Adventures into the heart of the city

Hi everyone!

So here's an update for you all, in case you're wondering what I've been up to. :) 

I can't remember exactly how much I've said in previous emails, so forgive me if I'm repeating things. Monday night I didn't go out, big surprise. I just kind of repeated over and over that I didn't really care to go out, and tried to explain why to Charlotte. In the end she just did the "meh" French shoulder shrug and said it was my choice. This all took place as we were walking from our flat across this big lawn/field area to "The Edge" (so hip, right?) to go to a residence hall meeting. When we got there they had juice boxes and cookies ("biscuits") for us — no joke. Then we had to sit on the floor like we were at an elementary school assembly. It was hilarious. Here's all these 22 year old and up international students sitting on the floor in a room full of 17-year old British freshmen sipping on juice boxes. We were not pleased. They went over some rules and then had to take part in "forced fun" *haha* Because admitting no one in the room wants to do something apparently makes it better? I suggested we leave, in true American rebel style, and received only noncommittal shrugs. I'm learning slowly that my tendency to look at rules as inspirational guidelines for my own agenda is not too popular here. After the meeting we left and went back to the flat. I went to my room and did uninteresting school-related things and then went to bed. So that was monday. 

On Tuesday my big goal for the day was to get downtown somehow and get bedding, as I was really tired of sleeping on a bare mattress with a backpack-constructed pillow. Tuesday morning I had to go to this information fair and get something they call an "academic diary." It's pretty much a glorified planner, which is a lame reason to have to walk 15 min to campus, but hey, free planner! So Tanya (German) and I walked over to the fair. Afterwards we had some extra time so we went next door to the Union and had coffee. We're both nursing mild cases of caffeine withdrawal, so were very eager to have coffee. I ordered a mocha (comfort food, you know) and they served it to me with 2 packets of sugar on the side. Who would ever want more sugar in their mocha than is already there is beyond me. Especially since the mocha was like a 12oz mocha concentrated into a 8oz cup. 

While we had our coffee Tanya and I looked through the different activities offered by this student-run "scheme" called Give it a Go. They organize trips, classes, all kinds of things for students to sign up for. They get really good deals on stuff, so you have to buy tickets early for the good ones. Tanya and I decided on getting tickets for two events. One is a "Ghost Walk" around downtown Sheffield next Tuesday night. Dad, I think this will be similar to the Jack the Ripper walk you took around London. But not so awesome. Haha. Hopefully it will be spooky though. And even if it's not, I'll enjoy it because of the history that we'll no doubt hear about. We also signed up to go see Chatsworth House and Gardens this Sunday. (http://www.chatsworth.org/) It's this massive house in the Peak District that's been featured in a bunch of Austen movies. Tanya likes Jane Austen a ton too, it turns out. But she reads the books in German! She also has read Harry Potter and Twilight. I guess not that surprising. Anyway, we stood in line forever (there's a "queue" for EVERYTHING here) and got our tickets. 

By the time we were done with that it was time to go over one more building to a mentor/mentee lunch for mature students (all it takes to be mature is to be over 21. I'm pretty sure that's an accurate reflection of actual maturity levels. For sure.) Neither one of our mentors showed up for the lunch, though, so we were instructed to get a sandwich and find a table with some random people. Picking a sandwich was quite a bit more challenging than I anticipated (the general rule here, it seems), as none of the plates were labeled, and the stuffing in the choices was far from identifiable. The British seem to have some sort of private vendetta against placing labels on anything here — streets, houses, rooms, store aisles, everything. And if they do label something, you can be sure it's either wrong or lovingly situated behind a bush. Anyway, upon asking, I was informed that the sandwiches were tuna and sweet corn, brie and cranberry, creamy cheese salad, and creamy crab. One remained a mystery, because not even the host could say what the reddish paste with spinach was. I played it safe and took a brie/cran one. We sat at a table with a really nice, very gregarious woman who gave us lots of info on general living in Sheffield. When I mentioned that I like climbing, she joyfully announced that she knows a guy named Adam who's super into climbing. She took down my email and said she'll have him contact me. This all happened before I even knew it, so I hope that's not weird... But I guess if it is, he just won't email me, so problem solved! 

Okay, so after lunch, Tanya and I had planned to go downtown to get her a phone and me bedding and things. In order to do that we either had to use the bus system, the routes and workings of which is one of Sheffield's best-kept secrets, or get a taxi, a thing which I have never, ever done. My entire knowledge base for getting a taxi comes from watching movies set in New York. This led me to believe that the best course of action would be to call and order a taxi (people do that, right??), as I try not to rely on romantic comedies for life skills. However, as I was standing on the curb in front of Firth Hall, which is on a really big road, I saw a taxi -or what resembled a taxi- coming. I was somehow brave enough to perch on the curb and flag it down. I was so shocked at my unlikely success that when it pulled over it took me a second to get in. But in we got, and I announced confidently that we'd like to go to the City Hall in city center. I don't know what possessed me. :) The driver took off, and it only took £4 to get downtown. Once we were there, we walked around and hunted for the shops we needed. I had spent like 2 hours studying my various maps of Sheffield the night before, so I was able to stay mildly oriented with minimal touristy map references. I managed to get us to a store that was like a super cheap-quality JC Penny's (but much smaller) where I got stuff I needed. We went to Poundland; I'm sure you all can figure out what that is. We got kitchen stuff there, and I got some shampoo. Then we walked a couple of blocks with me awkwardly carrying a pillow, two towels, and a duvet and arrived at the phone store. It was super busy, but I found the salesguy who helped me before, and smiled real big and asked if he was too busy to help us. My attempts at flirting apparently worked, because he helped us right away. I'm learning so many new skills! Haha...  

Once Tanya got her phone we walked back up the street to a main roundabout. I then proceeded to get my three maps out in order to find our way back home or to a taxi stand. Tanya waited for me patiently as I stood there grumbling over street names and routes, and when I had finished, she quietly pointed across the street with a look of confusion. It turned out she had seen the 6 taxis parked along the road before I ever got out my maps and she had not wanted to be rude by interrupting my musings. It was hilarious. We ran over and grabbed one, and rode back to our flat. 

Later that evening Tanya and I tried to go out to have a quiet drink, i.e., go somewhere we could hear each other speak. We went over to the Edge bar, but they were having "disco night" so we couldn't go in. We asked in the lobby where we could go, and the girl was like, "well...umm...you might be best just gettin' some alcohol and going back to your room." So apparently there's literally no where to go in Sheffield during intro week that's not packed and crazy. So we went back home and had tea together, which I didn't really mind. 

So that was my Tuesday. I'll post soon about my Wednesday, which was also eventful. 

I love you all and miss you so much!!! Looking forward to hearing from you!