Arrival!

I must first begin this post by apologizing for getting it up later than expected. I bought the wrong kind of convertor and therefore had no way to charge up my laptop while I’ve been here. I’ve got it sorted now so I will be posting regularly from here on out!

The last few days have been such a whirlwind that I don’t know where to even start! The flight was definitely one of the longer points of the journey, but I found that it was much easier to book the flight with someone else because then you not only have the company, but there’s someone there to watch over your stuff so that you can wander off and use the restroom or grab a bite to eat/drink. Something that might also help make your transition easier could be to actually set up a meeting time for your group even before you leave the States. That way you not only know what everyone looks like, but you can start off knowing a few people when you actually get here.

Anyways, after the flight we arrived at the airport and just as Jason said there was a representative from Edge Hill waiting to greet us in the airport. We then proceeded to pack the lot of us into the van and traveled the hour/hour and a half to the university itself where we gathered our room keys and were sent off towards our lodgings for the next three months.

 Many of the study abroad/international students seemed to have been placed into the same dorms, so many of the rooms have been filled with Americans. The general layout of the dorms is actually pretty nice (though we seem to have been put into the oldest ones).

 You have your own room with bed, desk, nightstand, dresser, and bookcase in addition to massive closets that hold well more than you would most likely bring with you. The rooms also have their own sink and mirror which are fantastic when you’re getting ready for bed or getting ready in the morning.

The communal bathroom is much less intimidating than I figured it would be. Instead of a giant room with rows of showers and toilets you get two separate rooms, one with the toilet itself and the other with the shower. (There is also a random room with just a bath for those of you who enjoy taking their time getting clean!)  

Beyond unpacking and taking a bit of a tour around the campus and Ormskirk itself, the leaders let us go on our own way and frankly it was at that point I struggled not to fall asleep at six in the afternoon. Huge tip- no matter how hard it is, try to stay awake till a decent time, so then you won’t feel the effects of jet lag as much. I was happy when I woke up the following morning and didn’t feel half bad although the time difference is +5 hours here.

To kind of cut this blog post back I’ll stop here and update again soon!