First Impressions

So far I have had a whirl wind of an experience. All my plane rides went smoothly but, they were so long! After arriving, I took a 'bus' with the rest of the Elon students to our apartment complexes. Most of the Elon students are in the complex across from mine. After checking in I was escorted to my apartment to be greeted by only the traces of civilization. There was a half assembled bike in the middle of the living room, rules for the drinking game Kings on the fridge and some food in the cabinets and fridge. My roommates were either not there, or avoiding me. I then set up my internet via an ethernet cord. I am not used to not having WiFi and it is a small inconvenience. The next step was to track down my bedding from a girl who I had previously arranged to buy them from. After facebook messaging Alex, the friend of the friend I brought the bedding from, I discovered that the possessions that I was promised were stolen by a squatter over their winter break. She was very nice about it and gave me everything that she could from her own possessions. She then gave me a tour of campus, which was modern and confusing. On the tour I ran into some girls from Elon off to the stores to buy their missing necessities.

I broke off from the Ausi Alex and joined the Elon girls to take a bus to the Sunshine Plazza. The Sunshine Plazza is big! I will most definitely be going back for a day of exploring. As the day progressed, jet lag made itself more and more apparent. When I got home I heard noises from one of the bedrooms and announced myself. As the second bedroom drawer opened I was met by Lars, my German roommate. We got to know each other but be were both extremely tired and went our separate ways for the night. He was very kind to invite me out that night but neither of us made it out of bed. I later made my bed, unpacked, cleaned my bathroom, showered, ate and apple, watched a tv show and went to bed. Sleeping was easy, staying asleep was hard. I woke up at 6 a.m. which is 4 p.m. at home. I forced myself to go back to sleep and was later woken up around 9 a.m. by the crazy birds that they have here and the lively basketball players on the court next to my apartment.

After getting ready for the day I was off to go to the office to hand in some paperwork and get directions for the grocery store. That is when I realized I locked my self out of my room. My keys which are attached to my wallet were behind a door that I couldn't open. My plans for the day were ruined. I went to the office which said it was open but the door was locked. After going back and forth from my apartment to the office hoping each time someone would be there, I gave up. Lars and I sat and talked. He is 23, studying sports science/physical therapy, isn't religious, doesn't mind if I put my feet up on the couch, here alone, goes to school right outside of Frankfurt, and also agrees that our kitchen is gross. We both decided that our other two roommates must be Australian and still away on winter break. Lars tried calling the office over and over again and thankfully someone answered on the third try. A maintenance man came and opened my door. I got my keys, directions from Lars and was off on the long walk to the grocery store.

What I learned at the grocery store...

• Everything is expensive (EVERYTHING)- two pounds of chicken breast were $10, apples were $1 each, 10 asparagus stalks were $6
• They don't have broccoli
• They don't have chicken broth!!!!
• Buy mens shaving cream because it is cheaper

I kept running into this guy at the grocery store who I had seen earlier that morning on my walks to the office. On the way home I ran into him again. We walked together which made the walk a lot easier. Don't ask me his name because I am horrible with names even if they are as simple as Bob. I do know that his name was not that simple though. He is from Kashmir, India but has a British accent which I later found out is from his time spent in London getting his masters degree. The mix of his accents almost makes him sound Australian. He is here getting his PhD in immunology. He has been here since April and has a contract for three years which might send him to Scottland, and or Boston. He was very nice and we talked about seeing each other at an upcoming orientation party. 

Orientation week here is crazy. There is university orientation in the morning and planned parties every night of the week. I guess they are used to throwing beer pong tournaments and toga parties since the drinking age is 18. 

I am off to go clean my horrid kitchen now.