Beginning the Real Life

This is my new home, my dorm at UEA! I've been here a week now - it feels as if it's been much longer, since I've done so much! I've been to two of three classes, traveled into town again, did some grocery shopping (not really a proper shop yet, as I have a lot of microwave soup and that's about it... But the raspberries here are delicious!), and been out nearly every night except one! That one night was a case of "Freshers' Flu" - a.k.a. too much partying and not enough sleeping. I'm all better now, but a flatmate downstairs has now got it!

My classes are pretty much amazing. I have one more tomorrow, but the first two have been just great. Words and Music is exactly what I thought it would be - only better! The teacher is incredibly smart but also creative. We've got a project where we're required to write a 20-30 word entry about music every single day for forty days, using either our own words or someone else's or a combination of the two. It's really clever.

I have picked up two new slang words, though I don't use them as much as I thought I would (I suppose I just really like hearing real Brits use them): 'Mint' and 'Jokes.' Both are used for things you think are cool. Another word is "more-ish" - for example, if you really liked grapes (as someone in my flat does), you can't eat just one grape out of the bunch, you'd eat a lot in succession because you think grapes are so more-ish!

Here are a few silly photos I've taken - the infamous packeted condiments from our lunch at the pub:



Proper Fish'N'Chips (from a pub and not a stand):



My pet Cacti!



And that's it for today! Meeting with the flatmates in a bit for some beers. Should be jokes. =D

A State of Disbelief

And so here I am. In my dorm. At UEA. In Norwich. In England.

Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:00 a.m. with the most excited feeling I've ever had. In fact, I was so excited I threw up.
Yeah. Gross.
Luckily, I felt much better after and I was ready to get on the darn plane already! It was a long trek to get here - and not easy, carrying 120+ lbs of luggage! But I am here, safe and sound. My dorm room is adorable, though small. It's probably a similar amount of space to what I was allotted in my first dorm, but without a second half and a second person. I do have a nifty slanted ceiling and a skylight, though! Also, all the UEA dorms give you a giant corkboard to decorate. It took me until today to get thumbtacks, so it's fairly bare.

I met up with some very fun International students and after a night drinking in the pub, we all decided to go shopping in the Norwich City Centre the next day. It was really great to visit a pub (Gardeners Arms) and eat the stereotypical fish'n'chips meal for the first time overseas! It was delicious, and there were tons of little tiny condiments packets. Everyone laughed at me when I took a picture, but I knew I needed to prove it for my blog - tiny packs of ketchup are to be expected, but tartar? Salad cream? The mucky sounding 'brown sauce'? All packaged in miniature single servings! I'm such a girl, but I thought they were very cute.

After lunch, it was off to Castle Mall. But leave it to me to get separated from the group and lost in the mall (before my new hot pink mobile was activated) and have to spend the rest of the time on my own. To be honest, I didn't mind. I got to explore the city a little, looking at the shops and taking the time I wanted to take at each one. I made it home - NOT on the bus, which my feet hated me for - with a new sheet set (red and rather luxurious looking), some new shower supplies, and groceries. Note that I have not yet bought dishes, so all my groceries are pretty much finger food. I've been living on yummy carrots, 'crisps', and bread-and-cheese sandwiches. Oh, and beer. Well, cider, to be exact. Yum.

Lots of orientation stuff today; none of it even worth mentioning except that I now have a campus card and internet access.

Oh. And the cold isn't so bad yet. Now that I've said that, I'm sure I'll be frozen tonight when I go out wearing a skirt for the first time since I've been here. =P Cheers!

Less Than 24 Hours!

The last couple days, it's been packing, packing, packing. I packed up my make-up, my clothes, and my shoes. I packed up sixteen years in the same house and twenty-one years in the same city. I packed up a flashlight, a first-aid kit, and extra hairties because I am utilitarian and I understand 'just in case.' But I am pretty much done packing now. Just the bare bones left around the house, the things I need until the last minute, that's all that's left.

It has to be all that's left, actually, because my suitcases are forty-eight pounds each and I am allowed fifty a bag. There was some panic, I admit. One of them bordered on forty-nine lbs, six oz. That was way too close for comfort. I removed a pair of heels. It broke my heart. I am such a girl.

Oh, and I make the confession that I did not actually pack my second suitcase. I couldn't get it all to fit. You can see to the side it was what I like to refer as to the 'clothesplosion.' I packed and re-packed and just as I was about to pack again, my best friend Bee called and offered to pack for me in exchange for dinner. She did it with room to spare. I don't know how; she's amazing, anyway.

I leave tomorrow morning. Oh. My. God.

A Sweet New Year - Wait, what? ALREADY?

I'm sure that nervous excitement will return soon, but for the past couple days, I've felt a little burnt out on preparing for the trip and not actually being on it. The only thing I've been worked up about lately is my brand new rolling duffel. Well, I admit, I was pretty stoked about that.

I do have one bag completely packed. At 47 pounds, it just hovers around the weight limit. Right now, it isn't really useful. It does serve as a launch pad for Yaya (my Siamese cat) to chase moths from, though! She climbs up to the top for a better aerial view, then flings herself into the air after them. It's both awkward and adorable at the same time, but that is always how Yaya has been.

In the frenzy of preparation, I totally forgot about the High Holidays. For those of you that don't know, the two most holy celebrations in Judaism usually happen about mid-September. This year? The first, the Jewish New Year, occurs two days after I arrive in Norwich. Talk about a new beginning! Rosh Hashanah is translated as "the head of the year," and is full of sweet things like apples and honey to assure a sweet year to follow. To be honest, I'll probably substitute drinking hard apple cider for the apples and honey, but it's similar!

It was a little stressful at first, realizing that before I was even settled in, I needed to begin the Days of Awe and find somewhere to pray. I was worried there wouldn't be a place on campus - after all, how many Jews are there in Norwich? I don't know! It's a little daunting to go from "Jew of A", a school where you can't take a class without a Semite sitting next to you, to a school where I just honestly have no idea about the religious make-up. Luckily, I have excellent Google-Fu and managed to find a synagogue who works through the school chaplaincy, though it seems as if there might be some travel involved to get there. I'm sure it isn't much, except that I'll have never used the bus system at this point!

But the more I think about it, the less I'm worried. I can't think of a better time for Rosh Hashanah to start. Brand new life, brand new year. And some extra blessings on my head before I take on the UK won't hurt. Mazel tov, mazel tov!

Time to get to started on my very long to-do list for the day. New glasses (after all, the ones in my "jolly good!" picture don't even belong to me! ;P), a thorough car cleaning, and some wrangling of a year's supply of prescriptions have all got to get done today! Don't forget to check out Rose Elise-In England's Facebook (link in the sidebar) for some new photos, including some of the bar scene in Tucson, more hiking, and some interesting shots I got at my own house of food (yum!) and the monsoon!