The weeks reports

Hey all. I'm sorry I haven't updated you in the past couple of days, but I can't say much has gone on around here (as opposed to the other entries I've been writing? Haha).

 I finished up my first week of classes, meaning attending a total of 6 classroom hours...almost an impossible feat. Not. When given an introduction to the academia here, they definitely give you the impression you will be challenged. Challenged to evade insurmountable levels of boredom? English students that have gone abroad in America assured me that this is a joke compared to what I'm used to, awesome. On one hand, I could become that over-prepared, diligent student that I never am. Or (and I like this one better), I could adapt to the pace of learning here as any proper visiting student should, and enjoy the hours upon hours of free drinking/sleeping/adventuring time that I've been awarded.  :)

 The second thing I've been struggling with this week, is coming to terms with my complete and utter hatred and dissatisfaction of the current university gym. Ugghhhhh, Icccckkkk, So sweatyyyyy...Is almost all I can manage to convey. Think of a 50's era brick building. Now think of 70's era weight-lifting equipment and maybe I'd go up to 90's on the fitness equipment. Now think of it all jam-packed with sweaty dudes and inappropriately dressed Asians.Top it all of with the thought of spending close to $100 to enjoy this splendid atmosphere for the next 3 months....now you understand. I hate to complain, I really do. But when I'm running on the treadmill and directly facing a dirty brick wall for 40 minutes at a time, I find myself less than amused.

I mean, there is an explanation for these conditions. The university is currently in the process of building a brand-new facility that will open up in 2011, that'll have nice big windows, and proper air conditioning, and lights that don't glow orange. But that's next year and I'm here THIS year. Tragic. I can only imagine walking back into my haven, the MSU rec facility, and kissing it's polished, sanitary, laminate flooring and promising never to bitch about exercising ever again.

In other news, no nights out for Shelby this week. I felt I should exercise some self control. But my flat mates kindly pointed out that my lack of social outings certainly wasn't making me friends any faster, thanks guys, so I will be reemerging into Lancaster nightlife on Saturday night. I'll also be taking my day trip to Edinburgh tomorrow, so big day!

I'm not sure what's on the agenda yet, definitely checking out the castle and walking the Royal Mile, possibly a Whiskey-Scotch tour? They're giving everyone a free dram of scotch with admission at the beginning of the tour, so I'm not ruling that one out yet. And hopefully just finding some good food and a good view, we'll see. You'll get all the details(and maybe even some pictures) tomorrow!

First day

Today:

 PHASE 1-
 Had my first seminar on Women Writers. Was a little intimidated by the class size (with only 11 people I might have to actually know what I'm talking about). Didn't realize I needed to have an addiction to Jane Austen to qualify for this class. Also didn't realize that dress code was wearing tops with bras strategically showing, hooker boots, and messenger bags. Felt extremely unintelligent talking about literature with my American accent, among a room of proper brits.

PHASE 2-
 Finished stupid seminar and met my MSU friend Alisa, who is studying abroad in Spain this semester, and who happened to be on-campus visiting Lancaster! Aaaaggghhhhhh!! A real live friend from home! It was so surreal, and absolutely wonderful. We caught the bus into town for a beer and a bite, and due to my lack of local knowledge, just happened to end up at the worst pub in Lancaster, Fibber McGee's. Of course. It even sounds awful. But we enjoyed ourselves and weren't accosted by any toothless, drunken Irishmen, so no complaints here. We left and met the friend she was staying with at a GOOD pub, and continued to revel in each others American-ness until it was time to leave for the train station. What a treat. She loved Lancaster, and was actually a bit jealous that I picked such an awesome place to study (Salamanca isn't all it's cracked up to be- i.e. no cute guys). And I was overjoyed to listen to someone who sounded as harsh and inarticulate as me.

PHASE 3-
 Arrived back at my flat only to be mercilessly tormented about going to Fibber McGee's.

 Good day:)

Pictures!

I went on a coach tour around the Lancaster area with some of the other international students today. It was a sunny and surprisingly warm day, which we all reveled in. We briefly stopped at the Lancaster Castle, the seaside town of Morecambe, and finally at the Williamsons Park and memorial, right outside of the Lancaster city center. I took a couple of pictures, far from photographic genius I assure you. But I figured I'd subject you to them anyway...

View from the castle

Morecambe boardwalk

Lewis's of Lancaster

I went to the town center today to pick up a mobile phone, which took FOREVER because it seems like everywhere in town is PACKED all the time. It also didn’t help that there was a festival/open market in the shopping square today. Think mayhem drenched in the smell of fried mini doughnuts and Indian curry. So I went into about 4 different phone stores, same story…packed, mostly it seemed with children too young and seniors too old to be using mobile phones. Maybe that’s not very nice, but I was irritated and growing weary of waiting in queues. Anyway, I got the phone situation sorted out and decided I’d earned a stop in a café.

I stopped at Lewis’s of Lancaster, a quaint, old-timey sort of place (the descriptor for everything here), right off the main square. I ordered a hot chocolate (my favesies) and beans-on-toast, because I took one look at the menu and decided that was probably the only thing I could stomach. Would you like to know what else was offered? Because I couldn’t help but copy some down:

Fried Egg Chips and Beans
Cornish Pastie, peas and gravy
Sausage and Chips + bread and butter
Bacon Bun
Cottage Pie served w/ chips, peas, red cabbage, and gravy
Steak Pie, chips, peas and gravy

Can’t forget the sandwiches—Tuna and Sweetcorn, Cheese and Chicken, Cheese and Onion

Or the fixings for a jacket potato—Cottage Cheese and Pineapple or Coleslaw or Bacon and Tomato or Cheese, Tuna, and Beans…mmmmm

Oh, and not to mention their all-day breakfast—Bacon, sausage, eggs, tomato, beans, mushrooms, toast, and tea or coffee. “Is it all one thing?” I pondered. What in the world would this freaking breakfast look like?...and no kidding, I found out about 20 minutes later...

It's all there isn't it? So creative these Brits.

For the record, my beans-on-toast wasn’t all that wonderful. The curly chips I scarfed down at 3 AM after going out last night were absolutely wonderful. And that’s about the extent of my foray into the fascinating world of English cuisine. Should I go bolder? Will my stomach be able to handle it? Will I lose my appetite at the first sight of gravy smothered chips and peas? It’s going to take some courage to find out.

The source of my sleep deprivation

What’s that obnoxious sound outside my window at 4 AM most mornings? Why, it’s the chanting from dozens of rowdy and drunken British students just getting back from the town bars. My only thought is—‘What a superbly English thing to do’. The chants around here pertain mostly to rivalries between the colleges, to which degree it is fully appropriate to belt out an absurdly insulting tune whenever members of another college walk into your college’s bar, or as you’re strolling past another’s dormitories. They aren’t essentially clever, and usually just involve a lot of curse words, but are fairly entertaining if you’re slackered enough. Here’s one I learned a few nights ago (btw, Furness is one of the other colleges):

Furness boys are illegitimate
They ain’t got no birth certificate
They’ve got aids and can’t get rid of it
Dirty Furness slags

…Might I add I chose to share one of the more clean and original ones, if that gives you any idea. It would probably help if I still didn’t find their best insults so hilarious. I imagine any name-calling aimed in my direction would only result in me dying of laughter on the floor.

Week 1

I hardly know where to start. I’ve only been here 5 days and already it seems as though a month has gone by.

I guess I can begin with my arrival into Manchester, and the relief that I managed to make it on to all of my flights (considering my hopeless sense of direction/timing) and arrive in one piece. One tired, extremely weary of lugging around her 5 ton carry-on bag piece, but one piece no less. The rest of the international students and I then shuttled over to the university and were greeted by a group of JCR (junior college representatives), who though they were ‘welcoming’, were clearly not hiding their dissatisfaction at having to help us haul all of our luggage to our respective colleges. I couldn’t blame them, they’d been doing it all morning, and frankly I wasn’t in much of a friend-making mood at that moment either.

We made it to the porter’s lodge where I was handed my room keys and an orientation packet, and then given absolutely no further direction. And when I asked if there was a phone I could use to make an international call, they said I was out of luck. Sweet. No internet access either until I registered 4 days later. Nice. Cue the homesickness. But luckily I made it to my building and met a couple of my flat mates who were super nice, and invited me out with them that night. One also gave me his internet login, so I could let all those concerned know that I’d made it alright.

The rest of that night is kind of a blur. It starts with my utter joy at being able to legally order a drink at the bar. It fades in and out with shots of some nasty Sambuca back at the flat, and an overwhelming number of Brits all simultaneously yammering crazy British words (which I vaguely remember finding absolutely hilarious and then trying to do my best impressions of them). It ends with waking up at 4am on my bedding-less mattress, fully clothed and with all the lights on. Solid. I must have made an impression, because as soon as they all saw me the next morning the biggest grins stretched across their faces before asking me if I’d had a good night.

What I will say is that they drink a lot here. And I mean A LOT. It’s currently ‘freshers’ (freshman) week, which is basically a week booked solid of nightly social events…so drinking…EVERY NIGHT. That next day I refused to participate, for obvious reasons, which quite disappointed them. But I’ve done my best to go out all other nights, I mean you have to, it’s just what they do the first week. Tuesday night all the colleges took buses into town to do a massive bar crawl, in order to show the freshers all the good spots to hit up. And last night was a themed pub crawl across campus this time, because each of the seven colleges houses their own bar. Tonight thankfully, was the ‘big night in’ where drinking is optional and recuperation and movie watching is highly suggested. Ok, so I guess they don’t go out EVery night, but close to it. And when they warned me about the inevitable ‘freshers flu’, I could only act so surprised. Oh England, the only place I know that would sponsor alcohol-driven illness the week before classes start.

I don’t think I mentioned, but my flat mates that I was speaking about earlier are all Third Years, which translates to a senior at American university. Which is great, not only because they’re my own age, but they’re willing to give me the direction I need. Because technically I’m a ‘fresher’, just in that I’m new to the university or ‘uni’ as they call it. But my flat mates know how much I abhor being associated with freshman status, so of course in addition to their help, they give me a bunch of shit about it.

Despite all the drinking and shenanigans this week, I’m excited to get started with classes again. It feels like it’s been much to long since I’ve done any studying, and I know I’ll regret saying this by the end of the first session, but I can’t wait. Classes, or courses here are taught much differently than they are in the States. I only have about 7 hours of class per week, and am expected to fill the rest of my time up with independent study. Haha, I laugh in the face of strictly scheduled independent study time. I don’t even know what that is, it seems like an oxymoron to me. I’m extremely interested to see how this goes, as is everyone else I’m sure. I don’t do ‘studying’, that’s why I’m and English Lit major. Duh.

I’m also looking forward to classes, so I will have an actual schedule and the ability to get into a routine. I’m feeling comfortable enough 5 days into this whole thing, and I don’t doubt that 3 months is just going to fly by once I get everything figured out. My bank account is already screaming at me, what with going out every night and the desperate need for things like a pillow case that isn’t made out of plastic thread (thanks shitty bedding pack) and all sorts of membership and club fees. But despite the expense I’ve already made reservations with the university for a day trip to Edinburgh next week. The university has their own travel agency that puts together regional trips for students at fairly reasonable prices. Which is a good way to get me traveling until I feel confident enough to do it on my own.

But I think it’s bed for now (in my outrageously soft and comfortable bed—not). Because tomorrow is ‘freshers fair’ (a campus-wide clubs and societies exhibition) during the day, and cross-dressing at the Grizedale bar for the night. Surely I will have stories to report.

Almost there!

I was hoping to write another entry before departing, something including my feelings of excitement/nervousness/anticipation about the trip ahead. But last minute preparations like gathering documents, preparing travel snacks, and trying to cram all of my stuff into two tiny suitcases, prevented that from happening. So I am writing to you now from the Starbucks lounge in the Amsterdam airport.

To fill you in, my immigration documents from Lancaster University arrived THURSDAY morning…huge relief. The giant yellow truck arrived in our driveway around 11am, and I rushed to the door to greet the delivery man, fully clad in pajamas and still showing signs of bed hair. What a sight. But I hardly cared, I’d be allowed into England now!
The rest of the day Mom and I spent around town gathering last minute items, and once Dad got home we cooked a delicious send-off meal of steak, potatoes, and green bean casserole, yum!...which I proceeded to eat wayyy too much of and follow with copious amounts of alcohol….I felt great this morning.

But despite stomach pains, slight nausea, and running on only 5 hours of sleep—the packing got done (thanks Mom), the goodbyes were said, and I made it all the way to Europe! Only to be sitting in a Starbucks and writing this to you, haha. The saddest part is that it’s still 4 am Shelby time, and with exchange rates the way they are an already over-priced cup of coffee now costs twice as much. $9 for a chai latte? I think not. I may be jet-lagged but I’m not insane.

I guess that’s all the updates for now, next I’ll be writing from Lancaster!