"Have a Great Day and a Better Tomorrow"

Alright, so I've finally got the internet going on so I can fill everyone in with some updates...

Packing was kinda miserable as the 50 lb. weight limit presented a slight problem. Anyway, bags squared away my flight to Chicago went fine, but of course we were delayed for 2 1/2 hours in going to London Heathrow. The flight across the Atlantic was kinda long, but I sat next to a friendly, chatty Brit who was about my age. Customs was a breeze and I was fine through my connection to Manchester.

In Manchester I met a kid from Wisconsin and a girl from Canada who are also studying at Lancaster. We waited around for baggage and of course mine didn't come... I went to the desk to turn in my baggage tickets and such and found out that my bags hadn't made the connection that I took from Manchester. Awesome. The women helped me out and filed a lost baggage claim and took all my information.

The three of us hopped on the train to Lancaster and having everyone speak English certainly made finding the station and train times easier. All three of us passed out on the ride because of the shitty sleep we had gotten on the plane. A quick cab ride from the station in Lancaster up to the college and we had arrived.

After checking in and having a semi-awkward international-student's dinner we all headed off to the only open campus bar (there are 9 in total) and mingled over pints and darts; it's so much easier to meet people when everyone's drinking, sad but true.

Wednesday we had orientation stuff in the morning, and then a group of us headed to town to explore and pick up things we needed. I got cellphone which was way cheaper here, even w/ the shitty exchange rate (facebook me to get the #) and some other random stuff. I also talked to the airlines and found out that my baggage dilemma was a little more complicated than I had thought because I had flown 2 different airlines and they each told me to talk to the other. Sweet.

That night we went to the same campus bar, the one associated w/ my "college" and then tagged along with some English guys that took us into town. We went to 2 different bars in town and danced our asses off at the second; there was no cover for either place and with the drink specials it wasn't even too expensive to drink.

We didn't get home until like 4 am and waking up at 9:30 for orientation was pretty miserable. I still hadn't gotten my bags on Thursday and had been wearing the same clothes since Monday morning and had yet to take a shower since then too. I think people started to judge me...
After a town tour I had to hop on a train and schlep all the way down to Manchester to get my bags (about an hour train ride), but having fresh clothes and a shower never felt so good.

I got to register for courses today and while things didn't work out exactly how I wanted them to (I don't think I'll be able to transfer any courses back to BC) I have no classes on Friday's and I'm enrolled in:

The Crusades: Conquest, Colonization, and Religious Enthusiasm
Longer Fiction Writing
Nationalism and Genocide in 20th Century Europe
Writing in the Margins: Narrating Cross-Cultural Experience

They seem like sweet classes and hopefully things will good, but there is an add/drop period to work with.

That's about all I have for now, tonight we have an international student social with "games" at the Fylde bar (the one that's open right now) and then we're being taken out by some Brits for a night on the town.

Hope everyone's doing well whether at home or abroad, I'm having a blast so far (though classes haven't started yet) and I'll try to stick to this and update at least a few times a week.

[The pilot on our cross-Atlantic flight told us to "Have a great day and a better tomorrow"]