And I have survived a week in England!!

Well, I am glad to report that I am still alive after a week in England. I haven't gotten hit by a double-decker bus, arrested for public indecency, or deported for smuggling U.S. meat into the U.K. International student orientation went well and was relatively painless, thankfully skipping over the horrible ice-breakers and getting on with where I can find coffee and the post office on campus. I am making friends (what?!?) and, quite honestly, everything has been awesome thus far!!
When I first moved in, I was exhausted from barely sleeping on the 7 hr. plane ride or the 4 hr. bus ride. Upon arriving, Casey, Felice, and I met some nice Californians and a cool British DJ. My bags weighed a ton and I didn't have anyone to carry them for me which was unfortunate, especially 4 floors up :(. I thought that I was alone in the flat until I got a knock on my door- one of my flatmates, Sophie. She had come back early from break which turned out great because I would have been all alone had she not! She and I hit it off immediately- she was so friendly and welcoming! I felt so cool when I had someone to hang out with besides the other internationals. We went out the first few nights which was AMAZINGLY fun! The dance clubs are crazy fun and I looooove the ridiculous music and the dancing! Class has been strange as I find myself in 100 person lecture halls and not 10 person classrooms. The subjects are really interesting (Global Environmental Change, Energy Management & Policy, Earth System Analysis for Sustainability, and Empires in Nature: Great Britain & Germany)- this is going to be a very educational experience to say the least. I have taken the bus into Norwich many times despite my fear of public transportation (the cars and buses all get wayyyy too close to one another here in my opinion). Professor Key (our resident professor) and his family have been so helpful and kind to us sciencers- giving us bus passes and taking us on a walking tour of Norwich. The other day, UEA (University of East Anglia) had its biannual SocMart (or Activities night). This is where you join societies (better known as clubs). I have joined volleyball, baseball, ISS (International Student Society), rowing, swimming, hiking, and Conservation and Wildlife- I know, a lot. I probably won't end up doing all of them, but its a good start. Anyway, I have much more to write, but I have to go eat dinner and get ready to sing karaoke tonight at the campus pub. Cheers
xxx
Kristen
P.S. My mailing address is: (to be used ONLY to send me lovely presents from the States!!)
Kristen Lee- vis
The Village- Courtyard A C26D
School of ENV
University of East Anglia
Earlham Road
Norwich
Norfolk
NR4- TJ7
United Kingdom