My First Few Days in Southampton

Let me start where I last left off, leaving for JFK...

We all jumped in the car and drove off to JFK at about 5pm.  We hit almost no traffic heading down which is unheard of!  I got through security in about 2 seconds and, after a few hours of waiting, I left Earth with the promise to return 5 hours later.  I was hoping to get some sleep on the plane, but there was only about 4 inches of leg room and the lady next to me kept talking to me.  So that kinda sucked!  I landed in Shannon, Ireland in an airport that looked like no one was there.  After exchanging some money and getting my boarding pass, I was off to Heathrow.  This time I slept, but it was only for an hour since the flight was only an hour.  When we landed it was 1:35 pm local time.  I was scheduled to get on a 6pm bus to Southampton, but there was a 2pm bus as well.  So I grabbed some money while waiting for my bags and SPRINTED from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3.  Thankfully, I got there in time for the 2pm bus.

I think the next event was one of the best indicators that I am going to like this...

The bus was pretty full so I sat down in one of the first seats next to a middle-eastern looking student.  We started the obligatory "Hey where are you from?" conversation.  As it turns out, we defied politics as on this coach bus on its way from Heathrow to Southampton, there was an American sitting next to an Iranian.  We chatted the whole ride to Southampton about everything from our respective country's actual views of the other's, our long term academic goals, and even traffic laws.  It was truly amazing that two people who are supposed to hate each other because of our political leaders, just talking.  It was even more ironic since this week Iranian leaded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York and is going to speak in front of the UN.

Yesterday I went to campus for the first time.  It is a beautiful campus! It is a nice walk there, its about 18 minutes from my dorm.  There are a lot of cute little shops along the way.  An added bonus is the fact that all of the computer science buildings are at the top of campus which means the walk from my room is shorter.  I took a campus tour yesterday because I've never actually seen the campus before.  In the afternoon I decided to head over the the West Quay Shopping Centre.  I got a new mobile phone from O2.

Anyways, I am now sitting in my room waiting for more people to arrive.  I was the only person in my building Tuesday night, which was a little strange.  Now I have one flatmate and I'm waiting for another 5 or so.  My goal for today was to set up my bank account and get my student ID.  Considering I slept in then took a 2 hour nap, I don't know how much I will actually accomplish today.

I really like it here though, the people are so nice, the streets are so cute, and I love the English accent.

More soon, I will try and snap some photos today.