I've Arrived!

My humble abode here at Sussex
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My day started bright and early when I was awoken at 5:15am in order to make my 7:30am flight to London with a stopover in Chicago. Saying goodbye to everyone the night before and the goodbyes the morning of were hard. I was still in denial. It was not until the moment I got to the security checkpoint that I realized I was leaving home for SIX MONTHS to be in a foreign country where everything felt backwards to me. Needless to say, I cried-A LOT. In fact, I cried all the way through security and all the way onto my plane to Chicago. I eventually realized that someone might think I was in trouble due to my excessive crying. Thus, I stopped myself, :-P.

Aww! I'm sleeping...I even brought a little bit of home with me, thanks to Rach. Go Blue!
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The plane rides were extraordinarily uneventful--pedestrian, even. I was so exhausted from lack of sleep and stress that I was probably only awake for a total of 2 hours the entire way to London. Upon arriving in London, it was already 10:45pm there, so I knew I would have to hurry and get cash and find a taxi in order to arrive at my hotel at a decent hour. Getting cash--not so hard. Finding a taxi that late at night without paying an exorbitant fee--that's a whole other matter! Some guy automatically pin-pointed me out as a gullible young female when he tried to tell me I was going to have to pay 20 pounds (roughly equal to 40 dollars) for a 5 minute (literally) cab ride to my hotel. I was NOT having it! I bargained him down to 10 pounds--saying that I had read that 10 pounds was the MAXIMUM someone should pay for a ride to an airport hotel within seeing distance from the skyline. Also, he didn't even help me with my bags. In other words, he got no tip because those two bags I was carrying left me quite sore the next morning.

I realized I was leaving home for SIX MONTHS to be in a foreign country where everything felt backwards to me.

Pubbin' it up at our fave place, The Victory.
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At my hotel in London (The London Heathrow Marriot), I did a whole bunch of nothing. Showered, watched TV, talked to the fam, and relaxed. The next morning/day was a whirlwind! First issue came up when the entire hotel bill was put onto my sad, poor, Visa debit card instead of my mom's Amex. The cost was insane, so that stressed me out. Then, I get to the bus station to buy a ticket to Brighton, and that goes smoothly, but upon buying a calling card for 10 pounds, I realized that DAMN, it doesn't work. So, I wasn't able to call anyone unless I used my debit card--once again, holy moly, this cost me a lot. Quite stressful!

The bus ride was a long and boring 2 hours, and I, of course, got off at the wrong stop from where I told my Aunt and Uncle I'd be. However, when I got off the bus, the guy who was sitting behind me turned out to be another University of Michigan exchange student who I had met at orientation. We both were living in the same complex, so we shared a cab to Holland House. We got settled in with our bags and such and got our keys, and then took the 25 minute bus ride (the one I'll be taking everytime I go to campus-ick!) to campus to pick up some things and to go to the fish and chips dinner. All that went very well, and I met a lot of great people at the fish and chip dinner including a guy from New Jersey named Greg, a girl from Univ. of Michigan named Sundiya, and a girl from the University of Amsterdam named Leanna. When we got back on the bus to head back, Chris (the Univ. of Michigan student) and I started talking to these three other girls who were also exchange students from various parts of the US. We all decided that we would go shopping for bedding since none of us were really looking forward to sleeping on a cold, old, moldy mattress for the night. We ended up at this warehouse style store where you browse through a catalog for the item(s) you want and then they bring the items from the back for you. I ended up getting a duvet, pillow, pillowcase, flat sheet, and fitted sheet for 21 pounds, which was cheaper than the offer that the University gave to us for bedding (35 pounds). I think this warehouse thing might catch on! It's really quite efficient.

The rest of last night was spent putting away all my clothes and making up my bed. On a funny note, I was plugging in my alarm clock and searching for a radio station for my alarm setting, when all of a sudden, I hear a loud popping sound inside the clock and it shuts off. Then, this is followed by an acrid smell and smoke coming out of the clock. Lo and behold! I had blown up my alarm clock. It was either too old to handle the change in voltage or god knows what happened. I laughed because honestly, only that would happen to me. Thank god I had rented a cell earlier so that I had SOME sort of alarm clock for this morning.

After awhile, Chris came and knocked on my room to see what I was up to. We then headed around Holland House to search for the showers. Let me tell you, this place is an f'in labrynth! I can't find my way from A to Z if you paid me. We found the showers, however, but I can promise you that I will not be able to find them again today. Oh, and to add insult to injury, there are only a total of FIVE showers for ONE HUNDRED people in the entire complex. I'm guessing the British just don't shower that much, haha. I can say that I won't be following that British trend.

Today has been full of International Student Orientation programs starting at 9:30am such as an academic talk, meetings with advisors, and computer induction programs. I've spent the day hanging out with Chris, Carl (a guy from New York City who I met on the bus this morning), and another girl from Wesleyan University. Next up, I will be attending a Welcome Reception at 6pm in Falmer House for all the international students. I'm hoping to see my friend Isaac there since I know he was supposed to arrive today. Later on, I am going grocery shopping at Tesco with Chris-FINALLY. I am in desperate need of food since I have eaten a half of a slice of pizza, two small cookies, a cup of coffee, and half a coke this entire day. I'm looking forward to the meal tonight at the reception!

Well, I think that's all for now. I will write another entry soon. Safe travels, everyone! :)