the arrival.

this was all a blur.

the goodbyes, the people, the friends, the family, the second guessing, the excitement, the unknown, the everything. it all happened so fast. i have been in england for over a week now, but it feels like ages since we landed in birmingham. its slowly starting to set in..but not completely. and that's okay, it leaves room for excitement!

i have constantly been on the go ever since i landed. the study abroad programme i came with has kept us nice and busy with necessary orientation sessions, field trips, walking tours of campus, bus tours of the city and absolutely anything else you can think of that would help fight the jet lag. with this said, i am quite drained, as well as the others, and haven't had much free time to just.. be. now that i have that chance i'll fill you in a bit of what's been happening..

the plane landed in birmingham on a beautiful morning, right at sunrise, a nice welcome to our new home.  we then took a coach through the city centre, leading us to our on-campus flats.  it only took moments for the bus to erupt in bits of laughter and 'oh my gods' due to the realization of which side of the road we were on. in our sleepy stupor we kind of forgot about that one. and man do they drive fast! its great, yet kind of frightening.

we pulled into the vale village, this is the part of campus that has student housing and a huge hall for student housing.  the hall is called shackleton, and has a reception, a small convenience store, laundry, and a little cafe. then we came up to our flats!
i'm living with tara...

i met her through volunteer work at the basement, the college radio station in duluth.
she's a pip and i adore her. many concerts will be seen together.

i'm also living with claire...

we ran in the same circle of friends at umd, but never really knew each other and now we get the chance!
she's a sweetheart who wears nice kicks. nuff said.

so all three of us opened the door together, screamed a little, danced a little and ran around to open ALL THE DOORS. they use doors quite a bit here.  we have a full and half bath, bedroom with great storage, and a kitchen with a breakfast nook. i'll have pictures up to show you soon, they are just the perfect amount of space. that is one thing i've noticed, the brits conserve things, including space. everything doesn't have to be huge and spectacular, its nice and quant.  simple.

we then spent the day walking the sally oak campus and surrounding area, probably the size of duluth. this place is huge. its absolutely gorgeous. due to all the rain, everything is soooooo green and full. massive trees tower over the streets with long branches full of green leaves.  ivy grows along the brick walls along the pavement [sidewalk]. and only a few leaves are showing their fall colours. we stopped by the building that we will be taking class in for the next few months. we even have a delightful little tea & study room, so cozy.

the alen ghale house where i will be taking classes

 big apple tree outside the school house

we were some of the first students to move in, so all kinds of crews were out fixing things before all the students arrived. the place looks great. a lovely old city with old brick houses with tiny little front yards, if any. the city centre is quite modern but mixed with old time charm. i've been soaking it all in that i really haven't been spending time snapping pictures of everything. but one day i will take photographs and i will not disappoint, i promise!