My New Home

Yesterday we arrived at the Uni (as the locals call it) but we had the hardest time getting here!  We missed the 10:30am free bus service to Winchester because we went to the wrong terminal in Heathrow. So we had to buy a bus ticket from a service, and that bus didn't arrive for about an hour. Once we finally got here we had to find a bus that was coming to get us. Then we finally got here and they were like "Oh look it's the American's that got left behind!" Way to be known already..

We moved into our new homes for the next 4 months. Not too shabby, but no Buckingham either. This just in.. boys and girls share dorms. Not just like girl on one floor and boys on another. No I have a neighbor named Liam and one named Peter. Its so strange but its really fun. I moved onto a floor that's like a family. **Abby and Kirsten-- its kind of like living in house only with boys. And these people can drink on campus! Alcohol is served at school functions! What a concept. My dorm is apparently the "quiet" dorm, but on the first night we had a bit of a party in MY room! So, just for the record- my dorm is the one that has the Holy Bible propping the door open, and the window on the top floor with the wine bottle in the sill is mine :) Yeah I know.. sounds real classy doesn't it?

I have been two places on campus. The main building which houses the Student Union and the cafeteria and the computer lab, and my dorm. Today is orientation so hopefully I will be getting a tour and hopefully start to feel a little more comfortable. That's all this morning... more later after I am oriented :)

After orientation... I really do not feel any better here than I did before! Sad to say it but it's ok. The good news is that I have made a group of new friends with the other Americans, and also with some British girls. Three of the girls that live in my dorm are Gemma, Abbi, and Amna. I have been doing most everything with them lately! For some reason, they think I am really funny..

Classes start tomorrow and I don't know how to feel about that. On the one hand I am excited to have something to do with my time. On the other, I haven't been in class in almost 2 months. I can't say I am exactly motivated to go. But hopefully it will be a really great week and my classes will be really interesting, because come on... I'm in England.

I finally made it into town the other day. Winchester is like no where I have ever been. High Street is the main street that runs through the city, and the foot traffic there is insanely heavy. It's nice because cars don't drive through there so you just walk down the street in the middle of the road! I had to have the English girls help me find the stores that I needed, because they really don't have anything the same. I was told there was a Walmart here.. no such luck. But I loved the atmosphere. On every corner of every block is a musician playing for pence. Some were in groups and had mics and speakers set up, playing electric guitars and violins. Some were rag-tag homeless looking people sitting on the corner strumming a guitar missing some strings. Once you walked out the noise of chattering people in the shops you were hit with music. And every place was as crowded as shopping on Black Friday at home. I was really amazed at what this "small town" had to offer.

The other thing I discovered in town was a few of the pubs. :)  A nice big draft cider is what was constantly in my hand. (Adam-- I tried Stella and you were right! As far as beer goes it wasn't too bad.) The pubs were filled with tables of drunk men singing at the televisions when their team would do something good. Other tables were full of women dressed to the 9's trying to get the attentions of those drunk men. Why the women would want that is beyong me.

That's all for now. Sorry so long this time! I will let you know how my classes go! After all... I AM here to STUDY abroad, right?

<3 M