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?!