In the UK

It's about 10 in the morning right now, and I'm still tired. A jackhammer started going around 9am (one of the houses nearby looks like it's renovating the backyard) and I wasn't able to fall asleep again. So now I'm just sitting in my bed with my lappy top.

My arrival went amazingly well. For once, the O'Hare security wasn't dead strict and mean, so that caught me by surprise. The downside was that my carry on was a traveling/backpacking/hiking backpack, and my sister had used it before for a carry on, but when I was about to enter the plane, American Airlines told me it was too big. I couldn't fit it into the carry-on tester slot "comfortably". They checked in my bag for free though because of the confusion, but on the airplane I was terrified that my piccolo, flute, or my laptop would receive damange. All fine though!!

Liz, one of my friends and studying at Leeds this semester, has AMAZING friends that met us at the Manchester airport. They helped us carry our bags, had breakfast with us, and then rode with us on the train to Leeds. Then they basically took us around Leeds and helped us do our boring shopping. So, I have 2 pillows (but I was cheap and bought a pack of 2 thin pillows for 3 GBP and stuff them into one pillowcase), a small lamp for 4 GPB, cheap towels, and a cheap laundry hamper. They don't even look cheap, which is the best.

My residence hall is amazing! I love it. I live in the Old Hall in Devonshire Hall, and it feels more like a house than a dorm. I have to go through quite a few staircases to reach my room, and the woman from Reception had to show me twice because I was afraid I'd get lost. I think I'm supposed to go talk to her again today too -- I can't remember too much because I was so tired yesterday. Everyone on my floor is really nice though, and so far it looks like I'm the oldest here. I feel like the youngest though. I sound and dress less classier, plus I don't drink! 3 of my floormates informed me that this is a really quiet hall because they all like to study hard, but did let me know they do like to have fun (after they're done studying). This sounds like my kind of place.

I need to find the practice rooms sometime. And figure out how to eat here.

Liz's two friends had 2 people join us in our Leeds extravaganza, and it was a lot of fun. We had tea and coffee, fish and chips, Cadbury creme eggs (which are REALLY popular here)... it was a really fun blur. I wish I could write it all down, but I just don't have the brainpower right now. It was just pure AWESOME.

It's inching closer to 10:30am, so I should probably start to get things done. The jackhammer has stopped, but now it's too late for me to really go back to sleep.

Where did the time go??

Ahhhhhh!!!

I leave in less than 2 days. Where did the time go?? I have so much more to do... I'm almost done packing, which has proven to be harder than I thought. I still have plenty of weight that I could technically add to my carry-on or my check-in baggage, yet I seem to be running out of room. I think it's time to start rolling up my things in those space-saver bags. I hope that will help.

I've lived in Illinois my whole life. It's incredibly frightening to think of leaving.

Mail to the UK

So, I realized that I still needed to mail a form to my dorm before I got there, so I went to the post office to take care of that. I wanted it to arrive on time, so I asked for the breakdown for times and rates. Here we go:

5-10 days standard shipping: ~$1

5 days shipping (guaranteed): ~$28

1-3 days shipping: ~$42

Gee. Which one to pick. This is a regular enveloped letter, by the way. Obviously, I went for the one dollar stamp, and luckily I had scanned the form and my passport photo beforehand, so right after I mailed the hard copies, I emailed the scanned ones to my dorm. So, in the worst case scenario it's possible my letter might arrive after I do, but at least my dorm has the form and my picture in their computer.

Oh my gosh.

I am leaving for the UK in nine days.

Where did the time go?

Weather

So, I did some scouting on the weather because I realized I was going to be at Leeds until June. I already knew this, of course, but I didn't think of it in terms of packing. A winter to summer visit, to me, means that I need a variety of clothes to bring. :( This was not something I was enthusiastic about because that would mean more luggage weight that would be unnecessary for half the time I'm there.

However, I think I might be better off than I thought. It doesn't look like it will go over 60 F before summer hits, and even the summer looks pretty mild in comparison to Illinois. Due to Leeds being in the north, apparently it stays fairly cool in comparison to other places. Overall, this is what Tripadvisor.co.uk has to say about Leeds weather while I'm there:

Now, we all know that the UK is known for rain. I'm debating if I should bring my trusty umbrella (as can be seen here, although I bought mine from Art Mart)... I think not. I'll probably bring my own collapsible one for the time being, or just buy one there or buy a sturdier one. Packing an umbrella seems too much a pain. On the bright side, Leeds is known for having less rain than other UK cities due to hills that surround the area.

I guess no matter what, I still need to go out to replace my jeans.

Hi, 2010!

Happy New Year!

It's a new decade, and I do believe I'll start off this year by living abroad and getting a new experience.

Wardrobe >.<

This is kind of a girly post, but I'm not looking forward to creating an acceptable wardrobe while in the UK. It's a good thing my friends started to get me out of the sweats and sneakers a few years ago. I can handle buying all of my necessities for abroad, but I just realized that about 1/2 of my jeans are going to die soon. Poor jeans. They're so comfy.

Clothes shopping is not one of my favorite things to do. Jean shopping is down on the list of things I really don't like to do.

*sigh*

My friend at Leeds has informed me that people do not wear sneakers every day, and they wear a lot of flats. I know wardrobe isn't a HUGE part of a new experience, but for me it definitely makes a new impression. I'm used to being able to just walk around in my sneakers and hoodie, not really caring too much if I'm fashionable or not.