My First Days in Leeds...

Helllllo!


I have finally made it to Leeds! I had only one scare, when my plane from Chicago to Detroit was delayed.... I had to run through the Detroit airport to make it to my next gate. It really showed me how out of shape I am. Luckily no one had to sit next to my sweaty self because the plane was only half full! so I got two seats to myself. I had a short layover in Amsterdam and then straight onto Leeds :-)

I was getting a taxi when some guy asked me if I wanted to share. Before everyone has flashbacks to the movie "Taken" he was a fellow study abroad student from U of M and I recognized him from the other two flights. I finally made it to campus and to my dorm. My room is AWESOME. It is huge... like bigger than my bedroom at home. And I have my own bathroom and shower. I have like nothing to fill the space though! If anyone wants to come to visit, I certainly have plenty of room. I also have a nice view of a park outside my window. Well actually its a cemetery... which is kind of creepy but i'll just try not to think about it all semester.

When I got here I just kind of walked around and took in parts of the campus. But I was really just tired and went straight to bed. The next days I had a ton of study abroad orientations and stuff. It was also my birthday! I spent all day walked around campus and the downtown area, which is gorgeous. When I got back to the dorm, my flatmate's decided that they were going to bring me. They even surprised me with a birthday cake! I girl I met, Amber, who is from New Zealand also joined us at the club. It was a great birthday :-)

So I talk to my flatmates a lot about the difference between our countries. For example:
- TJ Maxx in America is TK Maxx in Britain
- There are no american food brands... like goldfish and macaroni and cheese.
There are many more interesting ones, I am just having a mental block at the moment

Anyways, school starts on monday, and I dont think I am ready to work again. I have 9 contact hours, which is amazing compared to the 25 I had last semester at university of Illinois. I am taking 5 classes:
Geotechnics - a civil engineering class about soils
Fluid Dynamics - a civil engineering class
Transportation engineering - a civil engineering class focusing on roads and airports
Traditional alcoholic beverages - about wine and beer making
Theology of Islam - I am soo excited about this class, but I might have to drop because of conflicts :-( Hopefully not though
I actually found out yesterday that my geotechnics and fluid dynamics classes started last week, but no one told me! Not that it would have mattered because I flew in Wednesday and would not have been able to attend. Hopefully I am not too behind in these classes.

I travel to Liverpool this weekend! It should be fun!