Travel and Transition

Hey all! I made it! The travel was easy, I made it through Dulles security in 15 minutes. That must be some sort of record. Then the flight only took 6 hours, 20 minutes. All these time savers was made up for by my 1.5 hour wait through immigration. But all my bags made it, customs in the UK is generally a breeze, and the drive to Nottingham was fine.

I have 11 keys to my apartment. Yes, 11. 3 for my balcony doors, 2 for the bathroom, 2 for the bedroom, 1 to the building, 1 to the mail, 1 to the trash area, and 1 to the apartment itself.

I had to ask my realtor for a crash course on how to actually use my apartment. There are so many switches.... Every outlet or item must be turned on being before actually being used. 

I tried to get Internet, a phone, and a tv license.... I can't do any of that until I have a UK bank account, which should hopefully be the beginning of next week.

I bought a tv with a DVD player thinking I can rent videos to watch. I asked the woman at check out where I could do that and she suggested I go to the library. So I did. I registered for a library card, but you can't take DVDs until you receive the physical card which could be 3-4 weeks.

I know it seems this time in solitude would be nice for soul searching, but I'm pretty in touch with my soul. We have regular reunions and life evaluations. Right now, I just want to be distracted. So I asked the guy in Starbucks and he told me about a second hand video store. I bought 5 DVDs for £9 (about $15).

Tuesday started my international student welcome week. I am not staying in the campus accommodation on as I have my apartment. The first day was mostly business items: student IDs, bank accounts, health services. Turns out I have to register with a general practitioner near my apartment which I haven't found yet.

I have made several friends, 3 American and 3 Australian. Next week I'll get to do more specific things with my department and I'll be able to branch out some more. At the moment it is nice to have some girls that are going through the exact same things I am.