Some Salmon, Flowers, and A Refridgerator

So I've been here for four days now, and I feel like I've really started to get a good handle on the city and campus. I've been walking just about everywhere, which my feet have not appreciated. But its wonderful to walk. I feel like you really get to know a place better when you walk. You have time to take in the surroundings, noticing little details and overhearing conversations of the natives. Its about a 10 or 15 minute walk to most places I need to be on campus. At the heart of campus is their union, which is insanely large and amazing. It has a giant cafeteria, called the Refectory, that serves fair trade and organic food by day, and then transforms into a concert hall some nights. Big name bands such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Marley have played there. And that's just the beginning. There are two bars in the Union, one called the Terrace, which is more like a club-like bar, and the other The Old Bar, which is more like a pub. BUT WAIT, there's more. There are 3 clubs in their union, one with r&b, one with indie, and one the locals classify as cheese. It rocks out to grooves such as S Club 7 and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There are also a lot of places to eat...you can even get your hair cut. Not going to lie, this place is pretty awesome.
I've also explored the city centre a few times. Its about a 20 to 30 minute walk from where I live. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants down there. A shop called Primark is basically the British equivalency of a Forever 21, so naturally I'm already obsessed. Before going down in today, we stopped at lunch right next door. I had a delicious smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich with a Fruit Twist Fanta(Fanta here is made with real fruit juice, has not artificial coloring or preservatives, and is generally way more delicous). Check it out:

  

Walking around we stumbled across this florist that had some of the sweetest flowers I've ever seen. There were flowers I didn't recognize along with flowers that I only really see in the plastic form back in the states. Check it:

The only complaints I have are, first of all, every British student always looks super nice. Even the guys looks classy. I feel like I have to buy an entirely new wardrobe in order to fit into their fab culture. But hey, at least they don't all look like trash all the time. That would probably be worse. Second complaint is I'm pretty sure my heater is broken. Last night I went to bed wearing 2 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and a pair of gloves. I looked ridiculous and was, unfortunately, still cold.

Hopefully someone will be working the desk sometime soon and I can ask them about how to fix this rather frigid problem.
Well, I need to make myself some dinner now.
The cold but still loving life American,
Jessica

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.

The Countdown Begins

In less than 24 hours my plane departs for Atlanta, Georgia, arriving around 6 pm EST. From there I will sit in an airport for a while (it'll be fun...you know you're jealous). Around 9 pm EST my flight departs, leaving the United States to Manchester, England. On that overally fun plane ride where I will attempt to sleep, but will probably fail due to my nerves, the wide range of distracting movie options, and the fact that me and sleeping on planes have never really been friends, I will be beginning 5 months on the other side of the Atlantic. With my boarding passes printed, everything packed, and 5 seasons of How I Met Your Mother completed (yea, its that good), there's nothing much more to do but wait. Which is a good and a bad thing. Waiting means I don't have to continue worrying about packing or what to bring or not bring or if I have the copies and documents I need so that they actually allow me into the UK. Waiting also means that now there is nothing to keep the thought that I'm actually doing this off my mind. I have no choice but to think about it and wonder what lies ahead for me. It makes me nervous (and I don't mean I just feel a little anxious. My stomach is currently simultaneously doing flips and churning), it makes me excited (I'm beginning to believe this also has to do with the flipping and churning), and it makes me a little sad that I may miss out on something back in the states (like a KU NCAA basketball championship).I think as long as my stomach doesn't actually upchuck anything, I'm going to be just fine on the plane though. I just gotta let things happen how they're going to happen and not get all worried about if the fact that I say "hella" and "i mean" like there's not tomorrow will ensure no Brit wants to be associated with me. As I said goodbye to all three sets of grandparents yesterday, they all told me I was going to do great, and think its about time I start believing them.

On a completely unrelated note: One of my old music boxes from when I was little randomly went off by itself today. I'm thinking I either have a ghost in my room or a case of the Toy Story 3 type. I'm hoping for TS3.

The girl who has 28 hours left on US soil,
Jessica

P.S. Once I have all my stuff completely in my bags and zipped up, which won't be until tomorrow morning after I've done things society considers necessary like shower and brush my teeth, I'll post a picture of my about to burst luggage. Promise.

Goodbyes

These past few days I've had to say a lot of goodbyes. For some reason, most of my friends' school start a week before KU. Again, showing KU's superiority to other universities. So that said, the goodbyes have begun for my friends here in the STL. I have about another week or so here, and then its off to Europe. I know I've said this about 1000 times, but it STILL has not hit me. I was talking to another friend who is studying abroad in Spain (hopefully I will be visiting while I'm there). She leaves in a few days and said it still hasn't hit her either, so that makes me feel a little better about this whole I'm-not-really-going-to-England thing. However, lying in a rather large pile about 3 feet away from me right now is a pile of luggage and other things I'll be taking with me. Its been decided we're shipping one box of stuff, but everything else will be traveling with me via manual labor. The pile is actually pretty small considering how my time seems to be dwindling. I feel so unprepared, like I should have been reading more about where I'm going and memorizing things that all the British kids have known since they were like 4. Instead I'm going over there knowing nada. Well, not nada, but close enough. I just looked up the current prime minister because I didn't know (David Cameron in case you were wondering). In terms of being prepared, though, I have done a few things. Today we bought a ton of TSA regulation liquid containers, extra laundry detergent, a swiss army knife, and some TSA regulation luggage locks (all exciting items, I know). When it comes to physical things, I'm set. I have all the luggage I need, all the clothes, all the toiletry stuff, bedding, books, and what not. Its the non-physical things I've got a few concerns about.
 And below are some pictures from my adventures this winter break, mostly because I think blogs look much more fun with pictures:

This Must Be It, Welcome to the New Year

In approximately 7 hours it will no longer be 2010. Meaning it will be 2011 (just in case you couldn't figure that one out). Which means England is just around the corner. And with that just around the corner comes a bunch of holy-crap-I'm-scared-out-of-my-mind. But that's ok, because for Christmas I got CONVERTERS FOR EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! You know, just in case I decided, hey, let's go to Tanzania, I'm totally set. Though that probably won't happen. I think. Good news in the flying area of life though. My parents booked our flights for the family portion of my 1 month break. I will be meeting them in Bologna, Italy after they have had a nice stay in Milan taking tours and what not. We're then staying in an apartment in a hotel (I'm just as confused at this concept as you are right now). From there we can explore not only Bologna, but a bunch of Italy. The last three days we are there we are all flying to Athens, Greece and exploring. I'm probably most excited about that portion because all I've ever heard is Greece is beautiful. I'm also stoked to see all of the ancient Greek buildings, sculptures, and what nots throughout Athens and the surrounding area. It should be pretty damn amazing, if I do say so myself. Plus, it should be warm. As in shorts and dresses warm, which sounds so remarkable right now.
In preparation for my English adventure, I decided to become acquainted with their culture in the only way I know how as an American stuck in the suburbs: watch their TV shows via Netflix. So I've watched 4 whole seasons of Skins. Not the most appropriate of shows, and I'm definitely hoping (though I know its true) that British kids do not actually act like these ones (aka literally drink, do drugs, and have sex all the time), but I have definitely learned some valuable things. For one, the English education system is quite different than ours. They are required to go to school to 16 years old. Starting at age 5, the years count up, so year 1 is at 5, year 2 at 6, etc. Primary school goes until year 6, or when you are 10 or 11, and secondary school goes until year 11, or when you are 15 or 16. Then you can go to college or sixth form, which is 2 years and can be different things. It can be more of a college prep equivalency or it could be more of a technical school. After that, they may go to the university at age 18, which is only 3 years long. Post-graduate studies are pretty much the same. Skins takes place during college. I've also learned some slang, some of which i have no idea what they means, but I guess I'll learn. You know what would be hilarious though? If all of this new information literally is NOTHING like what the students at Leeds are like. I'll guess I'll have to wait to find out.

Your Skins Expert,
Jessica

P.S. Blog name change felt necessary.

One month and counting...

In one month I leave. Weirdly enough, it hasn't really hit me. But the semester at KU is over, and some how I made it through the chemistry and the studio to get to this point where I am back home, sitting on my bed, unpacking the thousands of items I apparently brought to college with me. Its actually kind of mind boggling how much stuff I brought with me. Looking at how much stuff I had, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get everything to Leeds with the limited amount of luggage space I have. I'll have to make it work thought, that's for sure.

I have more news, though. A few days ago I got my accommodation from the university. I didn't get the residence hall I wanted, but the one I did get looks pretty nice. Next year I will be living in the Tannery. Yea...go ahead and get the making fun of out of the way because the name. It has self-catering, so I'll be making my own food and sharing a kitchen with about 7 other people. I'm pretty sure I have my own bathroom too, so that should be pretty nice. Here are some pictures they have on their website:

Looks pretty nice, right? I'm pretty stoked. And don't worry, once I get there I'll be sure to add my own pictures, and maybe even a video tour of it...haha. Its about a 20 minute walk from the western side of campus, which isn't too bad, but the engineering buildings are on the east side, so I think buses may become my new best friend. It also is used by more than one university, since there are a few in Leeds, so that should be interesting. I may have the chance to meet students from other universities, which could be cool.

Its weird though, because as the days go by, I get more excited, more nervous, and even a little sad that I won't be going back to KU. The mix of emotions from knowing of the potential adventures, the goodbyes I have and still have to say, the adjustment to living in a different country, and the opportunities to discover so many new things is overwhelming.

But enough of the boring stuff. I have to continue packing (and in some cases repacking) all of my stuff from school. And from the looks of it, this is going to take days.

The New Tannery Resident,
Jessica

ROCKin It Out

Not too many updates. Mostly because I have been trapped in studio for the past week finishing up my project, which is quite wonderful if I do say so myself. Here are some glorious pictures:

My partner, Staci, and I created Rockreaction, a climbing center. Its basically like if the city museum and a rocking climbing were to fall and love and have it baby, this would be their baby. This is the front of our project. Yes, those are two different types of clay kneaded together, then thinned out, and glued to wire mesh that I had sculpted. My fingers do not thank me.

 Here are our drawings for our project with our big model. Kinda wonderful, I know.

 

Here is the interior of our building. The left corner is the interior rock wall, and the back side is where the city-museum-esque activites go down. 

So that's basically what I've been up to in the past 42098235082451 hours. On Friday while in studio, I did find out Jason Mraz was coming to KU for a surprise concert 10 minutes before the concert started. It was pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself. 

In terms of England/Europe stuff, the only update I have is on my potential spring break plans. As it stands right now, my parents will be coming up during my 1st week or so, meet me in Milan, Italy, and we will go to Bologna, Italy. In case you don't know where that is, here's a map: Bologna, Italy Map. From there we'll fly to Athens, Greece, spend about two days there, and then go back to Bologna. From Bologna, we can go just about anywhere in Italy where we want via train. Hopefully after my parents depart, I'll meet up with some people and go to Spain and Portugal via train. On the way back from places like Barcelona and Madrid, I can hit some other places in Europe since I'll be on the train. I will make a stop in Paris, no matter what. Its too beautiful not to see.

Finally, I have 7, yes 7, days left at KU before I won't return for another 8 months. Honestly, I still have the mindset I'm coming back next semester and every time I remember I'm not, I get butterflies and extraordinarily nervous. 40 days I'm in the St. Louis airport leaving the US for 5 months. Now my stomach is churning up a storm. Wonderful. I'm wondering if its actually going to hit me I'm leaving for so long, or if I'm going to step off the plane on the 19th and say to myself, "Oh, so this is real." I'm starting to really think the latter. Which I kind of wish wasn't so true. There's nothing I can do about it, I guess. Well, off to dinner and my last C++ project of fun (really, I just LOOOOOVE C++.......).

Now Officially A Professional Clay Rock Builder,

Jessica