The first day.

Well, days one and two are done with, almost. If I leave out anything that interests you, let me know. :)

Day one was good. I spent most of it walking from my college, Selwyn College, Cripps Court (mouthful, yes) to Market Hill, about 20 minutes away. I went there four times. Because I'm kind of nutty like that. Suffice to say, I managed to get some stuff done: I now have two Harry Potter's reserved (the most important, of course), I got some things from the store, a picture for my student ID, and I found a whole lot of Cambridge clothing. I found three computer labs, and finally was able to get into the one that I am actually allowed to use (the first one was in the very back of the Geography building, and I was only in there because the person I asked for help had no idea what I was looking for, and took me there). I registered for classes, and met the girl I am sharing a shower with. She seems nice, I guess, but she smokes, so I don't think I'll be hanging out with her very much. I have enough trouble breathing with all of the stairs I have to walk up and down, and I don't need her making it harder.

if you are going to make a lot of noise at night: please do so quietly."

The best part of yesterday was last night. We had dinner in the great hall, AND THEY SERVED US. Not like, "here's a bunch of food on plates, transfer it to your plate" but literal, "Here is your seat. This is the menu. We will bring out the food shortly. Here's your fruit course. Let me take that plate for you. here's your main course. Let me clear your plate." and on and on until dessert, which was delicious chocolate mousse. And then they brought me tea. They were serving coffee, and I asked if tea was coming, and they said, "Oh yes!" And I got a cup of tea. *squeals!* (I am a little obsessed with the tea, sorry...)

Then we went to orientation, which in itself wasn't that great. HOWEVER, the lady that was talking was HILARIOUS. This brings me to the subject line. While telling us to be careful of our belongings and whatnot, she said that. We laughed. Well, those of us that got it laughed. A lot of people didn't seem to get her jokes. She had this amazing British accent, and had perfect timing, and it was hilarious. I started writing them down. Some highlights:

"Please remember that this is Cambridge College, and there are may graduate students here--and your fellow students as well!--that might be trying to sleep. As that is the case, if you are going to make a lot of noise at night: please do so quietly."

"I do not want to make light of this situation, but please remember that if something should happen to you, it will cause an *awful* lot of paperwork."

About our rooms: "As you might have noticed, your rooms are not a five star Hotel. In great British understatement, we told you you would be staying in the dorms that the *undergraduates* stay in."

It was great. Really. I wanted to laugh more, but very few people were, so that made it awkward. Whatever. She was hilarious.

That brings us to today. I had my two classes (I only have two, and I am not taking them for credit, so I'm considered a "slacker" for the first time in my life) starting at 9:00 this morning and ending at 1:00, with a break in the middle for the plenary lecture. It's basically where everyone from all of the classes can go and listen to a lecture about Power of some kind. most people will be skipping, but I think I want to see some of them. They have really cool topics, like the power of persuasion and the power of the mind. I'll skip the power tools one, though...

My classes are hard to assess at the moment.Poetry was alright. The teacher has a combo Canadian, American, English, and Irish accent. I want to ask where he is from. It seems like I am the only one who brought the books, so this should be a good class. I didn't read them, so I can't really lend them out...

The Athens one seems a little too intense. For a mental image of my professor: Think King Theodin from Lord of the Rings, add longer, ickier blonde hair and a more pronounced British accent, and about 150 pounds. He seemed nice, but then he seemed like an uptight jerk, so it's hard to say. He likes punctuality, which is fine, but he won't look at us during class after insisting that we all sit in the middle section of the desks. it's a very small room, so it's not like letting us spread out would be a huge problem. Meh, I don't care. I sat in the middle anyway, so I didn't have to move.

Now I am here, in the computer lab. I am free until 6:30, when dinner commences and I get served again (I am going to become so spoiled here.) There is a lecture tonight about the colleges of Cambridge that I think could be either amazingly boring or really informative, but I have to read for my poetry class, so we'll see how things go.

Cheers!