Weekend fun

This morning was WONDERFUL.  I finally got to sleep in and did so until about 10:30.  The dining hall where we eat is not open on weekends, so I ate some bread and Nutella that we bought at Sainsbury (English version of Meijer) last night.  I'll have to figure out a better plan for that situation later.  I'm finally all unpacked and organized now too. Pictures at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday we drove an hour and a half to the town of Whitby.  It's a sort of tourist-y, resort town. I could tell it would be really beautiful and busy in summer, but now that it's winter it's a cute and quiet little town with lots of shops, cafes, and beautiful views of the ocean.  The monastery was founded here in 657 and the abbey (having the same name as a building can be confusing!) was built in 1220.
History of Whitby Abbey.

Today the Calvin kids have been invited to a local church for "Tea and Toast," so we're heading over there at 4.  No other plans for today, and I don't start classes until Tuesday - looking forward to settling in and getting comfortable with the city.  I've been inside the walls (York is a walled city, the university is just outside) a few times.  No pictures yet, but it is beautiful.

Day one

We're here!  GR to Chicago was fine, Chicago to Manchester - not so fine. They decided to work on a bunch of mechanical stuff WHILE we were ON the plane.  So we sat at the loading dock for about three hours.  Yippie.  Add that to the 7.5 hour flight and I've had enough of planes for a while. 

We arrived at Manchester airport at 10 am, then took a two-hour charter bus ride to York.  I didn't sleep at all on the plane, but got in a nice nap on the bus.  We arrived in York, had a few minutes to grab some lunch and were thrust into orientation/registration activities.  Set up some very confusing internet site, took a whirlwind campus tour of which I remember almost nothing, sat in a classroom while a lady talked to us, almost fell asleep, ate dinner, went to an international student reception (I'm an international student, how weird!), hung out at the student union (which is a bar), played cards, and am now blogging in order to stay up a few more minutes to remedy jet lag.  Phew.

Best things so far: campus is BEAUTIFUL, no snow, cafeteria has been really good so far, and our group seems to be getting along really well.

Worst things so far: measurement differences (pounds not dollars, celsius not fahrenheit), confusion surrounding outlets and how to plug in my American devices, and just the general level of tiredness.

More orientation tomorrow, hopefully we will get a chance to see the city and do some grocery-type shopping.

Packing up, moving out

News flash.  Packing away enough of your life to survive for four months/two seasons/one semester/three weeks of travel in Europe is harder than it sounds.

My dorm room is almost empty, my suitcase is sort of packed and probably already too heavy, and my lovely roommate is sitting next to me on the couch.  She's pretty cool and I will miss her oodles.  Also, now she's playing Coldplay's "Fix You," which is possibly the saddest song ever.  Sheesh. 

It's sad to leave all my Calvin and Grand Rapids friends and family, but I'll be back before you know it (June 1).  Luckily, I've got some awesome friends coming along to York, and I'm looking forward to getting to know the rest of our group.

I'm beyond excited to leave tomorrow!  Our flight to Chicago leaves at 4:30, and then we leave for Manchester at 6:30 (ish?)  Then we hop on a bus to York, arrive mid-morning, and launch into a day of orientation.

Next post from across the pond!

Abby