King's College London - Day 1: Gloomy First Day
So. Mom left early this morning, I slept in a bit at the hostel, then began the trek back to my dorm. It's about a 45 minute bus ride from central London. I got to the dorm, finished putting away my stuff, and sat on my bed for a bit, reeling in shock. On my own in London, a very scary thought. Some nice senior students had left a calendar in my room, but I got a nasty shock when I checked it and saw that the International Orientation had taken place over three days in the past week.
I headed down to the office to see if this were true, and they confirmed it, telling me not to worry about it because it was "just stuff like how to get around, which it looks like you've been experiencing already." Well, yes, but it would have been nice to meet other international students during those three days! I got absolutely no prior information about this orientation! Cue 'arrrrrrrgh' of frustration. I was almost in tears when I walked out of the office; the porters in the lobby asked me how it went (I had asked them about the orientation first.)
>tries to spell the accents phonetically a la JK Rowling<
"Umm," I said, struggling to keep it together, "Yup, I missed it."
"Whuh? Tha makes no sense, whoy have an orientation when th' kids haven't even moved in yet?" Porter #1 asked.
Porter #2 chimed in with, "Don't worry, love, 'm sure ya didn' miss much."
"Thass no' th' point, issit? She want'd tuh meet th' other international kids!" Porter #1 replied.
By this point I was so mortified that he's hit it dead on that I just smiled my thanks and moved on outside. I walked down to the Sainsbury's (it's basically like Target) and got some groceries and a comfort magazine, along with 2 new pillows to cushion up my room. I went back to my room, flopped back on my bed and had a good cry. I moped for a bit and then realized if I continued doing that, then the room would turn into an uncomfortable place where I went to sulk, so I gathered my stuff and went to Ruskin Park.
Ruskin Park is very pretty, lots of trees, and I calmed down a bit when I went there. Crows started pestering me, though, so I finally had to leave, but it was nice and I'll probably go back. I went back to the dorm and decided to camp out under another tree and read. I kept watching groups of people go by and I began to feel down again, but then another girl came outside with a book. I asked her what she was reading, and we struck up a conversation. Pretty soon another girl came out and sat next to us, and I had my first friends at King's -- their names are Harriet and Shanel. We went to dinner and made plans to go to the pub the next day.
I went to bed early, still feeling miserable about the orientation, but my neighbors down the hall started up a rave. Not in the mood to get up and join in, it only served to remind that I was the awkward international kid going to bed early while everyone else partied. So basically when my parents finally called me to check in, I was in bed sobbing and almost incoherent, which I'm sure freaked the hell out of them. After the call, I settled into an uneasy sleep.
I headed down to the office to see if this were true, and they confirmed it, telling me not to worry about it because it was "just stuff like how to get around, which it looks like you've been experiencing already." Well, yes, but it would have been nice to meet other international students during those three days! I got absolutely no prior information about this orientation! Cue 'arrrrrrrgh' of frustration. I was almost in tears when I walked out of the office; the porters in the lobby asked me how it went (I had asked them about the orientation first.)
>tries to spell the accents phonetically a la JK Rowling<
"Umm," I said, struggling to keep it together, "Yup, I missed it."
"Whuh? Tha makes no sense, whoy have an orientation when th' kids haven't even moved in yet?" Porter #1 asked.
Porter #2 chimed in with, "Don't worry, love, 'm sure ya didn' miss much."
"Thass no' th' point, issit? She want'd tuh meet th' other international kids!" Porter #1 replied.
By this point I was so mortified that he's hit it dead on that I just smiled my thanks and moved on outside. I walked down to the Sainsbury's (it's basically like Target) and got some groceries and a comfort magazine, along with 2 new pillows to cushion up my room. I went back to my room, flopped back on my bed and had a good cry. I moped for a bit and then realized if I continued doing that, then the room would turn into an uncomfortable place where I went to sulk, so I gathered my stuff and went to Ruskin Park.
Ruskin Park is very pretty, lots of trees, and I calmed down a bit when I went there. Crows started pestering me, though, so I finally had to leave, but it was nice and I'll probably go back. I went back to the dorm and decided to camp out under another tree and read. I kept watching groups of people go by and I began to feel down again, but then another girl came outside with a book. I asked her what she was reading, and we struck up a conversation. Pretty soon another girl came out and sat next to us, and I had my first friends at King's -- their names are Harriet and Shanel. We went to dinner and made plans to go to the pub the next day.
I went to bed early, still feeling miserable about the orientation, but my neighbors down the hall started up a rave. Not in the mood to get up and join in, it only served to remind that I was the awkward international kid going to bed early while everyone else partied. So basically when my parents finally called me to check in, I was in bed sobbing and almost incoherent, which I'm sure freaked the hell out of them. After the call, I settled into an uneasy sleep.