Settling In

Let's see...where did I let off? Oh yeah, Friday night.

Friday was fun but nothing crazy--thankfully since my internal clock was still a little confused. I had promised the boys a thank you meal for letting me crash at their place so Luke drove us to the supermarket to get supplies. I decided to make chili--very American and filling. Well, I think it's very American at least. After only a couple spills, the meal came together quiet nicely if I do say so myself. Matt, however, will forever be remembered for his failure at operating the oven; instead of heating it up he just turned the light on so that our bread would be warm in a week--may be. Later, we met up with one of Matt's friends I think at the Common Room (?) for drinks. I finally met a British female! It was nice having a conversation with someone of the same sex for a bit--not that I don't love chatting with the boys :) I was pretty tired so went home with Matt and watched Boondock Saints.

Fast forward...but still on rewind:

Saturday, after sleeping in, I took a cab to Endcliffe Village with all my luggage to pick up my keys. It was really nicely coordinated and they have staff to carry my bags and guide me to my house. I'm staying in a converted Victorian style house with about 12 others international students, mostly from Australia it seems. My neighbor's name is actually Sydney, however, she's from Canada not Australia. I tagged along with her and another girl to take a trip to the city centre for some dorm basics. I picked up some cereal and toilet paper--the essentials. By the way Mom, don't worry. I have bedding and I have been eating. Sydney accepted my invite to come to Matt's bday bash with me so we headed home to get ready.

Last night was crazy fun although my head's still ringing a little from being next to the speakers all night. Everyone met at the broomhall house (where I'd been staying) beforehand to chat and pump Matt full of alcohol. Around 11:30 our group of like 8 guys and 3 ladies headed to Plug to get our dance on. It's freaking cold and wet by the way. Anyway, the club had some great dj's and played mostly...the name is escaping me but it's like a mix of techno and electric I think. Whatever it was my feet certainly enjoyed it and I can feel it today. We left plug around 3am but went back broomhall for a couple hours to wind down and have, of course, tea. Ah good times, good laughs, and juicy stories. We took a taxi back and I crashed around 6 this morning in my new bed. Lesson of the night and word of warning: don't say the word fanny or fanny pack. It doesn't mean ass and you'll get a lot of shocked looks.

Thanks to Matt, Rob, Pardeep and Luke for making my first nights here fun, smooth and comfortable! Don't be strangers.

Today (Sunday), I've been trying to get organized and ready for classes tomorrow. I wanted to walk to campus and find my lecture/seminar rooms but I might do that tomorrow before my class at 2. I still want to go get groceries and put stuff away. Endcliffe Village is made up of a diverse collection of student housing and a main building with laundry, food, etc. It's a bit like a maze and I get lost really easily. However, there always seems to be someone around to point the way. Broomhill is the closest shopping area and there seems to be a cheap grocery store that I'll be visiting later. I just finished writing out my class schedule and looking over the syllabi. I'm a little worried about the work load and assessment. Most have two 2,000 word essays, due around the same time, that make up ALL of my grade. No points for participation like in my US classes. I may end up switching one to a irish language course or something. I'll see how this week goes. It's starting to get dark so I should probably get some food.

Until tomorrow!