finally!

i should probably update you since my last post as it has been a few days and a LOT has happened - good stuff, it's getting better!  yay!

still nothing positive to say about the flatmates, other than they are at least quiet.

let's start with school.  wednesday we had our first round of class.  i learned that i know absolutely nothing about viruses and will probably need to study my ass off for module 1.  on the bright side, had lunch again with two classmates matt and raphaella (both part time) and went for coffee after with them as well and with another part-timer myriam and a second year dominique.  hooray for new friends!  met with a couple more potential supervisors, trying to sort if all out.

i bet what you're really wondering is how cheerleading is going.  well, it's going freaking awesome!  i miss this SO much!  my body, on the other hand, hates me.  we had practice wednesday night and tonight and i don't know if i'll be able to walk tomorrow.  me a lot of great people there as well.

so the friends bit.  working on it, working on it!  dominique had me over for dinner last night - SO nice of her!  got to meet her flatmates, too.  very nice :)  i also went out on wednesday with the cheerleaders after practice!  i think maybe i'm a little too old to be partying like i did at the students' union and dancing on stage, but whatever.  it was awesome!

and - wait for it....................

I FINALLY GOT A PHONE!  sweet baby jesus that took long enough!  now i can call... dominique lol.  she is currently my only UK contact (no way in herll i'm paying the fees to call all you folks back in the US).  need to download "WhatsApp" - an app so i can text everyone!  for free!  lol.  oh, and everyone else needs to download it, too.

well, i think that pretty much sums up the last few days.

brb.

pumpkin spice latte connoisseur

yes, that's right - i am a starbucks pumpkin spice latte connoisseur.  if i could name my favourite food or beverage product i've ever had ever, it would be the starbucks pumpkin spice latte.  i can't explain it - that delicious fake pumpkin flavour mixed with espresso and steamed milk?  yum yum YUM!

ok, i know that makes me sound ridiculous, but i suppose if you have never met me then you don't know that, in fact, i am quite ridiculous.

i had my first english PSL today.  it was pretty delicious, though perhaps had less pumpkin syrup than i've found US starbuckses like to pump into theirs.  that being said, i have had less syrupy ones in the US, it really does depend on the barista.  thank god my tutor paid for it (tutor=personal advisor) as it was about $4.70 for a tall... lolz its about the same price at many US places, such as the JFK airport.  i guess i just justified buying more myself.  damnit!

i met with my tutor today to go over sciencey things, such as my research project and the various labs i could work in (which we discussed over our starbucks).  very helpful!  and she was very nice, also a super huge plus!  i got a lab tour, as well - and i am excited to say that they have a tech who cleans and autoclaves ALL of the jars!  hooray!  i am going to set up appointments with others to discuss their labs.  can't wait til wednesday when i get to meet more of my classmates as i am the only entering full time MSc student (last year they had 10!) so i've really got quite the pick of projects.  winning?  we shall see.

i also bought a university sweatshirt - going to any university anywhere is not complete without appropriate obnoxious attire.  mine is a bright blue.

yeah, that's pretty much my exciting day.  at the very least, way more exciting than yesterday.

brb.

lots of things

lots/not a lot going on this weekend that i shall enlighten you with.

yesterday was our active freshers' fayre - basically, (nearly) all of the sports clubs held session at the sports park so that everyone could come have a go at ones that they might be interested in joining.  it was a little less of a mob scene than friday, but still quite hectic.  there was a horde of people waiting to get gym memberships but i got to jump the queue and join at the front desk because i pulled the "i have an american credit card, will it work?" line.  heh.

i also got a free t-shirt.  winning.

at active freshers', i tried out trampolining (lots of fun!) and - wait for it - cheerleading.

as this is a recent blog many of my avid readers (lol) might now know my life story, but to give you a little snapshot, i was a cheerleader for all four years in high school including a brief year on a competitive squad.  i also have done gymnastics (mainly tumbling) on and off all my life.  although trampoline was a lot of fun to try, i really want to have a go at cheerleading again.  there are tryouts for the competition team at the end of the month - so fingers crossed i make it!

today i did a lot of sitting around in epic soreness from yesterday.  netflix and i are bffs, nbd.  then i made enchiladas which was a great success!  yum yum.  mixed beans were tasty but i still miss my black beans.

i should really get to assessing what project i would like to work on.

brb.

freshers

ahhh, the english term for freshmen (also termed "frosh" in the US).  today was they freshers' fayre, or as i like to call it, the activities expo.  i went out and slapped my email on a few lists, despite being a freshman, and wandered through my own personal hell.

so.  many.  people.  get.  out.  of.  my.  WAY!

mob scene is the only way to describe freshers' fayre.  all of the clubs and societies shoved under a giant tent with people pushing this way and that.  some going one direction, some going another, some completely stopped for now apparent reason in the middle of the walkway.  how am i supposed to find the clubs i'm interested in if i can't even see their group names?!

i managed to find cheerleading (yes, judge away!), trampolining (might be fun with my gymnastics experience), and snow sports - although i'm not quite sure where english people go skiing or snowboarding around here.  oh well, my board's back in the US anyways.  i wanted to find the biology club but somehow missed it.  after seeing facebook pics, i now know exactly why.  there were two signs in back of their booth that looked like they might be for some sort of ballroom dance club (really, they were to highlight the club's gala later on in the year).  in front of the booth was, i suppose, their actual signage but trying to get through that crowd was near impossible to find anything.

so, maybe i will join one of these clubs.  maybe.  and maybe i will make some friends finally.  hopefully.

brb.

i love you, black beans

by some magical fairy, i was able to find all of the tasty ingredients i like to use to make enchiladas (shout out to vanessa for teaching me how to make them like her mom:) ).  the only ingredient i had to be "creative" with was black beans.

i walked down the canned veggie aisle to see shelves upon shelves of every type f bean you could imagine - except my fave, black beans.  this i do not understand.  there were about 20 varieties and brands of baked beans, then a bunch of red kidney beans, and even some black spotted beans, but no delicious black beans.  i ended up settling for a can of "mixed beans in spicy sauce," whatever that means.  the spicy part sounds yums.

now i just need a baking dish.  guess i'll be off to TKMaxx this weekend.

nothing else eventful to report.  my pseudo-classmates and i (pseudo because they group my programme with another programme for the basic training sessions and whatnot) got stood up by out lecturer.  it was annoying, but NBD.

i want to buy a hoodie from the students' unions but i wish i knew if they took credit cards without walking my lazy ass over there.

brb.

programme

so i found out today that my programme (let's start using english people english, shall we?  yeah, i'm a tool, but i do honestly need to get used to it not that i'm here for the next two years) only has 6 or 7 people.  i say "or" because the programme directors were a little confused as to whether or not one individual was actually taking the course.  to add to that, only 4 of us actually showed up today.

and i was the only full time student.

let me describe my programme a little.  it's a 2 year MSc where i only take classes on wednesday - so even though i'm full time and the students i just met are part time, we still have all the same classes together.  they just work at their lab jobs the other four days while i work in a lab at the university on my research project.

i do like the three other classmates, so hopefully i'll eventually feel uncreepy enough to facebook friend them.  we all grabbed lunch and then sat through a 2 hour lecture on statistics so i think that qualifies us as bonded just a little.

school should be good - i'm glad i actually got to do something school-y today.  now i just need to pick out a research topic.

brb.

give me a cell phone, please.

just to warn you - there's going to be lots of wah wah wahing in this post.  moving to england is, apparently, quite difficult - or at least it has been for me.  i doubt it's like this for most people, but the last few days have been more stressful than one would like.

let me start with the easy one: lack of cell phone.  first world problem, this his proved to be impossible.  i want to get a monthly plan with, for me personally, better phone options, prices, and data packages.  to do this, i need a uk bank account - ok, 4 days later due to the weekend and that's finally set up...but i can't actually get the phone because i need my debit card which won't arrive for at least another 7 days.  obnoxious.  having a phone might have helped in situation number two -

EPIC BATHROOM LEAK!  okay, maybe not quite so epic, but nonetheless, a leak.  i suppose my upstairs neighbor ma have just moved in sunday, but the last two nights have been  2L water flood out of the side of my shower.  after two complaints, many waste container fillings and pourings down the drain, the maintenance men finally (hopefully) fixed the problem at 4:30pm today.  it's lucky i didn't write about this sooner, my post probably would have involved lots f rage and swearing.

and situation number 3.  apparently, i need to pay to go to school.  imagine that.  well, lucky for me, i got the cash flowing compliments of the US department of education way before i left.  unlucky for me, they don't disburse my cash money until october.  wouldn't you know, my first bill is due on 27 september?  right, ok, sorted that out but it took lots of tears and a few emails (thanks for nothing, FAFSA website contact us form!).  another situation i hope is resolved but still am rather wary on.

wouldn't it have been nice to have a phone last night at 11:30pm when water was flooding my bathroom?  or perhaps today when a financial counselor didn't know anything about US loans and suggested i ring them up?  right.  moving on.

i get my classes time table tomorrow.  i'm hopeful to be able to squeeze in a free language course in german, trouble is, they're all on wednesday and if my regular schedule doesn't fit, then no language class for me.  can't wait to meet my classmates since my flatmates are less than social.

brb.