It has been a bit since I last wrote. I have so much to tell and don't quite know where to begin. Let me start with this:
I'm in England. I'm now in my second day of classes at Northumbria University and the campus is incredible. It's surreal that I'm here and finally getting some sort of routine down. To sum up this chaotic past week and a half, it has been full of highs and lows.
It was a God-thing that I made my flight (that I was 20 minutes late for), my luggage was lost, I questioned my decision of studying abroad, I got soaked first by a downpour and then by a bus driving by, my straightener can't seem to work,, and I still don't know how to work the printer in the library...
On the other hand, I'm having the time of my life, I've met people from over 10 different countries, I'm getting better at cooking, somehow I'm getting a sense of direction of where things are in Newcastle, and I'm becoming a fan of tea (cliche I know). One thing is for sure, I love it here. These next five months will be unforgettable.
Let me start from the beginning of my adventure...
I got on my 9 hour flight in hopes of sitting next to someone talkative. Sure enough, I sat next to a man from Germany that works at Volkswagen Headquarters doing prototypes. We talked the whole flight and I didn't sleep all the way to England. The whole process of flight changes from LR to Dallas went smoothly. When I got to London it all went to the pits. I almost missed my plane after security and immigration went long and I couldn't find my terminal. Other than that I enjoyed flying alone. :) My flight from London to Newcastle was the only hour of sleep that I got.
I arrived in Newcastle only to find that my luggage had been lost (brilliant) and I was the last to leave the baggage pick up. It only got worse from there when no one was there to check me in to my room and I waited an hour and a half. It was about 8:30PM at this point so all the bedding stores were closed... which meant I had nothing to sleep on for my first night here.
I had joined up with Brittany at this point and we concluded that it would be warmer to sleep together (and she at least had a mattress cover). We got resourceful and I turned my coat inside out for a pillow and used the blanket I stole from my flight. Typing all this now makes me realize just how crazy it all was.
Since then, things have picked up. My flatmates are from all over! Two are from Spain, and the others are from India, Greece, and Indonesia. It seems that all the internationals like to stick together. We've had so many conversations about cultural differences in Germany, France, Britain, and New Jersey.
My British Colloquium class is made up of all international students. Field trips have always been my favorite thing about school which is why I love this class so much. We do nothing but take day-trips together to surrounding areas and learn about the history. The rest of my classes are marketing and business courses which have a lot of student diversity.
I've already seen snow, 2 museums, several markets, lots of rain, humidity, and frizzy hair, stores that I had never heard of in the States, and beans for breakfast, odd right?
I'll be posting again in the next week with more crazy stories I'm sure!
Until then, Cheers!
Madeline