Freshers

The past couple of days have been a complete whirlwind. My emotions have been the same. Comfortable. Stressed. Emotional. Irritated. Tired. Fine. Confused. Happy. Comfortable. Disappointed. Stressed. Happy. Comfortable... and so on in that sort of order. So you can imagine the difficulty I am having reliving all of these emotions in an attempt to write this post, right? So here is what happened...

On Saturday we got up early for breakfast (7 a.m.) then had to have all of our belongings moved out of our temporary halls by 8:30. This really wasn't an issue, although we were tired and the last thing I wanted to do was pack my things AGAIN. However, we did and then proceeded to take a short (but uphill) walk to our new accommodations. Caroline was assigned to Lenton and Wortley Hall and Charlotte and I were assigned to Cripps hall. Luckily Lenton is less than a three minute walk away from my hall so we don't have far to go to see Caroline. Once Char and I got to Cripps our fears (which stemmed from a rumor floating around among the international students) were confirmed. We couldn't move into our new rooms until 2 pm because they needed to be cleaned. Okay. So we put our luggage into a common room with a lock code on the door being our only form of security. Char and I went to the student union building because we didn't know where else to go. We each got a hot chocolate, and then proceeded to pass out for a little snooze on a couple of the couches. We woke up and waited around a little longer, got some lunch, and at 1 o'clock we decided to check to see if they finished cleaning the rooms early.
Not the case.
As a matter of fact they we running BEHIND! And the rooms would not be ready until at least three. So we waiting some more. Finally at three thirty we were given our room keys. And once I opened the door all of my frustrations from earlier that day magically vanished. Not only did I actually HAVE a room that I would be staying in for the next three months, but I had a really nice room with a significantly large bed and a ton of space! I was thrilled. I was especially thrilled when I was unlocking the door for the first time and the cleaning lady told me I was lucky because my room had just been updated with brand new furniture. Finally this day was looking up.

After we moved in, we met up with some of our friends at the bus stop and took a ride into town. The plan was to visit the Nottingham Castle and then have dinner at England's oldest pub, the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. Unfortunately since it took so long for us to move in we didn't make it to the castle before visiting hours had ended. So we went straight to the pub and I had my first "authentic" fish and chips.

Robin Hood

All of the girls with the man himself!

just a cute little building

does this one really need a caption?

Fish and Chips (and "mushy peas" which is apparently a thing here)

When we got back to campus from dinner we all went back to our rooms for some much needed relaxation. The next morning we had to register with our hall and then decided to spend the rest of the day in town because campus was packed with new students and their families for move in day. After a little bit of shopping we came back and met some of the "freshers" we would be living with for the next few months...which brings me to the title of this post...

"Freshers" is the term used here in the UK for the incoming Freshmen. (Apparently Americans are sexist for calling it that.) And although this term mostly refers to 18 year olds who have just finished high school (although they call it a few different things) some of the students are 19 and 20 and are returning back to school after taking a gap year (or two) where they either re-take courses or work or travel. Universities in Europe welcome the new students by hosting "Freshers Week" in which many different activities are planned. There has been a freshers fair where students can go and get a ton of free stuff and learn about and join societies and clubs on campus. There are themed nights located at clubs all over the city and there are alternative events for students who want something a little more low-key. Last night was the first night of Freshers Week and there was a huge party at a club called "Crisis". The theme was appropriately titled "Back to School" so everyone dressed in a version of a school uniform. (PS here they call it "fancy dress" when you are supposed to wear a costume. Luckily I was informed so that I didn't show up literally wearing a fancy dress...)

Me and a few girls on my hall in our "fancy dress"

These Brits really know how to put together a costume 

Me and Char at Crisis

The gigantic dance floor was absolutely packed!

I always choose really good people to sit next to on the bus. For example, the girl I sat next to on the way to the club got sick, and on the way back to campus this poor guy got sick as well. 

This was only night one of freshers week and I am already a walking zombie. Hopefully I can pull it together and enjoy the rest of the week but I have a strong feeling there will be quite a few afternoon naps in the near future.


One last thought: People really weren't kidding when they said it rained a lot in England.