When I arrived at London, I was greeted by students at Southampton and was taken on a coach to the campus. I got to meet one of the students who had been assisting me via email over the past few months, and we've since become friends. Below is a picture of the coach picking up the international students at the airport.
When I got to campus, I was taken aback by how lovely it was! The entire campus is very green and filled with gorgeous landscapping. The picture I snapped, below, reminds me of a Monet painting (to the left, below). I'm sure I'll not be lacking for inspiration during my stay here!
This next photo shows some views of a lovely cobblestone path nested inside the main campus. I've already scoped it out as a great place to reflect and do some poetry writing (if it's not raining, that is!).
On a few day trips to the town (about a 20 minute bus ride from my dormitory), I got to see the harbor, the old walls of Southampton, and an old church which was burned down and now stands as a ruin memorial. It was fascinating to see the archaic walls meshed in with the modern developments around it, and it was sobering to imagine what the city looked like before it's ruin in World War II compared to how it stands now--an oddly paired juxtaposition of old and new.
In addition to exploring campus and downtown, I've started practicing with the BUCS women's volleyball team. Although I am not officially on the team as of date, I am hoping that I will make the cut come trials this weekend! If I do get to play on the team, I will get to travel around southern England and see the sites as we travel to the different games as well as make lots of new friends from all over the world (as of now, I'm the only American playing on the team--which is excited to meet all new people from around the world).
Tomorrow I will go to the university's "bun fight" (which curiously has nothing to do with buns or fighting) where all the student societies have tables set up, much like UM's Festifall. I'm hoping to get a better idea about which societies I'd like to get involved with, but right now, I'm really excited about the theatre society, the art society, the Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra.
Thursday I have my first academic meeting of the term, and I will get to meet my colleagues in my program (as well as the rest of the students in humanities) and my professors. I am quite excited!
Finally, I just wanted to add two pictures that I thought were really neat. I took a photo of what I can only presume is a British lady bug, bottom (although it looks much more menacing than the American lady bug) and a picture of a tree snail that I nearly stepped on on my way out this morning. I tried to move him to safer ground, but he was pretty stubbornly suctioned to the ground!
Cheers,
Sarah
