The "Yes Man"

I named this post accordingly as a self description of who I have been during the last couple of days. EVERY time some one will ask me to do ANYTHING (within reason...) I will say yes! I am starting to get to know everyone in my halls a lot better and especially love the room mates who are on my corridor. I played "netball" for the first time on Wednesday and immediately found out that it is NOT the same as basketball (which I initially thought it was). I played "goal defense" where I shockingly, defend the goal. I played against a girl who was probably a food taller than me and therefore it was impossible to keep her from scoring!!

I have also joined a number of societies on campus with my friends from my corridor. I have joined the Chocolate Society, the Cheese Society, the Travel society, the Hide and Seek Society (where you play childhood games...sounds silly but looks hilarious), the Food society (where they teach you how to cook/give good recipes) and the Revival Gospel Choir!!! I have my first gospel choir rehearsal on Monday evening and am really excited! They have uploaded a couple of videos to Youtube and they look fantastic! I am also going to a Cheese Fondue party on Tuesday which should be tasty!

I have been really lucky to be able to use my meal card for lunch all over campus so have been going out for lunch with different people everyday. I will go even if I'm not hungry just so that I get the chance to know everyone better...which is not working out too well for my fitness regime. But on the bright side, I am feeling a lot better so I went back to the gym for the first time since I've left Canada yesterday and I almost died! I went out for a big lunch before but because a couple girls asked me to join them to work out...I said "yes" (obviously!!) and then felt like I was going to be sick....haha maybe I should revise my "yes man" status somewhat. I went out with my friends from halls last night...again...to a place called Gatecrashers. It was great...I've attached some photos from the night. Tonight I am just staying in and watching a movie with my roomies because I am going out again tomorrow night with my friend Nicola Clay who I used to live next door to as a kid in West Yorkshire. She used to go to the Uni of Nottingham so she will know all of the good places to go!!

Also, as for the academic part of my experience, I don't start classes until this coming Monday! Thankfully, I have been in touch with the English department and they have allowed me to take their 3rd year courses...phew!! The English department is quite prestigious here at Nottingham so I am slightly nervous for their level of assessment...it is one of the oldest faculties of English in the country. Apparently it is almost impossible to gain entry into their program directly from high school...yikes!! Either way, I have my classes in the most beautiful building on campus and only go to class on Monday-Wednesday. I have a 4 day weekend, woohoo! Ok, will update again in the next couple of days.
Missing you all!! xoxo

Back to School Part 2

The next morning I went to the doctors because I STILL wasn't feeling better!! They are reeeeeeeally strict about prescibing antibiotics over here, so he didn't give me anything....grrrrr. Anyways, dad and I then went to move my things out of the closet into the new, bigger, and better room! I now have a room that is bigger than my one at home! It has a double bed, a sink, a huge desk, chest of drawers, closet etc. I had an orientation that afternoon for all internation students and for lack of a better word...it SUCKED. Everyone seemed to already know each other (the Spanish stuck with the Spanish, the Chinese stuck with the Chinese etc) and their was no opportunity for interaction...so I met no one! Thankfully, when my dad and I came back to my hall, we decided to go down to the meal hall for lunch and I got bombarded by a group of girls who live there. They immediately noticed that I was new, and asked my dad and I to join them. They let me pick their brains and even invited me out that night. I said maaaaaybe because I was unwell but it was really the thought that counted. Then when I came up to my room, I met the girl across the hall from me called Florence who is AWESOME!! She is so helpful, kind, and fun! She introduced me to the all of the other students in our hallway who continued to be so overly nice and welcoming. There are 5 girls and 3 guys in our hallway, with one room empty as of right now. It was so much easier saying goodbye to my dad when I had such a great group of people surrounding me. So we all headed down for dinner together where we had Chinese food in celebration of the Chinese new year! Because the hall is so small, everyone knew that I was "the new girl" as they put it, so I had people introducing themselves left, right and center. I have to say again how overwhelmed and surprised I was with how welcoming everyone has been...I mean I thought that everyone would be "nice" but not this nice!! I decided to bite the bullet last night and just push through the pain and go out because EVERYONE was going out...there was so much hype surrounding the evening that I just had to do it. They were all dressing up as "look-a-likes" but I didn't have a costume for obvious reasons. Some of the costumes consisted of Big Bird, Dobby and Hagrid from Harry Potter, Mr. Tumnus from Narnia, Sex and the City (who were guys by the way) plus many many more. We started off downstairs in the common room and then headed to a club called Oceania from here. I stuck with my friends from my hallway who I absolutely adore! They are all so close, and are all living in a house together next year. The club was amazing, it was probably the biggest club I have ever been to. The crew from Nightingale have a certain area that they go to, so I didn't get lost! All in all, I had a great time and am so so so happy I went out! This morning (bright and early) I had to meet with the Department of Art History to discuss my courses. All of the registration is done in person here which is STUPID because it is so much more convenient to do it online. The classes that I have chosen seem interesting yet slightly daunting because I have never studied Art History before. I may still talk to the English department to see if I could study with them instead. After that, I headed over to the Portland Building, which is the equivalent to UBC's Student Union. They were having a fair on where they display all of the different clubs/societies that you can join. I am looking into joining the chocolate society, the cheese society (because I love food), the softball team. and the student volunteer association. I have also bought a pass to the Fitness Centre for the year which is literally a hop, skip and a jump away from my hall...how convenient! Also, my hall is going on a coach trip to Amsterdam in March that I am 100% going to go on! It sounds so exciting! I am also going to look into getting a part time job over the next couple of days because I don't start classes until next week. I am just having a lazy night in tonight with my room mates which I'm really looking forward to! I will post again in the next couple of days!
Missing you all a lot!

Back to School Part 1

Woo, its been awhile since I last blogged mainly because I have been so ill/busy...which is a deadly combo. This bug has been dragging on like crazy, and I just can't seem to shake it off! I haven't been able to rest it off so its just continuing to get worse. But anyways, on to bigger and better things. My dad has been visiting this week, and we have had the nicest time together. We walked down to the local pub on Saturday and shared a tasty pizza. On Saturday night, Leah and I went to her friend's 21st birthday party which was really fun, but I really should have been at home sleeping. On the Sunday morning, Dad and I started the drive to Nottingham bright and early and ended up arriving here around noon. The drive was beautiful, as we saw some great stately homes and castles along the way!! My residence is called "Nightingale Hall" and its stunning! Its definitely one of the nicest halls, and it even used to be a hotel. When we arrived, everything was perfect EXCEPT for my bedroom. It was a "discounted single" room which in other words means "a closet". There was room for one single bed, a tiny desk, and maybe one person. Thankfully, a larger room was potentially available for me to move into the next day...we really lucked out with that because this is apparently a very hard hall to get into! I felt awful though because the girls who I met on my floor were SO kind and seemed to be genuinely upset that I was relocating. To be fair, they were slightly awkward (my dad will back me up on this) so I couldn't really see us being best friends anyways...one of them was called "Egg" for christs sakes. Because of the fact that my room was half the size of a jail cell/I really felt under the weather, I decided to stay with dad at the bed and breakfast that he had arranged for himself. We were told about a great pub nearby called "The Victoria" so we decided to check it out, and have our dinner there. It was "Robbie Burns Night" which is basically a celebration of everything Scottish so the place was packed. They had a live band on who were playing Celtic music, and dad even ordered haggis for his dinner! I tried it just to say that I have...but its definitely not my cup of tea. Towards the end of the night, a man came out of the kitchen playing the bagpipes, along with another man who was carrying steaming hot haggis and ANOTHER man holding 2 bottles of whiskey in the air. They then went on to stab the haggis with a knife while reciting Robbie Burns poetry...oh whatta night! I will definitely have to go back to the Victoria again soon because it had such an amazing atmosphere...I absolutely loved it! It was a great moment in time to share with my dad...

In Sickness and in Health

So the Broadcasting interview was interesting...and actually really hilarious. I had to speak about the reasons why I chose to go on exchange to the UK and a little bit about my experience as a student in Vancouver. Leah and I had a major moment of almost getting the giggles when we were taping the part where Leah asks me questions and then I don't answer, I just "pretend" like I am answering. We seriously almost lost it. There is also another Broadcasting strategy called "noddies" where Leah just sits there and silently nods for a couple of minutes...hahaha it was actually one of the funniest things I have ever. I am really angry because I took a few pics of the interview, and then I totally forgot to put my memory card back into my camera...soooooo I don't have any pics...ugh I am such an idiot! When we got home that evening, I was feeling a little under the weather but I just figured that it was because I was tired. I got a major migrane and ended up going to bed really early, so that I would be bright and breezy for our big night out the next day. Unfortunately, I woke up feeling even worse the next day. I had the sweats, and just literally felt like I was on my death bed...and all I could think about was that I REALLY didn't want to miss the night out...haha. Anyways, Leah's dad, John ended up driving all the way from Leah's house in Yorkshire to come and get me because I was becoming slightly delirious, and was basically hitting a low point. Leah was having friends over to sleep later on that night...about 5 of them to be correct, so I really had no choice but to go back to her family's house...bummer!! I am feeling a tad bit better today, but unfortunately have completely lost my voice. I am just going to rest up for the next couple of days so that I am well for when I move down to Nottingham on Sunday!! Speaking of which...I am started to get really excited! My dad flies in tonight, so I can't wait to see him too. ALSO, I have been in touch with a friend of a friend of mine who goes to Nottingham via facebook and he has already invited me for a night out with him and his friends on Monday! I have a friend, yippeeeeee!! I said maybe though....just in case something better comes up...hahaha! I still don't know what courses I am taking there...which could be a slight issue, but we have an orientation on Monday where I hope everything will get sorted out. Ok, I will message again in the next couple of days. Oh and I was going to attach one of the photos from the interview, but like I said...I don't actually have any...so I have added one of me bundled up in bed because I thought it was appropriate, haha! Missing you all!!

Peace and Pressure...

The last couple of days have been full of both calming and stressful moments. I went out for a lovely lunch with my Grandpa yesterday, and I had a taaaaaasty curry! We had a nice chat, and he gave me a beautiful locket and necklace that once belonged to my Grandma. The only problem was that we arrived to lunch with the weather being fine, and then by the time we left the pub it was blizzarding so much that you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. I felt awful that my Grandpa had to drive 1 and a 1/2 hours back to Manchester, but he made it home in one piece. Today, I went out for lunch with my mom's good friend Vanessa, and her daughter Amy. I was planning on taking the train to Leeds to stay with Leah directly after we had finished lunch. But...to my dismay, we went to lunch in a part of town that I'm not used to so they ended up dropping me off at a train station that I had never been to before, that had tons of platforms and trains coming through...the only train station that I have ever been to before had only 1 platform, and 1 train...easy peasy. I thankfully got on the right train to Leeds, and got here safely. BUT I took a taxi from the station, in which the driver took full advantage of my Canadian accent so overcharged me (he looped around the same park 4 times), and then dropped me off at the wrong address. Thankfully I gained my barrings and was able to find Leah's house before the sun went completely down. PHEEEEW. I am really proud of myself for getting here because to be honest...it was a bit of a song and dance. Anyway, Leah is studying Broadcasting at the University of Leeds, and really wants me to be her special guest in her assessment video tomorrow...Live TV + Nicky = YIIIIIKES. She was asked to interview someone interesting so apparently I fill the bill. I am kind of nervous only because if I mess up...her grade will suffer! Also, my friend Lauren who is back in Canada has officially booked our hotel for Ibiza in June. It's going to be an amazing trip, I can't wait! I will update you all about my starring role in the next couple of days...wish me luck!

The First Week

I have been in England now for a little over a week, and I feel like I have already accomplished so much! So far, I have done a lot of sleeping, eating, and maybe a small amount of drinking...that, in turn, has equaled happiness. I have been staying with the Wilson family, and I also went to the University of Leeds with Leah for a couple of nights last week. Leah and I have known each other since birth so it was pretty funny to go grocery shopping with her and make dinner for ourselves...its like we have suddenly turned into adults....weird! Because Leeds is a student oriented city, we went out and only ended up spending about $20 each yet had an amazing time... now I call that a good night out!! I am back in Yorkshire now, until Tuesday (when I am going to Leeds again) and have been going for some beautiful walks in the countryside. Yesterday, I went to visit the house where I grew up, and actually ended up knocking on the door, meeting the owners, and taking a guided tour. The house has changed a lot...but looked fantastic! Today, I walked to my old elementary school and once again, played the creeper, and peaked through the windows. It is just like I remembered. Leah and I went out locally last night and did an unexpected mini pub crawl. We ended up at a bar called "Bridges" which was packed full of muttens dressed as lambs, but we had a great time nonetheless. I have also managed to score myself a job at the local pub called "The Alma", where I will be mainly working over the month-long Easter holidays. The thought of myself pulling pints in a British pub is just too classic to pass up. I am starting to miss everyone back at home but am very excited to move to Nottingham, and start university next week...I am strangely anxious to get back into some sort of regular routine. I will update my blog again in the next couple of days and please feel free to make comments and update me on what YOU have been up to!!! xoxoxo