Good Morning, y'all.
It's finally either warming up here or I'm getting used to the cold..I'm assuming both, actually. I haven't had to wear a coat to class the last couple days, even though it's still a little chilly, but class is only a couple minutes away. That means that I no longer freeze at night and/or have to wear five layers to bed at night. Yay!
Today is a bright, sunny day and I'm looking forward to maybe taking some pictures. I don't have any classes today, but I'm leaving in about an hour to go to London for the weekend! This is my first big sightseeing/touristy trip! That's all for now, I shall update you soon! Wish me luck!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Groceries
Today I got my groceries delivered! It's a very popular thing here...I know in some places in the United States you can do that, but here, they deliver to ~98% of the addresses in England. Before I came here, I knew that it would be a possibility to do so, and it is so nifty for a college student without a car who also has to cook all their own meals. Taking the shuttle to town is difficult because you can only get so many groceries before it's more than you are able to wait for the bus with or travel on the bus with, bags in hand. Trying to get a ride from someone else always makes me feel uncomfortable too. So delivery, at least for groceries, is very nice.
The store "ASDA" is like the Walmart of England, I think. That's where I ordered my groceries from, I can go online and view all their different products and add them to my "trolley" and choose a time slot to get my groceries delivered. I got a call fifteen minutes before the delivery guy said he was going to show up and he was here on time and also right on schedule with my time slot. How nice! Also, anything that they didn't have in stock on the day of delivery was substituted with something of equal or greater value. For instance, I ordered a block of cheddar cheese which they ended up not having in stock, so instead I got two blocks of a different cheddar cheese worth more than the one I ordered and I got charged the cost of the original cheese I ordered. They okay all the substitutes with you and are willing to refund you the price if you don't want the substitute. I also ordered eggs and there was one broken one, so I was refunded the price of the eggs.
The one thing I was worried about when ordering food was the space that I have in the fridge and freezer. I have three spaces to put food--the fridge, freezer, and a cupboard. I share a shelf with another girl in both the fridge and freezer. That being said, the people who live in my corridor are used to living without us two girls here with them and they...take over a little bit in the fridge and freezer. Our shelves are filled with things that are not ours. (There's not much to do about that, really..especially when they can't understand us and I don't care too much anyway). In turn, I was pretty weary of space when I was ordering food, so everything fit!
So that's my grocery ordering experience. It's pretty handy and my shelf of the fridge, freezer, and food cupboard are now stocked well!
The store "ASDA" is like the Walmart of England, I think. That's where I ordered my groceries from, I can go online and view all their different products and add them to my "trolley" and choose a time slot to get my groceries delivered. I got a call fifteen minutes before the delivery guy said he was going to show up and he was here on time and also right on schedule with my time slot. How nice! Also, anything that they didn't have in stock on the day of delivery was substituted with something of equal or greater value. For instance, I ordered a block of cheddar cheese which they ended up not having in stock, so instead I got two blocks of a different cheddar cheese worth more than the one I ordered and I got charged the cost of the original cheese I ordered. They okay all the substitutes with you and are willing to refund you the price if you don't want the substitute. I also ordered eggs and there was one broken one, so I was refunded the price of the eggs.
The one thing I was worried about when ordering food was the space that I have in the fridge and freezer. I have three spaces to put food--the fridge, freezer, and a cupboard. I share a shelf with another girl in both the fridge and freezer. That being said, the people who live in my corridor are used to living without us two girls here with them and they...take over a little bit in the fridge and freezer. Our shelves are filled with things that are not ours. (There's not much to do about that, really..especially when they can't understand us and I don't care too much anyway). In turn, I was pretty weary of space when I was ordering food, so everything fit!
So that's my grocery ordering experience. It's pretty handy and my shelf of the fridge, freezer, and food cupboard are now stocked well!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday
I can't believe that it's already my third week of classes here at Harper! I still have some hiccups in my schedule that I'm trying to work out, so this week I'm still going to new classes that I haven't yet been to. Maybe in seven weeks when term is over I'll finally have it straightened out! In the 'set-in-stone' classes, most of my professors have already given me my big assignment that will be due near the end of term. One of said assignments is a 2,000 word essay which got a 'This-is-the-type-of-assignment-I'm-used-to-doing-on-a-weekly-basis-at-Cornell' response when it was assigned.
Today's ventures brought me to the other side of campus, a solid twenty minute walk with a road crossing involved (gasp!). Apparently there's a shorter way to get there that I have yet to discover as I added visitors to my return journey across campus--visitors who decided we should take the same way back to campus as I took getting to class (where's the adventure in that?) They were very nice girls (which made me quickly forget the familiarity of the walk I was making), one of whom was from Ireland (love the accent) and is itsy bitsy and plays rugby. The other was adorable, and English through and through. My class was in a building that looked like a garage from the side I approached, and I was scared that maybe I was approaching the wrong building. There was a large shop door and only a plywood door to enter into on the side I approached. Some innocent bystanders told me otherwise and that I needed to go 'round the back. The back looked more like where I was supposed to be, but still did not have a classroom feel. The classroom I entered felt more like the entrance way of a house. The whole back side of the classroom was glass and the classroom was small, which made for good discussion in class. I hadn't yet been to that class, Psychology of Food Choice, in case you couldn't tell by my quandaries about how to get to/into the building. It was good. That's all I have to say about that.
Crossing roads here is a tricky business. Cars drive on the wrong side of the road. Go figure that one out.
Today's ventures brought me to the other side of campus, a solid twenty minute walk with a road crossing involved (gasp!). Apparently there's a shorter way to get there that I have yet to discover as I added visitors to my return journey across campus--visitors who decided we should take the same way back to campus as I took getting to class (where's the adventure in that?) They were very nice girls (which made me quickly forget the familiarity of the walk I was making), one of whom was from Ireland (love the accent) and is itsy bitsy and plays rugby. The other was adorable, and English through and through. My class was in a building that looked like a garage from the side I approached, and I was scared that maybe I was approaching the wrong building. There was a large shop door and only a plywood door to enter into on the side I approached. Some innocent bystanders told me otherwise and that I needed to go 'round the back. The back looked more like where I was supposed to be, but still did not have a classroom feel. The classroom I entered felt more like the entrance way of a house. The whole back side of the classroom was glass and the classroom was small, which made for good discussion in class. I hadn't yet been to that class, Psychology of Food Choice, in case you couldn't tell by my quandaries about how to get to/into the building. It was good. That's all I have to say about that.
Crossing roads here is a tricky business. Cars drive on the wrong side of the road. Go figure that one out.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Can't sleep? Blog.
Today was quite a bum day. I still feel so tired all the time, but then can't sleep at night (proven by the fact that it's 1am right now and I'm still going strong). I try to get to bed early and then toss and turn for a while and finally revert back to the internet where I can talk to some people from home as it's still only 8o'clock there. I believe I have class at nine now everyday. I didn't originally have classes early Monday or on Friday at all, but because of all the changes to my schedule, I've had to dig into my longgg weekends.
I realized (as I was skyping my family) all of the stuff that I seem to have left out of my blog that I still think are really important things that I want to remember from my experience--like that there was really bad turbulence on the plane ride to Manchester that I was basically too tired to care about. I can't seem to remember any of the other things right now, but I will certainly make a list for future reference.
You know those red phone booths? There happen to be two (at least) here on campus. Just a fun fact for y'all.
I realized (as I was skyping my family) all of the stuff that I seem to have left out of my blog that I still think are really important things that I want to remember from my experience--like that there was really bad turbulence on the plane ride to Manchester that I was basically too tired to care about. I can't seem to remember any of the other things right now, but I will certainly make a list for future reference.
You know those red phone booths? There happen to be two (at least) here on campus. Just a fun fact for y'all.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Shopping Center
Shopping center (centre?) is just a fancy way to say mall--and the actual way they say mall here. Apparently, I was in desperate need of a mobile phone. Facebook just wasn't working for all of my communication needs in the day and age which is 2013. So today I ventured to the Shopping Centre in Telford with a friend. For starters, the weather today is sunny, but it snowed last night, so the roads were considerably slushy being that they have no winter weather equipment (i.e. plows, shovels--there was a shovel taken on campus and we got a frightening email about it, they need every piece of winter weather equipment they can get!). The trip was so different and exciting. I have no idea how to get to Telford in the future because the roads are confusing and there are tons of roundabouts, but it was a nice trip. The Mall was big! (At least to this small-town Delaware County girl) We surely got lost because it isn't so much one strip of mall, but squares and there are 'streets' within it--Easy to get lost (If you don't believe me, look at this map). I remember looking around and knowing that I had seen that bank before and we must've been walking in circles (squares, actually). As far as phones go, I am a terrible decision maker--the poor girl who waited on me, bless her for putting up with that. Hey, I'm foreign. But now I have a phone, and I'm back in the mobile community.
I also think that it's important to note that I saw a Staples, KFC, and Krispy Kreme while on this venture today. 'Merica.
I also think that it's important to note that I saw a Staples, KFC, and Krispy Kreme while on this venture today. 'Merica.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Word Nonsense
Here are some words (so far) that I've come across that are different between America and England:
(American Word)=(British Word)
Fries=Chips
Chips=Crisps
Cookies=Biscuits
Stove=Hob
Waiting in Line=Queuing
Schedule=Timetable
Class=Module
Shrimp=Prawns
Garbage=Rubbish
Gas=Petrol
Pharmacy/DrugStore=Chemist?
Trash Can=Bin
Machinery=Kit
Foolish Talk?=Malarky
"Z"="Zed"
"Z"="Zed"
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Lovely Surprises
It's funny how things work out. The other day, a fellow student introduced himself to me. He seemed very nice and yesterday in class he sat near me and wanted to hear all about how I liked Harper so far. At the end of class he gave me his phone number and the offer that if I needed anything to let him know. He contacted me via facebook last night and invited me to meet up with him and some friends for dinner and a movie. Now now, don't go getting excited here. He's just a nice guy that I happened to meet.
So I went tonight. I didn't know what to expect, but he seemed like a nice enough guy and I was looking forward to meeting people I hadn't yet seen in my daily life. Turns out, the group of friends that I was meeting were actually members of the Christian Union on campus. It was a great surprise as I had been wanting to find a Christian group on campus and had no idea where to start in the search for one. The search is over! The people are very nice and told me a little about the churches they attend as well as what the group does and when they meet.
What a wonderful surprise =)
So I went tonight. I didn't know what to expect, but he seemed like a nice enough guy and I was looking forward to meeting people I hadn't yet seen in my daily life. Turns out, the group of friends that I was meeting were actually members of the Christian Union on campus. It was a great surprise as I had been wanting to find a Christian group on campus and had no idea where to start in the search for one. The search is over! The people are very nice and told me a little about the churches they attend as well as what the group does and when they meet.
What a wonderful surprise =)
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