Canadian Girl in a British World: Impressions

Since getting here, I have been trying to explore as much of my area as possible, trying to get familiar with it. I am finally starting to get used to looking the opposite way when i cross the street, but there are a lot of other things I am encountering that are very different! First of all, their doors swing the opposite way! Instead of swinging towards the exits or to go outside, they pull inwards! How weird is that! Second, their chocolate is really different. Good, but definitely not the same as ours. The taste will take getting used to but then i may be ruined for chocolate at home. And third, they don't have Alfredo sauce! What is this?! I'm going to have to try and find a giant supermarket with world foods or something cause Carbonara just doesn't taste as good!

I had to go shopping to get bedding, so I decided to brave the transport system by myself and head down to the shopping mall in the city. While there are some really cool stores in there, none had bedding, so i googled a primark and found that there was one a few blocks away. On my walk there, I stumbled upon this fantastic building:

Like seriously? This beautiful piece of architecture was in the middle of a giant shopping area. How cool is that?! I really just want to sit there and stare at it, maybe take pictures, but there were so many people and i practically scream tourist whenever i take out my camera.

The Primark ended up being just by it, so i went in there. From what I could see, the clothes in there look awesome! I really want to go back and spend some actual time shopping in there. The Home section was upstairs and they did not disappoint. I found some white sheets and pillow cases, 2 pillows, a duvet and a duvet cover, a tea towel and 20 hangers for £44. I'm pretty impressed, don't think i could have gotten all that at ikea for that price. So I went home, carrying all that heavy stuff and it was drizzling too. Not bad at all, but having to walk from the bus stop and carry that kind of sucked.

The moment i got into my flat, i started setting up my bedroom. I'm going to save all the bags my bedding was in so that i can sell it to someone or at least leave it for someone in the bags. I also put up the two Doctor Who posters that i had brought from home. They really personalize the space for me haha.

That night i discovered something incredibly odd about the students here. They go out on Monday nights. Seriously, Monday is considered a student night at the clubs here and that is when they go partying. Also, on busy nights, you need tickets or need to be on the list to get into these clubs. What? So different from home. Anyways, since my British roommate Shaun had just come back from being on semester abroad in Georgia, he had a bunch of his uni friends over to drink and then go out to a club. They very kindly included me and I had my very first British clubbing experience. It was incredibly fun, even considering the fact that the club was packed with students celebrating the end of exams. All of his friends were really nice and I hope that we'll be able to hang out more. Got to familiarize myself with the locals and their culture, don't i?

The next day i had to go to University Park campus for my first class and orientation. My class was just an introductory lecture, starting the class off with the basics about each group we will be focusing on. I've also had to read several articles for the seminar on Friday but it doesn't seem like this will be too horrible. I tried writing my notes out by hand but i think i will stick to typing, it is faster! While I was on campus i ran into a person i had found through tumblr and discovered that her friend is in two of my history courses! They are from Canada and are incredibly nice and I really hope that we'll be friends. During the free time i had before my orientation, i walked around the campus with one of the girls, Megan, and took some pictures.

Portland Building, the main student hub

Trent Building, the bell/clock tower as seen from inside the court yard

When we went to the orientation, i met another person that i had found on Tumblr, Brittany from Georgia. She actually happened to be in a class with Shaun and had debated with him. Small world! She turned out to be really cool too, which is great. You never know what people will be like when you first find them online. Anyways, all of us returned to Jubilee Campus together as we all lived in the same area. It started raining for real on our walk back to our flats, even though their for real seems more like simple rain showers to me. I guess i am just used to rain being ridiculously angry. That night I booked my train tickets and hostel bed for in London this weekend and i am really looking forward to it. It was really scary doing it by myself but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll be meeting Stacey there and spending the weekend doing touristy things and seeing John Green with her. I'm so looking forward to seeing everything i have waited years to see. Afterwards I just talked to my mom on Facebook and watched an episode of Downton Abbey before going to sleep.

Today i didn't have any classes, so i slept in until 9:30am before heading back to University Park to do my in person registration. I also tried to get my student card but it doesn't seem to have been made yet, which is weird because i uploaded my picture months ago. When i got off the hopper bus, i went looking for the library so that i could take a picture of it. It is a pretty cool building, the entire campus is lovely really. On my way back to my flat i went to Tesco's to get some food to change it up. I got some Penne and Carbonara (which as stated before is no where near as good as alfredo), some mini potatoes to eat some other day, some butter for my sandwiches and the potatoes, and some snacks because i was craving chocolate! When i got back, i read all of my seminar readings and tried to form an opinion on the topic. I also took a 40 minute nap between doing those things because for some reason i was tired. I'll just use jet lag as an excuse. For dinner, i made penne with chicken and carbonara and vegetables. I made too much pasta but at least i know for next time! Shaun and my Chinese flatmate Tongren were also in the kitchen so we talked for a bit. Since then I just finished reading my last article and plan on watching some more Downton Abbey. I understand why people like this show!