Since the morning was actually part of day 2, I had to cut it short there for logistic's sake. Anyway, the bus ride to campus was somewhat frightening, as the traffic here is ridiculous. I can't believe that I forgot that basically any venture into the roadways of England is essentially putting yourself in grave danger. So between the times where I was covering my eyes because I was convinced we were going to hit another car, a pedestrian, a biker, a building, etc, it was a pretty drive. The snow was beautiful, and very unusual here. I felt like it was a special treat. Also, we were fortunate enough to get to land and not be delayed, because Gatwick was completely closed.
Our driver dropped us off at the main entrance to St. Mary's, and we were all afforded our first glance of our school. "Beautiful" comes to mind, as does "old," but we disembarked from the bus & were ushered into a classroom to receive our homestay and orientation information. I was still a little bummed about not being in the dorms, & all the kids that were in the dorm were pretty busy rubbing it in all of our faces, so that really didn't help. I found out that I was in a homestay with another student, which I had mixed feelings about. I didn't want to share a bedroom, but I liked the idea of having another student with me. Our host male/dad/father figure/whatever came to pick us up, and because the two of us had so much luggage between us, & he had a Volkswagen Gulf, we went one at a time to the house. I went first, & he basically ran into the house, dropped my luggage, turned on tea for me, then immediately ran back to get Karly, the other student that's living here. I sat in the kitchen, not knowing what to do or even what to think, when they finally returned, & we were given our tour. To my immense relief, there are two bedrooms, both very nice, and a bathroom between them for us. My room faces the front of the house, and the busy street we live on, but is large and spacious. Karly's room faces the rear of the house, and the gardens, and is quieter than mine, but also smaller. Both of us had house keys, Oyster cards, and some hair appliances waiting for us in our rooms, which was very kind. I even had a phone that one of the other students left. Mike, our host, helped us carry our luggage upstairs, then we went back downstairs for tea and to get to know him a little better. He's retired from one of the airline companies here, & loves to golf. He also has a souped-up Golf, so that gave us something to talk about on the ride.
After tea, both of us girls went upstairs to unpack. Unpacking for me turned into sleeping. Serious jet lag. When we woke up, we had to go back to the school for dinner, and Mike was nice enough to drive us. The cafeteria, or "refectory," as they call it here, is going to be a special experience. We're given 9 points a meal, and every type of food is assigned a point value. Main courses are 3, and sides are generally 1. It'll take some time to figure out, but hopefully we'll be able to figure it out without too much chaos. The first meal wasn't too appetizing, and somehow I really didn't have much of an appetite, but it was nice to see everyone again. We were given a schedule of the next few days, orientation-wise. Saturday was designated for London. I was definitely the most excited for that.
I walked back to my house by myself, which was a little disconcerting, primarily because I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but also because it gets dark here around, oh, 4 pm. We were assured that the area was very safe, but your first walk alone at night in a foreign country can always be a bit traumatic. However, I arrived safely, and was introduced to my host female/mom/mother-figure/whatever and their son. I don't have a special word designation for him. Sorry. They seem very friendly and accommodating.
I spent the rest of the evening alternating between trying to unpack & socialize with the family, & the friends that Karly brought over. I was able to chat with Mom via ichat, which she was very excited over. I also showered in the electric shower, which isn't really different than any other shower, except the water is warmed by electricity, and requires several steps to operate, but it's clean, it's water, and it's warm, so it works. Thursday was supposed to be very busy, so I decided to go to bed early. Fortunately, I have an extremely comfortable bed, & the lovely, surprisingly calm, lull of the traffic to put me to sleep - as if I needed assistance after travel days.
And so ends Day 2.
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