Week One

After the initial hecticness of arriving in a new country and moving in, week one has been surprisingly quiet. With the Americans not arriving until later and most welcome events scheduled for next week, its been a few days of settling in, mixing with our fellow international students, and watching a bit of Top Gear and the football (soccer).

We returned to Walmart to do a bit more shopping, and looking at phones to possibly buy. Although we found plenty of snacks- more types of Oreoes and Pop Tarts than I ever thought possible, there was not so much success on the phone front. Its not an option to simply buy a replacement sim, as you apparently need a U.S Driver's License! The rules here can be confusing, as people driving on their phones is commonplace but the strictness surrounding alcohol is staggering. I didn't realise just how much of university nightlife back home revolves around drinking- try explaining the concept of pre-drinks to an American! So much of the Freshers events at Leicester were going-out orientated, it's extraordinary watching the American version play out on a larger scale without it.

Patriot Premiere was an event at the Patriot Center, the 10,000 seater basketball stadium. The 'Green Machine' band played (brilliantly, everything from Stevie to Kanye), cheerleaders danced, the support songs were taught (not so brilliant). Then suddenly, the place turned into a dancefloor with some moves you wouldn't really see back home often! The same happened the following evening at a similar welcome event, where a circle quickly formed to allow dance-offs, something I thought only happened in films! The enthusiasm Americans seem to put into everything is great and refreshing, but sometimes a little intimidating in situations like this!

For the majority of this week there hasn't been many American students to chat to, as they moved in later than internationals, but it has been great to meet and make friends with people from all over the world. Once they realise I'm from England, one of the first questions I get is 'so what EPL team do you support?' (West Ham). We attended a sports expo at the gym complex where we played in a few different sports- Soccer (I know, I have to try and stick with it) and Wallyball (volleyball in a squash court basically) were pretty fun, but cricket was a humiliating experience from start to finish. Admittedly I was playing with a group of Indians who know their cricket, but still! Thankfully I was more at home in the Aquatic Centre, and I'm going to make an effort to keep swimming regularly. You have to make the most of the free fitness facilities!

Its been a surreal week, partly because of the culture shock of American life- getting stared at for walking everywhere instead of driving will never go away- but also because its been more of an international experience than I was expecting, and in a good way. I've met people from the States, but also India, China, Japan, the Netherlands, France, Saudi Arabia, Korea... and the odd Londoner too! On the last night of the first week, everyone on my floor of the accomodation all met up as a whole for the first time. It was great to mix with everyone, and a bit of late night beach volleyball didn't hurt either. Overall it's been a crazy, yet fantastic week, and I'm really glad I decided to do a year abroad.

Then again, classes start tomorrow!

A