Even though my classes just started this week, I’ve been in the UK since September 6th. That means I have been here 24 days, nearly a month. Time has flown, but part of me feels like I’ve been here for much longer.
My parents drove me to JFK (5 hours from my home in upstate New York) on the 5th of September. As usual, we arrived at the airport way ahead of schedule so I endured nearly 6 hours of loitering around JFK. I watched “Taken” starring Liam Neeson simply for the irony of my situation. Also, I really love him and that film. Other than that, I mostly sat around and watched people run from gate to gate, scramble after children, and argue with exhausted workers.
My flight was about an hour and twenty minutes shorter than expected, which was nice. I never sleep on planes so by the time I arrived at Heathrow at 9am local time, I was exhausted. Still, I successfully made it through immigration, collected my baggage, and exited through customs without much fuss. My boyfriend, Bertie, collected me from the airport and we took the tube to Paddington where we met his mom and drove to his house in the Highgate area of London. My first day was a blur of exhaustion.
I stayed in London for a week. I saw the Lion King musical, which was fantastic, one night. The epic night was seeing Muse at Wembley Stadium. It was my first gig and it was an amazing one at that. I also went to the Comedy Store for improv night and had a blast. Of course, I did the touristy things too, but mostly I was just enjoying London. I even saw “Pirhana 3D” in Leicester Square. Just lots of fun stuff. I went to my first ever fancy dress party, too! The theme was “English” as it was a welcome home party and I dressed as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider since I adore Angelina Jolie and Lara Croft is, in fact, English.
I took the train up to Leeds on the 13th of September. It was just over a two hour ride and lots of fun. I had never been on a train before! Once I got to Leeds, I moved into my halls. I met a Canadian, Garen, on the floor above mine while moving in. It turned out we were the only two internationals in the building, and therefore completely by ourselves for a couple of days. It was cool, though. I instantly liked my room, even though the shower wasn’t completely finished. Still, I had my own bathroom. My own room. I had twelve foot ceilings. I was happy. My block had recently been remodeled so the kitchen wasn’t horrendous or anything.
I had already sorted out my phone (recklessly buying a new iPhone 4) and bank account in London, so my first few days were a lot more relaxed than most internationals. I wandered around the city of Leeds, the university campus, and met some other international students at the pubs at night. The student union here has 2 bars and 3 nightclubs, which is drastically different than Penn State.
That Wednesday was the first day freshers could move in. No one in my flat moved in, but the flat opposite mine filled up. I got to know them and quickly found we all got on well, which was nice. Garen and I spent most of our time in their flat. My flatmates ended up moving in on the weekend. I live with two guys who are pretty cool and two girls who, well, let’s just say I’m not about to be their best friend. No one in our flat really gets on in a buddy-buddy way, but we all just live civilly together. I like it that way. Simple co-existing.
Anyway, there ended up being 9 of us from the three flats on my floor that became a sort of group. We all got on well and spent the first week and a half going out, shopping, relaxing in our kitchens, and meeting new people. We were all exhausted, but it was worth it.
This week, as I’ve said, was the first week of class. I’m taking “Sexuality, Subculture and Stigma”, “International Politics”, “Changing Worlds, Changing Places”, and “Business Ethics” this term. They’re all cool classes. “Business Ethics” is the only 3000 level I’m taking, since it’s in my field of study, and the rest our introductory level. I only have class 8 hours a week, with Wednesdays off, so it’s really laid back.
Tonight I went to a pub quiz with the aforementioned floor group. We were split in half and we got competitive. My group ended up beating the other group (a bragging right for the next week…until the next quiz) and we were only 6 points off from the overall winning group. It was a relaxing time and lots of fun.
That’s really all that’s been going on so far. I plan on updating more frequently, at least once a week, now that everything has calmed down a bit. I have a trip to Dublin booked in mid-October and a trip to either Egypt or Prague being planned for late November or December. I’m so excited! I love it here more than I ever thought I would. As someone who never particularly enjoyed Penn State life, this is a dream come true. I can’t even imagine having to leave.
Location: Leeds, UK
Loading map...
Hey Amelia! I guess it really is a small world…I’m from the exciting city of Horseheads.
How is Kent? Are you having the awkward flatmate situation, too? I see you’re rooming with another Penn Stater, though! That’s cool. No one else from Penn State came to Leeds. Haha.
Samantha – where in New York are you from? I’m from Corning! It takes me about 4-5 hours to drive into the city as well, though New York is pretty big so you probably aren’t really that close to me.
It sounds like you are having a good time though – and I totally feel you about the whole roommie situation, I think ‘coexisting’ is a nice way of putting it. Hope all of your classes begin well, we’re just starting here as well!