Settling In

I unpacked all my things pretty quickly, but that first night I arrived (after lugging my 2 forty pound suitcases up the 4 flights of stairs) I went to bed around ten pm and woke up the next day at one in the afternoon.

I really like my room actually. Maybe not as nice as it could be, but it's kind of cozy. I'm in an attic room basically, so I have a slanted ceiling and sky light windows.


I had to buy a few things like my duvet and cover and pillows, as well as an internet cord and cell phone. Other than that, I brought pretty much everything else with me.



So far I have been on a ferry ride that only cost £1. It was a very nice ride and the scenery is incredible. I also went on a free bus tour of the city. In addition to that, I've been going to some of my orientation stuff. The other day was a Student Reception for International Students up on the Hoe (anglo-saxon for the high place). It was really nice. They had a live harpist playing as we walked in and they had hors d'oeuvres for dinner. They also had two seperate dancing groups perform. It was a beautiful evening and the reception tent overlooked the ocean.

I've done a little extra shopping on the side, which doesn't go to mention grocery shopping. One thing I've found about grocery shopping is that it is so much easier to buy foods that are healthy for you here. At home the healthier foods tend to be more expensive. Here it isn't like that. I find it more helpful.


The University is set at the city center of Plymouth. It makes walking to everything so easy. It provides good excersize. They have pedestrian subways which are very helpful, and they also have pedestrian friendly streets. Also, one thing I noticed is that the light not only changes from green to yellow to red, but also from red to yellow to green. It's hard to remember to look at the other side of the road before crossing because its opposite here. Some other things I've discovered include that jaywalking is legal, U-Turns are legal and three point turns are legal. Its all very interesting!

The night life is so incredibly different. Here, it is completely acceptable to go out on the week nights. This past week has been a bit crazy, as it was what they call "Fresher's Week." There were theme nights at the different clubs in the city. My favorite was Army Night. We stood in the queue for an hour and 10 minutes to get in, but I think it was worth it. At this club there are two dance floors. One is a disco with square tiles on the floor that light up and the other was almost like a techno Icelandic dance floor. It was in this room a bit later in the week that I saw a Michael Jackson tribute band (which was really good).

Its hard to believe that I've been here for over a week. It feels much longer, not to mention I still have a whole year left here!!! Its hard to wrap your head around such an experience.

Well, 'till next time!

Cheers!

Sitting in Dublin

I got on a plane at 6:50 and took off for Dublin, Ireland. During the flight I was writing and here's what I wrote about:

As you continue to fly east, you meet the sun. At first you can't tell if the sky is changing or if you're just hoping. Then you gaze out the window and you see the pale blue hilight on the horizon.

All you can see is blue. Dark ocean and a slightly lighter sky. As more light appears, you begin to see the highlighted clouds. You keep watching and soon you begin to see the palest pink gracing the horizon and meanwhile, you can gaze behind you and half the sky is still night. A slight mist hangs in the sky between night and day.

It is hard to imagine that anything could be so large. The ocean is so vast that it even makes the sky look smaller. It's a beautiful sight, all that blue. Not a sight you get to see very often. This is the sight I've been waiting for all night. I've been waiting to watch the sun rise over the ocean.

The sunrise color is bleeding into the clouds now. There is purple, orange, and the palest yellow in addition to the pink and blue. It's almost impossible now to tell where the sky begins and where the ocean ends. This is in part due to the clouds below creating their own ocean.

As things come together and the day settles in around you, things become clearer. You can now make out the tops of the clouds, a kind of greyish purple with ridges of pink. They look different from above. A kind of cotton candy appearance, if you will. They are far below and its odd to think that they aren't even the ground, it lies much farther beneath. You almost feel like you could be flying over a snow covered artic desert because as the sun comes up the scene changes. The sky becomes a sharper, brighter blue, but below becomes white.

The sunrise color slowly dissappears and as you look down into the clouds you fantasize that you can see the ocean below through the gaps in the clouds. And then the cloud front ends and you see it. The ocean.

A blue-ish grey in the morning light. Without the layer of cloud it becomes harder to tell where the ocean ends and the sky begins. A hazy cloud barrier blurs the horizon between sky and sea.

There! I saw it! Land! Or an island rather. But now the coast! You can see the white wave outline in the water. Now you can start to see the beaches and farther inland mountains. As the mountains end, you begin to see green. You can see rivers and trees.

At some point it hits you that as you are observing the start to the day, you are flying over the people of Ireland who are starting their day as well, and soon you will be down among them!

Ireland is green! And, as you start to descend towards the cloud level, you can see the different lots of land seperated by hedges. You can see the houses too, but they are really small still. You can see the lakes and even the mist hanging over the rivers. Its hard to get over how green it is! Its a sight that is almost ridiculously beautiful.

Slowly but surely the clouds get closer and then suddenly you break through them and you can see the animals down in their pastures. Everything gets closer and your ears start popping. And suddenly, you're on the ground, a strange sensation after being airborne for seven hours. Odd how things go.