My First Week in England

I’ve made it!! I’m here in England, and the past couple of days have been crazy. Last Thursday seemed like the longest ever and that continued into Friday morning when we were suppose to land thirty minutes early, but the pilot had to circle for that time, so I arrived into London at 7 a.m.

It took me an hour to get through customs. Then, it was off to get my bags and make my way towards terminal 3, which I had to take a train to reach. I met with my group and it was about a two hour ride to the manor.

When I arrived, I found my room...on the top floor so that means a lot of stairs! At lunch, I quickly came to the realization that the food in the refectory is very bland. Dare I say I miss the caf!

I wondered the grounds and the manor with Tim, Emily and Nicole, and eventually made my way back to my room to meet my roommate for the first time. Her name is Katherine and she goes to Texas Women’s University (TWU) in Denton, Texas. She had a friend named Jenifer who came with her from TWU and she went to high school with someone from Bethany College. It’s crazy! It shows you how small the world really is. We realized that we have many things in common and we were both glad that we got someone we clicked with to make this experience even more memorable.

After dinner, we had a class with our British Studies professor in which we just talked about the articles we were assigned before we even arrived. On Saturday, we had more orientation activities, but we were able to go shopping in Grantham in the afternoon. Then, we had the president's high dinner! Everyone dressed up for the lavish event. Soon after the dinner, Katherine and I and a few other friends went into Grantham to see what the nightlife was like, and had a fun time. There is a bar on campus called The Bistro and a lot of the faculty are there, so it’s weird to go and to see your professor having a drink. Sunday, we participated in more orientation events and bought books.

On Monday, like Bethany students, we started classes. All students begin their Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the great hall where we have lecture for our British Studies class. Then, I have British Studies class at 11-noon and my next class isn’t until 4:10.

Sickness is flying around here and it seems to have found me and my roommate. We bought a box of tissues on Saturday and we finished them on Monday. We are thinking about going to the nurse tomorrow to get some medicine.

I Skyped with my mom today, but I had to wait up until 11 so she could be home from work. I’m not that homesick though, I think it’s because I’m use to it. When I go to Bethany, I am five hours from my house. I don’t think I have really adjusted to time yet though.

This weekend is I am headed to London. I am excited! My adventure has officially begun...