“Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.” -Aristotle
Welcome back to my travel column. The first day in a foreign country alone is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting and at the same time scary moments in one’s life. I can say with absolute certainty that I was both simultaneously shitting it and enjoying every second.
With every turn I found myself faced with another uncertainty to conquer and each time I did it was the most euphoric and satisfying moment.
My first day in England went a bit like this:
I woke up around 8:30am from a broken sleep. I had gotten to my room the night before around 9:30pm and was so exhausted from the trip that I thought I would be asleep most of the day. But alas, I was awake and ready to go exploring.
Having discovered that my new roommates had been living in the apartment for a while together, I felt a bit like an intruder. I had only met one of the roommates so far and didn’t know how the dynamic was. So, when I woke up, I was careful to go to the bathroom when no one was around and crept back to my room leaving nothing behind.
I tested out my door to make sure that it wouldn’t lock behind me (because God knows how many times I got locked out of my room at Kooloobong, having to use those pesky fobs every time I wanted to get into my room). Having assured that I wouldn’t get locked out, I set out towards campus. Google maps was my best friend that day.
Luckily, my accommodation is very close to campus (about a 5 to 10 minute walk, depending where I want to go), so I got there in no time and without getting lost. My first complication came when I went to cross the street. I found that the street crossing button was completely different from Australia and even the lights flashed differently. The button to cross the road wasn’t like our huge round buttons but rather a tiny button with some kind of big sign on top of it. I looked quite ridiculous trying to figure it out. Even the light that flashes that you can cross the street wasn’t in its usual place across the street on the pole facing me, instead it was on the same pole I had just pressed the button on and facing me sideways. This way I kind of have to be looking to the side when I need to cross the street. I still haven’t figured it out. It’s all very confusing. It also doesn’t help that it doesn’t make that buzzing noise to let you know you can cross. You know, the one that Billie Eillish used in that one song.
Reader, do yourself a favour and invest in a little digital camera. Your phone will not do the places you are visiting justice. Make sure to take it everywhere with you. Don’t worry about looking touristy, you’ll look back on those photos one day and be glad to have taken them.
I found my first little IGA (which they call co-op) and bought myself some lunch. I was nervous about using my card for the first time but it didn’t give me any complications. I’m not sure if my card automatically takes a surcharge for every use but it’ll do for now.
I made it to the university campus and let me tell you, it was surely double the size of our UOW campus. There’s a whole huge lake right in the middle of it as well, with a beautiful big building with a clock tower called the Trent Building. The view from the front of the lake was absolutely heavenly seeing it for the first time. I sat on one of the park benches and ate my cold sandwiches while I WhatsApp video called my jealous family to show them what they were missing out on. I kind of revelled in the fact that I had managed to get there on my own even though I would love nothing more than to have them here with me now.
I took my time exploring the campus and found all the major sites – coffee shops, the library and my building (the arts and humanities building). At the coffee shop, I was pleased to find that the coffees didn’t differ too much from Australian coffee. They had all the usuals: flat whites, lattes, caps, although mocha was under the drinks without coffee so I’m not too sure about that one yet. They had the most exquisite croissants and a lady afterwards came up to me to suggest I get the raspberry croissant next time because that was her favourite. She was very nice.
Next, I visited the library, where the receptionist informed me that I needed my student ID to get in (they had machines kind of like the ones to get into a train station, where you scan your card and the booths open for you to pass). So, I asked where I could go to collect my card (remembering that I had gotten an email saying it was ready to collect). Once I got there, I noticed that the email I had received was on my uni email which I didn’t have on my phone so I had to go home to check it. I thought this was a good idea anyways because I was tired from walking around campus.
Once home, I rested a bit and checked my emails. My student card was indeed ready, just in a different building. I also remembered that I needed to register in person as well as online so I brought my passport for them to scan and passed by the registration office as I went to get my student ID. Then, I visited the library again and to my enjoyment, found that it was full of old-timey books that I (an English literature student) absolutely adore.
I headed home again and went to the reception to sort out my bedding set fee and I asked the nice ladies at the office if they knew any places that would sell towels and sheets and general stuff for the home. They directed me to a heavenly place called Tesco.
Readers, if you thought Kmart had everything, think again. Tesco is easily the best store I’ve ever stepped into. A huge Coles-style supermarket on the bottom floor (the biggest I’ve ever seen, with every choice of food, even ones I thought I would never see again outside of Italy) and a Kmart-style level on the top floor. Yes, reader, it was two stories. Now, I’m not talking IKEA kind of huge, but still – pretty amazing.
After getting home and finally having a shower, I crept back to my room and ended up falling asleep at 7pm. Rookie, rookie mistake. I ended up waking up at 2am and not being able to fall back asleep for hours. Trying to stay awake before 7pm was the hardest part of my day – especially after walking around all day.
I took heaps of photos and had so much fun just exploring this new place. I hope you enjoyed reading about my first day of exchange and if you did make sure you catch next week’s column where I’ll be talking about my first week of school in exchange and how to orient yourself.