I survived week 1!

Well actually, I have survived the first two weeks - the week of orientation and the first week of lectures. Orientation week was pretty uneventful, I went to a bunch of talks that taught me nothing and pretty much wasted my time. Although, I did meet some nice people during that time so I guess it wasn't all for nothing. One of the people I met was Jeff - an American (yay!). He is from Maryland and is getting his MSc in Forensic Linguistics (impressive, I know). Since we met we have hung out a bunch of times and I like him very much. He's fun!

During orientation week I also met Eva and Adele... from Greece and France, respectively. Eva and I have hung out a bunch of times, had expeditions to the local Morrisons, and shared a few dinners. Eva, Adele, and I are even going to dress up and hit up the Halloween Party on Friday. I think Adele is going to be a vampire and Eva is gonna be a devil... my plan is to be a bumble bee but we will see if that costume fits when it arrives :P

The first week of lectures was okay. Stats is pretty much over my head though. What the professor covered in the first lecture is probably what I learned in the first 4 months of my first statistics class in undergrad. So I think I need to focus a lot of time on statistics or I am going to be totally left behind. The Contemporary Issues class is okay... basically every week a different professor will come in and lecture on something pertinent to our research life. For example, the first lecture was put on by Dr. Andrew Monk and he taught us the process of getting our experiment through the ethics committee. I think we will have to write papers for that class but no one has explained that to us, so we'll see if we hear anything about it this week.

I have also started some reading relating to my dissertation... my supervisor suggested that I read "Mind, Self, & Society" by H.G. Mead. I am about 30 pages in and it isn't too bad so far. Some of the concepts make me think "wha?" but most of it makes sense. I think it will provide me with a lot of information to base my lit review on... which is the goal of my 1st year here - produce a 4,000 word lit review.

Well that is all for now! I'm still alive and managing to make it through the days here... athough..the washing machine did eat my money today. Gah, guess nothing can run smoothly.

I am here!

So I arrived in York a few days ago and a lot has happened since I got here. After what seemed like a *zillion* hours of travel my Dad and I finally made it to the city. The first day we explored the town a lot and bought a bunch of things that I needed - a computer printer, a hair straightener, pots and pans, dishes, etc. I also was able to meet my supervisor, Dr. Oldmeadow. I think him and I are going to get along wonderfully! We talked for a little while and then he and I and my Dad went and had a cup of coffee and talked a little more about our backgrounds and whatnot.

The next day Dad and I brought some stuff up to the dorm and started to unpack. I was still feeling pretty uneasy about this whole getting abandoned in Europe thing. It is still overwhelming, being this far from home and not knowing the town or the people or the customs. As we were unpacking though it seemed like the space would be big enough for all of my stuff.... until we came back today with the *rest* of my things.

First of all, the bathroom is TINY and the light doesn't even work properly! When we were here for the first time we noticed the light was flickering... good thing I don't have epilepsy... and reported it to the *go to* guy for the Wentworth building. Well as I write this the light in the bathroom is still flickering at me... and the light above the desk is going out... and I have discovered that the bathroom sink does not drain. /sigh Dorm life I guess?

I met some really nice people today and I am feeling a little more comfortable in these surroundings. Although, I know when my Dad leaves in a few days it is going to become that much more difficult for me. It has been REALLY nice having him here to help me with this whole process. If I had come out here by myself I would have turned around and gone home the next day... seriously.

Well.. we will see what tomorrow brings! Tomorrow is orientation day so maybe I will start to feel better as I learn more about the university.