Cold

I've got a cold and every single wintry gust of wind in this city seems to be aiming either for the back of my neck or right for my nose, and down my throat.  You win this round, England; but watch your back.  This weekend I'm going to take you by storm.

First Day of Classes / Someone(s) I Met Today

My first day of classes was today!  I had two lectures (which I'm beginning to realize are studies of the threshold of boredom), each an hour long.  The system in England is much different than in the states.  I'll have lectures wherein the professor will talk at me and a group of at least 100 other students for an hour; and then I'll have seminars.  Seminars are meant to copy grad school classes in that they're very small groups (under 20) of people that get together with a professor and discuss in more detail the topics we've all covered in lecture.

I also attended the Student Organizations and Activities Fair, which offered a varied list of possible groups to join.  The one that caught my eye was...

This very bad, out-of-focus picture is the Speed Cubing Organization.  mm hmm.  I know that these guys (from left to right, Dominic, Henry, and Lawrence) are probably considered nerdy for devoting their club to rubix cubes; but let me just tell ya... I loved every second of my conversation with them.  Lawrence decided to show off at one point and gave himself 30 seconds to memorize one cube.  He then closed his eyes and lifted the cube above his head and (faster than I would have thought possible) shifted the little colors around to solve the puzzle in less than 25 seconds.  This achievement might not impress all the girls... but it sure as hell worked on me!

Slow, Lazy Day

Yes.  I know.  I lured you in with promises of pictures of the beautiful architecture in Leicester.  I made sweet promises of exciting tales from my treasure hunt of classrooms.  I had the best intentions, really.  I woke up, drank some water and took some aspirin, and then promptly went back to sleep.  I was startled awake from a nightmare about my mom calling me to tell me that my cat had died.  Now I can stand a lot in these months away... but that is the first time past the threshold of what I'm prepared for.  So yes, today was my first bout of crying... over my cat... who's still alive (hopefully... Knock on wood, everybody!).  Not with a bang, but a whimper, amirite?
So after I collected myself I had a day spent doing nothing but watching netflix and reading for class.  It was relaxing and soothing.  Even my trip to the supermarket was enjoyable!  I hadn't yet had the chance to put on my headphones and nod my head to some familiar tunes, so my walk was wonderful!
And we had our first rain today (which my roommate informed wasn't actual rain... it was more like spit.  LOL)!  I bought an umbrella which looked robust and strong in the store, but when I got it home and opened it, I swear I could hear the trumpets playing "Weh Weh Weeeeeeehhh".  It's the puniest of umbrellas and to be seen holding it over my larger-than-its-circumference body, I'll be sure to stand out as another clueless American (This is how they spot us, I'm sure).
So tomorrow is my first day of class, and I'm a bit nervous.  It feels like I'm a freshman all over again.  New school... new professors... new classmates... new city... new country... new grading scale... new class set-up... new overwhelming problems!!!  But hey, whatchya gonna do?  My mom always says "it ain't nothin' but a thing, baby girl!"  The only thing I can do is do it!  And let's face it, even if I fail miserably at everything I set out to do this semester, at least I'm failing in Europe!

Just got home...

I just got in from my first night out.  It was FUN!  I went to a club called "Liquid", which my roommate warned me that she hated; but I had an extraordinary night!  I met the Captain of the Leicester Quidditch team... Yes, we have a Quidditch team on campus.  I am in Heaven.  Dorky British dudes are my new favorite thing.  I'm thinking about going to Wales soon to visit the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff.  So far I've met a few American Whovians; but still no British ones.  That breaks my heart slightly, but not enough to dislike anything about this wonderful place!  I had my first experience with an English cab, which was expensive; but liberating in a completely cliched "girl away from home" way.  I'm having a blast, and I'm so thankful that I don't have class tomorrow!  I'm still heading to the campus to walk my schedule though.  Look forward to beautiful pictures of Leicester soon.  I'm going to bed for a much needed night of sleep after a much-too-much to drink night.  Adieu America!

Refreshers Party

I'm going to my first English party tonight!  Details tomorrow!

This Is Someone I Met Today: James

James is one of the leaders at Student Union at the University of Leicester.  The study abroad students have had to sit through 2 days of lectures on all kinds of subjects from campus safety to healthcare.  When James and the rest of the Student Union leaders came in to give their talk, it was a jolt of fun and energy that we all needed.  I was a Vice President in the English Majors Association back home, but I hadn't given any thought to joining clubs here.  After meeting James and seeing how absolutely kind and fun he is, I have no choice!  

My second full day in Leicester started out a bit bad.  I had an emotional evening last night because I skyped with my mom, who cried.  My mom isn't supposed to cry.  She's scrappy.  She's a psych nurse at a state hospital so she knows very well how to handle stress.  I've seen my dad cry about 10 times more than I've seen my mom.  So any time my mom shed tears, it usually means someone has died; but no worries, everyone is still truckin' back home!  It just breaks my heart to see her cry.  I didn't sleep well again last night (jet lag is kicking my ass) and that old familiar feeling of hopelessness overcame me as my alarm went off.  I smeared on make-up through bleary eyes and dressed in the warmest clothes I could find since today was even colder than yesterday (and by the way, I've seen far too many people wearing short skirts and even shorter shorts out today.  That's just uncalled for!  It's all about the English showing off their threshold of cold endurance.  It would be the same if you came to Texas and I wore a wool sweater in August.).  I walked to the bus and I have to admit again that I found it very difficult to be anything but thankful and giddy at the sight of the snow-covered buildings.  The bus ride was wonderful except the people near me, bless their hearts, were discussing the fact that there aren't as many fat people here as there are in the states, and how good that is.  For a fleeting moment, I had an overwhelming feeling of homesickness for my happily fat state; but that made me crave chili so I stopped that thought real quick!  The day truly became better when James began speaking.  I know I've gushed about his vivacity before, but turning a bad day into a good one takes some talent!  OOO! I finally got my schedule for classes... or timetable for modules, as they say here.  I have no classes on Mondays which is brilliant!  But I also got my reading lists... Yeesh!  I can do it though.  It all seems terribly interesting (and I mean that in the best way!).  I'm officially registered as well.  I've taken care of all the house-keeping practical things and now I can concentrate on the immensely important issues of catching up on my sleep and unpacking my ridiculously overpacked suitcases.  

All in all, this day tried its best to be my breakdown; but this city is just too good to let that happen!  

Cheers!

Across the Pond

First post in England!  It's actually my second day here, and I know I promised to post every day... but I was awake for 36 hours that included The DFW airport (lots of family crying, lugging around suitcases, and airport security searching through my bras and tampons looking for my dangerous 4 oz. bottle of hair mousse); a 9 hour flight (I watched the city lights of the Northeast flicker like little electrified checkerboards down below.  This world really is amazing.); the London Heathrow airport (which could very easily be renamed Purgatory.  It was like a maze, and all that English, shy, charming stoicism turns into "We get in bad moods just like the rest of the world... Piss off!"); a two hour bus ride (which gave me my first sights of the English countryside AND THE SNOW!!

We don't get this in Texas!); check-in at the main reception (where I met my first Irishman, who was actually an Irish woman who reminded me that she was from Northern Ireland... not Ireland.); a hunt for my dorm (that got me so lost that I'm pretty sure at one point I was in Narnia); meeting my new roommate (whose name is Lucy.  She's absolutely lovely and kind as can be.  She didn't realize that she'd have a roommate this semester since she's been living alone... so when she walked in she about keeled over in fright at the sight of me!); a trip to Asda (it's the supermarket here, and it's eerie how similar it looks to Wal-Mart.); dinner (some curry mixture on rice and potatoes... yeah I'm thinking it might be easy to lose weight here); a bath (my dorm doesn't have a showerhead so it's baths for me for 4 months!  The water has its idiosyncrasies as well.  The cold water comes out likes it's literally just been barely melted from the snow outside, and the hot is literally hot enough to make myself  a cup of tea that could scald my lips off.); and finally BED!

     But you know what?  I can't complain... because guess what I woke up to this morning:

There's no way I could sit here and say I'm not the luckiest girl in the world.  

An Excellent Achievement in Packing Sciences

Officially 100% packed.

Can you believe I fit 5 months worth of pants, shirts, bras, underwear, socks, pajamas, sweaters, shoes (high heels, sneakers, and 3 pairs of boots... Oh God it's amazing), make-up, and hair supplies in 3 suitcases?  Not to mention my heavy leather coat and a king size comforter!!  Space bags, dude... space bags.  I imagine that back when people were dreaming of a future with flying cars and robotic housekeepers, they would not have been too impressed by vacuum-sealed packing... but watching those things shrink was a true thrill in my life.

68 hours to go.

Saying My Goodbyes

I spent the weekend saying my goodbyes to everyone in the DFW area.  I hope to see all of you again.  It's strange.  I'm realizing that this is the end of an era in my life, and as much sadness as I feel about that I can't help but feel overwhelming happiness and excitement at the start of something new.  These next eight days will be devoted to nothing but my family.  Here comes the really hard part.

Final Weeks

There's only 12 days left until I board my flight. I'm incredibly nervous, but the excitement is growing with each minute.  It's going to be an amazing journey.  I'll begin posting daily entries charting my semester.  I'll be thinking of all of you back home!

-Heather