Orientaion part 1

Starting my day at 4am is becoming normal but I force myself to stay in bed until at least  7am. Orientation started at 9am today but before I get started I have some exciting news.

I have flat mates, I now have social interactions and it is awesome. Cailin arrived around 4pm yesterday from America. On her journey to Sunderland she acquired 7 other Americans, 1 Canadian and 1 from Germany. They all walked into a bar ………sorry wrong joke.

With my new friends we all decided to go out and search for some for dinner, we searched, and searched, until we found out that everything around here closes at 5pm. Yes you read correctly five o’clock in the afternoon, apart from the pubs and a few fast food places. Although I didn’t mind just talking to other people was so exciting for me. Being confined to your own company for 2 days it was defiantly a good change. All the Americans come from different states which is fascinating picking up on slightly different variations in their accent.

Any way fast forward to the morning and we wake up to another roommate, also from America. I later discovered at orientation that the vast majority come from America and France with the odd one from Germany, Finland, Argentina, Canada and Spain.

The day consisted of registration, getting our student I.D.,  learning about learning about the different campus’s and meeting our academic advisers.

We then finished off the night with drinks and free food with our new found friends. Being surrounded by so many different accents you sometimes forget where you are, your own diverse bubble. Drinks turned into laughter, laughter turned into bad accent impressions which lead to new friendships and just the beginning.

Things I found fascinating today….

1.Sunderland has gigantic seagulls

2. Even when you think you know where you are going, you don’t

3. Their grading system is so harsh. 40% is a pass, 70% is excellent, 80% is rare and 90% is a myth to them.