A '10 Out Of 10' Kind Of Day

Meet Tigger, the largest cat I have ever seen.
He has to curl up and hold on to even
stay on the chair!

I knew it would be a good day yesterday when the host cat Tigger followed me into the kitchen and insisted on sitting next to me while I ate my breakfast. I enjoyed a nice warm cup of tea and then headed off to orientation at Kingston University. It wasn't too cold out, so I decided to walk instead of take the bus so I could attempt to get used to my surroundings. It was about a 25 minute walk, but it was beautiful. I walked through a couple little towns and past some beautiful churches. And best of all, I never once got lost!

When I arrived I was instantly nervous because I really didn't know what to expect, but as I entered a lecture hall type of room, I instantly felt better as I looked around at a room full of study abroad students just like me. Throughout the orientation I learned many different things about the university and overall schooling in England. It was very interesting to learn the differences between schools like CMU and Kingston University as well as other European Universities. The presenters were hilarious and made the whole thing fun for everyone. We were given our schedule there and given a chance to fix them to get them how we wanted (mine is currently being fixed) and we were then given information about our Windsor Trip this weekend for anyone who was participating in the British Life & Culture class! I am very excited, not only to see Windsor, but also take a trip with other study abroad students and get to know more!

'Study hard, Play hard' Some advice from orientation

On the way home I was quite hungry and realized I hadn't stopped to eat out anywhere since I had arrived. I decided on a quiet little cafe I found on my way home. I enjoyed a wrap and some coffee. The owner who delivered my coffee, instantly picked up on my American accent and began asking many questions. We talked about MTV's show Cribs (it seemed to me that he watches that often), he also asked some questions about Puff Daddy and was very interested in how he got his name, which is information I do not really know either. As I drank my coffee we made other small talk and as I was leaving he made sure to ask me to come back again so we could continue our 'American talk'. I walked out of the cafe with a smile on my face all the way back home.

A  beautiful church I walk past on
the way to school

I arrived home and was only there for a short amount of time and then was off again to downtown Kingston for a welcome event held at a local pub by the school for study abroad students. There were a ton of students there and I was able to meet so many great people! I talked to some Australian girls who told me koalas are not as nice as everyone thinks, I talked to a group of French students who tried to give me a lesson and teach me some French, turns out I roll my tongue too much, so they suggested I stick to English, I even met other American students from Tennessee, California and New York! I could go on and on about all of the wonderful people I met. I had an absolute blast and I look forward to seeing those people in class! To add to my feeling of accomplishment for meeting so many other students, I also managed to find the right bus and even get off at the right stop on the way home! I was a little nervous, but my first bus trip was a success!

All in all it was a great day. Today I walked into downtown Surbiton and purchased a track phone and now am currently sitting in a lovely little coffee shop, taking in all the british accents around me, and realizing I made the best choice I have ever made when I decided to study abroad!



More pictures to be up soon!