Been A While...

So it has been a while since my last post, but I have been busy trying to get used to classes, life, my new flat mates and getting over being sick (ugh...).

Give and take. I have learned that in life you can not always have everything that you want and while the grass may look greener on the other side, most likely it is not. It is just different. As some may know I have moved into a new residence, one for first years and undergraduate students versus postgraduates and mature students. Some of my main reasons were the travel time to get to campus from my old residence, and the quiet/atmosphere. I wanted to be able to walk to campus versus taking the bus, and I wanted to be with British people and really experience life on Leeds campus. So far, it has been everything that I wanted, friendly people who talk amongst themselves, cook dinner together and go out together. They have been kind and asked if I would like to be included in the festivities. However, while I find their socializing very kind, it can become quite frustratingly loud at times.

Take right now for example. In the flat either below me or above me or next to me there is a very loud party going on. Normally I would say oh well and possibly join in. However, I have been sick and would like some quiet time but I can't seem to find it even with ear plugs in. So in that sense the other residence was "better". But it is what it is, I will get used to this atmosphere but as a 21 year old surrounded by 18 year olds just ending their first year in college I find myself feeling old and a little bit less "fun" than them.

Being sick in a foreign country, that is a whole different issue. Now, I have realized I am only going on my third week here in England and I have found my survival skills have started to kick in. First of all, I needed to find food, ways of communication and a doctor. I have also learned that while I may want to be pampered and have my food brought in to me and tea be made, I have to do these things for myself. It is a harsh reality of course, realizing you don't have your mom there to take care of you. I have dealt with this in North Carolina as well, but at least there I had a car to drive myself places, knew the doctors and knew how to handle absences. Here I am starting a fresh. I have to walk or take public transportation to get to a supermarket and I still don't quite understand the system of how things work here.

It will all come in more time and I am learning. Figuring out ways to cope, sucking it up and doing the things that need to get done. It is all a part of the experience and I am finding it kind of exhilarating knowing that I really am more on my own here, even more so then when I started college.

Some things I've already started to become accustomed to.
1. Driving on the left side of the road (luckily I've had fewer run-ins with being hit)
2. The bus system (I've started to get on the correct bus now and look like less of a lost puppy)
3. Having classes meet only once a week (though while I'm used to that, I have yet to get used to what my expectations are for the class)
4. Using an electric kettle (so much faster than a teapot)
5. Calling it "take away" vs. "take-out"
6. Living with boys (at first a little weird, but not so bad anymore)

Some things I have yet to get used to.
1. The accents, I still have a hard time understanding some of the accents, especially the northern ones
2. Not wearing coats when you go out at night (I swear girls go out in mini-dresses and heels when its 20 out...some of my flat mates didn't even wear coats one night when it was snowing!)
3. People going out almost 7 days a week (in the states I can hardly do 2 without feeling like I'm behind in my coursework)

As I said earlier, things are different everywhere you turn. It is not meant to be better or worse. I am still just adjusting to life here in Leeds and each day I feel just a little bit less like a tourist and more like a student in England.