Day 2- Orientation (8 January 2010)

I'm so sorry for being a bad bogger. I'm going to try to catch up this weekend. I was without my computer for about three days, but I'm back and ready to write.


So remember how I decided that I would magically wake up for Orientation so I would make the carriage ride to a larger campus? I didn't. I woke about 2 hours late and rushed out the door. I caught the bus that takes us from our campus to the bus stop/tube station with my bus map and decided to try to find my way to the Hendon campus. That's right, first full day in another county and I decided to try to use the bus. I remembered that the school gave us a vague description on how to get to the other campuses so I caught a bus and figured out how to pay in pounds and then got off the bus and went on another bus. My first try going on the second bus was the bus going in the opposite direction, but luckily I asked the bus driver before sitting down and switch which side of the road I was on. On my second bus I apparently missed my stop by two bus stops so I had to follow the bus drivers directions to the campus. It's surprisingly difficult to understand English English. But I found the campus and was quite proud of myself.

Orientation was not very informative, but was okay. I soon found some fellow study abroad folks and learned I missed all the boring stuff and was just in time for lunch (I was quite pleased). I mostly hanged out with an Italian girl named Michela, an Indonesian girl named Yashinta, two Chinese girls named Wong and Doris and my friend Maisie from Chapman. It was really fun talking with Michela and helping her with her English. Translating what British people are rapidly saying is entertaining. After lunch we went into an orientation meeting which told us everything we had already read in our packets and had none of the answers we had for our questions about the packet such as when classes are (which is slightly important). I almost bought a phone, but then I remembered I didn't bring my credit card with me so I couldn't. We then went back to campus together. I went to a take away restaurant in the nearby town (take away is there word for take out food and those are restaurants where you don't eat inside). I got a most excellent cheese sandwich and diet coke. The bottles are tall and skinny here. I was quite home sick that night since I had no computer, and was quite discombobulated since I had no way of telling what time it was. I calmed myself down though by eating my sandwich and sewing Evan's Christmas present (black flannel house shorts with rainbow peace signs on them). On my things to buy- adapters and a cell phone.

~cherrio