Thus Far

Alright, I've got a bit of time on my hands, so here we go. Warning: several people have told me that they want to hear ALL about it, so this may go on for a while...

Although my flight was to leave on Tuesday, my parents and I decided to head on Monday and spend the night in Cinci, just to make sure I wouldn't miss my flight due to weather (a rather large snow storm was blowing through the area). We made it just fine, though, and my flight was not canceled or delayed, which I am very thankful for!

So, I boarded a little puddle jumper in Cincinnati at about 3:00 Tuesday afternoon. I arrived in Chicago around 5-something and had to switch to another flight for the oversea journey. I got incredibly lost and was overwhelmed by how massive and spread out the airport was, but the staff were very helpful and I made it to my next plane just in time.

This flight was through British Air, and the plane was absolutely gigantic, at least as far as I could tell. There were 2 floors, and many sections. I stayed in the back-most which had 3 columns of seats. It was a rather empty flight, and from what I could tell, every person had his/her own row to stretch out and be comfy in, which was nice.

It was my first flight with a genuine meal - two, actually, counting breakfast. That was a cool first experience. I couldn't sleep, so I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's and Shrek that night. I did get about an hour of shut-eye somewhere in there, I think.

I had a bit of a hard time communicating with the stewardess who worked my row. One time I held up my empty cup and napkin and asked her if she had a trash she could throw it into for me. She just looked at me, slightly confused. I said "trash" again, tentatively, holding up my items. She finally said, "Oh, you want me to take that for you?" I nodded. She then informed me that her name was not "Trash." I laughed at first, until I realized it wasn't a joke. Woops.

I landed in London at 6:00am London time, which is 6 hours ahead of central time. This was another gargantuan airport. I of course had no idea where to go and had to ask for help several times, but everyone was very friendly and nice. I went through a ton of checkpoints; I don't even know what they were all for. I made it through all of them just fine, tho, so that's good. I somehow found my way to where my next flight was to leave, had a bit of extra time, so I pulled out my huge Jane Austen collection book and started in. I was planning on reading it on the plane to Belfast, too, but almost as soon as I sat down and buckled my seatbelt, I was out.

I landed in Belfast at 11:25 am Wednesday morning. Queen's University (my school) had volunteers at a little booth to help me and the other Queen's people carry our luggage out to the transportation the University provided. I met a girl there named Susana from Amsterdam, and I've seen her quite a bit since then.

After receiving my room key and being escorted to my new accomodation, I had a bit of time before I had to meet up with an advisor from interstudy (the study abroad program I am going through). I wanted to take a shower, as I felt pretty grungy, but I had no idea where it was as none of the doors are labeled, and there was not a soul in sight anywhere I looked. Not only did I need a shower, but I desperately needed to find a bathroom (just referred to as "toilet" here). Thankfully, I ran into a girl outside my hallway, and she told me which door was the toilet room and which the shower. Hallelujah! After that almost-fiasco, it was already 2:00 and I had to be on my way.

Me and the two other interstudy girls were going to have a very casual "orientation" with Coleman - the interstudy guy - as he showed us around Belfast, got us our phones and kitchen stupplies, took us shopping for bedding and such, and bought us a late lunch. Nora and Jen are the two other girls. They are both from America, too. I haven't done much with Nora since then, but I have seen Jen quite a bit. She reminds a lot of a roommate I had my freshman year of college. She's very sweet.

That evening a local church hosted a dinner for the international students, so I went to that and met more people there. After that, I came back to my room and crashed. I was very tired. Oh, I did meet my next-door neighbor first, though. Her name is Melissa; she's from Germany.

Today was the beginning of the official Queen's orientation for international students. (It feels so weird to be considered an international student!) I got up extra early to make sure Melissa would have time to take a shower, too. I came back to my room to finish getting ready, only to discover that my blow-dryer and flat iron don't really work. They kind of do with the adaptor, but I have to sit there and hold the plug in or else it falls out, and even then the power is not very strong. Poor Melissa needed a hair dryer, too, and I had let her borrow mine first, but it didn't work. Therefor, today I did my hair up in a lovely, wet, gel-filled bun. Beautiful, I know. Hehe

Orientation started at 9:00. It was pretty typical stuff. We received a bunch of papers, including maps of the university and Belfast and such. We broke for tea and coffee, during which time I met even more people, this time from Belgium. After another bit of presentations, I went to meet with my advisor who would enroll me for my courses. His name is Dimitri Soklovski-something. He has a cool accent! (But then again, almost everyone I've been meeting here does).

Then, we had a scheduled lunch at some restaurant in the students' union. I was a bit early for that, and couldn't find the restaurant, but I did see a girl with the faithful navy blue bag that says: Queen's University Belfast, International Students' Orientation Programme. I walked up and asked if she knew where it was. Her name is Sydney, and she's from Florida. We ended up finding it together. Just outside the restaurant (which was actually much more like a glorified cafeteria, if you ask me), Sydney saw a couple girls she had met earlier, so we ate with them. They are both from France but had not met each other until this morning. Julia and Maeva are their names. They're both very nice.

That afternoon we had a bus tour of Belfast. I took a few pictures of different views:


This one is the view of the city from the nation's government building. It looked cooler in person. What can I say? It's not like I claim to be a photographer!



Here's the building itself. It's too bad I didn't take a better one because there were some really neat statues on it. The girl looking at me, off to the left a little, in the light blue jacket is Sydney.




The next few are views out of the top story of some building in downtown. There's a river right next to it. The river's name is Lagon, I think??
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On the bus, we met a couple of French guys who sat in front of us. I have no idea how to pronounce their names, let alone spell them, but I'll give it a shot. One of them sounded like "Ro-man" except pronounced with a really French accent. The other one sounds like "Bat-teest." Haha! They laughed at Sydney and I as we butchered their names.

After the tour, Maeva, Julie, and I walked (P.S. there is TONS of walking for me, now!) down to a Tesco a couple blocks away. It's a supermarket here. It kind of reminds me of Kroger or King Soopers. I got a few items that I really needed like soap and something to eat for supper. I had a frozen pizza because it's the best thing I could think of that didn't need any pots or pans, as I have not purchased those, yet. I could have bought some as Tesco, but I really didn't feel like carrying them the long journey back, yet.

I came home after that for some free time to eat supper before the Ceilidh (as far as I can tell it's pronounced "kay-leed"), where the live music and Irish dancing was. During that free time, I finally figured out how to make my internet work - insert Hallelujah chorus here. I've been struggling and fighting with it many times over the past couple of days. That was quite satisfying, achieving that. :)

At the Ceilidh, we had an instructor who taught us several authentic Irish dances. There was a band there, playing the proper music. It was really fun! Pretty much everyone I've met so far was there. In fact, I can't think of anyone who wasn't.

Here are some pictures from one that I sat out for (I was very tired and very hot!):

The guy in the blue shirt and light pants here is "bat-teest," one of the French guys I met earlier. He was my partner for a couple songs



Here is Susana, the girl from Amsterdam I met on the bus ride from the airport. (sorry it's sideways)

Here is the lovely band. The guy closest was waving at my camera for me, but it's hard to tell in the picture.

This one is really hard to see, but it's just more dancing. (Maybe if I have more time sometime, I'll edit them and reload them here...)

Here are Jen (my friend from interstudy) and Melissa (my neighbor from Germany)
The two girls closest are Jen and Melissa

Here is a video of the dance I sat out for. "Bat-teest" had the misfortune of standing right in front of where I was sitting, so he's in the frame a lot. Sorry, friend.




After the Ceilidh, I walked home with some people. That's pretty much it for now. I don't think I've left anything out, at least not that I can remember right now, anyway.

Oh, here are a few random musings...

There are palm trees here. And other tropical-like plants. It's odd to me.

So far I've seen a BP, several Subways, a KFC, a Chilis, and a McDonald's.

Um, ok, that's all I can think of for now.

I hope this was detailed enough for those of you wanted the details, and not too detailed for those who bore quickly. I'll try to keep this as up-to-date as possible. :)