ODD LIMBS: FIRST DAY IMPRESSIONS

I finally arrived at Keele! Only took 26 hours of travelling, no biggie. The plane ride itself was horrendously uncomfortable, there's just no leg room! A girl I met took an hour to get here from Sweden, she clearly did not understand the struggles. But I have settled into my dorm room so all is well. It is pretty spacious and bigger than I expected which is always a bonus. I've met two of my neighbours - both of them are also international students. One is Dutch and the other is Canadian. Canadians have such a strange way of doing things, I had to show her how to put the duvet cover on the duvet. Apparently they only tug on the corners on the cover - what! It was hilarious to witness her mind being blown. I also met an Australian girl who is also lovely, but I haven't seen much of her because she lives in a different accommodation block that is a bit far from me. It is so strange going from living at home and commuting to uni to being able to roll out of bed and be at a lecture within 15 minutes, as well as sharing a bathroom with 12 other people. Definitely a huge adjustment I have to get used to.

The campus itself is beautiful. It's absolutely huge, much bigger than my uni back home. It is transitioning into the colder months, so the leaves on trees are developing into beautiful autumnal colours. I live in a building block that is closest to the centre of the uni which is convenient. There are volunteers who showed me around the uni and is a lot to take in, I was overwhelmed with information. I have to say my favourite place so far is probably Keele Hall. I can't wait to step foot inside, it is where most of the formal events are held - on the odd occasion people even get married in there! It looks like a castle from the outside and the backyard is incredible. There is an International Ball on Friday which is held there so I'm excited for that.

I went to the first of many social events on the first night. Shortly before, I had hit a wall and realised jetlag was definitely real and happening (It is happening again as I write this). It was about 1:30am Australian time. I began to doze off but I made myself stay awake so that I could sleep at a decent hour, but realistically I was asleep on the inside. The event, "Sports and Pizza" involved games and free pizza (surprise surprise?), but mostly free pizza. I met some nice people, there are a lot of Americans and Canadians here. It was somewhat of a disappointment as we were only allowed 2 slices (I was absolutely famished). The organisers vastly underestimated the amount of people that were going to turn up and ended up having to order another batch of pizzas. An hour in, and me and my Canadian pal could not stay awake any longer and we walked back to campus and got ready for bed. One minute I was catching up on social media and the next I was out cold. I have no recollection of this whatsoever, but Rachel told me that she tucked me in, turned my lights off and put my laptop back onto my desk. What a sweetheart haha! I woke up feeling confused and had a mini freak out wondering where I was.

Yesterday morning I got up at a decent hour and we headed out for a free breakfast. I was again, dying of starvation. Note to self: buy lots of snacks! So far today we plan on making a trip to the supermarket in town, and dragging myself out of bed to go to a party tonight.
Update: Did not make it to the supermarket because of some dull but necessary visa and enrolment shenanigans. But there was a British High Tea event at 7pm (appropriate), so yes to free food - always. I met a couple more people in my Hall and we just chilled out. Super nice.

This morning my body decided to wake up at 5am which was unpleasant and uncalled for. I tossed and turned for the next hour and a half and finally proceeded to give up altogether. We went out for free breakfast, again (Not complaining at all, they sure know the way to my heart) but this time I used a meal voucher I got on arrival so I received a somewhat mediocre not-so-much full English Breakfast for nothing at all (again, not complaining). There was a Welcome lecture afterwards and I have to say - I have not attended a lecture in a semester, so unsurprisingly, I almost fell asleep. My pal and I then decided to take a walk around the campus. I showed her the lake that is behind Keele Hall and we followed it. I don't know how, but we managed to walk all the way to the border of the property and was so close to the highway. It was amazing how all that greenery and nature was behind Keele Hall. Unintentional nature walks are totally my new thing. We plan on going back tomorrow, and I can bring Ollie (my mark iii) so there probably will be a separate photo post soon. Now I'm just chilling in my room and we are going to town and the supermarket (for real this time) this afternoon so I can finally have snacks in my room! Exciting times, happy days. Tonight there will be an International Trivia Quiz night which I am absolutely pumped for, despite the fact that The Wombats will be playing a gig and they clash. BUT I'm not too fussed seeing as I already saw them back home a couple of months ago (Still a bit sad). Hopefully the quiz night will be worth it; I can show off my knowledge on Australia and kangaroos and Vegemite and win some prizes and the respect of others because you know, that's all I came here for to be honest.