Off The Beaten Path

Good day, loves!

Well, the last two days have been rather lazy as I haven't been required to rush around from meeting to meeting.  Tuesday night a dinner was held for International students and to say there are a lot of us here does not do the number justice.  They held the dinner in two separate colleges and each was full to the brim!  I made my way to the dinner with Leigh Anne, where we met up with Nicole and were introduced to another girl (yet again, named "Ally") from her school.  The three of us ended up sitting at a table composed of a few African boys, French girls, a Canadian guy, and ourselves - the Americans.  It was a lovely dinner and I was elated that I was able to enjoy 4 courses and 3 glasses of wine for free on my birthday!  When you're a student studying abroad, you learn to enjoy every bit of food you get in the beginning stages, as I've noticed we tend to only eat a "large" meal once or twice a day!  It was so neat getting to sit with other International students from countries other than my own.  I was glad we did not sit with other Americans simply because there would not have been near as much to talk about.  Also, might I mention how envious I am that so many others here are fluent in 2, 3, even 4 languages?!  I'm absolutely going to work on my Spanish skills while I am here, and attempt a few French phrases as well.

Yesterday I woke up quite late (5 a.m. in Indiana, 10 a.m. here) and slowly made my way around getting ready.  Since it was a gorgeous day out, I decided it was a good time to try and learn my way around the campus, find my classrooms, and maybe get a few pictures.  I found my classes much more easily than I had anticipated, although once you get to the building they're in, it can be rather tricky.  The buildings are seriously maze-like and have staircases and "corridors" leading to nowhere, which is neat, but not if you're in a hurry to get to your lecture hall!  The walking distance is so much more than I had expected, but in a way I am glad as I was 90% sedentary in the states.  I wish I had taken more photos of the beautiful scenery and architecture we have on campus.  There are loads of both.  I did snap this shot, however.  It's a common hang out at a side of the hill that overlooks Canterbury.

 That whole walking thing leads me to the major part of my day.  After standing in awe of this view for a bit, I decided I would head to town for awhile.  I was almost positive that if I headed left, a bit down the hill, I would come to a bus stop.  False.  I made my way down a flight of stairs, then across a field near the bottom of the hill, then over to a worn path, which led to a foot/cycle path, which eventually ended up turning into a sidewalk that led me into town!  It took about 30 minutes in total for me to reach the center of Canterbury.  I grabbed a drink (7up tastes slightly disgusting over here, by the way) and visited a few stores.  Since the bank account situation has not been solved, I did not make any other purchases, but instead took a few photos:

While I was waiting for my bus to come at the station, an elderly man in a suit sat beside me and explained how the whole bus system worked, and that he had lived here his whole life.  He told me about how WWII and Hitler destroyed his school and he remembers a new one being built in 1951.  He also studied in the states - in Wisconsin - and talked to me a bit about that.  I think I might go to the station just to meet interesting people and hear their stories from now on  :)

Today was even lazier.  I woke early to get my bank account started, but they asked me, once again, to come back at 9:30 tomorrow morning.  You can bet I will be there at 9:00!  I at least managed my debit card to start working here, so I went to purchase my books for classes... they did not have them all, but what I got is a start I suppose.

When I was walking to the bookstore the Freshers Fayre was being set up... it's almost like an expo.  Tents, music, free food, free pens, books, candy.  It was amazing!  I got free pizza and Cadbury bars and visited all kinds of society booths.  I plan to attend several of the first meetings - the newspaper, Feminist Society, Language Society, Amnesty International, and more, once I find their handouts!

I came back and decorated my room a bit with the hundreds of pictures I brought, then skimmed through my books to see what I will be up against this semester.  Finally, the tiredness caught up with me and I took about an hour nap.  Now, I'm writing this and heading off to Woody's for dinner and perhaps some entertainment!

I hope this finds all of you well - let me know if there's anything you'd like to hear more about, as I'm just rambling about the things that I find interesting!

 

xo,

Aly