Walk around campus

Jubilee Campus
We had to go here for orientation.

Trent Building

across the lake

Everything is so green!

I love this campus it is so beautiful. I am very happy with my decision to come here. I was looking at many different universities across England, but this one is defiantly a winner. I love it here.

There are so many different birds around the Lake, this yes is a   normal goose , but there are many different kinds of small birds!

Settling in.

My room it contains: pictures of the people I love and will miss the most, Bink, Gaffy, Cape Cod blanket, 12 pairs of shoes.

I get a sink in my room!

Get my own mini fridge
Those electrical sockets will be the death of me.
Favorite part of the room is defiantly the curtains.

The brick building on the left is the dinning hall. All Sherwood Hall residents have to eat there for breakfast and dinner or as some say "tea." Lunch is wherever you want. We are given 5 pounds a day and it doesn't roll over so I try to spend all of it. There is Portland which has typical american fast food, Chinese  pizza, burgers ect... I'm not a huge fan of that. I do love the small cafe in the Trent building; I am in love with their tomato basil and mozzarella paninis. I thought portions would be much smaller here but I found them to be the same if not larger in some cases. For breakfast everyone has like three things when I would normally only have a bowl of cereal. For dinner we are served typical home cooked meals which include meat veggies and some sort of potato every meal and desert. I do love their yogurts here and they are served at every meal, which I take advantage of.

Just another view from my window. In the corner that is the  way to the recreational rooms and the bar.  I got my first legal drink at the bar one of the first nights here when a few people went down to play pool. I had no clue what to order so I just ordered the same thing as Amy.

 New Friends:

Jami Curtis - lives across the hall, from the Buffalo area, official best friend in England
Amy Nelson - From the East Midlands, psychology major and extremely nice and friendly, has a boyfriend from home
Ellinor Pilquist - Swedish, has a Scottish boyfriend (Greg), a sweetheart, International studies major, great at pool
Max Roberts - From Hong Kong, Biology major, has a British/American accent, really friendly
Alex Sellars - British, Chinese Studies major, energetic
Jessica Green - British, plays rugby, geography major, same as Alex, really pretty
Dan James - British, Engineering major, is dating Jess, always happy
Josh Dillingham - British, studying law, most hysterical/random person ever
Jack Marshal - British/Spanish, studying English, down to earth guy
Olly Morrison - British, friendly, hipster girlfriend

Britts are so friendly!

On my first night everyone introduced themselves and got to know a little about me and welcome me to Nottingham. I was so surprised my this because nothing like this would happen in Oneonta. The hole floor is friends or at least friendly. I never even knew everyone on my floor's first name. 

We had a welcome reception at the senior common room (a room separate from the dining hall). This is where we meet our warden, whose is a little Italian guy who had a wife and an adorable daughter. We also meet the tutors in Sherwood and the members of the Junior common room. The tutors are similar to RAs and the warden is similar to a RD. At the reception Jami and I talked to all the exchange students in Sherwood and to a Junior tutor who studied Georgia last year. It was interesting to hear what she thought about America and the differences she encountered. She mostly described the southern life and how everyone is religious, talks and does things slow. The thing she found most weird was the concept of dogie bags. When she goes out to here you want to eat stuff hot and fresh not keep it for later. I guess that goes along with the smaller portions idea. They also served wine here which I thought was very strange because I am still not used to the fact that drinking is a big part of their culture and widely accepted. I have also noticed that many people and students drink casually. There is a bar next to the dinning hall and students will just go there any night of the week and have a drink and either talk or play pool. That is were I bought my first legal drink. I have no idea what to order so I just got the same peach fruity drink as Amy. i have also played more pool already than I have in years. All this practicing is not paying off because I am still awful. Everyone always hangs out at night whether it is hangout out watching movies, looking up random youtube videos or going to Portland and hanging out at the bar or the den. I've only been here a week yet I have made more friends here than I made my first week in Oneonta.

 It's difficult describing to people that I don't live in New York City, but the actual state of New York and in the country. 

Fist purchase with British Pounds!
A purchase that I have been waiting to make since last year!

The Trip

Bon Voyage Party With the Family<3

Saying goodbye to mom and dad at security. I thought this moment would be easy since I've been away at college for two and a half years, but i was sadly mistaken. I may have had on a brave face as mom was about to tear up, but I was just hold back tears myself. Once I looked back at both of them and gave one last wave when the tears started flowing.

However, when I was boarding the plane the many British flight attendants made me fell better and excited for the flight just by hearing their accents. Once I sat in my seat and waited for the plane to start moving I was thinking to myself, why am I doing this. I am flying across the ocean to a foreign country where I know no one. The fact that this was only my second flight and it was international and overseas and I was by myself only added to my panic. I started watching The Perks of Being a Wallflower because I knew it was such a good movie and made me think back to when I saw it in theaters with Kelsey in Buffalo. This seemed to ease my stress. I then tried to sleep because I had all four middle seats to myself. I decided that I hate flying and would hate to be a businessmen such as the ones who sat next to me because I would hate to fly on a regular basis.I got about a half hour nap in before the breakfast cart came around. I had a muffin  top and orange juice. Once we passed over London I began to get really excited for the trip and the adventures that I would have. It was still dark out but I could see all the lights of the city in the early morning. The flight was early and we landed at 6:45. 

 When I landed I had to go through customs, this was fairly easy, all I had to do was to show my passport and my acceptance letter to Nottingham. Then I found my luggage, of course my one bag was the last one! Had a mini freak out that they lost it! Got to the lobby and tried to find Nottingham reps but none were to be found, I started asking around but no one knew. Because the flight was early I had to wait longer for the bus.      I ended up finding a group of Nottingham international students so I felt at ease since we were all together. There we talked and waited until ten for the bus. I got to know a girl from Charelston, Bighamton University, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. I sat with a girl from D.C on the bus whose name is also Hillary. She talked about her love for England and Literature and people I didn't even know. I hoped that not everyone would be that intelligent because I began to feel as if I was going to feel inferior to everyone. The scenery was familiar to home. One thing that surprised me was how green the grass was for January and everyone was scared when the bus would take turns because it was on the wrong side of the road! When we stopped talking I was able to get another half hour nap in. Three hours on the bus and we finally arrived at the University. I got unpacked right when I found my room. Everyone I came in contact with once I arrived was extreamly friendly, when they saw I had luggage they asked if I needed help and introduced themselves. This was both genders. I was happily surprised by this. When I finally got my laptop to work I facebook messaged mom to tell her I was okay and alive and Jami messaged me and asked what room I was in and fortunately we live right across the hall from each other! Once I finished unpacking we took a walk around campus and went to dinner. I came back and went straight to bed since I was awake for approximately 32 hours. 

My boarding pass at Logan International Airport in Boston