huge line.  It was so long!  I wasn't even going to try. 

Beer at Grad bar

I spent some alone time in my room to phone home and figure out my courses and such.  That night, a few of us went to the Grad bar to celebrate Shaun's birthday.  It was me, Carolyn, Zhen, Cíara, Greg and Jude that went to meet Shaun and his friends there.  We got to sit in this cozy little corner with our beers and chat about traveling, Thanksgiving, and our different accents.  It was a merry time.


On our way back to the flat, Greg grabbed a stool that was sitting out. Hehe.  It is an ugly thing and we still have it sitting in the kitchen.  We stayed up in the kitchen until Janet skyped me and chatted with some of the boys in my room -- she kept gushing over their accents.  I was surprised they even talked to her for so long.  She was so excited. It was sweet. :)


Friday (Oct. 7)

I went into town with Carolyn and Zhen to get more food for the week from Sainsbury's.  And I found an Asian food market!  Apparently, there are two, but I'm just happy I found one.

Ahhh...I drank so much last night.  It's the most I've had in a really long time.  But it wasn't my fault!  I'm really bad at games, and drinking games are even worse.  I kept losing...it was awful.  I felt pretty crappy this morning, but I'm feeling alright now.  A little hungry and embarrassed, but alright.

Saturday (Oct. 8)

Surprisingly, I woke up pretty early today.  I got up at around 9 to take a long, hot shower because after last night, it was much needed.  But then as soon as I got back to my room, I fell asleep again.  Old habits die hard.  I got up, started this blog entry while listening to some John Mayer (FTW!).  It took me foreverrrr.  If you read it all and got this far -- THANK YOU.  Hopefully, it was worth the effort.  If you want more details on what I'm up to, just leave some comments and I'll try to answer back in the next blog entry.

Now...it is 7:40pm and I don't think I've had anything to eat all day.  I am lazy and I miss home.  Sooo...I think I will make some of the 짜짱면 that I bought yesterday.  Yay!

Cheers! :)