Okay, so yesterday I had an orientation event. I was nervous about it because the location was written in code and I didn't understand how to crack it, so to speak, so I had no idea where I was supposed to go. Luckily, I went onto the Leeds Met facebook page and someone had asked about it already. People had also commented that they were meeting up outside at 1 to walk up to campus and anyone was welcome to attend. Well, I'm really glad I did, because the people I ended up going with are awesome! We went to the school and got our ID cards, then went to lunch at Pret A Manger. We went back to the school and had induction.

Induction was the stupid part. It was 45 minutes of people telling me about things that would come in my email "soon." Everyone at the school is so disorganized. But then I went out to a couple of bars with my friends, dinner at Nando's (which was excellent), and out to a few more bars. It was fantastic.

And then today was spent finishing season 1 of Dexter. I lead an exciting life.

the beginning

So, after a 6 hour plane ride consisting of bad food and an annoying man who wouldn't let me sleep, featuring a visually pleasing but quite strange movie and half an hour on the runway after we got there, I arrived in Manchester.  Some people from the university received us, but they didn't really know what they were doing. I met another guy from Towson and a few people living in the same complex as me, and then we waited about half an hour or so for a shuttle. When it got there, the students who were in charge of us had to explain where the driver needed to drop us off and then we left!

Well, England is beautiful. The drive from Manchester to Leeds was only about 45 minutes, but I was able to see rolling hills covered in snow, distant windmills, and plenty of cute shops. Once I got to my apartment (Opal 1), I received my key from the front desk and went off to my room. I couldn't get the heater to work and I was running on about 45 minutes of sleep, so I made my bed (thank you Christina for providing me with bedding!!) and took a nap. It was a little longer than I wanted, since I know you're supposed to power through your sleepiness so as to avoid jetlag, but as I said, the heater wouldn't work.

Once I got up I met one of my roommates, Charlotte, who is lovely and helpful and even came in and showed me how to use my wretched heater! I unpacked and went to bed, taking a lovely 13 hour slumber. Today, I spent about two hours researching local grocery stores and trying to figure out the best route, but in the end decided to just GO. I know myself, and if I hadn't left when I did, I'm sure I never would've gotten out of my room. I walked down the road for about 15 minutes or so on the snow covered sidewalk when I found a map and figured I should go down a side route to the Tesco. I only got a few things, and by this time my suede shoes were soaked through and my feet were freezing, so I headed back. I skyped my mom, and then Laurel Ann for a good three hours, which made me both happy and sad because I know I won't be able to see any of my friends from home for a very long time.

But it'll be worth it! I know I haven't done much of anything, but I can tell I'm going to have fun here. My shoes have dried after being over the heater all day and I think they look pretty good. I made a delightful dinner of penne and red sauce, had my second cup of tea of the day, and now I'm going to watch some How I Met Your Mother. Not the most exciting first Saturday in England, but I think I need friends before I can go out and have too much fun. Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I leave for Leeds Metropolitan University. Dear lord, am I nervous. I haven't started packing yet and I have a haircut appointment tomorrow and then I will get to the airport at 6. Let's hope I'm ready to fly by myself, get where I need to be, and start to make new friends. I think that's the scariest part. I'll (hopefully) be writing rather frequent posts about my school and travels around Europe. Wish me luck!