So.
I'm mostly moved in now. I've got all the furniture and such I need, I just have a bit more organizing to do. My parents and I spent Friday (unpacking the suitcases I brought; waiting for and then unpacking the alarmingly dented boxes I'd shipped [actually, only one mug was broken, so it wasn't as bad as it looked when those falling-apart boxes arrived on the doorstep]), Saturday (two trips to Ikea [I was an Ikea-virgin! shocking, I know]; trips to Staples [where I got a free $10 gift card for buying HP printer ink, sweet!], grocery/pharmacy stores, Linens'n'Things, Bed Bath & Beyond [for which I had two $50 gift cards from an aunt], etc.), and Sunday (assembling the Ikea furniture!) moving me in.
So now I'm pretty much set. At least as far as my room goes. The next, truly alarming thing to tackle is the public transportation system. I've got the Metro down pat, that's easy, but what's really intimidating are the bus systems. Being a major metropolitan area, there are zillions of buses and three different systems (Metrobus for the DC area, whatever the Maryland bus system is called, and the UMD shuttles). There's a stop a couple blocks away from the house, one of which is thankfully a UMD shuttle, so now I just have to figure out where the other buses that stop there go (which isn't easy, the websites are confusing).
Once I've got the transportation down, and once I've got a job, and once I've actually started classes, I should be quite set. But for now, I've made a good start. Will not panic yet. No.
Right, so as I mentioned, there was some excitement on the plane over. First, as I was handing the gate attendant my boarding pass at SB, an Asian man came up to ask the attendant a question. I couldn't hear what he said, and evidently the attendant couldn't either as he then snapped "Speak in English so I can hear you!" As I said, I couldn't hear the Asian man, but I don't know if that was because he was mumbling or because he couldn't speak English well. But either way, the gate attendant's tone and body language were shockingly rude. I was quite appalled.
And then, of course, it's always pleasant to be flying the (not-so-friendly) skies with a handcuffed prisoner and his attending police escort.... On the flight from SB to LA, a rather youngish-looking guy (late teens or college-age would be my guess) in handcuffs, escorted to the airport by four police officers, two of whom stayed in the waiting area with him, and only one of whom actually accompanied him on the flight. Still, one wonders what exactly he did to warrant such an escort (he appeared quite mild on the plane and getting off in LA), and where he was going (since I'm pretty sure I heard his police guard say that they had an hour til their next flight).
Today, now that I'm mostly moved in, my parents and I finally made it into the city for some touristing (and wow do they make it freaking hard for tourists [aka non-commuters] to park at a metro station; but we think we've figured out the proper method now). We went to the National Museum of the American Indian (the newest of the Smithsonians) and the National Gallery of Art (both buildings). Both quite interesting, but museums are so tiring. I'm quite knackered. (*knackered = awesome British slang term for exhausted)
So now I'm pretty much set. At least as far as my room goes. The next, truly alarming thing to tackle is the public transportation system. I've got the Metro down pat, that's easy, but what's really intimidating are the bus systems. Being a major metropolitan area, there are zillions of buses and three different systems (Metrobus for the DC area, whatever the Maryland bus system is called, and the UMD shuttles). There's a stop a couple blocks away from the house, one of which is thankfully a UMD shuttle, so now I just have to figure out where the other buses that stop there go (which isn't easy, the websites are confusing).
Once I've got the transportation down, and once I've got a job, and once I've actually started classes, I should be quite set. But for now, I've made a good start. Will not panic yet. No.
Right, so as I mentioned, there was some excitement on the plane over. First, as I was handing the gate attendant my boarding pass at SB, an Asian man came up to ask the attendant a question. I couldn't hear what he said, and evidently the attendant couldn't either as he then snapped "Speak in English so I can hear you!" As I said, I couldn't hear the Asian man, but I don't know if that was because he was mumbling or because he couldn't speak English well. But either way, the gate attendant's tone and body language were shockingly rude. I was quite appalled.
And then, of course, it's always pleasant to be flying the (not-so-friendly) skies with a handcuffed prisoner and his attending police escort.... On the flight from SB to LA, a rather youngish-looking guy (late teens or college-age would be my guess) in handcuffs, escorted to the airport by four police officers, two of whom stayed in the waiting area with him, and only one of whom actually accompanied him on the flight. Still, one wonders what exactly he did to warrant such an escort (he appeared quite mild on the plane and getting off in LA), and where he was going (since I'm pretty sure I heard his police guard say that they had an hour til their next flight).
Today, now that I'm mostly moved in, my parents and I finally made it into the city for some touristing (and wow do they make it freaking hard for tourists [aka non-commuters] to park at a metro station; but we think we've figured out the proper method now). We went to the National Museum of the American Indian (the newest of the Smithsonians) and the National Gallery of Art (both buildings). Both quite interesting, but museums are so tiring. I'm quite knackered. (*knackered = awesome British slang term for exhausted)