Week 1. Check.

I have now been here a full week! In some ways that has gone really fast, in others not so much.
Now that classes have started and the homework and reading assignments are being thrown at me from every direction I know that I shall soon find a groove and routine. Speaking of reading, the grand total of books that I have purchased just for 'Fall Quarter' has reached the dizzy heights of $300!!!! That is insane. I'm trying to remind myself that that figure is not in pounds but that is still ridiculous! I don't think I spent the equivalent on books in the first 2 years at Warwick and that is what I have spent for a little over 10 weeks at UCSC! Next quarter I am NOT taking a literature class!
All the clubs that I signed up for at OPERS have their first meetings this week so I am really excited to get involved in them and meet some more people:) Everyone that I have met have been really friendly which can be a bit off-putting actually as it is quite forward. Us Brits tend to ignore everyone and wait for the other person to introduce themselves, and even then, their gesture is greeted with a smile and a "Hello", not "Oh my ggodd you have an accent! Where are you from? Why are you here? Oh that's cute" etc etc. I have shaken so many hands in the past week. I am not complaining at all, in fact, I think that we could learn something from the Americans in this department, it just takes a bit of getting used to. Same with the whole "Hey-how-are-you-have-a-nice-day" thing in shops...
I have been having a bit of trouble with my foot which flared up before I left England. I had been told to rest for 6 weeks and while some of you may not believe that I have been resting (I have tried as much as possible truly!) it has been getting worse so i decided to go to the health centre to get their advice. Well, i walked in and came out with a foot bandage, ice packs, crutches and ushered into the on campus disability van that drove me the 100feet back to my apartment! I have this van at my disposal for the next week which I think is so funny! They take very good care of you here!
Other things that have been going on...an outside screening of Toy Story 3, a trip to Capitola Mall, copious amounts of frozen yoghurt consumed, game nights, night time wanderings (gently obviously;)) aanndd I found a Body Pump class close to campus that I went to today! Also, for the first time, it is raining today which I am concerned about. If it rains solidly for 7hours straight then that means tonight, at 10pm, the annual Naked Run will commence! I shall explain more if that happens!
This week is going to be BUSY. So many meetings, classes, homework etc etc. Hopefully I survive! Some more photos: Bookstore and SU, Monterey Bay from my college's dining hall, and an interesting painting..points to the person who can figure out what's going on!

Oh and if anyone knows who went out of The Great British Bake Off, if they can let me know that that would be great:D

That Sunday Night Feeling

I arrived in Santa Cruz safe and sound on Sunday and have now been here 4 days and what a crazy busy 4 days it has been! I have been to Target 3 times and spent over $200, opened bank accounts, bought a phone ($50 a month on top of the crappy handset, are you kidding me?!), had an international oreinetation where we were taught how to correctly respond to 'How ya doing?' and what 'sick' and 'boss' meant, signed up to pretty much everything from Habitat for Humanity to Women's Rugby at OPERS Festival and spent this afternoon hula-hooping and, with the help of my roommate, convincing the guy at the frozen-yoghurt place downtown to give me extra stamps on my loyalty card!

The campus itself is gorgeous. I have never seen a place quite like it. It is situated on a hill behind Santa Cruz town meaning that in the right places you get the view over the town and Monterey Bay! I have yet to take any good pictures, but when I do, I will post them here:) We are surrounded by Redwood trees giving much needed shade.. There are wooden walkways to get to classes that cross over ravines and hiking trails. There are deer everywhere and they are definitely not scared of humans! All in all, it is pretty amazing!
That being said, it comes with a weird feeling. There isn't anyone to really share it with. The friends that I have made are mostly seniors or sophomores and so they have already had a number of years of this environment. I'm still awed by it all but there is no-one to show it too or appreciate it with. It's strange how you can feel lonely even though you are with people. I know this feeling will disappear, it is already decreasing and it is only day 4! I'm just used to having familiar faces around me, or people to fall back onto when something gets too much but this isn't really the case here. Not going to lie, the first day or 2 were really hard as I hate that initial meet and greet thing with new people and it is all very pleasant and friendly etc but you know nothing about them at all! Again, that changes the more you see of people and hang out. In some ways I feel like I am on holiday, it will kick in in a few weeks that this is actually my home for the next 10months! 
My apartment on campus is pretty big and spacious. I share a bedroom and a living room area with one girl and then we share the bathroom and kitchen with two guys. We are right in the centre of campus so couldn't be a better location! The senior who greeted me when I arrived on campus had pinned everyone's names outside their apartment doors and still remembers my name and says hi to me now! There is definitely more of a friendly, community atmosphere on campus than at Warwick (sometime a bit too friendly, as a Brit, we don't tend to be over the top and forward when meeting new people. The Americans are not like this, they go straight in for the hug or enthusiastic handshake and the story of their mothers brothers girlfriends cousins friend who once visited London).

Classes officially start tomorrow hence the Sunday night feeling! The idea of having to write essays and do homework and quizzes is not appealing in the slightest. It has been months since i've written more than a few words with a pen and I know my hand is going to cramp up in my lecture tomorrow! Not looking forward to buying the books either. One Spanish text book just for now until Christmas costs $90! I am going to be so broke by the time I come home! That being said, you do feel like you are getting things for free here. Your uni card lets you ride any bus for free, gets you into all the dining halls and some cafes on campus, gets you into the gym for free and many other things. As long as you have your uni card, you don't really need money when on campus! Yes, Americans have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to go to University but I feel like they get a better deal than we do...more contact hours and opportunities for a start. I mean, when can you play in a quidditch tournament and get all the equipment and gear for free?! The Quidditch stand at the OPERS festival (their version of sports and societies fair) was pretty busy so i'm looking forward to this tournament! The festival was held on east field overlooking Santa Cruz and the bay. It was crazy, people and exhibitions everywhere-frats and sororities to organic farming and salsa dancing. Needless to say, me and my friend bypassed all this and went straight for the food sourced from local, organic companies (UCSC is a very liberal, organic, environment conscious uni. It even has it's own organic farm!). The chicken and apple sausages were to die for!

Ok, this has been a long post. I shall leave you with homework: learning the correct procedure for handling anything from earthquakes to bomb scares. Erm, i'm sorry, what now?!

'Funtivities'

Currently in Seattle airport waiting for a flight down to San Jose (the nearest airport to Santa Cruz).
Enjoying watching people eating copious amounts of Mac an' Cheese at 7am! I'll stick to my Tuscan scrambled eggs!
Had a great few days in Seattle with my sister. We did loads of fun stuff that she called 'funtivities'!
Tour around a local Indian Reservation and Museum where her friend works and who gave us free blankets with whales on them! Their tribe symbol is an Orca. I want to be a part of this tribe. They have this massive casino on the reservation (see pic below).

We also went to Theo Chocolate Factory for a tour and got to sample chilli chocolate, bread chocolate, coconut curry chocolate and basil chocolate. YUM. We had to wear sexy hairnets and though pictures were taken, I won't be posting them.
Kayaked around Lake Union which was hilarious seeing as we didn't realise we were rowing the boat backwards for around 30mins!
Sampled the local frozen yoghurt and Vietnamese Pha:)
Boarding the plane soon. May throw up a little. See you in Santa Cruz!

Come Fly With Me

First part of the epic journey complete. Now I have 3 days of 'funtivities' with my sister in Seattle before the final flight down to San Jose airport on Sunday!
Journey was pretty uneventful and all the problems I predicted would happen once I reached immigration didn't. In fact, the guy just stamped my stuff, told me about his college experience of how he took a Soviet film class and loved it, and sent me on my way! Of course customs would pick on the disheveled, tired, red faced girl lugging literally her life down the corridor to go for extra screening. At this point, I didn't care that they confiscated a packet of Beef Jerky! It was a strange journey. I kept going through a mixture of emotions that I wish to apologise to the people i sat next to for. In particular Susan from Bellingham who started the journey telling my all about her fantastic trip to "Edinburrooww" and then proceeded to witness me telling her excitedly why I was going to America, an hour later watch me burst into gut wrenching sobs and then wet myself laughing while listening to Miranda! IcelandAir entertainment was pretty good, loads of movies from The Adjustment Bureau to Ice Age 3 to Baz Lurhmanns Romeo and Juliet (coincidentally after finally watching Moulin Rouge yesterday with the bff and eating Ben and Jerry's...Happy Birthday to her btw:)) ! They even had mini documentaries on Iceland giving you fun facts about the place...did you know that you can look at the Prime Minister in the phonebook and call him or that 75% of the population believes in elves? Ah the things you find interesting when there is just nothing else to do.
Had a few hours to kill in Reykjavik airport in Iceland and here is my tip...if you don't like eggs, do not visit Iceland. They put egg mayo in everything...roast beef baguettes included. I went for a ham and lettuce sandwich with egg in it, sushi on a plane just doesn't sound right.  Landing at Iceland looked like you were landing on the moon. Alas I did not have a camera with me otherwise I would provide you with photos but the land is literally flat volcanic rock and ash with mountains in the distance. I half expected to see the Clangers pop up from behind a geiser!
Jetlag is an absolute bitch. You would have thought that after not sleeping for 30hours my body would sleep for a week. Nope. Wide awake by 5am, stomach rumbling telling me it was lunch time back home. Hence why this blog is short and kinda boring. I'm waiting for the sister to get up!