I am finally settled in to my dorm in Guildford! It definitely is a tight space...but isn't nearly as tiny as I was expecting. Luckily, I have an ensuite toilet and shower, so I don't have to go down the hall to shower or use the restroom. I hate the faucets that they have here, they make no sense. Instead of one knob that you turn to the hot or cold side, there are 2 knobs, one that is scalding hot and one that is freezing cold. So when washing my hands or face, I have to choose whether I wasn't third degree burns or frostbite, not logical at all.
On the plus side, it is snowing!! Light flurries began last evening and got heavier overnight. When I woke up this morning to look out my window, I had a beautiful view of the campus covered in a blanket of snow! I have seen snow on the ground before, but I have never seen snowflakes fall from the sky before, it is an incredible sight! We had our orientation at the school 2 days ago. There are close to 200 international students in the exchange program, I had no idea that there would be so many of us! It was so much fun to chat with everyone about their different cultural backgrounds and to swap stories about our schools. Everyone here is so nice! All of the other exchange students are in the same boat that I am, we are all trying to make friends since no one knows anyone here. After our orientation, one of the local girls threw a housewarming party for all the exchange students in her flat nearby campus in town. There, I met even more people! I feel like I have made hundreds of new friends in the past few days. The school has an activities programme that organizes trips for the students. I will surely be taking advantage of this. Some of the upcoming trips are to Amsterdam and Paris Disneyland! It is so reasonable to travel here on the trains, so traveling won't have to break my bank.
I went into town yesterday with a group of students to purchase groceries and other necessities. What an experience that was! I will appreciate my car so much when I return back to the states! In the grocery stores here, there are no push carts, only little hand baskets. Locals don't do large amounts of shopping at once. Unfortunately, I had NO food to my name and had to buy many groceries. By the time I left the grocery store, I had 4 bags in each of my hands. Heavy bags filled with milk, and glass jars, and heavy produce. Keep in mind, town is about a 2 mile walk to the edge of campus. It's a lovely little stroll when your hands are free and it isn't 26 degrees out and about to rain/snow. My friends and I had to carry our bags allllll the way to campus, and then once to the edge of campus, my dorm is the complete opposite side of campus, so that's an additional 15 minute walk for me. To make matters worse, the plastic bags here are very very thin, and while walking across campus my bag ripped, spilling all of the contents(including a glass jar of mayonnaise and honey) only the cobblestone road. Of course, the jars shattered and my food was ruined. Then I had to stuff my pockets of my jacket and my purse with the remaining items from the broken bag to carry them to my room.
When I woke up this morning, my body felt like I had been training for a triathlon. Everyone knows that I am not the most athletic person on this earth, and I have been nonstop moving this whole week. The hardest part about moving around is that the town is located on so many hills, my poor legs are used to flat Florida and my calves are beginning to hate me for making them work to go up all these hills. No wonder Europeans are so skinny! I feel like I should reward myself with a whole cake and ice-cream or something equally high in calories for all the working out I have been doing.
I have been pretty sick with a nasty cold this week so I plan on taking it easy today, although it is very tempting to run around outside in the snow and have a snowball fight like a child... The Superbowl is actually really big here, a lot of the British love American football, and the bar on campus is hosting a party tonight to watch it. I will be sure to make an appearance for the good food that will be offered, but due to the time change, the game will be beginning at midnight here. I just really don't care about sports enough to stay up all night just to watch the game, especially when I should be resting to get rid of this cold! Cheers for now! <3
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