Safe.
Sooo, mini breakdown #1 has occurred! I got to my homestay house today, which is approximately 6 miles away from the University of Sussex, and I spent the majority of my time missing home and then thinking about how much I wished that I could live with the UCEAP friends I made. From Sept 21-24 (today), I had an orientation with 29 other students from different UCs who are also going to be studying at Sussex. The majority of those kids got on campus housing because they were younger or possibly turned in their housing apps earlier than I did. I’m envious of them and their on campus housing but I’m also kind of sad that I won’t be seeing them as often now that we’re going to start doing our own things once Fresher’s week begins. During our orientation, all of us stayed at a residence hall for a university in London, so it was kind of like living in a dorm for a few days. But, my roommate and I were on the 4th floor by ourselves(there were only two rooms on the 4th floor and the other one was empty), so it wasn’t exactly the same experience that others had staying in the dorms in California. It was still a lot of fun, though. Over the orientation, I got to know different people and realized, once again, how nice it is to connect/click with people that I’ve just met. I realized also that I’m a superrrr mellow and boring person most of the time… or arguably all of the time. :P For example, on our first night together, we all went out to eat at an English pub in London and afterwards a group of people wanted to go to another pub to drink and possibly even a club. While that group did that, I organised (haha, English spelling… I’m practicing for the essays I’m going to have to write later) another group of people to get tea together since I’ve been sick with a cold and really wanted something warm to drink. So, a group of us went to a nearby cafe and just talked and got to know one another. It was a lot more mellow than going to a pub to drink, but it was nice. And cheaper to buy tea than to buy a pint of beer or any other type of alcohol. :P Hanging out with other UC students that are going to Sussex was really comforting, actually, in a foreign country. I met several other UCSD students who were from different years, but it was fun talking to them about areas in SD/La Jolla and being able to connect through going to the same school. It’s weird because I haven’t even been away from UCSD that long and I found comfort in meeting other UCSD kids. Anyway, after orientation, I realized that I was most grateful for the fact that I had met other people that I actually would want to hang out with while we’re all studying at Sussex. I guess that’s a very big point of having a UCEAP orientation… allowing the students to establish a support/friendship group before school in a foreign country has even begun.
Well, now that orientation is over with, I feel a lot more alone. After getting used to and bonding with some of the UCEAP kids, we were all separated. Most of the people that I talked the most with during orientation were also assigned homestay or got off campus housing. When I arrived to my homestay house, I found out that 1) It was pretty far away from campus… I’m going to have to take a bus and then the train to get to school; 2) It’s in a pretty nice neighborhood because it’s part of a little court that has a gate at the end of it; 3) Three other people other than the couple that owns the house are staying in it. I guess the couple rent out their spare rooms to students or people that work because their kids are all grown up and have kids of their own. Other than me, there is a half Irish half something else European guy staying here who is currently working at McDonalds. I don’t know why yet… He said that he’s looking for work and before he lived hear, he lived south of Turkey. I’m not sure what his story is yet. There’s also a girl from Saudi Arabia that is also studying at Sussex but I haven’t met her yet… and there’s supposed to be a girl from Italy coming to stay. I’m not sure where she’s studying, though. But yeah. This house is pretty big… not comparable to Andrew’s house but comparable to… Gloria’s house? Maybe.. yeah. There’s a little indoor pool in the back too. It’s a pretty nice house and I even got a super cute, girly room with lavender curtains, wardrobe cabinets on the side of the bed, a window that overlooks the backyard garden, and a desk next to the window! But, the internet was HORRIBLE in that room, so I took the Italian girl’s room since she’s not here yet. Now, I’m in a normal room with a bed that looks like it could be a hospital bed made of wood. I’m not quite sure, though. xP But yes… the INTERNET here is very slow. The couple that owns this house doesn’t really use internet… they only have a modem router connected to the phone jack and the download speeds are like… 114mbps or something like that… even next to the router. It is SLOWWWW. :[[ So I don’t know what I’m going to do. I might just have to download and upload stuff while I’m on campus or at other people’s places. I’m thinking about getting MiFi for 3 months but it’s pricey. :/ But we’ll see. Oh, but the lack of internet added to my mini breakdown which I will now describe.
When I got here and was separated from my new friends, I was tired and feeling lonely since the other students weren’t here for me to meet and I’ve been PMSing. I really miss people. I got some comfort the night before by reading a super long email from Ilean, but the thought of having to move in and get used to more people was a bit exhausting. I was going to take a nap when I first got here but instead, found out that the internet was slow. I talked to my dad over Skype for a while and he suggested the MiFi. After that, I decided that I would take the bus by myself to Brighton Station, which is a… 15-20 minute bus ride South. I got to the bus stop okay, but unfortunately I got off at the wrong stop and had to keep on walking down the street to get to my destination. I wanted to go to Brighton Station to 1) know where it is and how to get there and 2) to explore the shops, cafes, and pubs in the area. There are always shops and places to go to around train stations so it’s pretty easy to know where to explore. I found a shopping center, a couple of mini grocery places, cafes, and different pubs. After walking around for… an hour? I decided to head back. I walked to one of the bus stops and waited for a half hour before any bus showed… and when the bus finally did show, THE BUS DRIVER DIDN’T EVEN STOP. I tried to flag him down but I guess he didn’t see me, so I walked to the next stop and waited for the next bus. I didn’t have to walk to the next stop, but I didn’t want to stay in the same place for an hour so I moved. xP Anyway, the second thing that happened was that I was dumb and got off at the wrong bus stop. I got off 2 bus stops early and I had to walk a bit by myself in the dark at 9something at night in order to get back to the house. Even though it’s a pretty nice neighborhood and people weren’t really outside, I was pretty freaked out. I had to tell myself to relax. While walking around in public, I was okay… it was mainly just when there weren’t that many people around that I freaked out. I even prayed a little but I never really know what to pray when I’m scared. I kind of just ask for protection because I don’t know what else to do. I have to work on that… learning how to pray with more confidence. Annnd, when I finally got back, I cried a bit… and Andrew texted me. After talking to him for a while over Skype, I felt a lot better. I miss him a lot. But that is a whole different blog, maybe.
Now, it’s late for me and I should go to sleep. Praise God for keeping me safe, giving me this opportunity, and for keeping my loved ones safe and able to check up on me while I’m here.
