That is so British....

I had to keep telling myself "It'll be okay, your not stuck your out of your comfort zone, this is what you wanted remember."

I think that everyone encounters a moment where they realize that it is actually real. For me it was the Bus ride from the Manchester Airport to Keele. The weird thing is that the realization came because the cars were driving on the wrong side of the road. I don't know why that was thing that made me go "Holy crap, I can't go home, I can't see anyone for 4 months, aaahhh, I want to go home" So from then on, I tried to put on a smile and tell myself it was going to be okay and I'd figure it out. I think putting on a front emotionally made my body respond physically and so I felt like I was going to throw up and I had terrible awful no good very bad stomach pains. After getting into my room I tried to go to the Welcome to Britain party but it hadn't really started and I found out that the Post Room wasn't open and so I couldn't get my bedding packet. So I went back to my room and laid down and did some stuff on my computer and tried to go to sleep at 9 which turned into actually falling asleep sometime between 11 and midnight.

So today definitely had its ups and downs but it was most definitely better than yesterday. Showering without a towel...struggle. Meeting new, nice people at breakfast....positive. Barely being able to digest breakfast because I still felt nauseous....struggle. Feeling a lot better when I sat through the Welcome for International Students....fantastic. Talking to one of the other girls from Willamette....really good. Weakly carrying my heavy box of bedding supply all the way across campus....the best struggle ever. Ending up spending the rest of the day with her and her roommate....awesome. So awesome in fact that I didn't have to worry about stomach problems.

Here are some of the highlights, we watched the chef from Keele do a demo which inspired Sierra's fascination with fish and potatoes for dinner (which actually turned out really yummy.) We went the grocery store and I stayed within my preset budget (but now I have to figure out if I can sustain that budget or if I have to pare down what I want and figure out cheaper ways to eat.) I got a phone so I can finally respond to the question "Can I have your number?" with something other than "I'm American so my phone doesn't work." I also got 5 pounds worth of international calling so I got to talk to my mom which was pretty great. Closing out the day with a great dinner. Now I've got to finally unpack my stuff so my room is clean and not the ridiculous mess it is currently (groceries on the bed) and I can go to sleep and hopefully continue the trend and make tomorrow a better day.

Bah! I totally forgot to explain the point of the title of the post. I kept seeing things all day that just screamed BRITISH to me and I know that it is completely idiotic to notice how british things are in Great Britain but I'm new here give me a break okay. First of all, British traffic signs are POLITE. You laugh but I'm serious, they are phrased so much nicer than American signs. My favorite example (but not my only example) is that instead of "yield" they have a sign that says "give way". They also had a sign that said "New Zebra Crossing Ahead" which made my day. Then there were all sorts of things in the store, including british children that just made me think "that is so british" and the fact that everyone says cheers at the end of a conversation and people in stores instead of asking how you are doing or if they can help you find something they ask if you are okay....so british.