It was the weekend, at least. And you know what that means right? Partying and exploring the night life of the area. This is the first weekend that everyone has been here since we all arrived. The real weekend is almost over, somewhat thankfully, though I still have tomorrow to recover since mine is always a 4 day weekend. It's been an interesting one to say the least.
The reason for everyone being stuck here is quite unfortunate. For one of the classes we're taking, we're doing an exchange at a local university in Hatfield. The place seems alright, but it's kind of out of the way. There were two days of orientation for the "international students". It's weird realizing that we're international, since we're just coming from Canada. Lots of talking about the residences and living on campus and around the area, none of which was relevant to us since we're in a special position with the exchange. Everyone had to stay away. We had two days of trekking to Hatfield, which is about 45 by chartered bus and twice that time on public transit. The public transit we go on by ourselves, having to make our own way back due to the schedules of our classes and modules, as they're called in Britain. Hoping that doesn't last and we can convince the coordinators to have a chartered bus on the way back too. I didn't enjoy feeling like I was going to throw up. Roundabouts plus buses plus drivers who can't really drive makes for a very upset stomach on the way home.
Apart from the dull days, it's been an interesting week. Classes at the campus here were short again and I managed to get an extra day off because I'm not doing one of the courses. It was lovely to sleep in and then start in on homework, knowing I don't have to rush myself.
Friday night was the exploring the night life of Harlow. I hadn't been in the mood to drink, was just feeling a little homesick but the girls convinced me to join in. We all socialized here at the campus then headed to one of the few clubs in Harlow Town. The club was very similar to home, being that you have to ignore the creeps and just try to have fun with friends. Music wasn't the best so we're learning what English dance clubs consider appropriate music. There were some mixed reactions about things, some people really enjoyed it and others didn't. It depends on how you party. Arrived back to campus around 3:30AM from what I recall, and I slept shortly after. Some commotion about who was where and doing what with who but everyone made it safe and sound.
Saturday morning was harsh, just because living in a residence means the walls aren't quite soundproof. I lazed around most of the morning before myself and three of the girls headed into London for the night. It wasn't planned out very well in hindsight but it was funny anyways. We walked around aimlessly for a long time, trying to find a hostel in a suggested area, but couldn't find any. All hope was almost lost when we finally got in contact with a couple of the guys from the group. We found their hostel, the Generator, and went shopping for a while before supper. As many stores as there were, I didn't see anything I wanted to buy. Kind of sad really, but I'm hoping to go into London again soon to really shop. The 7 of us met up after that and the fun began. We ended up at 3 different bars, going to another after each closed. My first time truly bar-hopping, in London no less, and it was an experience that I actually quite enjoyed. Another late night, I think we were back by 4AM or around then. Not something I think I could do frequently but it was definitely fun and I was in a great group for this kind of night.
The plan for today was to sight-see and do the tourist-y things, but another of the girls and I decided to head back to campus to get ahead on some homework. That didn't quite happen for me, since I forgot my key-card in the room and had to wait for the night security guard to let me in. I've been lazing and getting back in touch with people since. No pictures, unfortunately, since we didn't really end up doing much.
Not bad for my second week, is it? Off to catch up on some TV, I've been lacking in that department.
Til next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment