So, much has happened since the last time I wrote. First, I made a friend – my flatmate. Her name is Florie, and she’s from France! And, get this. She’s from Montpellier (which is where I spent a day last summer)! She’s very nice, and actually she reminds me a bit of Katie, which makes me smile. We went all over yesterday, searching for the supermarket and shopping for things for the flat. Which brings me to the flat itself. My flat has 6 rooms (and right now I’ve only 4 roommates, the 5th hasn’t shown yet), and we shared a kitchen and showers. My room is fairly decent, see? Still working on it though. My other flatmates are all Asian, (they aren't like aKDPhi). But they’re nice all the same. They come from Malaysia, Taiwan and China, but they all speak the same language. So Florie and I are very glad to have each other since we have similar cultures.
Oddly, I’m the youngest person here (so far). I was expecting to be older, since Brits finish university in 3 years and not 4. But Florie is 24 and my other flatmates are 28! This didn’t bother me until I went out last night for the Postgraduates Social and I was called “a baby.” What? Anyhow, we moved past that minor issue and I actually had a great time out. The social scene here is so different. First, there was no fight at the bar last night. The whole night! No obnoxiously loud noise…I mean, music, playing in the background. And no drunken girl embarrassing herself by assaulting every seemingly available man. Oh, and no smoking. Very nice. (Especially since I thought I might have to pick the habit up to meet people. I swear, everyone here seems to smoke!) But I enjoyed it, and I met a lot of cool people. They told me which bars to avoid, and what streets had all the good going-out spots. One fellow I was talking to told me that I had “a bit of cheek.” I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but he was sort of laughing when he said it, so…who knows.
I hate to go on and on about how much I love it here but…I love it here. I find myself humming or singing to myself when I’m out walking about. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s sort of like this is the place where I’m the most myself. Of course, I still have to get accustomed to some things. For example, they have money in every denomination imaginable. They have bills for amounts as small as 5, but then they have a 2 pound coin, a 1 pound coin, a 50p (pence) coin, a 20p coin, a 10p coin, a 5p coin, and a 2p and 1p coin. It’s so confusing! I feel like an idiot standing at registers trying to figure out which coin is which. The weather is difficult, too. Very mercurial. Today, for example, it’s so hot that I’m dressed fairly lightly (by English standards). But yesterday I had 2 coats on at one point. Then the sun came out and my flatmate and I were peeling off layers of clothes like onions! It rains, it shines, all in the span of 20 minutes.
I have more to say, but this is quite long enough already. I’ll just leave you now with a few things I picked up about my new home.
Fun Facts About Sheffield
Sheffield is the 4th largest city in the UK .
The University of Sheffield’s Student union is the largest in the UK.
There are just under 2 million people in Sheffield.
There are about 55,000 students at the 2 universities in Sheffield.
Oddly, I’m the youngest person here (so far). I was expecting to be older, since Brits finish university in 3 years and not 4. But Florie is 24 and my other flatmates are 28! This didn’t bother me until I went out last night for the Postgraduates Social and I was called “a baby.” What? Anyhow, we moved past that minor issue and I actually had a great time out. The social scene here is so different. First, there was no fight at the bar last night. The whole night! No obnoxiously loud noise…I mean, music, playing in the background. And no drunken girl embarrassing herself by assaulting every seemingly available man. Oh, and no smoking. Very nice. (Especially since I thought I might have to pick the habit up to meet people. I swear, everyone here seems to smoke!) But I enjoyed it, and I met a lot of cool people. They told me which bars to avoid, and what streets had all the good going-out spots. One fellow I was talking to told me that I had “a bit of cheek.” I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but he was sort of laughing when he said it, so…who knows.
I hate to go on and on about how much I love it here but…I love it here. I find myself humming or singing to myself when I’m out walking about. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s sort of like this is the place where I’m the most myself. Of course, I still have to get accustomed to some things. For example, they have money in every denomination imaginable. They have bills for amounts as small as 5, but then they have a 2 pound coin, a 1 pound coin, a 50p (pence) coin, a 20p coin, a 10p coin, a 5p coin, and a 2p and 1p coin. It’s so confusing! I feel like an idiot standing at registers trying to figure out which coin is which. The weather is difficult, too. Very mercurial. Today, for example, it’s so hot that I’m dressed fairly lightly (by English standards). But yesterday I had 2 coats on at one point. Then the sun came out and my flatmate and I were peeling off layers of clothes like onions! It rains, it shines, all in the span of 20 minutes.
I have more to say, but this is quite long enough already. I’ll just leave you now with a few things I picked up about my new home.
Fun Facts About Sheffield
Sheffield is the 4th largest city in the UK .
The University of Sheffield’s Student union is the largest in the UK.
There are just under 2 million people in Sheffield.
There are about 55,000 students at the 2 universities in Sheffield.
Sheffield is home to the oldest football league in the UK, Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield's shopping mall, Meadowhall, is the second largest in the UK.
That's all for now. I'm sure the list will grow.
From Sheffield,
Briana
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