Here At Last

Today at approximately 3 am CST I arrived in the Manchester airport. Now, of course it was 10 am here, so I had to be wide awake. With my 4 or 5 hours of sleep (maybe) from the plane, I ran through customs, and then proceeded to follow the signs that said THE STATION ---> until I got to the train station. Luckily for me, right after I bought my ticket to Leeds, the train was there and about to leave. I got on in the nick of time, carrying all 4 pieces of luggage (Yea, the picture isn't going to happen. It was ridic though.). I decided to go for a first class ticket because I had so much stuff, and for 10 pounds more, some lady would bring me food and drinks and kind of be there if some crazy person decided to take off with everything I own. No joke, I kind of felt like Harry Potter, sitting there with all my stuff on a train as the trolley lady came by, followed by the ticket lady. It was pretty awesome. Here's my first food ever in England:

That would be some biscuits (cookies) with chocolate on the bottom and some still water (because bubbly tends to be the default here). When I got to the Leeds train station, I had to haul all my luggage through the station all by myself. I'm sure I looked incredibly awesome as my luggage fell over, and then I almost fell with it due to the almost 40 lb backpackers backpack. But I made it. I got to my dorm, dumped my stuff on the ground, and proceeded to turn a 10 minute walk to campus into a 30 minute, no clue where I am, somehow wound up on the opposite side of campus one. (To be honest, I've felt pretty stupid all day. I feel like I'm in 1st grade again, learning about money, streets, and language again. Its making me feel rather idiotic. And to top it off, I've started thinking in a British accent. Yea, I know I haven't been here for 24 hours, but its catchy, alright?) But eventually I got to the study abroad office, checked in, and went to a Study Abroad meeting where they explained some basics to us. There were 4 other girls in my group, two from Australia, one from Canada, and one from South Carolina. The five of us then took a stroll to the city centre in attempt to find a cell phone so we could contact not only each other, but maybe even our parents. Some how I made it back to my hall in the dark and met 3 out of the 4 of my flatmates. They are all 1st years from the UK, two from Wales and one from England. We ordered some food and I attempted to understand exactly what they were saying. After dinner, I skyped a bit, and then unpacked. My room is actually rather empty, but hopefully that will change. My comforter and a few other things still need to arrive that were shipped last week, but besides that I'm basically unpacked. I have my own room and bathroom, and then share a kitchen (of which I have no food for) and a sitting area. Here are some pictures:

Look at that remarkable view of the Holiday Inn Express I go there.
Well, its off to bed now, because its 11:25 pm here and I am more exhausted than you know.

The Dumb American,
Jessica
P.S. I'm going to blame the thinking in a British Accent on the fact that I have never been so self conscious about my voice. I hate that the minute I speak everyone knows I'm a foreigner.