Welcome to York

I have now arrived in York - just got in this afternoon. The study abroad program dropped us off quite unceremoniously and then we six American students with the program were on our own to find our rooms, move in, and try to figure out what the heck is going on.

My room is quite nice - it was an expansive view of the campus lake, with all sorts of water fowl swimming by a storey below. I've seen ducks (mallards and otherwise), coots (probably my favourite, because they have duck bodies and chicken feet), geese (garden-variety grey and white), seagulls, and black swans. They're a joy, despite all the bird refuse on the ground and the fact that I'm sure they will be quite noisy at times I do not want them to be. I'm hoping there will be frogs in the spring - I can't see how there couldn't be, really.
I think my favourite feature of the room is the fact that it has a washbasin - meaning I don't have to go down the hall to the rather unappealing facilities to brush my teeth, wash my face, etc. I love the last time I had an en suite sink (in France) so I'm quite glad of having one again.
The storage space in the room is much better than the study abroad program alleged it would be. As long as my big suitcase fits under the bed it should be fine.

I now have a cell phone, a hand-me-down from a friend who was at St. Andrew's in Scotland last semester, and today I topped it up (it is pay-as-you-go) only to spend all my minutes talking to my mom within the hour. Soon I plan to top it up again and then spend at least some of it talking to my dad and step-mom.

Some lovely British students who live in the same college as my American peers and I escorted us to the campus grocery, where I bought the essentials - tea, cereal, and milk, and a mug and a spoon. There were no bowls, so I will be eating cereal from a plastic measuring cup until I can find one. The students also let us know something no one else seemed able to explain - classes don't really start until next week, because the York students are doing exams this week from last term. So we do have some time to settle in before things get crazy.

The six of us and another American, had dinner in a pub down the way in the little village which abuts the campus. It was recommended by one of the college porters (the people who work at reception), who has to be my favourite person I've met in the UK so far. He is very friendly and helpful and so nice - he really made us feel welcome, which was nice after feeling rather abandoned by the program and rather lost in general. He gave me a map and highlighted the grocery and the pub and our college on it, and told me how to get to both. And he got me my bedding! An all-around nice guy.

Tonight I've been unpacking (by which I mean taking advantage of the fact that I now have access to streaming video on UK television websites), and I've just had my first shower here. The bathing facilities will take some getting used to. The shower head comes up to my chin, so rinsing the shampoo off the top of my head involved something that felt a bit like yoga. The water pressure and heat are good - although the water is distinctly sulphuric in its scent. There is only one shower, and one room with a tub in it - I'm very curious to find out if anyone actually uses it. The concept is repulsive to me at Wesleyan, where there are tubs in some of the older dorms.

Tomorrow we six from my program are going to York to explore - the city is a few miles from campus, so we will have a bus adventure, I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to seeing the city. It is supposedly a really nice place, and beautiful. I need to take as many maps as possible - the place is not exactly on a grid pattern.

Updates about the time between North Carolina and here might follow. They mainly involve travel delays, lots of time on aeroplanes, and my program's orientation in London.

P.S. - Excuse the spelling. I've put on the UK English spell-check so I can get used to it and hopefully not make too many mistakes in essays later.